In 1952, Miss Jane Llewellyn Ott began a list of the horses proven in every line to trace directly to the Bedouin bred horses of the desert. In 1961 the "Blue Arabian Horse Catalog" was published. This is the "Blue Catalog." Miss Ott continued this catalog until the early 70's, when she closed her research. The organization known as Al Khamsa was born to continue her work. There are some variations as Al Khamsa accepts some horses not listed in the "Blue Catalog". All these horses trace directly, in every line, to horses from Bedouin Tribes, or to exceptional individuals, such as Abbas Pasha and Lady Ann Blunt, who only purchased horses from these sources. The terms, "Blue List" and "Al Khamsa" indicate that this horse is believed pure by these meticulous organizations. The term Asil, meaning purebred, is a German based organization with the same goals.
The "Blue Catalog" is divided into two sub-groups, generally referred to as BLUE STAR and Blue List. The background of both of these groups is the same, except that the BLUE STAR Arabians have no Mu'niqi strain blood in their extended pedigrees, while the Blue List animals may have it in an amount varying from full Mu'niqi in a few of the early imports, to a fraction of a percent in our modern day horses. Of the original Babson imports, only *Fadl and *Maaroufa are considered BLUE STAR. Two other Sheykh Obeyd horses considered BLUE STAR are Sirecho and *Nasr. *Turfa, the 1933 gray Sa'ud mare imported by Mr. Babson in 1941 is also considered BLUE STAR but is neither straight Egyptian nor Sheykh Obeyd.
Why Pick on the Mu'niqi Strain?
In ancient times the Mu'niqi strain was considered as classic as the other strains in Saudi Arabia, in fact it was always listed as one of the 5 pure strains by the Bedouin. However, early European travelers wrote of a less classic and appealing Mu'niqi strain which was developed when the Salqa Bedouins bred Muniqiyat mares to Turkoman stallions, about three hundred years ago. Carl Raswan wrote most extensively of this, and according to him, this cross produced a taller, more angular animal, lacking much of the type of the original antique Arabian, but had greater speed. There is little doubt that there is some truth to this "legend". It is also likely that somewhere in the interior of Saudi Arabia there were FANATIC PURISTS who would have never bred their Asil Mu'niqiyat horses to one which contained the Turkoman influence. Carl Raswan advocated the breeding of the less classic Mu'niqiyat to the more classic strains, stating that the recapturing of original classic type would then be accomplished. The problem for the purist non-Mu'niqi breeder has become not whether or not all Mu'niqi (or the related Julfan, Abu 'Urqub, Kabayshan, Mukhallad, Rabdan, Sa'dan, and Samham strains) were actually infiltred with Turkoman, but how to know which ones were, and which were not. From the purists' point of view, when in doubt, err in favor of purity.
* The terms BLUE STAR and Blue List are copyrighted, exactly as spelled, and are the property of Miss Jane Llewellyn Ott. Only horses which are actually listed in the BLUE ARABIAN HORSE CATALOG are BLUE STAR or BLUE LIST. All descendants are, in actual fact, BLUE STAR or Blue List "eligible". Miss Ott allows the use of those terms to describe horses provided that the actual definitions and meanings of those terms are not "altered" by such use. All of the horses so listed, or "eligible", are BEDOUIN SOURCE horses.
For more information on BLUE STAR horses read The Legend and Reality of Blue Star Arabians.
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Straight Egyptian means that all pedigree lines can be traced to horses that lived in Egypt. Not every horse listed as Al Khamsa or Sheykh Obeyd is considered to be straight Egyptian by such organizations as the Pyramid Society. For example, the Davenport imports and *Turfa are Al Khamsa but not straight Egyptian. The Doyle Arabians and Mr. Richard Pritzlaff's foundation mare Rabanna are Al Khamsa and Sheykh Obeyd but not straight Egyptian. (For further information read Heirloom and Doyle ). Also, not all Straight Egyptian horses are considered Al Khamsa, such as *Jamilll and The Minstrel.
The term Egyptian Related refers to a purebred Arabian horse whose sire or both grand sires are Straight Egyptian Arabians.
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