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Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Focus Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A visit to a horse farm
By Zeinab Abul-Gheit
The village of Beni Grei is a charming place. While wandering along the bank of the Bahr Abul-Aghdar Canal, bounded as it was by fields of ripened wheat, passing fields of clover, beehives and brick pigeon-towers, I found myself at the El-Tahawi Horse Farm. I had no idea, at first, that this was one of the most famous horse-breeding centres in Egypt.
"Hagg Shahwan El-Tahawi, the head of the Tahawi family of Saudi Arabia, established the first horse farms in Egypt soon after the Arab conquest," Abdul-Aziz El-Tahawi, head of the Society for Horse Breeders, told me. "He brought with him three horses named after members of his family -- El-Tamriya, El-Sakalawiya and El-Obaya. They were dancing horses," he said.
"Today the sons of the Tahawi family own 87 horse farms, each with 15 to 18 horses."
Apparently English horses were imported to cross-breed with the Arab horses and their progeny are considered the best in the world. They are characterised by their high speed and breath control. They are not large in size. But, El-Tahawi said, "Their record speaks for itself. Every year they participate in festivals for Arab horses, and in the assessment for beauty, speed, jumping and superiority of horsemanship they rank among the finest horses in the world."
I was charmed by the sight of these powerful yet graceful creatures free in the fields. A couple of horses appeared to be whispering to one another, while another raised its head proudly to inspect the intruder.
In no way do I claim to be a judge of horses, but as I wandered back to the village centre, I thought about the fact that since 1989 the Tahawi family horses have won half of all the prizes at horse festivals. It was obvious that these most dedicated of breeders were doing something right.
