Its debts exceeding its assets, the
Hamidie Hippodrome Society was placed in a bankruptcy situation.
The horses were sold at Tattersall's auction facility on January
4, 1894. In all, 28 head said to be of the Hamidie Society sold.
Published sale results of the time list one as a "Gray mare," which
was not listed in the sale catalog. The others were sold as identified
in the catalog (said by him to have been prepared for the purpose
by A. G. Asdikian) except that Gidran, who was shown in the catalog,
was not listed as having been sold.
[70, 71]
It is impossible to know how accurate
this catalog is but, if it has some errors, it is not different
from plenty of catalogs prepared for sales today. The number of
horses sold at the sale plus the seven horses known to have died
in a fire immediately after payment of entry duty adds to only 35
head. Forty horses passed through customs at importation. The balance
of 5 head must have gone somewhere. Perhaps they died or were sold
separately.
The average sale price per horse
was $360, with the lowest price received being $150 and the highest
$1200. In those days in Chicago the going price for a horse was
$150-$175. [72, 73, 74] The
published report of the sale included the comment that "a good crowd
of bidders was in attendance and the prices realized were fairly
satisfactory, considering the use to which the horses had been put."
[75]
At that time, the buying public for
Arabian horses was very limited. These horses were mostly young
desert-bred males, which is a category of horse that hardly ever
achieves the condition necessary to be attractive to western eyes,
and one doubts that finances of the Hamidie Society had allowed
for a full ration of feed. Moreover, the horses had been trained
for a type of performance that was strange to American horsemen
and probably suspect. Finally, it should be remembered that this
was a time of severe national depression. Considering everything,
these horses sold pretty well.
Three grey stallions were bought
by a P. J. Wrenn to be used to breed saddle horses from ranch mares
at a large cattle ranch in Colorado. Six head were bought by Dr.
H. A. Souther acting as agent for Peter Bradley of Hingham, Massachusetts.
The intended use for these horses was in the production of polo
ponies from Texas or Southern-bred mares. The remaining horses went
to several different buyers. [76]
Some of these may have been purchased for resale, as a number of
them turned up in other ownership later.
As matters of ownership finally settled
down in the Arabian horse owning community, the mare *Nejdme was
owned by Mrs. J. A. P. Ramsdell, and five of six horses purchased
by Dr. Souther (*Obeyran 2, Sirhal, Halool, *Galfia 255, and *Mannaky
294) went directly to Peter Bradley, according to a contemporary
newspaper account. By some indirect route, Bradley also probably
received six horses for which identifying stall signs (now in the
Hingham Stock Farm collection of information and material owned
by Mr. Peter R. Sarra, Canton, Mass.) were found among discarded
refuse from the Bradley farm. These horses were Araby, Abbya (purchased
by Souther at the auction but not reported as delivered with the
other five), Kazoiv, *Koubishan, Miggour, and Zariffey. Of these
horses Araby is not catalogued by Asdikian.
Another Hamidie horse, Abeya or Abeyan,
may also have been at the Bradley farm some time prior to 1906.
This horse is catalogued by Davenport in his "World's Fair Arabians"
as an Abeyan Sherrak named Abeya. Because of the similarity of name
and other coincidental factors, there is conjecture that this is
the same horse as shown in the Asdikian catalog as "Abbeian" and/or
in Arabian Horse Club registration as *Abbeian 111. This is a complicated
matter which is discussed below.
THE HORSES
We know very little about most of
the forty horses imported by the Hamidie Society. They came to this
country, participated in the World's Columbian Exposition, and then
were scattered in the general horse population. We have specific
information for a few of them, however, telling us something of
what they were and how those which were eventually registered contributed
to Arabian breeding in this country. Some of this information is
contradictory and some of it is incorrect. These are problems with
almost any body of factual information about events of almost a
hundred years ago concerning horses and almost everything else.
In the case of Arabian horse matters
of that time, understanding is greatly complicated by several of
the self-appointed experts of that day who did not differentiate
very clearly between what they knew for fact and what they assumed.
(Of course, researchers of today have no such problem recording
current events for posterity.) This is a problem with practically
all major breeding groups: English, European, Egyptian and American.
The record of the Hamidie horses in this respect is not different
from that of the others. General confusion on the subject has not
been helped by the newspaper reporters of those days whose writing
furnishes much of the written record. These gentlemen were more
interested in a good story than accuracy, and what better subject
for drama and tale-spinning than the Arabian horse?
