"In the Sebaa and Fedaan groups of Anazeh, only such families as Ibn Sbeyni, Ibn El-Derri, Ibn Hemsi, Ibn Sbeyel, and a few others are credited by Nejd opinion with having preserved their strains of Seglawi-Jedran, Dahman Om Amr, Managhi Hedruj, etc., unmixed." ("Thoroughbred Racing Stock." page 116).

blend of Davenport and Blunt bloodlines.]

WHAT FURTHER proof do we need to show that still in Davenport's time (1906), Desert tribes were breeding pure in the strain (or related in the strains)?

LADY WENTWORTH is ahead of us in only one respect: Her Arabians are on the average taller than our Arabians of Davenport descent, but she admits herself (in her books) that Arabians and their offspring gain about half an inch every twenty years through better and regular feed and care. The Blunt Arabians bought in Syria, Iraq, Arabia and India, have been purchased at least 26 years earlier than those acquired by Davenport in the Desert. Offspring of Muhammad Ali Pasha's, Abbas Pasha's and Ali Pasha Sherif's horses are eighty to 130 years removed from Desert Arabia, and their produce have gained anywhere from three to six inches (in Egypt, Europe and America). The best Blunt-blood traces to these Muhammad Ali Abbas Pasha and Ali Pasha Sherif horses, and the Davenport offspring from those individuals (of the classic strains) mentioned above have mixed superbly well with the Arabians of the Egyptian Pashas.

THE FOLLOWING quotations from Lady Wentworth's book, "Thoroughbred Racing Stock" (page 126), show an admission that pure-strain breeding is the best:

"It is only in rare cases that mares can be mated for many generations to horses of their own strain, as in the case of the Krushiehs of the Muteyr."

WHAT DOES Lady Wentworth say of the "Krushiehs" in other parts of her book, that prove that pure-strain breeding produces the best Arabians? She says:

"A mare was wished (by Abbas Pasha) of that Kehilan El-Krush strain which is the special pride of the Dushan clan of the Muteyr -- but the reply was unfavorable; nothing was to be had of that strain at any price" (from Lady Wentworth's "The Authentic Arabian Horse," page 143. On the head of this page are printed significantly these words: "The Priceless Krush Mares."

FURTHER DOWN on the same page we read:

"Yet the failure of Abbas Pasha's emissary to obtain a Krushieh, notwithstanding his readiness to pay almost any price, is still a matter of pride to the members of the Muteyr tribe."

AND STILL further down on the same page we find the following words:

"Latterly Ibn Saoud reconquered the Ibn Rashids, and the Crabbet stud secured a fine white Krushieh mare."

NOW, LET us turn to the Arabian studbook of England, and we find that this white Krushieh of Lady Wentworth's was pure-in-the- strain- bred! Dam and sire belonged to the Kuhaylan strain! The dam was a Kuhaylat El-Krush ( of Ed-Dauish, chieftain of the Mutayr tribe), and the sire a Kuhaylan Es-Suayti (of the Harb tribe). What I want to emphasize (on the strength of these quotations from Lady Wentworth's two books) is that the outstanding Arabian horses mentioned in these two volumes of hers are the Krushiehs of the Muteyr tribe -- and by her own words these Krushieh mares were bred to stallions of their own strain (Kuhaylan), producing (as she writes) a strain of horses that are "the special pride" of the tribe, and that they were "not for sale at any price." Even Abbas Pasha could not acquire them.

SHOULD WE not (after this testimony by Lady Wentworth) try to breed pure-in-the-strain? And, if we cannot match certain parent horses in their own strain, should we not (at least), breed within related strains? (Kuhaylan with Saqlawi, for example).

DAVENPORT'S PEDIGREES from Desert Arabia, written in Arabic and signed by the chiefs, testify to the same fact: The Bedouins, even as late as in Homer Davenport's time (1906) were still breeding either pure-in-the-strain, or related-in-the-strain.

HOMER DAVENPORT brought from Arabia the following absolutely pure-in-the-strain Arabians: Reshan, Abeyah, Urfah, and Jedah. They were bred within the same strain on dam's and sire's side (just like the "White Krushieh" above!) In fact, Davenport's lovely mare Werdi was a Krushieh, and one of her grandsons is one of the best Arabian stallions in California today (on Jimmy Draper's ranch near Oakland). To the four pure-in-the-strain classic type Davenport Arabians from the desert we have to add his two pure-in-the-strain Muniqiyat mentioned before, Kusof and Farha. It pays to study and analyze our Arabian studbooks and draw knowledge and the truth from them!

