Strain And Type - A Relation?
By Albie Jacobs
Terminology is a very sensitive aspect. Not everyone understands the intricate terms such as strains, pure in strain tail female line and other related concepts in the same way. In my limited search for the “truth”, I came across a variety of authors trying to put forward their own ideas. I will try and highlight the diverse perspectives I discovered in the hope that other breeders will also come forward to voice their opinions and offer useful information.
The Origin It is generally understood that the term “strain” refers to the dam side of a pedigree and ancestral line. There is the legend of the five mares that responded to their master’s call and were named the Al Khamsa. They were: Kehilan, Seqlawi, Muniqi, Dahman and Hadban (How to Read a Pedigree, Arlene Magid). The other tale is that they were the five favourite mares of the Prophet Muhammad. There are variants in the spelling of these names – Kehilan, Kuhaylan or Koheilan – as well as a masculine form (Kuhaylan) and a feminine form (Kuhaylah/Kuhaylat). The Arabian is as popular today as it always has been. Many people are active in the breed association, although today’s Arab fancier is not the student of pedigrees as were our forbears (Bedouins). One reason is that the desert tribes valued their mares (as opposed to modern times where great value is placed on stallions) and closely guarded their herds to protect their purity. Muhammad differentiated between the Hajjin (hybridised) Arabians and the pure-blood Arabian (Jowad). Hajjin mares were almost always bred to Jowad stallions. Each lineage is consistently based in every line on the original Bedouin breeding as in their Hujjas (history and records as kept by the desert tribes, either written or by means of word of mouth.)
Western Philosophy With the passing of time other family names came into being, including Abeyan, Jilfan, Wadna and Shueyman. A strain is no more, in Western terms that is, than the ‘family name’ of a particular horse. Therefore the breeding of Arabians by a specific family (big in stature or not) of horse has a tendency to establish or create a ‘particular brand/style’ of horse. This is even more notable when the gene pool is kept relatively closed, with line- and inbreeding. Some of the earlier studs in South Africa, such as the Vlinkfontein Stud, bred a certain ‘type’ of horse. In the beginning a select few mares were used, as well as a few stallions (related in any case), thereby creating the original “Vlinkfontein look”. Other preservation groups have the same tendency – Babson, Davenport and Doyle as examples. Forbis and Raswan made a few remarks on strains. For them there is both a genetic as well as a visual component to strains. In a letter from Raswan to WR Brown (1925) he states: “You mention the Muniki (large and fast) and the Abaiyan (small and low).” This indicates a specific visual and ‘performance’ aspect to a strain. In looking for strain characteristics in the flesh it should be taken into consideration that most distinctions are often changes in angulation, head carriage and sometimes masculature and facial details.
Kuhaylah
Saqlawi
Hamdani
Bedouin Philosophy I came across author Shaikh Al-Jabri who uses the terms Ar-Arsaan (plural) and Al-Rasan (singular). His words are to the effect that the term ‘strain’ is a European concept, derived from the study of animal husbandry and as such the word has certain connotations, which are not found in the Arabic words Al-Arsaan and Al-Rasan. Likewise, the Arabic words have subtleties and connotations not found in the English concept of strain. The origin of Arsaan, such as Hamdaniet, Keheilet, Seqlawiet, etc, traces to the late Abbasid Caliphate, probably around the 13th century. However, each of the horses of the prophet Muhammad (Salla Allah Aleihe Wa Salam) certainly had a Rasan, i.e. known extended pedigree. Shaikh Farouk Sweidan of the Ruwala tribe has been emphatic in stressing that one cannot tell the Rasan of a horse by looking at it, and that there is no association between Rasan and type. In short, there is an impressively unanimous opinion among native Arabs with expert knowledge of the Arabian horse that there is no known association between Rasan and type.
On the official website of the Royal Studs of Bahrain, it is mentioned that there are horses from 20 strains! They see this as the ‘foundation horses’ of these studs and therefore the different ‘families’. Western breeders have often bred according to Rasan-type of Raswan, and after many generations of breeding have herds, which may conform to Raswan’s typology. This breeding methodology has created, according to Mustafa al-Jabri, a relationship between Rasan and type, which has never been known in the desert, and has introduced a Bid’ah (innovation) to the Arabian horse.
Abayyan
Dahman
Hadban
Muniqi
Final words From the above it is clear that the vast majority of Arabian breeders believe there is a connection between strain and physical characteristics. “It is interesting to speculate about the significance of strain names today, especially when there are relatively few sources of a strain name (as the Kehilan Dajani which seems to trace back all cases to just two 19th century foundation mares, Dajania in England and Mlecha in Poland),” remarked Michael Bowling. Whether or to what extent modern “strain-bred” Arabians resemble the original Bedouin versions of their named strains is a trickier question. We have seen that it is at least open to discussion whether the strains ever were uniform and bred to certain general type in the desert. To answer the original question: Could there be a relation between a strain and the type, meaning physical or phenotype? The answer is: probably not! BUT there might, in some cases be a relation – intended or not! And that is another debate...
FOR THE LOVE OF IT ( Ode to the gr oom! )
The moon climbs over the horizon It winks for the cohorts to be Awake slowly and surely Stalking and creeping From bed to barn See the night yawn a new Chores abound afore Charges will be steady Knights with shining Lights atop In the dark a few Carry and work Buckets and blankets After the depart Of riders and friends Wait and time A lot we will have Share the agony, the joy A lot to be with Staring into destiny Dust and sun Wind and rain Friend and foe Win and not All of us aloud Again the dark will Creep into bed alas Not alone but with Pains and aches Smiles and hugs abound Next time it will Sure all of us Again here friends With fellow people To do it all over
C o p y r i g h t : A l b i e Jaco b s, 2 0 0 9 , A l l R i g h t s R eser v ed