My Quest of the Arab Horse

Ebook

"In 1906, Homer Davenport... planned a journey...to Syria to obtain Arab mares and stallions of absolute purity of blood that he could trace coming from the Anizah Bedouin, whose pure-bred horses had worldwide recognition." - Negotiating Empire in the Middle East (2021)
"In My Quest for the Arab Horse Davenport's...focus on Al-Khamseh laid the foundation for theories of the Arabian breed organized by a set of sub-strains based on five mythological female tail lines connected with the prophet Mohammed." - Horse Breeds and Human Society (2019)
"In 1906, Arab horse breeder, Homer Davenport, learned from the Turkish court interpreter...that the sultan would never have dreamed of keeping a Barb at his stables." - From Cincinnati to the Colorado Ranger: The Horsemanship of Ulysses S. Grant (2012)
"Home Davenport...was writing a book on the Arab horse, had just brought some from the desert...so I went to see them and Mr. Davenport." - The Blood of the Arab, The World's Greatest War Horse (2018)

Why did wealthy American cartoonist Homer Davenport decide to journey to Syria in 1906 to talk local Bedouin tribal members out of their highly prized pure-blood Arabian horses?

Homer Davenport was known as the leading breeder of Arabian horses and his 1909 book "My Quest of the Arabian Horse" has the interest that only comes when the author is thoroughly interested and at home in his subject. It tells of the trip which Mr. Davenport took under President Roosevelt's patronage age into the Syrian Desert in search of pure-blooded stock. The negotiations with the various potentates make the book peculiarly interesting and entertaining even if the reader has only a passing interest in horses.

In introducing his book, Davenport writes:

"My journey had this serious purpose in view— that by a judicious use of the pure Arabian blood, a breed of horse might be re-established as useful to mankind as was the Morgan horse when it was at its greatest. But, I had to get to the desert before I could purchase my horses and getting to the desert under the circumstances, proved even more interesting and romantic than I had expected."

Homer Calvin Davenport (1867 – 1912) was one of the highest paid political cartoonists in the world and was one of the first major American breeders of Arabian horses and one of the founders of the Arabian Horse Club of America.

In 1904, Davenport working for the New York Evening Mail, a Republican paper, drew a favorable cartoon of President Theodore Roosevelt that boosted Roosevelt's election campaign that year. The President in turn proved helpful to Davenport in 1906 when the cartoonist required diplomatic permission to travel abroad in his quest to purchase pure desertbred Arabian horses. In partnership with millionaire Peter Bradley, Davenport traveled extensively amongst the Anazeh people of Syria and went through a brotherhood ceremony with the Bedouin leader who guided his travels.

The account of the expedition is most entertaining, and the Bedouins vie with their horses for chief place in the narrative. As the author noted they are a most interesting culture—warriors and idlers, sipping coffee and smoking incessantly, talking of horses and firearms and priding themselves on being gentlemen. If he owns a hundred sheep and five camels he is allowed to maintain a tent and marry four wives. You may visit with him for three days with a caravan of fifty and he will take no pay; you are his guest. To offer a tip would be an insult to the poorest Bedouin. The women were seldom seen, and they tattooed their faces and painted their lips blue, which did not enhance their beauty to the author.

But though it appeared to the author that they thought little of their women, the Bedouins rated their mares tremendously high. Pedigrees are traced almost entirely through the maternal line. All the families are descended from certain great historic mares. The exportation of mares has been forbidden. The story includes much of the romance of the desert and of the journey to it.