Syria – like a Phoenix from the Ashes

Who of the participants of the WAHO Conference 2007 in Syria does not fondly remember this country? In the following years, Syria had become one of my most preferred destinations in the Middle East – for its unique horse population, for its cultural heritage, but on top of all for its people. After eight years of war, I had now the chance to go back to see what’s left.

For me, Syria is the land of origin of our European (or Western) Arabian horse, because most of the purchasing commissions went to Syria, not to the Nedjd, to buy horses. They bought from the horse breeding Bedouin tribes in Syria and at the markets of Damascus and Aleppo, where the Bedouins often offered their horses, especially colts, through dealers. The Syrian people have preserved these horses, virtually unaltered, for Hundreds of years. To go to Syria is like going back in time. The pure Syrian Arabian horse is closest to what I would call the ‘Bedouin horse’, the type of horse that Baron von Fechtig, Count Rzewuski, Baron von Herbert, Colonel von Brudermann and many others, have brought to Europe in the 19th century.

The Bedouin Horse

By the end of the 17th, early 18th century, a group of Bedouin tribes moved north from the Arabian Peninsula, presumably because of a major plague and the rise of the Wahhabism in (today’s) Saudi Arabia. These people largely belonged to two big tribal confederations, the Shammar, and the Anazeh. Most of the Shammar moved North and crossed over the Euphrates to live in north-eastern Syria and Iraq. The Anazeh tribal confederation – including tribes such as the Hassana, the Ruallah, the F’daan, and the S’baa instead spread out in the Syrian Badiya. Many of these tribes, from both the Anazeh and Shammar confederations, maintained strong ties to the Arabian Peninsula and have kept these connections alive even till today by marriage. Some of the descendants of the Shammar, Anazeh and Tai Bedouin tribes are breeding “their” strains of Arabian horses since 300 years within their family – it is hard to find a more authentic Arabian horse today then the pure Syrian Arabian! Therefore I was really happy to go back to Syria after a break of eight years, to see what is left of this legacy.

Visiting Syria

“Is it really safe there?”, was the most common questions, when I mentioned that I was invited to attend the 1st Al Sham International Arabian Horse Festival in Damascus last April. The answer, after coming back from this unique trip safe and sound, is “Yes, it is safe, at least in and around Damascus”. After eight years of war, which is called “the unjust war against the Syrian people” by the Syrians themselves, I was more than happy to see that this country and its people slowly find their way back to something like “normality”. The festival – of which it is said was attended by an estimated 100.000 people – was important for the Syrian breeders, for them to see that their efforts in preserving the Syrian Arabian horses during the difficult time of war are appreciated by the public, national and international, but also by the government. And so, the Syrian Arab Horse Association (SAHA) had great support from various Ministries, the city of Damascus, and other organizations in staging the festival.
The Arabian horse is deeply rooted in the traditions and in the history of Syria, therefore the festival also included folklore, traditional craftsmanship, local food, dances, and much more. One of the highlights was the Grand Sham Arabian Horse Parade with close to 300 riders parading through the streets of Damascus. It was a revival of the march on the occasion of the WAHO conference in 2007, and again, Thousands of spectators lined the streets along the 11 km stretch, eager to touch and pet the horses as they came along. Their riders, mostly in their traditional attire, enjoyed to parade their horses and let them dance to the music of the boy (and girl!) scouts brass band. Young and old were on their feet and for the Syrians, this march had an especially significant meaning, as it took place on the Syrian Independence Day, commemorating Syria’s proclamation of full independence and the end of the French mandate of Syria on 17 April 1946.
The one-and-a-half hour march ended where it began, at the festival grounds at the Old Damascus Fair venue, which was – until a couple of months prior to the festival – just a rubble pit. It took 500 truckloads of rubble and debris to be trucked away, to clear the site. Help came also from the members of the Mahfouza sports club. This sports club is really not only about sports but also about art and music and on top of all a social project called “Bukra Elnad – tomorrow is ours”: Children aged 3 to 15 are given the opportunity to get acquainted with various different activities, to find their favorite discipline and be trained in it, which helps them to overcome their war traumata. The best kids gave wonderful performances, either by painting the wall with Arabian horse motives, by decorating the entrance to the Fair Ground, by giving dance and music performances on the nightly stage, and many more activities. On the sad side, many of these children are war orphans.

