TAJHAN
February 1978 - May 2002

Once in a great while there comes a stallion so prepotent that his influence on his breed can be seen many generations later, a stallion who stamps his descendants with a distinctive look all his own. Such a stallion is rare and wondrous...and such a horse was Tajhan, who was laid to rest at the farm where he spent his last 5 years, Windy Hill Sport Horses, on May 22, 2002. I can feel his presence. He is standing on the crest of the hill over looking the beautiful Lake, just down from the future barn site where his sons, daughters and grand children play.

Tajhan was Kuhaylan Ajuz Rodan in strain. This original Arabian breed of the Kuhaylan represents strength in the extreme, though beauty, intellegence and gentleness are not lacking. All Purebred horses were known as Kuhaylan; this denoting the best, pure Arabian blood. This strain was originally bred by the Ibn Saud family.

Tajhan was also Al Khamsa. 'Al Khamsa' is an Arabic term roughly translated as 'the five'. Early occidental travelers to the extended Arabian peninsula frequently reported that the term 'al khamsa' was used to designate the five best or favorite strains or families, of the unique and ancient breed of horses of the native Bedouin. One variation of the story of 'Al Khamsa' refers to the five favorite horses of the prophet Muhammad (AD 570-632). According to the legend, a tribe of Bedouin, after a long journey in the desert, released their mares to run to a watering hole to quench their thirst. As a test of loyalty the mares were called back to their masters before reaching the water, and of the many mares, only five returned faithfully without drinking. These became the five original favorite mares of the Bedouin, and each was given a strain name which would carry on with its descendants.

ONE SIRE

Since time before history, the best Egyptian horses have been used to put true desert type back into Arabian breeding programs throughout the world. Tajhan was the pure flame of the ancient desert fire. He had Legendary lineage, uncommon beauty and firey presence which was combined to create one very special stallion, one very special sire...He was truely PRICELESS!!




Even though I spent only spent a few years with Tajhan, I treasure what he has done for my program- and the programs of other mare owners. When I looked at Taj, he had the look of eagles. There are only a handful of horses out there who had it: Shaikh Al Badi, Khemosabi, and a couple of others. When you looked at Taj, you knew he was a great horse. He knew it too. There is no denying he was Arabian Nobility.

ONE CHOICE

"There is for me no other creature that embodies grace, charm, beauty, nobility, and dignity in such a breathtaking way as the Arabian horse. These ethereal creatures always put me into a kind of trance: I believe, measured against fear and worry, that the object of my admiration is only a dream or might dissolve into thin air, that it is an angel wearing the aspect of a horse. For does not the Arabian horse fly already? Can one not feel the scultpor's thumb-mark of GOD along that line which runs from eye to nostril? Is it not innocence that animates the face of the Arabian horse? However that may be, there was a time when one of the most graceful Arabian horse bore a horn on its forehead. I have no doubt; my heraldic beast, the unicorn, is decended from an Arabian stallion."

Wolfdietrich Schnurre

Asil Arabians II