WOULD LADY Wentworth still discard our Davenport Arabians as "unregistered street sweepings? (See her book: "The Authentic Arabian Horse." page 215).

THE JOCKEY CLUB and Weatherby (very wisely, I would say, as they were registering Thoroughbreds and should never have accepted early Blunt Arabians into their records) refused to accept Davenport Arabians in their studbooks, though the "conglomerated" Blunt Arabians from the streets of Syrian villages and towns were "swept" into the studbooks of the Jockey Club and Weatherby.

LET US turn to Lady Wentworth's own Crabbet Park Arabians again and check on the early Blunt horses of Bedouin (Desert) descent. Pure-in-the-strain were the following eighteen imported Arabians: Burning Bush, Purple Stock, Darley, Haidee, Zuleika, Kars, Hagar, Dajania, Jerboa, Damask Rose, Ashgar, Saoud, Pharoah's Dam, Abeyan (1906), Krush (a grey, imported 1911), and the famous "white Krushieh"(imported 1927), Saadun (1911) and Saade (1912). The following twelve were Ali Pasha Sherif Arabians in Blunt's possession. Each was recognized as an outstanding animal, each one's dam and sire was of the same strain: Aziza (I), Azz, Bint Roda, Ghalaya, Gharran, Horra, Ibn Mesaoud, Ibn Nura, Jemla, Sahab, Waziri (the best stallion the Blunts ever owned) and Zobeyni. In Zobeyni's pedigree, Lady Anne Blunt wrote: "The Anazeh tribes had a high reputation for preserving the breed of horses pure, but in the last thirty years this has gone down, although there are still families such as Ibn Sbeyni's (breeders of this outstanding stallion Zobeyni) and Ibn Ed-Derri's and a few others who possess authentic strains."

THE "AUTHENTIC" (Arabic "Asil") horses are none other than those who can trace both of their parents to the same strain (or at least to the related strains).

MAJOR UPTON brought from Desert Arabia (1875) four Arabian horses: Joktan, Ishmael, Kesia, and Meroe, and all four were pure-in-the-strain horses.

ALL ARABIANS in America and England are of mixed strains, but our best ones are those which have no Muniqi at all, or are at least five generations removed from Muniqi (and may thus be considered as good as pure-in-the-(classic) strains.

THE SECOND best are at least three generations removed from Muniqi blood. Even the less distinguished mares can be used to produce improved offspring by mating them with stallions which are at least one more generation removed from Muniqi blood than the mares. Thus it makes no difference whether we breed Davenport or Blunt (or mixed Davenports and Blunts). If we have Muniqi horses (according to the old system of strain-registration through the dam's side) we shall find in most instances (by checking the strain-names of their ancestors) that these so-called Muniqiyat are actually only 1/8 or 1/16 Muniqi.

MUNIQIYAH MARES proven to be overwhelmingly of Kuhalan (and Kuhaylan related strains like the Hadban and Hamdani) should be bred to sires which are also overwhelmingly Kuhaylan.

MUNIQIYAH MARES proven to be overwhelmingly of Saqlawi (and Saqlawi related strains like the Abayyan and Dahman) should be bred to sires which also are overwhelming Saqlawi.

SINCE THE only differences (in characteristics) among the classic strains are a question of strength (more muscle and width) and beauty (elegance, finer bone) we do not have to worry if we do mix Kuhaylan and Saqlawiyat. We only have to guard against the re-infusion of the angular (and coarser) Muniqiyat, which have smaller eyes (set high, instead of low), longer back, sloping hindquarters, and narrow windpipe, but excellent legs and shoulders).

SINCE THE Jockey Club and Weatherby's Thoroughbred registrations do not accept new Arabian entries, foreign buyers of Arabian horses will also pay little attention to the "exclusive" double-registration which had been of detriment to Davenports and other Arabians bred in America. Arabians belong in the Arabian studbooks of England, America, Egypt, Poland, etc. The enclosed photos of some of the "double-registered" Crabbet Park horses prove that they were not a top lot of Arabians when compared to Davenport's "unregistered street sweepings" (as Lady Wentworth prefers to call them) while other Blunt Arabians were fine animals, but not any better than Davenport Arabians.

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WH Jan/Feb '46 p. 23

Vive la Raswan!

WESTERN HORSEMAN:

I have a filly that will be four in May. Every horse in her pedigree happens to be of Davenport imporation source, and she is one of the nicest fillies I have yet seen. I don't claim her to be the nicest I have ever seen, but I think she's a credit to Davenport's reputation. I bought three fillies in 1943, and of the three the "pure" Davenport one is the only one I intend to keep.

