The 2021 Al Khamsa Convention is virtual again this year, and it looks like it’s going to be really

The 2021 Al Khamsa Convention is virtual again this year, and it looks like it’s going to be really exciting. You can register here. The cost to register is $40 USD. There will also be an online auction (as far as I am aware) and the Fantasia will once again be hosted on YouTube. It looks like AK is also doing a blanket raffle again this year.I am expanding on what is being presented on down below, so you can get a sense of what to look forward to. Under a read-more because long.On Friday, October 15th:There’s the 115th Anniversary Davenport celebration, which will definitely have something to do with the Davenports as a whole. This is probably a really good opportunity to listen to experts on these bloodlines speak, and get a look at some of the horses. Michael Bowling is a really nice man and has a lot of knowledge on genetics (which he should, as he is a geneticist!) so I’m sure it will be educational on multiple fronts. (As an aside, Michael Bowling was one of the people that helped me get Amala bred, and he was in large part responsible for bringing together all the moving parts that created Paladin. Super nice man.)RJ Cadranell is doing a historical report on F.E. Lewis, who was a big breeder of Arabians in the early days of the 20th century. He gave us Schilla (of the Not-*Urfah damline that is probably actually *Galfia), Antez, one of the big racing Arabians of his day and an absolute favorite of W. K. Kellogg (of an earlier post), and arguably most-importantly, he gave us the stallion Dhareb, who was instrumental in the bloodlines of the 2nd Foundation of Davenport breeding.The Arabian Horse Manifesto is a really interesting project that has been in the works by Edouard Al-Dahdah, Yasser Ghanem (of the Tahawi Bedouins), and breeders from all over the world. They are working on a new framework to deal with Arabians, the concept of purity, and how to work with the concepts surrounding what makes an asil an asil. You can read some of the drafting and discussion posted on Daughters of the Wind here in part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.On Saturday, October 16th:Jenny Lees will be presenting on Arabian Horse Racing. This is an industry that is typically dominated by French Racing Arabians, which the paper presented at least year’s convention (and which Kate and I blogged about) confirmed are actually predominantly Arabian-Thoroughbred crosses, which includes recent introductions of TB genetics to the genepool. Jenny Lees, on the other hand, enjoys a good relationship with the royal family of Bahrain,, breeds Bahrani Arabians at her Pearl Island Arabians stud, and she races them both in Europe and in Bahrain. This promises to be a very unique perspective on horse racing.The Al Khamsa community will vote on the Board of Delegates, as this is renewed every two years. I was there for the 2019 voting process (that was my first convention!) and it’s pretty simple. If you own an Al Khamsa horse, you can vote. That’s it. No membership fees required. I do wonder if this may be changed in the future, because we have quite a few international friends that like to attend, but they don’t technically own Al Khamsa horses because they’re not on North American soil.There will be TWO opportunities to vote on acceptance of horses to the Al Khamsa Roster: Gamal El Din (who we voted on for the first round last year) and Kuheilaan AlAdiyat Hashal (who will be voted on for the first time.) Gamal El Din was a Straight Egyptian stallion, and is noteworthy as the sire of *Saema. If this is passed, it opens up the opportunity for all of the descendants of *Saema and *Ibn Farhan, the Queen Mother Nazli’s horses, to be included to the roster. Hashal is a Bahraini stallion gifted to PJ and Marwan down in Texas by the royal family of Bahrain, and was a race horse to boot. His acceptance would bring in a new sireline and fresh genetics, expanding the already-small population of Khalifa horses in North America – adding to Mlolshaan Hager Solomon and Shuwaiman Al Rais.Dr. Samantha Brooks (with Beth Minnich moderating) will be back this year to present on more Arabian Horse genetic research. I’m excited for this, as Dr. Brooks did a good job last year in making the material accessible, and she’s been very forthcoming in our email correspondences whenever I’ve had a question. The face shapes article I am familiar with – this is probably going to talk about Straight Egyptians and how they have a gene that has literally altered the shape of their skulls. The other genetics topics look interesting, as well, and I’m sure they will have a broader application in understanding the genetics of equines at large.Edouard Al-Dahdah will be doing a second presentation, which really is the capstone of this convention. He’s made inroads with the descendants and families of the Bedouins that bred some of our ancestral Foundation horses, and will be sharing clips and photos from these connects. If you care about the asil horse, this is quite literally what it’s all about – connecting the horses back to their history. This includes the family that bred the Kuhaylah Haifiyah strain found in the Davenports via *Reshan (my mare Amala’s tail female ancestor and strain) and the Hadbah Inzihiyah strain found in the Davenports via *Hadba, the family that bred the Blunt-Crabbet Saqlawiyah al-Dirri desertbred import *Basilisk, and the family that bred the Old English Ma'naqiyah Sbailiyah mare *Haidee. These are all quite rare tail female lines in Al Khamsa, and so I am very very very excited for this. -- source link

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