*Nejdme 1: She was universally considered
by Arabian horse people who knew her to be the best animal of the
importation. Huntington, Davenport, Vidal, Asdikian, Bistany, and
Dolbony all left comment that she was outstanding in the group.
At the auction, she brought the highest price, $1200, which was
a lot of money for a mare in those days. She went on to become an
ornament of the J. A. P. Ramsdell herd and then to the ownership
of Homer Davenport. That she was given the position of the first
registration in the stud book of the Arabian Horse Club of America
is an indication of the regard in which she was held by Arabian
horse breeders in this country of her day. She was also registered
by the American Jockey Club. That is a reasonable indication that
other Hamidie Society horses could also have had Jockey Club registration
had the effort been made to obtain it for them.
There is, in fact, evidence that
such registration did occur for a number of Bradley's horses. At
a hearing held May 27, 1909, in regard to the Durland Horse Show,
Davenport appeared with Jockey Club registration certificates in
hand for a number of Bradley's Hamidie Society horses.
[77] Elsewhere he indicates
that among the horses so registered were "Koubishan, Halool, and
others." [78] (N.B.: There
may be difficulty in documenting Jockey Club registrations of Bradley's
Hamidie horses in the Jockey Club stud books.)
The major picture attributed to *Nejdme
does not show her head clearly, but from the rest of it, she was
obviously a beautiful mare with the attributes of type which should
define the Arabian breed.
In a pamphlet put out by her owner
of the time, J. A. P. Ramsdell, she was described:
"Nedjme (sic) is 14.02 hands
high... She is almost white, with the thinnest blue-black skin;
her head is a typical Arab's, not too small, deep through the
jowl, large in the brain space, with the forehead (called by
the Arabs the jibbah) well developed: her eyes are very large
and set in Arab fashion, rather lower in her face than in that
of our horses; around them the hair is thin and shows very perceptibly
the black skin... The skin of the eyelids, lips and nostrils
is extraordinarily fine and the opening of the latter small
when she is quiet, but expands splendidly when she moves. The
"mitbah," where the head joins the neck, is very gracefully
cut, and she has plenty of room for the wind-pipe... Her ears
are long and thin, with a quick but not nervous movement and
when forward point inward. Her neck is long and well set on,
shoulders running very far back; she is well ribbed up and has
to perfection the far famed carriage of the tail, it having
the effect of being "thrown on," so perfect is the arch, and
carried at such height. Her hocks are strong and large. The
legs are perfect, the feet blue and rather cup-shaped."
[79]
The relationship of the mare and
her attendant when at the Fair is described:
"Hedje Memmed had a tent entirely
to himself and in sight of Nedjme's stall, and I was told the
pair often spent the nights together. I have many times read
of the devotion of the Arab to his horse, but this was the first
occasion I had seen it demonstrated. Nedjme would follow the
old man like a dog, and rub her soft nose against his face and
neck, while he would talk to her and whisper his queer Arab
gibberish into her velvet ear, and pass his hands over her lovely
dark eyes. It is almost impossible to imagine such a perfect
understanding between a man and horse. He would bring her out
with simply a cord around her neck, and if he felt in a pleasant
humor, leap on her back, going through the most astounding feats
of horsemanship without bit, whip or spur."
[80]
The attitude of *Nejdme towards mankind
may not always have been benevolent. Randolph Huntington writes
that he examined her thoroughly when she was at the Fair: "She was
at that time a dangerous mare to a stranger. Without provocation,
she would dive her teeth into one furiously, so that the old man
always stood at her shoulder when I was examining her head, ears,
eyes, glands and mouth. She could break a man's arm or ribs as quick
as a flash; but was the best mare there."
[81] From this description,
it sounds as though *Nejdme may have been trained as a guard mare,
which Arabs did from time to time. That probably tended to discourage
horse theft, and it may not have been out of place in Chicago.
*Nejdme is registered as of the Kuhaylan-Ajuz
strain by a Saqlawi-Jidran stallion. Like the other Hamidie horses
which were registered, she had no surviving written pedigree. Huntington
writes that he and Asdikian carefully questioned the man handling
her as to her strain and concluded that he did not know what it
was and that the designation "Kehilet Ajuz" was simply a way of
saying she was a purebred but of no known strain.
[82] This was a possible
usage of the term according to Upton.
[83] She was described by
Bistany as a Kuhaylat-Ajuz, [84]
but in The Rider and Driver shortly after her purchase
by Ramsdell as a Saqlawiyah-Jidraniyah.
[85] She is described by
Dolbony as a Saqlawiyah-Jidraniyah by a Kuhaylan-Ajuz.
