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Bint Al Bahr Arabians
Preservation Breeders of
Straight Babson Egyptians |
The Legend of the Bloody Shouldered Mare
September 1982 Arabian Horse World
(This one of the
many versions of
this legend.)
Long ago on the sands of a great desert lived a Bedouin chieftain by the name of
Ahmed and his tribe. In the tents of Ahmed was his most prized possession, a
beautiful grey mare who was renowned throughout the desert as the fleetest and
most beautiful horse in the world. Many people coveted the mare, and kings and
chieftains had tried to acquire her, but Ahmed could not be persuaded to part
with his beloved mare.
Ahmed decided to breed his mare, and searched the desert for a suitable mate for
her. After a time, the mare was bred to the premier stallion in the Sultan's
stable. Months went by and the time for the mare to foal grew near.
Riding across the desert one day, several miles from his tents, Ahmed was seen
by a group of robber Bedouins. Fearing that he would lose his beloved mare as
well as his life, Ahmed turned and raced toward his tents, knowing in his heart
that the mare, heavy in foal, could never out-distance the bandits. The mare
seemed to realize that she was running for her master's life, and slowly, very
slowly, she began to gain ground on her pursuers. Shots rang out and bullets
peppered the sand around them as the distance gradually widened.
They were almost out of rifle range when at last a shot rang out. A bullet
pierced Ahmed's heart, and he fell forward over the neck of his beloved mare.
The mare never slackened her stride, and carried her master back to his tents on
their final ride together.
Ahmed's people gathered around the mare and removed his lifeless body from her
back. Down one of her shoulders, his blood had dried a nasty brown in the desert
heat. There the mark remained, for no one could remove it.
That night in the tent of her dead master, the mare foaled. The foal was
acclaimed by all as a perfect specimen of the Arabian breed, and on his shoulder
was the same rusty red mark that his dam bore.
And so it came to pass that every great horse descended from that mare carried
the mark of the bloody shoulder, and it was a thing greatly prized in the
desert.
Bint al
Bahr's Bloody Shoulder Mare and the Breyer Model Story
Another
Version of the Legend
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