Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy

What is a Davenport Arabian horse?

DEFINITION: Davenport Arabian horses are descended entirely from the historic Davenport Desert Arabian Stud. The group consists of individuals descending from horses imported by Homer Davenport in 1906 to the U. S. from Arabia, and, in some instances, in possible combination with pedigree elements from the Hamidie Society importation of 1893 to the U. S. from Arabia.

DISCUSSION: Pedigrees of modern Davenport Arabian horses are derived from the studbooks of the Arabian Horse Association. Published DNA research[1] indicates a possible switch of pedigrees for the mares Saleefy #70, registered from parents of the Davenport importation of 1906, and Freda #20, registered as descending from the Hamidie Society importation of 1893. If such a switch occurred, Davenport horses tracing to the mare Schilla (Letan/Saleefy) would be involved, at this writing amounting to roughly a third of living Davenport horses (3/18/2001). Quality of pedigree would not be changed, because both the Hamidie and the Davenport importations came directly to the United States from the same general area of the desert at approximately the same time frame.

Davenport Arabians qualify, by pedigree, for a number of Arabian breeding groups, Al Khamsa, Asil, and CMK being the best-known.

What is a “Davenport+” horse?

A Davenport+ horse is 50% or more Davenport by pedigree. They are often, but not always, purebred Arabians.

Please explain the Davenport breeding groups?

All living Davenport horses belong to one of four tail-female lines (Kuhaylan-Haifi, Kuhaylan-Kurush, Hadban, or Schilla). The breeding patterns used to develop these four families are on record in the stud book going back to the 1950s.

1. The Haifi horses were bred from the Second Foundation animals of the Kuhaylan-Haifi strain (Dharebah, Dhalana, Tara, Dharanah, El Alamein, Saranah, Dhanad, and Dharantez) with (in almost all cases) the stallion Tripoli. Although there are other Davenports of the Kuhaylan-Haifi strain, horses bred from just these Second Foundation horses and no others are known as the Core Haifi group.

2. The Kurush horses were developed from the mare Asara using Tripoli and the stallions from the Core Haifi group. For example, all 37 horses of the Kuhaylan-Kurush strain bred by Charles Craver were from this combination. All 24 horses of the Kuhaylan-Kurush strain bred by Jackson Hensley were of this combination. The same is true of the 19 horses of the Kuhaylan-Kurush strain bred by Ralph and Berneita Bivin and Boni Gail Schoenbacher. The first Kuhaylan-Kurush foal bred any other way didn’t come along until 1987.

3. The Hadban horses were developed from the mare Ehwat-Ansarlah using Tripoli and the stallions from the Core Haifi group. This was the pattern begun back in the 1950s by Liz Paynter and continuing through the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s with Carolyn Case, the Haenerts, and the Griers. The first new departure for this bloodline was a filly born in 1986.

4. The Schilla horses were developed from the two Gamil daughters Maedae and Antan using the stallions from the Core Haifi group along with Tripoli and Kamil Ibn Salan, who was also from the Schilla dam line. The first departures from this pattern were three foals by Brimstone bred at Craver Farms in the 1980s.

The above four combinations represent the “core” horses in each of the four strains. When a Haifi horse also has the blood of one of the other three, we call it a “Haifi-plus.” When a Kurush, Hadban, or Schilla horse has the blood of one of the other two groups (that isn’t Haifi), that’s also a “-plus.” The earliest examples are from the 1960s (such as Tyrebah, a “Haifi-plus”), a few more were bred in the 70s and 80s, but such horses didn’t become common until after 1990.

Also at the Second Foundation level are three horses not represented in tail-female and which are currently represented by only a handful of living descendants: Ralf, Nahas, and Sahanad. Horses with one or more of these in the pedigree are designated as “-plus with”, and the name of the distinguishing Second Foundation horse. For example, the 1981 mare Sida-Saha is designated as Schilla-plus with Sahanad.

The most important point is NOT that you should never cross groups. Many appealing, correct Davenports have resulted from crosses between these groups. Rather, it’s that the older, parent breeding groups (the “core” of each strain group) should be preserved so that the option to cross will always be available.