[86]
*Nejdme was a prolific mare, dam
of eleven registered Arabian foals, including Jerrede 84 (foaled
1910) who was apparently bred after she entered Davenport's ownership
in 1909. Additional foals are also shown as her progeny in some
registration records, but these appear to be incorrectly attributed.
Her blood is very widely distributed in the breed, with an estimated
77% of horses of registration in Vol. 50 of the AHR stud book tracing
to her. [87]
*Gouneiad 21: Chestnut stallion foaled
1889. This horse was one of the Russian Arabians. He has been described
in detail above. After the close of the Chicago World's Fair, he
passed through the hands of Spencer Borden, Randolph Huntington
(whose stud used him on several mares including Arabians),
[88] and eventually went
to the ownership of the sculptor H. K. Bush-Brown, who is said to
have used him as a model in preparing the equestrian statue of Gen.
John Reynolds, Civil War hero, at Gettysburg National Park.
[89] *Gouneiad left no registered
progeny.
*Galfia 255: A Hamdaniyah-Simriyah.
Shortly after her arrival in Boston following purchase at Chicago,
*Galfia was described:
"...7 years old and about
14 hands in height. Gallfea (sic) has capital legs and feet,
a good intelligent head, though hardly broad enough across the
forehead for a typical Arabian, and is a little slack in the
neck. In a few months it will probably be difficult to recognize
in the sleek, well groomed animal the rough, half-starved mare
she was said to be when Dr. Souther picked her for her make
and shape." [90]
The AHC stud book credits *Galfia
with three purebred foals. A fourth one, *Pride 321, may also be
hers, as discussed below. She also produced foals which were not
registered. A random sampling of Vol. 50 of the AHR stud book indicated
that *Galfia appeared in the pedigrees of 61% of horses registered
in that book. [91]
*Pride 321: One of the mysteries
of early Arabian registrations is the mare registered as *Pride
321, a chestnut mare of unknown foaling date imported by the Hamidie
Society for the World's Fair in 1893. In the 1909 issue of the Stud
Book of The Arabian Horse Club of America, the dam of Sheba 19 is
given as "imported Dawn". In Vol. I of The Arabian National Stud
Book (1913), the dam of Sheba 19 is shown as "imported Pride". It
would therefore appear to have been an obvious change of name from
"Dawn" to "Pride." However, a letter from Homer Davenport written
before registration of *Pride 321 indicates that Dawn and *Pride
were separate mares, both out of *Galfia.
[92] This may have been a
simple puzzle which was worked out prior to final registration of
*Pride herself in Vol. II (1918) or it may be one of those blanks
in early registrations which will never be completely understood.
Whether *Pride and "imported Dawn"
were one or two mares, the strain name assigned to one or both is
unconventional. It should have been Hamdani-Simri, since that was
the strain of the imputed dam, *Galfia. However, the strain Maneghi-Slaji
is given by the stud book, as it is for Dawn in Davenport's catalog
of his Hamidie horses, which does not include an entry for the name
"Pride." [93]
The newspaper account of the Bradley
purchases mentions a week-old filly called Albani born to *Galfia
while in transit from Chicago to Boston.
[94] This filly would have
been bred before the Hamidie horses were shipped from the Middle
East, thus fitting the description of either Dawn or *Pride -- if
they were different -- as an imported mare, since she would have
been imported in-utero. There is, however, no way of knowing for
certain that this filly survived to be registered. If she did, she
may have been by Kibaby. The sale catalog of Hamidie Society horses
indicates that *Galfia was in foal to that horse, a grey Saqlawi-Shu'ayfi
stallion and considered by Asdikian to be one of the best of the
Hamidie importation. [95]
According to a random sampling from
Vol. 50 of the AHR stud book, *Pride is estimated to be an ancestress
of 61% of registrations in that book.
[96]
Sirhal: Strain not given. He is described
on arrival in Boston as "an iron-gray stallion, just four years
old. He has capital body, legs and feet -- an Arab with bad feet
is very rare -- but his head is too thick through above the jaw."
[97] Like most of Bradley's
Hamidie Arabians, Sirhal was not registered with the Arabian Horse
Club.
*Mannaky 294: A chestnut stallion
imported by the Hamidie Society in 1893 and registered as a Hamdani-Simri.
He is catalogued by Asdikian and later Davenport as a "Maneghi-Slaji."
