by Claire Garceau of
El Janan Arabians, Blackstone, Mass.
Arabian Horse News August 1972
Davenports “happened” to me many year ago when I bought my first half-Arabian mare, sired by the Davenport stallion KOKHLESON (Ashmar x Kokhle). I found this mare to be very different from any horse I had ever known. Besides being versatility itself, she had a special “human” quality I now know to be particular to Davenport Arabians.
Later on, we acquired a nice-looking purebred stallion and were having a fine time riding and showing him. One day I was browsing through the NEWS and saw an advertisement for Craver Farms and their Davenports. I wrote to Charles and, after several friendly and informative letters, we sold our stallion and were picking an unborn foal from Charles’ list of expecting mares. I chose DHAREBAH (Dhareb x Antarah), who was in foal to TRIPOLI (Hanad x Poka), hoping for a colt. Well, “he,” JANAN ABINOAM 11433 was born, and Charles kindly kept him a year until we could go to Illinois to bring him home. We brought him home in late June and showed him at the New England Arabian Show in July, where, to our delight, he took second in his class.
He was not shown again until he was old enough to be under saddle. We showed mostly at open shows; there weren’t many with Arabian classes then. He was shown both English and western in a variety of classes that ran from pleasure to road hack to costume and everything between! When permitted, he went in lead line, walk-trot, and regular equitation classes. During all this he continued to be everyone’s favorite trail-riding horse too!
In May 1968, he was in a terrible trailer accident and there were doubts that he would come through it. But he did, and the vet said it was his intelligence that did it. No matter how he hurt him, “Binnie” seemed to know that Dr. Maury was trying to help him. He made a remarkably fast recovery and soon was being ridden bareback by one of his little friends, still with an open hole in his side. It has left scars that he will always carry; it took over one hundred stitches to put him together inside before the vet began on the skin outside. Other than the scars, it has not bothered him, and we are very thankful.
Until 1970, Binnie had been shown western more than any other way. We suddenly decided to really show, and, since there are so few western Arabian classes at the show, we switched him to English pleasure. He enjoyed it, and his enjoyment was evident in the way he would really go at a beautiful extended trot. He was doing great when, in the middle of show season, we lost our rider. So we handed Binnie over to 13-year-old Jessica Barry, who had been riding for less than a year. When the Massachusetts Horsemen’s Council tallied up points at the end of the year, Jessie and Binnie came out Champion Arabian. He made two wins at the end of the year in the North Shore Horsemen’s Council that were also great. One was Champion English Pleasure Arabian, and the other, even more impressive, was Reserve Champion Gentleman’s Pleasure Horse. This, of course, was in open competition against all breeds of horses being shown both English and western.
We have always shown our Arabians in open shows and usually do well. I wish more Arabian people would show open. It certainly proves that the Arabian can do — and we have found it makes a lot of friends for him. I’d hate to count the number of people who have said: “I thought the Arabian was just a pretty horse to look at. I didn’t think they could really be used.” We went to one show in ‘70 — an open show, held on a date when there were no Arab points to garner. Against good competition, Binnie won the following: first in English model; first in saddle seat; seconds in stock seat and cowgirl appearance; first in western pleasure and western parade; and the western championship.
Binnie’s disposition is most marvelous. He is ridden mostly by children, and, while I may worry when the children are out on the mares, I never worry when one is on Binnie. In the winter they have snowball fights with him or just a good game of tag. In the summer there is a big beachball that he is learning to kick to them. His sense of humor is fine. They chase him, then he wheels, lays back his ears and charges them. They scream and run. He takes a few steps, then stops and watches them run, with a big smile on his face! His birthday party is the big event of the season. He opens his own packages, samples the edible gifts, and licks the cake plate.
Right now we are not showing him. He has proved himself. So now he is used mostly for trail riding, for breeding, and for serving as our official host to visitors. His foals have been very much like him in their beautiful conformation and intelligence. He has many very nice partbred foals to his credit. One is a 3-year-old Pinto gelding named JANAN SHAHAAB; he has been doing very well in his first year of showing in both Pinto and open classes.
