Background History:

Iraq is recognized as one of the most important countries that produced and developed Arabian horses throughout its history; and foundation stock from Iraq had a major contribution to the Arabian horses world-wide.  Iraq has the oldest civilization dating back more than eight thousand years.  All who are involved in the Arab horses of today can easily find a trace of the Iraqi bloodlines in most of the prominent studbooks of the world.  However, as all know well, Iraq has suffered a great deal for the last four decades, with several major wars on its soil which have severely impacted Arabian horse breeding as can be imagined.

 The Iraqi Arabian horse Organization (IAHO) was formally established in the early 1980s and produced its first WAHO approved studbook in 1986. The 1980 decade was the golden decade for the IAHO horses.  The IAHO registered horses had raced and developed substantially because there was a lot of prize money, many imports took place. Iraq enjoyed full membership in almost all international organizations, because at that time the entire world had good relations with the ex-regime.  This had enabled IAHO to make its blood sampling and parentage verification through its established contacts with international laboratories.  The 1980 decade was also the period of the Iran-Iraq war which had lasted eight devastating years.  Very soon after that, it was followed by the invasion of Kuwait which resulted in the second Gulf War, followed by harsh sanctions and a cut off from the international community until the third Gulf war which had resulted in the collapse of the regime in the year 2003.

 It was after the invasion of Kuwait that every thing changed for IAHO. The devastating sequences of wars had impoverished the people of Iraq to an unbelievable extent.  During these wars many horses were either killed by bombing, died from hunger, or were smuggled abroad.  As a result, the general horse population had plummeted from nearly 200,000 in the 1980s to only about 2,000 in 2002, and Arabian horses registered in the IAHO studbook had declined from over 1000 to only about 200 left alive in 2002.  Most of the ‘lost horses were killed, missing, stolen, or smuggled abroad.

 However, IAHO continued and is still continuing in very difficult circumstances to locate and re-identify the lost or stolen horses, to register new foals, taking their full markings and patiently encouraging breeders to continue breeding their registered Arab mares to registered Arab stallions.  But obviously for some time it was not possible to send blood samples abroad for parentage verifications.  Following discussions with WAHO, IAHO decided to change from blood-typing to DNA and also to change laboratories and to impose strict conditions on releasing or accepting samples or information from unauthorized persons.  Thus, foiling the attempts of a few unprincipled people who tried to manipulate horses and information, particularly after the 2003 war and the smuggling of a few horses.  All foals are parent verified before registration.

 Stolen and Smuggled Horses :

 The total collapse of the estate institutions in 2003 was followed by widespread looting and destruction. Everybody saw on their TV screens the stealing of the horses.  Those horses mainly belonged to the top ex-government officials and party members. IAHO has established that the total number of horses stolen during the war and the fall of the previous regime and the chaos which followed this, was 152.  Some of them (25-30) had already been smuggled abroad, and IAHO has had enquiries from people from other countries who wanted information about those smuggled horses.  But IAHO refused and will continue to refuse providing any information about such horses, and will never facilitate their registration outside Iraq.  They are the property of the people of Iraq and have to be returned.  We call upon all Registries particularly in the Arab countries to provide IAHO with any information concerning such horses.  WAHO is fully aware of all developments and IAHO is fully cooperating with WAHO and in continuous communication with them.

 The majority of the other stolen horses (120-127) are still in Iraq; they have changed hands several times.  IAHO knows the identity of these horses, and in some cases knows their current locations, but it was decided there was no option but to take the stolen horses out of this new studbook.  All these horses are therefore currently suspended from registration until a solution concerning their legal ownership is found.  We are very hopeful that many of them will be included in our volume VII studbook planned to be published in the autumn of 2006.  Meanwhile, IAHO is encouraging the current owners to keep breeding those mares to approved IAHO registered stallions, in order to facilitate their registration later on.  They will be only re-introduced to the studbook after proper re-identification by markings and DNA for the stolen horses, and parentage verification for the foals.

 Recent Development :

 Iraq re-started its formal international contacts in 1998 when delegates attended the WAHO Bahrain conference, since then there have been continuous reports and an open channel of communication was opened through the international representative Dr. Mohammed Al-Nujaifi, who has maintained a direct and uninterrupted link with WAHO.

 After the Bahrain WAHO Conference a meeting was held between WAHO and IAHO representatives, followed by another meeting in London on April 2002 to discuss the production of a revised composite studbook, which was planned to be in circulation in the year 2003 and which was nearing completion at the outbreak of the war which started in March 2003.  The agreement had been to produce a composite studbook (from published volumes 1-V) which was to contain all the living and producing horses from previous volumes, and all imported horses from WAHO approved studbooks.  The total number of living horses which were to be included in this composite studbook was 361 with the new foals up to the year 2003.  Unfortunately, just before publication, the third Gulf war took place which for obvious reasons halted the production of this planned volume.