The reporter for the Boston Herald who saw him shortly after arrival
from Chicago described him as follows:
"The stallion Manakey is worth
all the rest put together, and it is said, was possibly worth
all the other 32 horses and mares at Chicago. For breeding the
polo pony, this stallion should be in demand. Imagine a beautiful
golden chestnut, standing 14.2, 7 years old, sound, quiet and
yet full of fire. He has all the points of the true desert breed
admirably developed. Small, intelligent head, good tempered,
fearless eye, magnificent chest, capital legs and feet, a perfect
shoulder, just enough sag to the back to give springiness to
the pace, yet not sufficient to cause weakness, and legs that
are hard and lean as possible. His flag is set on high and carried
gayly, but owing to wear in the cars, is not as full as it will
be. The hind quarters are very powerful."
[98]
The reference in this quotation to
"all the other 32 horses and mares at Chicago" gives an indication
of how many Hamidie Society horses were probably alive at the time
of the bankruptcy sale. *Mannaky plus 32 makes a total of 33. Seven
horses had previously died in the fire. Thus 40 horses are accounted
for, which is the number reported to U.S. Customs as imported. The
sale results give 28 head as sold, counting the mysterious grey
mare. The remaining horses must have changed hands in some way not
now known.
Only two foals by *Mannaky 294 were
registered, Zitra 68 and Mannaky Jr. 292, both out of *Galfia. Both
left foals represented in modern pedigrees. Skeletal remains of
Mannaky Jr. are preserved at the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City. They are of special interest because both sire
and dam were imported by the Hamidie Society. Mannaky Jr. was a
fine-boned horse with pronounced dish and moderately wide head in
relation to its length. No one could have mistaken his head for
anything but an Arabian's. Photographs of Zitra exist, showing an
elegant mare of easily recognizable Arabian type.
According to a random sampling from
Vol. 50 of the AHR stud book, 61% of the registrations in that book
are estimated to trace to *Mannaky.
[99]
Halool: He was catalogued by Asdikian
as a bay Kuhaylan Ras Al-Fidawi stallion. His description by the
reporter shortly after arrival in Boston was: "Halool, 8 years old,
is a fine upstanding dark chestnut, with four white feet. He carries
an imposing crest, and is well put together in every way. This stallion
is fully 15 hands high, and he exhibited a very pretty trotting
action when trotted in the paddock -- not high stepping, like the
hackney, and with nothing like the speed of the American trotter,
but a very good trot all the same. This horse would probably make
a valuable mate for saddle mares or hunters. Indeed, being a big,
handsome, sound animal, his blood might be valuable in more ways
than one." [100]
Halool was not registered with the
Arabian Horse Club. There is a contradiction in his description
in that Asdikian gave him as a bay and does not mention white feet,
whereas he was delivered in Boston as a dark chestnut with white
feet. This was an apparently different horse than a bay of the same
name -- probably a son -- owned by Davenport and described by him
in his catalog of horses at the Lewis and Clark Exposition as bred
by Peter Bradley and out of the mare later registered as *Galfia
255. [101]
He should have been of the same strain
as his dam, according to the traditional way strain names of Arabian
horses are assigned. Instead, Davenport's Lewis and Clark catalog
gives him the strain "Ras el Fedawi" which would have been the strain
of the horse after which he was named and which could have been
presumed to have been his sire. That does not make sense, but it
seems to have happened, and is similar to irregularities in strain
assignments in the registrations of several other horses of those
days, such as *Pride 321 and *Mannaky 294.
Abbeian: He was catalogued by Asdikian
as "Gray stallion; 14 3/4 hands; foaled 1888; white nose; breed,
Abeyan-Dahra." [102] He was
bought at the auction of Hamidie Society horses by C. Kindorf who
also bought *Nejdme, Dinyan, and Miggour.
[103] Of the four horses
purchased by Kindorf, *Nejdme and Miggour subsequently turned up
in the ownership of the American Arabian breeding community. It
is not certain that the horse catalogued as the Hamidie Abbeian
did so as well. Photographs of Arabian horses of his presumed time
period identified variously as "Abbeian," "Obeyran," and "Abeyan"
seem to lack the "white nose" marking described by Asdikian. For
more concerning the Hamidie Abbeian see under "Hypothetical Abeyan"
below.
*Koubishan 113: He was catalogued
by Asdikian as "Light bay Stallion; star and snip; 14 1/4 hands;
foaled 1888; breed Kebyshan-El Omeyr"(sic).
[104] This horse was purchased
by Homer Davenport from Peter Bradley in August, 1898.