After owning Binnie all this time, my desire for more horses of Davenport breeding steadily grows stronger. They seem to become more and more of a friend and less and less of a horse all the time.
copyright 1988 by JOYCE GREGORIAN HAMPSHIRE
Upland Farm
Holliaron, Maine
all right reserved
Arabian Visions May1972
Of course I am prejudiced. The first of my Davenport horses was — and is — the third TRIPOLI/DHAREBAH foal, JANAN ABINOAM. Better known as “Binni,” a.k.a. “The King of Upland Farm,” he is a 1960 grey stallion. In the last few years, more than 20 other Davenport horses have joined him and the other Arabians at my farm, including Binni’s full siblings PRINCE HAL (a 1959 grey stallion), PERICLES (a 1965 grey stallion) and LADY FAIR (a 1966 grey mare). The head of the family, SIR (a 1958 grey stallion) is in charge of Alice Martin Kuhn’s Star West stables, and the other full sibling LADY GREY (a 1961 grey mare) is now deceased. What makes these horses so special?
First, there is the simple fact that a successful nick was recognized and repeated often enough to create a family of siblings, a rarity in the horse-breeding world. Mares that produce will tend to be put to many different sires. When a mare has most or all of her foals by one sire and they are all identifiably worthy individuals, that fact alone is noteworthy. For example FADJUR has many famous offspring, but the family he produced from SAKI is particularly well-known. DHAREBAH’s foals by ARAMIS, MONSOON and TYBALT were also exceptional but their fame is a little overwhelmed by the size and vigor of her family by TRIPOLI.
Harara x Moliah (foaled 1921)
Author not given
from “The Horse Lover” Apr/May ‘51
A brief history of the progenitor of the Antez line; his sons and daughters are carrying on their great sire’s reputation in the show ring, on the track.
Antez was foaled in California in 1921 from stock tracing entirely to the horses brought from the Arabian desert by Homer Davenport in 1906. His sire HARARA and his dam Moliah had been bred at the Hingham Stock Farm in Massachusetts by Mr. Peter B. Bradley.
Later Antez was acquired by Mr. W. K. Kellogg [1925 -- Antez was 4] at whose Pomona California Ranch the horse was featured as one of the “tops” of that famous “Romance of Pomona” ranch and for several years he was many times a champion at shows on the West coast in halter classes as well as being first on several occasions at five gaits under saddle.
In 1933 at age of 12 years, he was purchased by General J. M. Dickinson of Tenn.
He was used at Dickinson’s Travelers Rest Arabian Stud Farm for breeding purposes and in the 1933 National Arabian show he stood 3rd in the Mature Stallion championships and his daughter Fayadan won the championship over about a dozen other fine weanlings. Since then his sons and daughters have gone on to win many honors in the show rings of America.
Antez today stands undisputed as one of best sires in America as to passing on his strong breed character to his get and they in turn are passing it on to their produce.
by Jerry J. Embry, M.D.
The Arabian Horse Journal, April 1982
An old adage goes “There is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.” In this age of pressures and uncertainties, even fears, for some of us there is something fundamentally restorative to the human spirit in our association with horses. This is true whether one is in the barn with a foaling mare or in the saddle attempting to master the classic rules of the past which are forever necessary to good riding.
My association with horses began in 1966 when I decided to buy a first riding horse. I was engaged in my psychiatric training at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver and thought the Colorado countryside would be a fine place to ride. I mentioned this in passing to one of my supervisors, Dr. Fred Mimmack, who was, unbeknownst to me, a very knowledgeable horseman, and he suggested that instead of buying I take riding lessons from a European dressage master who had located in the area. That was only the first of many pieces of good advice from Fred as I entered the world of horses. Fred subsequently introduced me to the Arabian horse and particularly to the Davenport lines. During my stay in Colorado he obtained the Davenport stallion KAMIL-IBN-SALAN and explained the significance of his Bedouin origins. He also sold me DAHN, a Half-Arab mare, which I bred to KAMIL-IBN-SALAN in 1968 before moving to Knoxville, Tennessee. At that time my interest was in riding rather than in any particular breed of horse, but Fred’s Davenports, and especially KAMIL-IBN-SALAN, made impressions that would greatly influence my later direction.