The Impact of the War

A testimony of how deeply rooted the Arabian horse is with the Syrian people can be demonstrated by the fact, that as early as the 1950ies and 60ies, the Ministry of Agriculture had established stallion depots in the various Syrian governorates, and later, in 1994, a specialized Arabian Horse Office was created under the Ministry, which later became the studbook organization. In 2003, the Syrian Arabian Horse Association (SAHA) was founded, headed by Basil Jadaan, and in the following years, several activities were organized, such as races in Damascus, Latakia and Hama, shows (ECAHO), auctions and endurance rides (2009 and 2010) up to CEI** 120 km. Not to forget the 2007 WAHO Conference in Syria, that took the guest on an unforgettable tour to the Al Jazira, the “island” between Euphrates and Tigris, to experience true Bedouin hospitality. These were the “Golden Years” of Arabian horse breeding in Syria, that lasted until 2010.
The war hit not only the Syrian people badly but also the horses. While horse breeding in the regime-controlled areas around Damascus hasn’t suffered so much, it was in the districts out of the control of the government, that most casualties occurred. A number of big studs around Aleppo were severely affected, such as Al Jabri Farm of Ihsan al-Jabri. Here, ISIS took over the farm, which included more than 100 horses, mares and foals. Al Andalus stud of the Anbargi family is destroyed. “Aleppo lost almost all of its Arabians and almost all buildings were damaged”, says Omar Anbargi and concluded: “I personally took a step back with almost anything to do with Arabians as it was not easy for me to get over what happened with my family horses.” The Al Nassif family lost around 50 horses when their farm Al Bawady in northern Homs was bombarded at the beginning of the war. A lot of horses died because of shrapnel wounds or lack of shelter since dozens of stables were demolished. To make things worse, the lack of medicines made it impossible to treat them appropriately. Horses also died from a lack of feed, as food supply was difficult to get and expensive. Wadia Khoury of Al Furat Stables at the banks of the Euphrates river near Deir Ez Zoor has not yet returned to his home since he fled ISIS. His horses were looted by ISIS, but recently he got three offspring back after the army got hold of them. Basil Jadaan lost his horses as well, although his stable was near Damascus. “ISIS took them hostage, to blackmail me”, he recalls, “but I did not pay out of principle. I haven’t seen them again. Fortunately, I could regain all my bloodlines and strains from those horses that I had previously given to my sister. They represent today five generations of my breeding”. Also, the horses of the National Stud near Damascus were looted, and only 22 were returned, when the Syrian Arab Army freed them in 2017/2018, together with some 50 horses of private breeders. In this situation, the freeze brand, which is still in use in Syria, proved to be beneficial, as the horses could be identified easily and returned to their rightful owners. I have been to most of these stables before the war and it is heartbreaking to think that all these horses perished… But then, this war has also killed more than half a Million Syrians to which one must grieve.

Remembering Bagdad Al Andalous



“In the spring of 2003, my most beloved mare, Dheem the Second, gave birth to a gorgeous chestnut filly, the fourth generation of our Hamdani Ofri, at my family ranch in Kafar Dael to the west of Aleppo city.
She was born in the same period when the coalition forces were “destroying” Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. I was in England when my father called me to deliver the happy news of her birth. He said he has named the filly Baghdad!
A few years later, Baghdad, who enjoyed a very fine and noble pedigree, became one of the most beautiful pure Syrian Arabians and was a winner in every show she participated in. Indeed, she enjoyed a happy life and made everyone around her happy and proud!
In 2014, however, she was looted by ISIS and taken to Raqqa to become one of their most prestigious Arabians. A picture of Baghdad, where she was leading an “official” ISIS parade, was on Al-Hayat newspaper of London.
Much to my dismay, I understand she was injured and probably killed by an airstrike on Raqqa! I also understand that she was eaten after that.
I have to admit that I did not get over that, and I do not think I ever will or even want to. Particularly, I will never forgive anyone involved in her misery. I will not forgive because those “people” are proud of what they have done and do not even ask for forgiveness.”