 We must stress that all previously published Iraqi Arabian studbooks from volume 1 to 5 are still valid.  We wish to make it clear that the horses presented herewith in this volume 6 are all remaining known, identified, ownership-established, living and producing horses in Iraq as of the date of publication, in order to give a clear reflection of the actual living numbers of the Arabian horses of Iraq as of the end of the year 2004.  There are a total of 220 horses in this volume, including imported horses and imports in utero.

 We are glad to report that IAHO took all necessary steps to preserve all registry documentation, information and papers related to the Arabian horses.  Many copies were made well before the war and were kept in safe places, in anticipation as to what may have happen.  Such a measure was discussed with the WAHO EC in the Istanbul meeting, September 2002.  The WAHO EC was worried about losing the materials, because the war was looming, and we informed them about our plans then.

 IAHO has been registered as a non-profit organization since the year 2000 with a special presidential decree.  The same status was confirmed by the Iraqi ex-governing council, and the new government.  It has a formal association with the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, the Jockey Club, and the Ministry of Justice.  The highest authority in the IAHO is the General Assembly which has grown in number from 60 to 95.  Doors are still open for new comers, who should own IAHO registered horses.  It is composed of Arabian horse breeders, owners, and lovers, from all walks of life.  They are tribe members, farmers, rural and urban breeders, and trainers.  The General Assembly met in October 2003 under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice to elect a new IAHO Executive Committee.  Mr. Atheel Al-Nujaifi was duly elected as the new Chairman and President of IAHO, and Mr. Loay Al-Saedy, chairman of the Iraqi Jockey Club was duly elected as Vice Chairman.  The role of the Ministry of Justice was only to ensure a fair election.  We think it was a historic day, because it was our first proper free and democratic election conducted ever, without any interference from the political authorities.  We think it is a big step forward for the benefit of Arabian horses in Iraq, and it deserves appreciation.  The 9 strong Executive Committee (EC) members appointed Dr. Mohammad Mahmoud Ahmed Najem as the new Registrar; he is a very experienced veterinarian who was the ex-registrar responsible for producing our studbook volumes 2 and 3.  The EC of IAHO also created a 5 strong member Registration & Studbook Committee, which will oversea all registration and identification of the horses.  IAHO also elected Dr. Mohammad Al-Nujaifi, as their International Representative and Chairman of the Registration & Studbook Committee.

 IAHO's new EC has been working hard to encourage people to become more involved with Arabian horse activities, by providing free access to top class Arabian stallions, raising money to increase the shows, endurance and flat racing, and ordinary riding.  The unfortunate fact of reality is that the Anglo-Arab horses are more popular for racing in Iraq.  They fetch much higher prices and there is a ready market for them, with no problems of registration and costs of parentage verification.  They can easily be smuggled outside the country and used for endurance races, and they are doing very well.  The average price of an Anglo-Arab is twice that of a purebred Arabian, and they can be sold as yearlings.  Whereas there is currently little demand for purebred Arabians before they are 3 years of age.  So IAHO is working hard to promote the purebred Arabians in preference to the Anglo-Arabs, to enhance their image and their value, and to encourage the Arabian horse breeders by providing popular activities for these horses.

 We can say without any reservation, that without the full support and encouragement of the very few owners and breeders and particularly of Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Nujaifi, who are really committed to the cause, the Arabian horses would have been totally wiped out from Iraq.  We think it is fair to say there is still a long way ahead, and Iraq needs the kind understanding and support from WAHO in its totality.  We also appreciate the heroic job done by IAHO staff members and particularly the Registrar and the Registration & Studbook Committee to finish this studbook in the current and ongoing extremely dangerous and difficult circumstances in Iraq.

 Imported and Exported Horses:

 Despite the wars, the years 2001-2004 were very active years in importing horses registered in other WAHO studbooks to Iraq.  All export documents were sent to WAHO by the exporting registries as agreed, and WAHO then passed them to IAHO Registrar. Horses were imported from Oman, UAE, France, UK, Qatar, the Netherlands, and Russia.  They are all registered in this studbook under the section of imported horses.  Three top class Russian stallions including two Derby winners (Matador and Trepet), a famous American-Polish stallion (Oreeo), and three French stallions from top French bloodlines were imported (Mencur, Sheridhan, and Maestro De Piboul). They are all used at stud in addition to the few remain Iraqi stallions.  A few horses were imported in utero, and proper DNA parentage verification and testing were done before registration.  It is anticipated that there will be more of such horses registered in the next volume VII, as a number of the mares imported are in foal to well known Arabian stallions.

