Crabbet and the Royal Stud of Bahrain

As a breeder and admirer of the 'Asil' horses of Bahrain I am always fascinated to read about these very special horses. To this day so few have left the Royal Stud that it is interesting to trace those who did and their offspring. Three of these priceless horses found their way to Crabbet and into Lady Anne Blunt's foundation breeding programme. Lady Anne knew of the asil horses of Bahrain, and how extremely difficult it was to acquire one. She refers in her writings to horses of "lbn Khalifeh/Sheykh of Bahreyn". In the case of Dahman Shawan, Bint El Bahreyn and Jellabieh, the breeder of the horses and "Sheykh of Bahreyn" was HH Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Alkhalifa (ruled 1869 - 1925), great, great grandfather of the reigning monarch of Bahrain, His Majesty King Hamed Bin Isa Alkhalifa.

In 1892 Lady Anne brought to England a Dahman Shawan stallion. In her own hand she describes the stallion, who was born in 1887 , as “a Dahman Shawan of the strain of Ibn Khalifeh/Sheykh of Bahreyn (who possessed both the Dahman Shawan and the Kuheilan Jellabi strains)". Lady Anne also records that before this stallion left Sheikh Obeyd he sired Yashmak, dam of the much valued lbn Yashmak. Yashmak was the daughter of Yemama a "Jellabieh of the strain of the lbn Khalifeh Sheykh of Bahreyn". By covering Yemama with Dahman Shawan Lady Anne Blunt combined the Dahman and Jellaby families of the Alkhalifa’s horses, a cross still used regularly in The Royal Stud of Bahrain today.

In 1897 Lady Anne purchased Jellabieh and in 1899 Jellabieh arrived on England’s chilly shores. She was the grand daughter of Jellabieh Feysul a Bahraini mare bred by "lbn Khalifeh, Sheykh of Bahreyn". Jellabieh had been bred at the stud of Ali Pasha Sherif and was described as being "white, flea-bitten with black hooves". Flea-bitten is also known as speckled and in Arabia as 'Marshoosh'.

Via the stud of Abbas Pasha II she also acquired the Bahraini mare Bint El Bahreyn. This mare is described as bright bay with four white socks and of the Dahmeh family. Born in 1898.

Within the Royal stud of the King of Bahrain, His Majesty King Hamed Bin Isa Alkhalifa, the Dahman and Jellaby Arabian horse families flourish. They are as pure today as the day Lady Anne Blunt secured their lines for the foundation stock of the Crabbet Stud. The Dahman and Jellaby are particular favourites of the Bahrain Royal family.

During the 1960's three full Jellaby brothers were chosen as the stud stallions in the Royal studs. The three bay stallions Jellaby Wasmiyah, Jellaby Sakhir and Jellaby Najib were the sons of the magnificent and charismatic bay stallion Dahman 1 (1938-1970) whose sire was a speckled Mlolshan. The Royal family of Bahrain have, for over 200 years, followed a breeding programme handed down by their desert ancestors. Twenty pure family strains make up the horses of the Royal Stud. At the stud live horses unchanged by fashion and untouched by the requirements of the showring. They are Asil 'warhorses' of the Bedouin, descendants of the horses the Alkhalifa ruling family rode into battle to take the island of Bahrain in 1783.

At Pearl Island Arabians we can turn back the clock to those early Crabbet days. Our Bahraini stallion Krayaan Dilmun has covered our two Crabbet mares and our two Bahraini mares have been covered by Sahara Rasheed a Crabbet/Old English stallion, the results have been delightful and so Crabbet.

For anyone wishing to step back in time and introduce some Bahraini blood into their breeding programme Krayaan Dilmun, Shuwaiman Al Bahrain and Shuwaiman Al Rais are currently at stud.

Jenny & Tony Lees, Mill Farm, Preston-on-Wye, Herefordshire, UK, HR2 9JU

Phone: 01981 500225