all for the love of a horse...: 2025: The Year That Was

27 December, 2025

2025: The Year That Was

NK Hamza (NK Kamar El Dine x Andorra Bint Asfoura), Sandra Stahl photo

Before I get too deep in reporting all the end-of-year statistics, I wanted to highlight the major difference between 2024 and 2025. Last year, there were 30 blogs published, this year there are 80 blogs (including this one). Of this number, 69 were brand new blogs for 2025, never published previously. The first quarter of 2025 was the busiest, 44% of the blogs written and published in 2025 were published in the first 3 months of the year, with March seeing the most blogs ever published within a single month, 13! Believe it or not, the total of 35 blogs in the first 3 months of 2025 is 5 more blogs than I had written in all of 2024! In return, you clicked on the blog 90,000 times this year! 90,000! The breakdown of the top page views by country are as follows:

United States - 31,000
Singapore - 11,000
Brazil - 9,000
Hong Kong - 7,000
Vietnam - 4,000
Germany - 2,500
China - 1,600
India - 1,600
UK - 1,200
Israel - 1,000

I am so grateful to you, dear readers! Your readership encourages me to keep writing, especially on those days when my motivation is almost non-existant!

Do you know that more of the page visits were made by readers using a Windows computer, on Google's Chrome browser, as compared to the Apple platform and Safari browsers or even Android cell phones! Including the 80 blogs I added in 2025, there are now 621 total blogs available for you to read (check the Blog Archive, located in the sidebar on the right hand side of the web version of the home page). Despite an increased level of publishing activity this year, I dropped to #6 in Feedspot's list of top Arabian Horse Blogs (last year, the blog was #5 on the list)!

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

Another difference, as compared to last year, is that more of the newly published blogs made it into your top ten list of favorites: #3, #7, #9 and #10! If you will remember, last year, only one of the new for 2024 blogs made it into the top ten!

Honorable mentions? The following list represents the blogs you liked, but not as much as the blogs listed in the top ten. These are the blogs which ranked 11th through 20th, also by page views:

11. Portrait of a King

12. Tammenaa MH

13. He's Gone

14. The Raswan Summer Challenge

15. The Memory of a Bright Soul

16. The Tale of the Golden Stallion

17. Aana, Raswan & John Rogers

18. 1982

19. There Once was a Stallion Named Antar

20. Bint El Bahreyn

This second tier of the top ten is an interesting mix of old and new blogs; the *Tuhotmos and Antar blogs, given a "tweak" here and there, are almost 20 years old! The Story about Antez and W.K. Kellogg, new for 2025, was fun to write, while affording the opportunity to learn a little more about the man named Kellogg, and what was important to him, as he became more involved with the Arabian horse.

In early spring, I accidentally stumbled upon a photo of the 2011 straight Egyptian stallion, NK Hamza, by NK Kamar El Dine and out of the 2001 Adnan daughter, Andorra Bint Asfoura. A most photogenic individual, I was mesmerized by the horse's beauty. With a profuse forelock and a red chestnut coat; finding his photo, exchanging messages with his owner, Sabine Klee who sent even more photos, remains a highlight of 2025. I hope my blog conveys to you dear reader, what a magnificent horse, NK Hamza really is.

Foaled in 1995, Gazal Al Shaqab was the beautiful, more exquisite horse that Al Shaqab had desired to produce, when they purchased Kajora, already in foal to Anaza El Farid (Ruminaja Ali x Bint Deena). Michael Byatt explained that he wanted to take all the great qualities that Kajora had and breed her to a straight Egyptian stallion to produce a more exotic horse that was not only pretty but athletic, a horse that would offer a little bit of everything to breeders. I hope this blog will help you dear reader understand the influence that this particular stallion has exerted within our Arabian Horse community.

Who is *Ansata Ibn Halima+? The legendary straight Egyptian stallion, imported from Egypt by Don and Judi Forbis, was foaled in 1958, sired by Nazeer and out of Halima, a bay Sheikh el Arab daughter out of Ragia (Ibn Rabdan x Farida). Hermann Marsian, shared a long ago photo of *Ansata Ibn Halima. I had never seen this photo before and it definitely was a surprise to find this year.

Long before the Polish State Studs started to incorporate straight Egyptian stallions like Laheeb, the Tersk Stud, through the use of the EAO stallions, Nil and Aswan, had already realized the benefits of using Egyptian bloodlines in its breeding program. In April of 1971, approximately 5 years or so into Aswan's tenure at Tersk, *Mars, an Aswan son out of *Magnolia, was foaled at the stud. This particular cross was so successful, it was repeated several times, yielding, among other horses, the full brothers *Magnificent, an AERC endurance champion and the Dutch National Champion stallion, *Mag, both stallions were eventually exported to America.

This year, I was able to find again a particular photo of Ansata Abbas Pasha, taken by the late Johnny Johnston. Like the Halima photo, some may say that it is not a very flattering photo of Ansata Abbas Pasha and while that may be true, for me, it is how I remember him, when I stood in front of his stall at Bentwood, all those years ago. The enchantment blog I wrote about him is an old one, possibly one of the very first blogs I authored, almost 20 years ago. It's a little different now, the "tweaks" I made to the blog were inspired by the "new" photo that I found. Along with the discovery of NK Hamza and the rearing photo of *Ansata Ibn Halima, finding Ansata Abbas Pasha's photo again was a highlight this year.

And there, you have it, a highlight of what I believe to be, were the more memorable stories of 2025 (and the most fun to write) but don't take my word for it, there are over 600 more stories in the archive, some of the blogs will celebrate 20 years in 2026!

In closing, I am compelled to express my gratitude once again to you, dear readers, because you are the reason for why this blog exists. I hope that each blog I write 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 all my efforts and sacrifices will have been worth it, all for the love of an Arabian horse.

Happy New Year 2026!

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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.

27 December, 2025

2025: The Year That Was

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