[105] He was the first Arabian
horse owned by Davenport. He was sold by Davenport in 1902 to a
Mrs. Howard Gould, [106]
but returned to Davenport's ownership by gift as of 1906
[107] and resold 4/1/1906
to a Mr. Shoemaker. Mr. Shoemaker wrote that when the horse was
around twenty, he performed a one-day ride of seventy hilly miles,
carrying over two hundred pounds, and finishing in fine condition.
Davenport noted that *Koubishan had nearly severed his front tendons
while still in Chicago, as a result of poor shoeing.
[108] (N.B. The owner of
*Koubishan is spelled "Shoemaker" in Davenport's book, but a Davenport
letter to the 5/9/1908 issue of The Rider and Driver
calls him "Mr. Henry Schumacher, of the banking firm of Schumacher,
Bates & Co.")
A picture of him in the Woman's
Home Companion [109]
describes him as chestnut, but appears to show a bay. *Koubishan
was registered in Vol. I of the AHC stud book as number 113 and
as imported 1893, which makes his connection with the Hamidie Society
group unmistakable and is an especially interesting aspect of the
registration, because the registration of *Abbeian 111 shows no
such designation, although it must have been done at the same time.
In Vol. II of this stud book, *Koubishan's registration is cancelled.
He sired no registered foals. Dolbony says he raised him from a
foal and references his big jibbah, which is observable in photographs.
[110]
*Obeyran 2: He was given a place
of honor in the stud book of the Arabian Horse Club of America,
as his registration is second to that of the mare *Nejdme 1, and
he is the first Arabian stallion listed. He was catalogued by Asdikian
as an "Iron Gray Stallion; 14 1/2 hands; foaled 1889; breed, Seglowi-Obeyran"(sic).
[111] He is registered in
the 1909 issue of the AHC stud book as "Seglawie Obeyran," Vol.
I as "Seglawie Jedran" foaled 1879, Vol. II as "Abeyan-Sherrak,"
foaled 1879, Vol. III as "Abeyan-Sherrak," foaled 1879, Vol. IV
as "Abeyan-Sherrak," foaled 1879.
Davenport's "World's Fair Arabians"
catalog gives him as a "Seglawi Obeyran" bred 1879.
[112] However, Davenport's
earlier catalog of Lewis and Clark Exposition horses lists an Abeyan
Sherrak named "Abeyan" which appears to be the horse subsequently
registered as *Obeyran 2. Photographs of the Lewis and Clark Exposition
horse show several points of similarity with known photographs of
*Obeyran 2, namely a small scar over the left eye, individualistic
ear shape and position, and a concentration of brown speckling ("flea
bites") on the left forearm.
Davenport's identifications of photographs
as "Obeyran," "Abeya," and "Abeyan" were erratic. It may be that
most if not all such photographs were actually of *Obeyran 2, who
was one of those horses that could look great in one photograph
and not very good in another. Support for the possibility that the
grey at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1905 was *Obeyran 2 is
found in an article published in 1906 and written before Davenport's
trip to the desert in which the only grey Hamidie Society import
in Davenport's possession at that time is the horse subsequently
registered as *Obeyran 2. [113]
Dolbony describes *Obeyran 2 as a
"Seglawi Obeyran" by "El Tahy Managi Hadruj" out of "Senena Seglawieh."
*Obeyran 2 was registered as born 1879, which was ten years older
than the horse described by Asdikian. This coincides approximately
with the date of birth given by Dolbony for *Obeyran 2 which was
"in or about the year 1880."
[114] It may be there was a connection between information from
Dolbony and the date of registration of this horse, which would
therefore not have been a mistaken version of the Asdikian date.
The description of *Obeyran 2 a few days after arriving in Boston
was as follows:
"Obeyra [sic] is an aged horse,
and has evidently done a lot of hard work. His head is very
characteristic, however, and as long life is one of the prerogatives
of the desert breed, he may do capital service at the stud for
many years to come. His head is good... but... there is an absence
of quality in the rest of his make-up..."
[115]
The difference of apparent age in
this description of the horse which was actually delivered to Boston
and the description of the horse in the Asdikian catalog causes
one to wonder if there was some kind of mix-up in horses. Asdikian's
description gives an iron grey foaled 1889. At date of delivery,
that would unmistakably have been a young horse, barely five and
probably under. The horse as actually delivered was "aged," which
would have been an unlikely description for the iron gray described
by Asdikian. It would, however, have fitted the Dolbony birth date.
Whenever he was born, *Obeyran 2
lived to a nice old age in America. He went from Bradley's ownership
to Davenport's some time prior to 1906. Davenport sold him to the
authoress, Eleanor Gates Tully, between publication of Davenport's
World's Fair Catalog of 1906-7 and the 1909 edition of the AHC stud
book. She appears to have been a loving owner who gave him a nice
twilight period in the golden hills of California. Heaven.