Omar Anbargi

The Situation Today

However, as tragic as these losses are, the majority of horses survived and are still breeding! And the figures given by the Arabian Horse Office and WAHO are surprising: While between 1998 and 2010, the number of foals born per year increased moderately from 150 to 210, their numbers increased from 2014 to 2018 from 350 to around 800 foals registered with the Syrian Arabian Horse Studbook! Even during the war, in 2016 to 2018, three registration trips to the eastern districts of Syria were made, to Al Hassakeh and Al Qamishli, where the Bedouin tribes of the Shammar, Tai, Al Jbour, Al Adwan, and Al Iqaidat live. For example, in the district of Al Hassakeh there are hundreds of horses that belong to members of the Shammar tribe, the tribe which owns the largest number of horses in this area. All in all, 2200 horses were freeze marked during these three years, and in 2018, another 1022 horses were branded and entered into the studbook. Today, a total of 8657 horses are under the supervision of the Arabian Horse Office (Studbook), of which around 80% are of pure Syrian bloodlines.
2018 saw the return of Arabian horse activities and a “rehearsal” of this year’s International Arabian Horse Festival, with a parade, horse exhibition, and auction, etc. In October, the first ECAHO show after the war took place with 107 horses, of which 67 were of pure Syrian origin. Eight races were held in Damascus and Hama with 40 horses participating in each race meeting. Most of these races are for horses of pure Syrian bloodlines.
The Festival also included a race meeting with seven races over 1450 and 1600 meters in Damascus, but unfortunately, the weather was not in favor of the horses and riders, as it rained heavily and even snowed in the nearby mountains. So the races took place in the pouring rain while the spectators huddled together in the grandstands. After three hours of freezing, a glass of whiskey that appeared from nowhere was greatly appreciated. The race meeting culminated in a spectacular display of the mounted police, doing their furussiyyah stunts while a group of horseback archers demonstrated their target accuracy in archery. The archers were no less than Ali Goorchian, President of the Persian Horseback Archery Association, World Champion in 2011 and 2012, and Bronze medalist 2016, as well as Ana Sokolska, also one of the world’s leading horseback archers. She has been successfully participating in many international events and has a training stable for horseback archery in Poland. And finally Walid Khawajkye of Syrian nationality, but living in Qatar. None of them missed the target as one might expect in this high-profile cast.

The Strains

There has been scientific research conducted on the genetic diversity of the Syrian Arabian horse, which confirmed that the Syrian Arabian has the biggest diversity of all. That does make sense, if you imagine, that our purchasing commissions in the 19th century only selected relatively few specimens out of a huge gene (or horse) pool, most of which were of the same “type” or preference, most of them represented only a few strains, as they were often purchased from the same Bedouin tribes, the Anazeh with their sub-tribes F’daan, S’baa, Ruallah, etc. From this nucleus, which represented only a fraction of what was there, the Arabian horse was bred on in the West, often by inbreeding, because of the limited number of horses available. So, genetic diversity wasn’t big in the beginning and decreased due to inbreeding in the West even further.
But the greater the genetic diversity, the more “original” is the population. The genetic diversity of the autochthonous (indigenous) Arabian horse populations of Syria and Iran is bigger than anywhere else in the world. This makes it so unique!

The Strains in Syria
At present, the following strains are still maintained within Syria (in brackets the European common names). The numbers behind the strain name indicate the number of horses in Syria of that strain in 2016.

Al Saglawiat (Siglawy / Saklawi) – 2907
Saglawiet Ibn Bisra
Saglawieh Jedranieh
Saglawieh Jedranieh Ibn Zobeini
Saglawieh Jedranie Ibn Amoud
Saglawieh Shaifieh
Saglawieh Marzakanieh

Al Keheilat (Koheilan / Kuhaylan) – 1488
Keheilet Ibn Mizher
Keheilet Um Arqoub
Keheilet Jreibeh
Keheilet Jalfat Sattam Al Boulad
Keheilet Jalfet Dahwi
Keheileh Hablanieh
Kheieleh Haifieh
Keheileh Khidlieh
Keheileh Khalawieh
Keheileh Da’ajanieh
Keheileh DaÄajanieh Kasher
Keheilet Al Rabdah
Keheilet Reeshah Sarabieh
Keheilet Sa’adat Touqan
Keheilet Al Tewaiseh
Keheilet Ajuz
Keheilet Ajuz Ibn Jleidan
Keheileh Armousheh
Keheilet Al Kubeysha
Keheilet Krush
Keheilet Krush Al Abaida
Keheilet Al Musineh
Keheileh Memrahieh
Keheileh Nawakieh
Keheilet Al Wati