When Lady Wentworth came out in her recent book condemning practically all American Arabians I was glad to see you take up the challenge and answer it so effectively. Among my twenty-nine head of Arabians I have some with mostly Davenport blood and some with mostly Crabbett blood. If had had to make a choice between the two it would be those with Davenport blood.

WESTERN HORSEMAN:

I congratulate you on your challenge to Lady Wentworth. ...This challenges me also as I own Kohkle, the daughter of Farha. She is still a magnificent white mare at the age of 27 years. We still ride her daily.

WESTERN HORSEMAN:

Was glad to see where you stood up for the American Arabians in the last issue of WESTERN HORSEMAN, but can't understand Lady Wentworth's ill-chosen statements.

(Editor's Note: An answer by Lady Wentworth to Mr. Raswan's Nov.-Dec., 1945, article, appears on Page 42 of this issue).

Western Horseman Jan/Feb '46 P.42

LADY WENTWORTH REPLIES

Editor's Note: In a recent letter to WESTERN HORSEMAN, Lady Wentworth, owner of the Crabbet Park stud farm in England, says""I was sorry to see in the pages of your excellent magazine such a thoroughly misleading article as that which I am now answering and for which I hope you will allow me space." The following letter is being used in compliance with that request.

THE COMPLETE distortion of facts published by Carl Raswan in your issue of November is so utterly lost in the realms of fiction that it is hardly worth powder and shot, but in the interests of your readers there are a few points which cannot be allowed to pass.

One can only conclude that Raswan's ignorance is so abysmal that he really believes the nonsense he writes, but when he has the impudence to set up, as he has done lately as an authority on the Arabic language and to contradict the translations of the highest Oriental authorities on the strength of masquerading under the Arab name of one of my horses, the thing is a farce.

Considering his fantastic strain-breeding theories and his condemnation of Managhi, colored a sinister black in his sample pedigree, and his grave warnings against it as a dangerous "taint," one is left to wonder why he himself, acting as agent for Mr. W.K.Kellogg under the name of Carl R. Schmidt, purchased from me at a cost of 3,000 guineas two mares of that very strain sired by and in foal to horses of exactly the other strains which he professes to condemn as deadly mixtures.

Why also did he invest his employer's money in no less than twelve of the "poor conglomerated Blunt stock," including a colt, at 5,000 guineas? Surely he cannot wish us to believe that he was misleading his employer into paying these sums for rubbish and crowning the transaction by saddling himself for life with the name of one of these rubbish horses?

He may not be aware that Gheyleh Abdul Razzak recently published a report holding his theories up to ridicule as pure nonsense.

Raswan-Schmidt's "facts" are as fantastic as his theories and his distortions and misquotations are too numerous for detailed contradiction. Here are samples:

1. I have never visited or lived in Syria or Algeria in my life.

2. I have 34 mares, not six.

3. Twelve out of nineteen horses quoted as Blunt importations were not Blunts at all. I have never heard of some of them.

4. I never called Davenport's Arabs "unregistered street sweepings." It was Borden's phrase and I gave each man's views impartially, but as to Davenport having had the "advantage"of Turkish protection, it would be the surest method of alienating the Arabs. One might as well send an emissary of Scotland Yard to buy Dick Turpin's Black Bess.

When Schmidt came to buy horses he knew nothing about them and Professor Littmann, who corrected his Arabic, told me he had never read such a comedy of linguistic errors. He made novice mistakes in both departments, and as he continues to make them, I can only conclude that there is something radically wrong with his eyes as regards horses and with his erudition as regards language, and that time will never cure either.

The reputation of Crabbet Stud fortunately does not depend on his approval or disapproval. Its wins so far from being confined to England have been worldwide in open competition all over the globe so his hymn of hate can be disregarded. "Good wine needs no bush."

[Lady Wentworth's article, "THE HORSES OF THE WORLD" appeared in the Mar/Apr issue of the Western Horseman. p. 18

Äs soon as paper is allowed I am bringing out a second edition of the "Authentic Arabian Horse," and I wonder if you would notifiy your readers that I wish to include all the leading Arab winners now in America. I was unable to do justice to more than a few of them in the first edition owing to war conditions when the sending of photographs was prohibited and I should be grateful for your co-operation in making the American section as good as it deserves to be.

"If you would ask your readers to send me photographs of their champions with particulars and pedigree to the above address (Crabbet Park, Poundhill Crawley, Sussex) I should be greatly indebted to you. There is, of course, no charge and the photographs must be copyright."

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