 No horses were legally exported to outside Iraq, and we do not expect any legitimate exports for the near future.

 Notes on this studbook:

 For the purpose of clarity and to represent a fresh start , IAHO has issued new registration numbers to all living horses in Iraq which are presented in this volume.  In order to avoid duplication of registration numbers from previously published volumes, these numbers start at 1001.  All horses which were registered in volumes 1- V are shown here with their original registration numbers for purpose of clear identification. There are a total of 220 horses registered in this volume.

 Please note that in the WAHO approved Iraq Stud Book Volume 1 , the pedigrees of the domestic Iraq-bred Arabian horses were not included, even though these were known going back several generations, and the unregistered, deceased sires and dams of the registered Iraqi horses were simply designated as "d.b." or desert bred.  For historical interest, we have included these pedigrees in this volume, but the horses are clearly differentiated by being shown in parenthesis, with the letters D.B. after their names, for example: '' (SA'AD SATTAR) D.B.’’.  Strains have also been included in this volume, following the practice in our previous published volumes, as this is of high interest to our breeders in Iraq.

 Each horse has an individual entry, with full details and pedigree.  ISO codes used after the horses names, for example "(FR)", are included to indicate the country of origin of that horse, but do not form part of the registered name.  Horses with no ISO code after the name were born in Iraq.  The stud book codes, for example (QASB) used for the sires and dams are included to indicate the stud book in which that horse was registered at the time of the covering that produced the subject horse (for the stallions), or the time of foaling of the subject horse (for the mares). Registration numbers are included for all relevant horses.

 Progeny Listing :

 Those stallions and broodmares with living progeny included in this volume have a section underneath the pedigree, which details all these relevant offspring, it is very important to note that the listed progeny does not include horses which were registered in previous published Volumes of the Iraq Stud Books I – 5 and which have been legitimately exported in the past, or which are no longer living, or which are currently listed as missing .

 Iraqi horses which are currently known to be deceased or missing, which are the sires or dams of horses registered in this volume, are shown only with their original IAHO Volume Number and Registration number in the pedigrees as presented in this volume.

 A number of the Iraqi Arabian stallions which are the sires of the progeny of horses registered in this volume are now deceased or listed as missing.  A list can be found at the end of this volume.

Correction to Pedigrees of offspring of Wanissa (GB) and Enshala (GB):

 Please note that following a detailed investigation by WAHO, with the assistance of IAHO and several laboratories after the export of a mare to Lebanon, it has been established that the two imported mares WANISSA (GB) and ENSHALA (GB) accidentally exchanged identities immediately after import to Iraq in the 1980s.  Therefore the horses descending from either of these mares which are included in this volume are herewith shown with the corrected pedigrees and strains, and not as shown in previous volumes.  A note is included on each relevant entry to this effect.

 Conclusion:

 The wars in the last four decades in Iraq have resulted in a sharp decrease in the horse population.  The pure Iraqi bloodline is threatened to be finished because of the reasons mentioned above. We all call upon the WAHO to help Iraq to preserve such important bloodline which had developed through centuries, and had influenced the breed worldwide.  We regard our Iraqi Arabian horses as an essential part of our culture and heritage.  They are not for any commercial purposes, and we do not expect them to be particularly wanted outside Iraq.  Breeders are losing money by keeping these beautiful horses, but we would like to encourage them to still keep and breed them.  Enormous time and effort was taken in finalizing this studbook, and it is a worthwhile exercise in order to secure part of the heritage of Iraq.

 As a contribution to the history of Iraqi Arabians, Dr. Mohammad Al-Nujaifi has written a very interesting book on “Iraqi Arabians Horses, Myths & Realities”.  It is a well searched 275 pages book and is the first of its kind.  We think it is a major contribution to enable all interested to know more about Iraqi Arabians.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Executive Committee of WAHO for their support over the past few very difficult years, and especially we would like to thank Dr. Hans Nagel, the President of WAHO who was and still is a great and firm supporter for IAHO, and also the WAHO Executive Secretary Katrina Murray for her support, patience, and valuable assistance in the production of this studbook.

 Mr. Atheel Al-Nujaifi  

Chairman, IAHO

Mr. Loay Al-Seady

Chairman, Jockey Club of Iraq; Vice Chairman, IAHO

Dr.Mohammad Al-Nujaifi

Chairman, studbook &Registration Committee and International Representative of IAHO.

Dr. Mohammad Mahmoud Najem

Registrar, IAHO