Al Hamdaniat (Hamdani) – 560
Hamdaniat Ibn Ghorab
Hamdanieh Semrieh
Hamdanieh Al Efri

Al Obayat (Obayan) – 498
Obayet Ibn Sehayan
Obayet Um Jreis
Obeyah Seheilieh
Obeyah Sharakieh

Al Ma’anagiat (Maanaghi) – 416
Ma’anagieh Sbeylieh
Ma’anagieh Sbeiliet Abou Saifain
Ma’anagieh Hadraouji

Al Shweimat (Shuwaiman) – 269
Shweimat Sabbah

Al Hedeb (Hadban) – 42
Hadban Enzahi
Hadban Enzahi Al Fawaarah

Al Dahmat (Dahman) – 9
Dahmah Amir

Economic Problems

After the Napoleonic wars, when horse breeding in Europe was devastated, some Europeans started to make the importation of Arabian horses from Syria a “business model”. These horses were meant to bring the still existing, but in numbers and quality greatly decimated breeding stock in Europe back on track. The “business model” included the necessary expertise about horses in general and the Arabian horse in particular, taking the risk to go to Arabia and its adjacent areas to purchase suitable horses, and bring them safe and sound to Europe, mainly to the ports of Trieste or Livorno. This was an ideal solution for the European buyers, who did not need to take all the risks involved in such an expedition, but, on the other hand, these horses had their price. For example, the German-Austrian Baron von Fechtig was one of the first Europeans to make the importation of Arabian horses a business model. When he imported the stallions Bairaktar and Tajar for the Royal Stud Weil of the King of Württemberg, he asked the price of 4500 Imperial Ducats for them. Today, the gold value of these coins is equivalent to around half a Million Euro!
Of course, the prices are very different today. The Director of the Arabian Horse Office at the Ministry of Agriculture, Engineer Mohamed Ghyath al-Shayeb, estimated the value of exports to the Gulf States in 2006, 2007, and 2008 to be around 40 to 50 million Syrian pounds (ca. 600.000 €), some individual horses were sold for 75.000 € and more. The prices today are in the range of 10-15.000 € for a quality horse and this decline makes horse keeping and breeding difficult because food and medicine are expensive – if available at all.
The economic embargo, imposed by the US and EU on Syria, makes the situation for the people even worse, of course. We saw queues of cars, several kilometers long, waiting for fuel at the one gas station that was supplied with some gasoline. The tourism sector, once accounting for 14% of the GDP of Syria, has been crushed, and as long as the foreign embassies are not re-opening, tourism won’t come back, despite the fact that there are safe areas, such as Damascus. The Syrian people are longing for tourists to come back – and one little story shall serve as an example: It was a cold and miserable day – it was actually snowing! -, when we visited some temples and the amphitheater in Shahba, in the province of Daraa. We were freezing as nobody was dressed appropriately for the cold weather when suddenly a local resident came and offered us some hot tea. He had seen us, the first tourists for many years, and heartily welcomed us his way.
The Arabian horse is a symbol of originality, friendship, and loyalty. It brings people together from around the world and creates a basis for mutual understanding as can be experienced at every WAHO Conference. But especially the 2007 conference in Syria, at the very source of our breed, demonstrated that despite all political agendas, those who love the Arabian horse cannot hate Syria and its people.
Gudrun Waiditschka

Further articles about the Syrian Arabian horses (as pdf in German / English language):

AJ 5-2006 The Magic of the Orient (223 Downloads)

AJ 6-2006 In the Homeland of the Arabian Horse I (72 Downloads)

AJ 7-2006 In the Homeland of the Arabian Horse II (66 Downloads)

AJ 8-2006 In the Homeland of the Arabian Horse III (57 Downloads)

AP 2-19 Wie Phönix aus der Asche (758 Downloads)