In all, *Obeyran had seven registered
foals. He is represented in American breeding, most notably through
Aared 91, from whose female line has come the Bint Sahara and its
subsequent Fadjur-Fersara-Ferzon dynasties in American breeding.
According to a random sampling from Vol. 50 of the AHR stud book,
55% of the registrations in that book are estimated to trace to
*Obeyran. [116]
Hypothetical Abeyan: This horse,
if he existed at all, is not included in the Asdikian catalog of
Hamidie Society horses or in the substantially identical listing
of horses sold at receivership auction on January 4, 1894. That,
of course, does not mean that there was no such horse in the Hamidie
group, since at least five more horses were imported than are included
in Asdikian's catalog (40 through Customs minus 7 burned minus 28
catalogued equals 5).
Homer Davenport repeatedly refers
to a grey stallion of "Abeyan Sherrak" strain as of the Hamidie
Society group. Such a horse is included in his Lewis and Clark Exposition
catalog of 1905. However, judging from photographs taken at the
Exposition, this horse was probably *Obeyran 2.
A horse named "Abeya" of Abayyan-Sharrak
strain is shown in Davenport's catalog of "World's Fair Arabians"
of 1906-07. He is described as a "light gray stallion, bred 1888.
Imported with the World's Fair importation. A beautiful horse, in
perfect condition, who has sired some remarkable polo ponies from
mustang and Southern mares."
[117] The reference to use as a sire of polo ponies from western
and southern mares is an indication that this horse, too, may have
been connected with Peter Bradley's farm.
An undated letter of J. R. Dolbony
in response to a letter by Homer Davenport to him dated September
22, 1909 may have bearing on this subject. In this letter, Dolbony
indicates that he had full knowledge of the Hamidie Society horses
and was apparently part of the Hamidie Society staff. He then gives
particulars concerning the Hamidie Society horses alive during the
Fair (not including "Dawn" and/or *Pride) and which were subsequently
registered by the Arabian Horse Club as of the Hamidie Society.
These horses were *Nejdme 1, *Obeyran
2, *Galfia 255 (called by Dolbony "Jelfeh," indicating that some
would have pronounced *Galfia with a soft Arabic "G."), *Mannaky
294 (called by Dolbony"Manaki"), and *Koubishan (cancelled number
113). An additional horse is also described: "Obeyran, the White
Stallion. The Dam of this horse, Obeyah Sherrakieh, one of the rarest
mares in that country, was owned by Mohemed Agga Swidan, of Hisseh,
sired by the stallion unknown to me though I have heard that he
was a pure Hamdani Simri, descending from Shammar, but I cannot
swear to its positive breeding." Dolbony's letter then says "this
is as much information as I have concerning these horses that you
mention in your letter." [118]
It appears from the foregoing that
Davenport had written to Dolbony and inquired as to six specific
horses of the Hamidie Society importation. These horses included
five whose bloodlines Davenport was known to possess and which were
subsequently registered by the Arabian Horse Club as of the Hamidie
Society. At the time of the inquiry, some of these horses were still
alive, some apparently dead. A sixth horse named "Obeyran," an Abayyan-Sharrak,
is also described and from the context would also seem to have been
inquired about by Davenport. Allowing for alteration of name from
Obeyran to Abeya to Abeyan and for difference in substrain, this
horse could have been the horse of that name catalogued by Davenport
as of his Hamidie Society horses.
Some years ago, the late Gladys Brown
Edwards wrote an article titled "Is Abeyan *Abbeian?"
[119] The question raised
was whether the Abbeian of the Asdikian catalog of Hamidie Society
horses was eventually mistakenly registered as *Abbeian 111, imported
by Homer Davenport. If "Hypothetical Abeyan" was a real horse, the
question could be rephrased "Were there three Abeyans?"
The addition of "Hypothetical Abeyan"
as the third horse makes the question more involved because it removes
evidence of intermediate ownership of a horse named "Abbeian" between
the time of the Hamidie sale of 1894 and the time of ultimate registration
of *Abbeian 111 in the 1913 stud book of the Arabian Horse Club.
There is therefore an increased likelihood that the Hamidie Abbeian
-- like most of the others, including Sirhal, Halool, Miggour, Araby,
Zariffey, and Kazoiv -- did not make it into the AHC stud book,
probably because of non-survival.