(foaled 1924)
by Grace Dashiell
Arabian Horse News(?) 1950
The J.G. MacConnells have a pleasant ranch home near the foothills not far from Chatswarth, Calif. Close by there is a stable, corrals, and a pasture where they keep a small band of Arabian horses, headed by the white classic Arabian stallion, Dhareb (AHC-537), which they purchased from the W. K. Kellogg Institute in 1932. Dhareb, now 26 years old, is one of the few old classic stallions of “all-Davenport” bloodlines still living.
Dhareb’s sire was the famous Letan who was a favorite of Will Rogers since he was an excellent stock horse. His dam was Moliah who was bred by the Hingham Stock Farm.
Dhareb’s four grandparents, *Muson, *Jedah, *Hamrah, and *Wadduda, were all imported by Davenport in 1906. Davenport’s 1908 catalog states that *Muson was a horse of spectacular beauty. He descends from the famous “Listening-mare” which warned her Bedouin master of the approach of raiders which struck that night and only the mare and a few escaped. Thus the name was given Kehilet Muson, or “listening horses”. *Muson created a sensation in Madison Square Garden in 1907 when ridden by Buffalo Bill the first two evenings of his Wild West Show. He was much admired in the exhibit made before President Theodore Roosevelt and his guests. *Jedah was a brown mare of Sheykh Aba Hassan. She was taken from the tribe of Jedah who got her from the Shammar. She was a remarkable walker, according to Davenport. *Hamrah was considered one of the best of the importation by Davenport. He was a beautiful golden bay of immense power and fine action. Without any preparation and never before having run at top speed, when only three in an impromptu mile-race, he ran the last quarter in 29 seconds. Many who saw him preferred him to any of the importations. His dam was the beautiful *Urfah.
By Aaron Dudley
Photos from Spide Rathbun Collection
from The Western Horseman Mar ’52
Probably no horse of modern time — including the favorite mounts of our current TV and movie cowboys — has enjoyed greater popularity or been viewed by more people than a proud little grey Arab named Jadaan.
That name probably means little to the average horseman, and certainly nothing to the millions of curious who have seen him, but when you say he’s “the horse that Rudolph Valentino rode” there’s an immediate reaction.
Millions trekked to the famous W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse ranch at Pomona, Calif., upon the matinee idol’s death to see this horse and view trappings the dashing Latin used in his popular desert pictures of the 1920s. And although the ranch had many fine horses, fully 90 percent of the visitors who came wanted to see “the Valentino horse.” Women crowded around his box stall, wore the stable door smooth pressing for a better look at the sleek stallion. And they stood to silent near-reverence when Jadaan was led riderless into the arena carrying his former master’s colorful desert regalia.
This idolizing of a movie hero’s horse continued almost unabated for 19 years until the little horse died in 1945. And then avid Valentino zealots had his skeleton preserved and enshrined in the University of California’s School of Animal Husbandry.
by Jack Kenning
Three K Arabians
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Arabian Visions May 1988
This article is sort of a labor of love. The story of *WADDUDA and the Davenport importation aroused my interest in history and bloodlines when we first got involved in Arabians some 18 years ago. Our first pure blood, my ever beloved personal mare, ALDEBARANN was by FERONEK out of the DHAREB daughter, FARHAN. Our Sr. Lady, my first Arab love, our 30-year-old ZARA EL TEHRAN, now deceased, traces to *WADDUDA three times, through AABAZEM (Tabab-Domow), FARHAN (Dhareb – Moliah), and HANAD (Sankirah – Moliah) ; the dam of our 28-year-old RASIFA was DAANA RA by *RASEYN out of RAIDAANA by JADAAN.
Although the Davenport importation of 1906 did not begin Arabian breeding in the U.S., it gave a major impetus and also was a factor in the formation of the Arabian Horse Registry of America. There were then perhaps 50 Arabians in this country largely derived from Hamidie Society stock brought in for the Chicago World Exposition, English horses of Lady Anne Blunt, Rev. Vidal, Miss Dillon, etc. There were a few established studs, those of Huntington, Borden, Ramsdell, and Peter Bradley, Davenport’s financial backer and partner of sorts; Davenport himself owned some Arabians. His idea was to bring to the U.S. horses of actual Bedouin breeding in actual use by the horse breeding tribes.
