*Turfa

*Turfa, who was also known as “Tarfa”, was one of four Arabian horses chosen by King Ibn Sa'ud to be part of a coronation gift for George VI, along with four camels. George VI had originally intended for *Turfa to become his daughter's personal riding horse, however *Turfa, at four years of age, was a young, charismatic mare, responsive to the lightest of aids and maybe, required a rider whose level of expertise in the saddle was more highly developed than that of young princess Elizabeth, who would one day grow up to become Elizabeth II, today’s Queen of England. *Turfa was acquired by the secretary of the Arab Horse Society, Brigadier General William H. Anderson. The General admired the athletic potential of the young mare and made plans for her training and development, as a fine riding horse. A year before *Turfa arrived in England; the Germans had waged an air campaign against the British. For many years, we have believed that General Anderson had sent *Turfa to Canada, to the farm owned by the Prince of Wales. Sending *Turfa to Canada sounded reasonable, to insure her safety. However, looking back and reviewing the chronological printed trail of information for *Turfa does not support that the mare was ever sent to Canada and that actually, she remained in England, where Henry Babson met and purchased her. The most important fact that can support on which side of the Atlantic *Turfa and Henry Babson met, is found through Hilal (Uns-el-Wujood x Shejret Eddur), a British stallion. Turfa was in foal to him, producing a colt that was born in April, 1942. In order for the foal to be born at that time, *Turfa would have had to have been physically present in England (where the stallion was) in order to have been bred during April or May, 1941. The certificate of transfer between General Anderson and Henry Babson is dated November 10, 1941, approximately 6-to-7 months later, from the time she would have been bred. Of all her progeny, it would be her son, the stallion Ibn Fadl, who would become most influential. *Turfa’s legacy was felt more strongly through Ibn Fadl’s daughters, all of whom were outstanding producers. One only has to think of mares like Habbana, Raada, Fa-Deena, Imaar and Abah to understand how as a sire, he brought forward the influence of *Turfa, to make an impact consistently, from the mare side of the pedigree. 

***you can read the article, Portrait of a Desert Queen, in its entirety, within The Arabian Breeders' Magazine, Volume I, Issue III***