all for the love of a horse...: 2024 Blog Round-Up

20 December, 2024

2024 Blog Round-Up

Maratez+/ (Nitez x Imarada)

In 2024, I added 30 blogs (compared to last year, that's 37 less blogs) and of this number, 27 were brand new blogs, never before published (76% were published in the first half of 2024). Despite a slower writing pace, I am humbled that in return, you clicked on the blog over 50,000 times, with 12,000 of those page views, coming from America. I am grateful! Thank you also to Hong Kong for visiting 10,000 times, Singapore for 8,000 and Germany, 2,000 visits. You encourage me to keep writing! Including the 30 blogs I added in 2024, there are now 550 total blogs available for you to read (check the Blog Archive, located in the sidebar on the right hand side of the page). Despite a reduced level of new activity this year, I did improve my position in Feedspot's list of top Arabian Horse Blogs, from #7 to #5! I want to believe that the archived library of blog material is responsible for the 2024 growth in readership.

So, what were your favorite blogs this year? The 10 most popular blogs of 2024, across the world, are:

It's interesting that #3, A Case of Mistaken Identity, is the only new blog to have made the top ten list for 2024! One other blog, Ethereal, although failing to crack the top ten, did place in the top 20 and listed below, are what I have termed, the "Honorable Mentions", the blog posts in the 2nd half of the top 20 which were also popular with you this year:

11. Ethereal
12. *Urfah
13. Thoughts on Aswan
14. HC Abla Raqqas
15. Gulastra, Mesaoud & Egypt
16. Al Adeed Al Shaqab in 1-2-3
17. Bedouin Beauty: The Soulful Eye of the Arab Horse
18. Areej El Koloob
19. Tammenaa MH
20. To Serr, with Love

I share many cherished memories within the pages of this blog. Some of these stories are a little more challenging, that is, to find just the right words to explain the myriad of emotions, while honoring the memory of a horse, for example, Maratez+/, foaled in 1967, bred by the late Everett Shea, Windfall Farm, Pennsylvania and owned for most of his life by the late Sandie Cafritz. He was a son of Nitez (*Witez II x Nafa) bred by Ed Hurlbutt and out of the grey, Imarada (Radamason x Imaja) also bred by Everett Shea. He was extraordinary. I would have to say that his story, now blog #549 was one of my favorite blogs this year.

Another favorite 2024 blog is the story of Charaff, a 1948 *Raffles son, out of a *Raffles granddaughter, purchased by Federico Castellanos y Batista, to head the breeding program he founded at his ranch, San Cayetano, in the province of Camaguey, Cuba. Charaff was immensely popular among Cuban breeders and received considerable attention, eventually becoming the Cuban National Champion Stallion in 1956. His escape from Cuba to the United States is a thrilling, on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of story and remains as one of the fun stories I have been fortunate to write.

For many years, the Bint el Bahreyn horses have been considered to be Dahman Shahwan, by strain. However, further study of the unpublished notes made by Lady Anne Blunt point to a completely different strain, that of Kuhaylah Rabda. As a long time student of the breed, I learned to accept the Dahman strain classification, despite the fact that these horses appeared Kuhaylan. Through mtDNA analysis, will the strain of these horses be revealed to be different from what we previously believed the strain to be? It feels like a case of mistaken identity, another of my favorite blogs this year.

Sometimes, when looking for information on a particular horse, I'm led in a completely different direction, to discover a horse that is not the one that I was looking for! Such was the case with Nile, a 1975 stallion by Mustafa, a Hadban Enzahi son, bred by Marbach Stud. His dam, Nara, also sired by Hadban Enzahi , was bred by Tanya Hawley. David Gillet of Diamond Road Stud in Australia said, "Nile was known for producing beautiful progeny of extreme type and beauty, and he crossed well with a variety of different bloodlines to become one of Australia's all time leading sires."

And there, you have it, a quick highlight of a few of what I believe to be, the more memorable stories of 2024 but don't take my word for it, there are other stories from 2024 and beyond that, 520 more stories, spanning 19 years of story telling, just for you! Maybe you will discover a new favorite?

In closing, I am compelled to express my gratitude once again to you, dear readers, because you are the reason for why this blog even exists. I hope that each blog will continue to inspire you with a desire to learn more about Arabian horses. And if along the way you receive equal helpings of some good old-fashioned awe and wonder, then my part in all of this has gone well, all for the love of an Arabian horse.

Happy New Year 2025!

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MY FAVORITE WEBSITE

If you want to understand the desert Arabian horse on a deeper level, then you will want to visit Daughters of the Wind, a blog maintained by Edouard al-Dahdah, since 2008. It's my favorite place to visit, on a regular basis. For me personally, the information that Edouard presents is at times so profound, that I find myself weeks, even months later, still thinking about what he has written. I consider him a treasured source of inspiration and for the times that I don't feel like writing anymore, a significant source of encouragement. In one place, you will be able to read of the horses, their heritage; as well as the culture, traditions and the geography of the land, from where they originated. I strongly encourage you to visit his blog to broaden your understanding and deepen your appreciation for the Bedouin-bred horse.

