Most Arabian horse enthusiasts know one of the legends of Al Khamsa, the five foundation mares of th
Most Arabian horse enthusiasts know one of the legends of Al Khamsa, the five foundation mares of the breed. There are several different stories told, but the one that is probably best known to English speakers is that of the mares who went without water. The bones of this specific version of the Al Khamsa myth are the same, while the owner of the mares is sometimes Mohammad, sometimes a Bedouin tribe. At any rate, the story goes that a herd of mares had been deprived of water, whether deliberately or by a long journey across the desert. When released to water, they were called back by their owner(s), as a test of their loyalty, but they were so desperate with thirst that most of them rushed heedless to drink; only five of them obeyed, stopping and turning back before they reached the water. Those five, according to the legend, became the ancestors of the Arabian breed. Today, Abba and I went for a walk in hand; I had planned to ride or lunge, but did not feel like it when I arrived. Abba was also anything but her usual self, being impatient and rushing to the end of her lead rope, when normally her manners in hand are exquisite. So I slipped off the halter, as I did not feel like being tugged around by her, and waited to see what she would do. The answer was apparently stick with me. On a whim, instead of going straight back to the field, I pointed at the path to the sand mine, and Abba immediately turned to take it. On the way there, she stopped, and stood staring out towards the dam, which actually has water in it this summer, miracle of miracles. I watched her for a bit, and then spoke to her, and she turned and came to me, which earned her a carrot. We ended up wandering through the sand mine, passing multiple pools of water and little threading streams, and Abba slowed and hung back a little as we went by them, but every time I beckoned to her, she trotted over to me. Being Abba, she also would stop and look at both paths on each junction within the mine, and sometimes she chose one, and sometimes I did. We then circled around, climbing up from the mine, and took the straightaway back, past the smaller reservoir. I was feeling happy, so I decided to see what would happen if I started to jog. Abba immediately sprang into a trot, drew level with me, overtook me, and once she reached a few lengths ahead of me, she slowed, curving back to meet me, and stopped. Of course she received another piece of carrot. We played with this on and off on the way back, sometimes Abba initiating it, sometimes me, and every time, she came back to me. It was very sweet of her, and I was so thrilled with how she was sticking with me. What I did not know until after the girls were grained and turned back into their own field was that their water trough had been accidentally disconnected, and in the heat and the wind, it was dry as a bone. The algal slime that coats the bottom of the trough was actually dust. Fortunately, the hose had kept running, pouring water into the dry sand next to the trough, and it had run for long enough that the sand was saturated and a shallow puddle had formed in it, from which the mares had managed to get some water. However, they were all four of them pretty desperate for a proper drink, as they crowded around the trough when I reattached the hose and the water began to creep across the bottom. The barn owner sent one of the men out to fix the connection at once, and I sat in the field, listening to the sound of flowing water, and thinking of how Abba had so generously stayed with me, despite her thirst, and despite all the water we had passed. If I had known she had been without water all day, I would have taken her to the dam to let her drink, not called her away from it, but, like the mares from the myth, she had turned away from the water and come back to me. I have no words for the emotions this little mare makes me feel. She is truly special. Also, I have to say that I am so, so glad that I’m adding at least one and a half litres of water to each of their feed tubs now. It also explains why they were all so anxious for their feed, because they know it is a soup at the moment. Poor girls. I guess I’m going to check water first now, instead of last. -- source link