THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



have no doubt given more careful consideration to this subject 

 than any other persons. They made special journeys to Arabia, 

 where careful studies were made of the horse of the people, con- 

 cerning which we learn much in their writings.^ Major Upton 

 lived among the Arabs for months and spoke their language. 

 The late Homer Davenport, an American artist who was for many 

 years interested in this breed of horses, after a trip to Arabia also 



published more or less re- 

 garding the origin of this 

 horse and its various 

 families and subfamilies.^ 

 Five great families of 

 Arabian horses of to-day 

 trace their ancestry to the 

 five mares above referred 

 to. These families are as 

 follows: (i)KeheiletAjuz, 

 (2) Seglawi, (3) Abeyan, 

 (4) Hamdani, and (5) Had- 

 ban. There is some dif- 

 ference of opinion as to 

 the families descending 

 from these mares, but 

 present-day authorities as 

 a rule regard the above 

 as descended from the 

 Khamseh mares. Numer- 

 ous subfamilies or strains are credited to these five great fam- 

 ilies. From the first-named family, the Keheilet Ajuz, comes 

 the choicest Arab blood. As applied to horses, Keheilan means 

 "male" and Keheilet "female," and indicates purity of blood trace- 

 able without a break to the five mares of Salaman. The word 

 ajus means "old woman." The following story of the origin of 

 this family is given by the Arabian people and has been widely 



Fig. 4. Shahwan, an Arab stallion bred by Ali 

 Pacha Sherif of Egypt. Used in stud by W. S. 

 Blunt, Esq., England. Imported in 1895 by 

 J. A. P. Ramsdell, Newburg, New York. Photo- 

 graph by courtesy of Mr. Ramsdell 



' Roger D. Upton, Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia (London, 1881); 

 Lady Anne Blunt, The Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, 2 vols. (London, 1879) ! 

 Lady Anne Blunt, A Pilgrimage to Nejd, 2 vols. (London, 1881). 



2 Homer Davenport, My Quest of the Arab Horse. New York, 1909. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