MY FAVORITE WEBSITE X 2

The Horse In Word and Picture is the blog of Rania el Sayed, a very talented photographer, whose equine photography is second-to-none. I still remember when I first learned of Rania, it was all because of the late Dr. Nasr Marei. At the time, Nasr published an article that featured Rania's photography. I was thrilled by the photography and later, "meeting" Rania was one of the highlights of my horse life. I loved her photo of Mangooma and Rania, in an act of kindness never to be forgotten, let me use her photo in my blog. Thanks Rania for all of your support. You'll love Rania's blog and all of the equine topics she covers, including the straight Egyptian Arabian Horse. She really pushes me to think deeply about things that I haven't thought in a while. And you don't have to join Facebook, to read her posts. .

MY FAVORITE BOOK

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently is which book(s) do I recommend? Judith Forbis', The Classic Arabian Horse, published in 1976, is MY FAVORITE BOOK...EVER. Prior to the publication of this book, we really didn't have anything that compiled the history, the bloodlines & breeding practices and conformation (including breed type) of the straight Egyptian horse in one volume. You had to dig through multiple sources, sometimes in languages foreign to one's own, to try and develop an understanding of the Egyptian Arabian horse. So, this is my recommendation to you today, especially if you are just starting, this is the most important book you will ever own. You can find the book on Amazon, previously owned, at a very affordable price.

A NEW FAVORITE BOOK

Many times, I have heard other enthuiasts say, "if only I could get into the mind of this breeder and understand the Arabian horse as he or she does!" Dr. William Hudson, a long-time breeder, weaves together his lifetime of experiences including the latest developments in equine genetic science with the history, art and culture of the Arabian horse. This is not the type of book that you will read, cover-to-cover, in one sitting. You will find yourself turning to this massive 1,500 page, 2-volume set, over and over. If you love Arabian horses and want to understand the breed intimately, on a deeper level, this is the only book you will ever need to own. If you are breeding Egyptian Arabian horses, I urge you to purchase this 2-volume set before you breed one more horse!

MORE FAVORITE BOOKS...

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently is which book(s) do I recommend? Previously, I mentioned Judith Forbis' THE CLASSIC ARABIAN HORSE which is a great introduction to the breed and to Egyptian Arabian horses specifically. But now, you have read that book and are ready to go deeper. So, this is the book that I recommend reading (VOLUME II ) without hesitation. It's fantastic. The depth of this book, within tail female lines, sire lines and strains found in Egyptian (EAO) breeding is not found anywhere else. If you are serious about the Egyptian Arabian horse, whether a breeder, student or enthusiast, you must read this book, at least once!

STILL MORE FAVORITE BOOKS

In the Preface, Dr. Nagel wrote, "Since it is claimed that the Arabian horse breed is one of the oldest on earth, one has to accept that it is also in the crossfire of many opinions which sometimes clash vigorously. There are obviously many doubts and errors, and the advocates of different concepts seem to be not ready to settle on a common stance. It should encourage the reader to think...The refreshing variety of thoughts surrounding this noble member of the great family of horses should not be lost." Whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Nagel, is not what is important but rather, the resulting thought that this book will inspire. I can't even tell you how many times I have read this wonderful book cover-to-cover. It's one of the more provocative books that I have ever read and each time I have read it, a part of the book that had not impacted me previously, will cause me to think deeply for days, weeks and even months at a time. So, dear reader, I recommend this book to you, in the hope that it will inspire you to think deeply about our breed and examine why, you feel the way you do.

"The ideal Arabian type is recognizable at sight to the experienced horseman and novice alike. It falls short of the ideal if it reminds one of another horse or breed. It falls short of the ideal if it is so plain and uncertain of type as to require a sign: 'This is an Arabian horse.' It falls short of the ideal if it is so coarse and masculine as to remind one of a small Percheron, at one extreme, or so highly animated and elf-like as to remind one of a gazelle at the other extreme. The ideal type stands out alone. You know it immediately when you see it."-Ben Hur, from his 1951 Western Horseman article, Type in the Arab

In the summer of 2006, when I discovered Blogger, the last thing on my mind was creating a blog. At the time, I had been participating in a popular Egyptian Arabian horse website and desired to find a website that would allow me to "cut-and-paste" the posts that I had written for future reference. From those humble beginnings, this blog was born. I'm not a professional writer and although I want to say that writing is a hobby; I think it is better to say that I write for the love of the breed. I've had the good fortune to meet a number of horses who are now considered legendary, as well as some really wonderful people, who are equally legendary. Over the years, people have suggested that I charge a subscription fee or pursue paid sponsorships but you know how money changes everything and this blog, after all, is a labor of love. So, there you have it, the story of the blog. Many thanks to the people who make this blog doable, for example, where would I be without any of the photographers, the "visual storytellers" of our breed, who allow me to post their pictures and to the authors of the many books and magazine articles that I have read over the course of 45 or so years, helping to educate a long ago kid, crazy in love with Arabian horses. And finally, an overwhelming amount of gratitude for you dear readers, for coming here to this place, to read, discover and celebrate this common ground we share, all for the love of an Arabian horse.

20 December, 2024

2024 Blog Round-Up

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