It seems doubtful that such a horse
was alive by 1906, when Davenport wrote in his catalog, "World's
Fair Arabians," that he had in his possession all the surviving
Hamidie horses except *Nejdme 1. His listing of horses at that time
did not include the Hamidie Abbeian, although it did include the
horse of different substrain called "Abeya" and here referred to
as "Hypothetical Abeyan."
If Davenport had a Hamidie horse
named "Abbeian" or "Abeyan" and, if such a horse was registered,
it could just as well have been shown as of the Hamidie Society
as was the case eventually with the others of that importation,
including that of *Koubishan 113, who appears to have been registered
at the same time as *Abbeian 111. Instead, the initial registration
of *Abbeian 111 in Vol. I of the AHC stud book lacked indication
of importing source, as did the entries for the other horses of
Davenport's 1906 importation. With publication of Vol. III of the
AHC stud book, the registration of *Abbeian 111 was supplemented
to show importation by Homer Davenport.
When this volume was published Davenport
himself was long dead. The president, vice-president, and three
of the five directors of the Arabian Horse Club of America either
had or were in a position where they can be assumed to have had
personal knowledge of the horse registered as *Abbeian 111, shown
in their stud book as "Imp. 1906 by Homer Davenport." One would
like to think that such a designation was not added by caprice.
This addition filled a gap in the
record of importations provided by the AHC stud book, as in the
immediately previous Vol. II information about importation source
had been added for the Hamidie Society horses and the other Davenport
horses.
This is the sort of conundrum that
delights pedigree nuts. It has no answer at present beyond conjecture.
If some horse named Abbeian or Abeyan of the Hamidie Society group
happened to be registered as *Abbeian 111 and was mistakenly designated
as imported by Homer Davenport, then the influence of the Hamidie
Society importation in American breeding would be stronger than
is presently thought.
PROVENANCE
In strict purist circles, Arabian
foundation breeding stock is acceptable according to the hands through
which it comes to modern breeding. With desert-bred stock, this
has little to do with written bedouin pedigrees because in most
cases such pedigrees do not and probably never did exist. It has
a lot to do with whether horses were accepted by Ali Pasha Sherif,
Lady Anne Blunt, Homer Davenport, the Weil stud, or other reputable
early breeders.
Whether the Hamidie horses actually
had Arabic pedigrees has little to do with their acceptability as
authentic Arabian horses. Historically, desert pedigrees for Arabian
horses are difficult to evaluate unless it is known how they were
obtained. Most desert-bred Arabian horses have come into western
hands whether in England, America, Egypt, continental Europe or
South America by an indirect route, often involving horse dealers
of one sort or another. Some have had written pedigrees and some
have not, probably depending on what the buyers wanted. Such pedigrees
mean very little unless it is known how they were obtained.
It would, of course, be better if
convincing desert documentation for the Hamidie Society horses existed
today. Since it does not, we have to take them in the same way that
we take most other desert-bred Arabians: we evaluate them for what
they were as individuals and according to the credibility of the
sources from which they came to us. According to both standards,
the Hamidie horses compare well with most other desert-breds in
the pedigrees of current Arabian breeding: they looked like the
real thing, and we have good evidence that they derived from a serious
effort by the Ottoman Empire to show the best of its products and
the most interesting parts of its culture to the American public.
One of the problems for the Hamidie
bloodlines was a persistent campaign of gossip against them which
publicly surfaced in Rider and Driver magazine only a few weeks
after the Boston Herald's report of the arrival in the Boston area
of the horses Peter Bradley had purchased at the auction in Chicago.
[120] The article was written
anonymously. It repeated the Boston Herald material to which was
added commentary questioning the purity of most of Bradley's new
horses. Perhaps frequent mention of Randolph Huntington's horses
in this commentary is a clue as to its source. If so, the tone and
manner of it would have been typical.
This type of criticism has continued
to the present day, fueled initially by conflicting factions in
the early Arabian horse breeding community and on a continuing basis
by Asdikian's unfortunate early article about them.
There are, of course, unresolved
and probably unresolvable questions about specific details concerning
the Hamidie Society horses. Similar questions exist for almost every
major breeding group of horses of that long ago.
One good indication of the value
of Hamidie Society bloodlines is that they were used by respected
breeders who were close to the time of their importation, including
Bradley and Davenport, as has been noted. W. R. Brown, who was the
best American student of Arabian breeding of his day, went to great
effort to obtain Jockey Club registration for the stallion Jerrede
84, son of the Hamidie mare *Nejdme 1, so that he could use him
in his own program which specialized in Arabians of Jockey Club
registration. Brown would not have used a stallion which he thought
of questionable authenticity.