Even equipped with a letter from Pres. Theodore Roosevelt and a special permit (Irade) from Abdul Hamid II, the Turkish sultan, Davenport’s success was derived from several lucky breaks. He went in the summer, though the temperature was hot (reported as +120 in Aleppo) it happened to be the time when the nomadic Bedouin were pasturing in the northern desert fairly close at hand. When he and his companions arrived in Aleppo, he had somewhat the feeling of where do we go from here. While shopping in the Suuk (market) he met an Anazeh Bedouin who offered to take him to Achmet Heffez, an old Anazeh Shaikh who resided there as diplomatic representative/liaison to the Turkish government. A fortunate blunder. Personal honor ranks high in the Bedouin value system. Old Achmet Haffez was so overwhelmed and pleased at this honor paid to him and the Bedouin that he undertook to guide Davenport to the encampments of the Anazeh, to Hashem Bey. Shaikh of all Shaikhs of the Fid’an and to personally oversee his purchases. It also produced the first fruit of the expedition. In Bedouin tradition, Achmet Haffez conveyed to Davenport a gift, presenting him with none other than the famed war mare *Wadduda.
by Christa-Maria Grier
A number of years ago, while searching for my image of the perfect Arabian horse, I was fortunate to find Oberon #15686 (Tripoli x Dhalana).
Oberon was a beautiful Davenport bay stallion of the Kuhaylan-Hayfi strain. He came as close as any horse I had yet seen to my image of the perfect Arabian.
He was exactly the type of stallion on which I could build a breeding program. He combined rare and authentic desert bloodlines, great beauty, sure-footed athleticism, and a warm and gentle personality.
Fortunately, I was able to purchase Oberon from Alton V. Freeman, who requested at the time of purchase that Oberon be allowed to run free with his mares, and this routine has been followed ever since.
Oberon is ridden each morning for about one hour, and then is turned loose with his mares for the rest of the day.
copyright 1991 by Carol Lyons
May 1991 Arabian Visions
Used by permission of Carol Lyons
All rights reserved
The term, Davenport Arabian, is used to identify the desert-bred Arabian registered as imported by Homer Davenport in 1906. It also applies to any horse which is totally descended from horses in that importation. Several years ago, a study of a random sample from the current AHR Stud Book indicated that as many as 85% of the foals bred in the United States had one or more lines to Davenport horses. The story of the Davenport importation thus affects most American breeding. In addition to these part-Davenport horses, there are about 700 living Arabians which are “straight Davenport.” In many ways these straight Davenports represent a truly unique breeding group. There is no other breeding group like it, anywhere in the world.
Webster (1989) defines the word “unique” as” 1. existing as the only one, or the sole example; 2. having no like or equal; 3. impossible to duplicate within a stated or implied scope. The Arabian horses known as “Davenport Arabians” are truly unique, meeting the definitions above on all counts. Historically, no other single importation of desert-breds to any country has descendants which survive into modern times without admixture of blood from other importations made to that country.
by Joyce Gregorian-Hampshire
copyright 1987 by Joyce Gregorian Hampshire
Khamsat: Vol. 5 Num. 1 Jan. 1988
[Author's Note: in the following article, Al Khamsa horses are printed in capital letters, e.g., ARABESQUE, LADY FAIR. Those Davenports known as the "Second Foundation" horses have their names bold-faced as well, e.g., TRIPOLI, DHAREBAH.]
PART FOUR: A VISIT TO CRAVER FARMS
In 1977 I met my first straight Davenport and I bought him in 1978: JANAN ABINOAM (TRIPOLI x DHAREBAH) a 1960 grey stallion, full brother to SIR, PRINCE HAL, LADY GREY, PERICLES and LADY FAIR. I entered into a casual correspondence with the Cravers at this time, but in my heart I was suspicious of things like “strains” and “Al Khamsa”, though I very much enjoyed Charles’ films and informative letters. I had a nice herd of Arabians of my own breeding and in this context JANAN ABINOAM bred on well, in addition to being a delightful mount (and winning dressage competitor, despite his age). Then in 1982 JANAN ABINOAM underwent surgery for colic. I suddenly faced the prospect of losing him, with no replacement in sight. As soon as he was safely home from the hospital I made my first visit to Craver Farms.
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