FAMOUS ANCESTORS
These photos are presented in chronological order by date of the horse’s birth. Besides offering specific comments on breeding and conformation, this ordering allows a kind of “real time snapshot” of the direction of Arabian breeding in America from the 19th century to the present.
D. Rabdan El Azrak (born 1897; Dahman El Azrak x Rabda). Bred by Prince Ahmed Pasha Kemal, this horse died in 1923 after siring Ibn Rabdan, sire of the influential 1932 Henry Babson importation *Fadl. Note especially the substantial and correct limbs, with wide knees and hocks.
E. *Hamrah (born 1904; by a Hamdani-Simri stallion out of Urfah, a desert-bred mare of Saqlawiyah strain). Imported by Davenport, the handsome and smoothly conformed stallion is ridden in this turn-of-the-century photo by Said Abdallah at one of the lawn parties that were once a frequent occurrence at the Davenport farm. Note the spectacular shoulder and breast, deep chest, short back, low-set hocks and knees, and long forearms. The expression is “soft” and kind.
A. Hadban (born 1878; by a desert-bred stallion out of a Hadbah-Enzahiyah mare). Imported to England by Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt, this tough and handsome stallion was one of the founders of the Crabbet bloodlines.
B. Feysul (born 1894; Ibn Nura X El Argaa). A Kuhailan Jellabi bred by Ali Pasha Sherif, Feysul was one of Crabbet Park’s foundation stallions. Six generations later, his descendant Jubifix resembles him in the shape of head and neck, back, loins, pelvis, forelimbs and overall body balance.
C. *Reshan (born 1896; desert-bred by a KuhailanAjuz of Ibn-Kardush x a Kuhailan-Haifiyah of Ibn Huraymis of the Fidan). This substantial yet feminine broodmare was imported by Davenport and registered by the Arabian Horse Association as no. 38. The foal at foot may be Hasiker, sired by *Hamrah and born in 1914. Hasiker is the grandsire of Sir (1958), an important stallion in the so-called “second foundation” of Davenport horses spurred by Charles Craver and other fanciers when, after World War II, the old bloodlines had nearly died out.