LOOKING BACK
It is now almost a hundred years
since the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. As we look back on the event,
the financial problems of the exhibition are mostly forgotten. We
remember instead its color and romance and are grateful that it
provided opportunity for early Arabian breeders to be drawn to a
unique display of the breed. A number of those people went on to
be the leaders of the new Arabian horse community in America with
important breeding ventures of their own and to found the Arabian
Horse Club of America.
We also have something of the horses
left. Several of them are ancestors in most American pedigrees.
According to recent statistical research by D. L and J. F Dirks,
they appear in the pedigrees of 82% of a random sample of horses
taken from Vol. 50 of the AHR stud book, contributing 00.80% of
the blood of horses tracing to them. This is estimated at 5.2 times
their statistically expected contribution to the breed. (See
Table 1.) It is a remarkably high figure for horses which are
usually considered to be an obscure part of American breeding. Except
for *Nejdme, these horses were mostly out of production before Arabian
breeding got going in this country. Their impact on the breed would
no doubt have been much greater had they had more normal opportunity
for utilization.
There were not enough registered
Hamidie horses so that by themselves they contribute a large percentage
of the ancestry of any presently living horse. But they are a very
important part of an integral element in American breeding: that
little group of bloodlines which have come from desert Arabia to
America without leaving breeding stock in intermediate host countries.
Almost all Arabian horses of American
registration trace to such ancestry. Often the overall percentage
by which they do is surprisingly high. This is an aspect of Arabian
breeding which is unique to American bloodlines. Its persistent
survival in the presence of the multitudes of imports from highly
publicized national breeding programs of other countries shows that
this major bloodline source contributes to the kind of horse that
is desired by American Arabian owners.
It may be that an appropriate definition
for the "American" Arabian horse is that it descends from some such
uniquely American foundation stock. That would differentiate the
"American Arabian" horse from the mixture of bloodlines of various
sources that seems to be developing on an international basis, mostly
in other countries. Surely the "American" Arabian horse should have
a feature that is uniquely American.
Many bloodlines contribute to this
uniquely American element. The Hamidie horses of the Chicago World's
Fair of 1893 were among them, setting a context for Arabian breeding
in a new country, led by lovely *Nejdme, who is number one in our
national Arabian stud book. She and those in her importation were
joined by others, most especially their contemporaries in the Huntington
and Davenport groups with whom their blood blended so well.
Examples of other horses in the same
tradition are *Mirage, *Turfa, *Exochorda, the imports of Bistany,
Harris, Hearst, and Rihani, and more recent desert-breds imported
in the years following the second World War.
And, finally, when thinking about
the horses of the Hamidie Hippodrome Society, we ought to recognize
the name of their importation as a continuing memorial to Abdul
Hamid II, Lord of the Two Seas, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, a
man of intrigue, an oriental despot, and, in his way, one of the
contributing founders of Arabian breeding in America.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research background of this article
has been greatly enhanced by material generously furnished by Matthew
Zuppas and by Jerald and Debra Dirks from their research into U.
S. Archives. In addition, reference materials were furnished by
Dr. James Keith and Mrs. Joyce Hampshire. Dr. Zeynep Celik graciously
translated Turkish language material from an 1893 Turkish newspaper.
Mr. Howard Shenk of the Arabian Horse Foundation was very helpful
in furnishing material from the early Jockey Club studbooks, and
much other material from the Foundation files was used pertaining
to the early establishment of the Arabian horse in the U.S. The
Arabian Horse Trust, Lori Grumet, librarian, has been most helpful
in making further material on the subject available. We express
particular appreciation to Mr. Peter Sarra for furnishing a facsimile
edition of the Asdikian catalog and other items of material as well
as personal consultation.
The manuscript for this article has
benefited from constructive criticism from Mrs. Bertha Craver, Mr.
and Mrs. Michael Bowling, Mr. R. J. Cadranell, Dr. and Mrs. Jerald
Dirks, Mrs. Joyce Hampshire, and Mrs. Carol Lyons. They have each
tried to contribute to its greater accuracy and clarity, and where
problems remain it is only because of the obtuseness of the authors
who have too often persisted in their own errors.
Statistics courtesy of Debra L. and
Jerald F. Dirks. Compiled from a random sample of 100 horses from
Vol. 50 of the Arabian Horse Registry Stud Book. (Note: The influence
of *Galfia 255 is calculated on the assumption that she was the
dam of *Pride 321.)
