"The Legend of the Bloody Shouldered Mare"
Many years ago in the desert of Arabia, there was a Bedouin warrior who owned a very special Arabian mare - a mare he rode into a battle and to whom he entrusted his life.Theirs was a very special relationship, a bond of trust, love and mutual respect.  Either would have given their life for the other.  In fact, their bond of trust was so strong that the mare often "read her master's thoughts," doing exactly what he needed at exactly the right time, allowing them to win many battles and to be the envy of all the Bedouin tribes.Years passed and one day in a fierce battle the master was severely wounded, falling across the neck and shoulder of his beloved war mare.  Although her master was unconscious and she was miles from home, the mare carefully balanced him across her shoulder, carefully carrying him toward home. She went for days without food or water to return her master to his family. When the courageous mare finally arrived at the encampment, she was exhausted and weak, her master was dead.  As the family carefully removed the master's body, they saw that the mares shoulder was heavily stained with his blood, leaving a distinct red mark on her shoulder.Although they had lost their leader, the Bedouin family was eternally grateful to the mare for delivering his body from battle.  They knew that the long journey had been very difficult for the courageous mare, and they were very concerned for her because she was heavily in foal. Finally the time of her foaling arrived, and there was great concern for the cherished war mare.  But when the long-awaited foal was born, he was vigorous, healthy and of exceptional quality.  He also bore the identical "bloody shoulder" that his mother had from her master's blood.It was then that the tribe realized that Allah had rewarded this mare and their tribe for their courage, loyalty and faith and that the bloody shoulder was a reminder of his favor. Since that time, hundreds of years have passed, but once in a great while there is a mare of exceptional courage beauty and quality who foals a very special foal graced by God with the bloody shoulder.  The Bedouins have continued to believe this is a sign of Allah's favor. 

"The Legend Of The Sixth Sence Of The Mare" The wild mare of Arabia was an ultimate achievement of nature, a mature and perfect creature, according to the Bedouin. The gift of an intelligent spirit was bestowed upon the mare of Ishmael and an intuitive soul to dwell within her beautiful, strong, and symmetrical body. Psychic powers of her animal spirit were gifts of God, but her conscious mind developed through her intimate human association. The Arabs believe that psychic power is never transmitted through stallions, though they possess it much as the mares. An Arabian sire communicates physical qualities and nervous energies, but never the elements of the mind and soul, which are outside of the domain of physical laws, and which were a spiritual gift to the first mare--Ishmael's mare--who, the Arabs insist, was not only a special, but a twofold creation of God: she was brought into existence in this world with an image of herself in her own womb: A son who was only to serve later as a means of helping to reproduce her semblance on this earth. A perfectly developed male was born in Ishmael's tent in the morning of her creation in the desert. For this supernatural reason, the mare is always considered supremely important among the Bedouins. A stallion can take only secondary place. "The Legend Of The Bay" When God desired to create the horse, he summoned forth the South Wind, which the people of Egypt call, "El Marees," saying, "I shall create from thy substance a new being which shall be good fortune unto my followers and humiliation to my enemies. Condense thyself!" And the wind condensed itself. And the angel Gabriel caught a handful of it and said to God: "Here is the handful of wind." And God created therefrom an Arab horse of bay color and addressed it by saying, "I have created thee and named thee 'horse.' I have bestowed my blessings upon thee above all other beasts of burden and made thee their master. Success and happiness are bound to thy forelock; bounty reposes on you back, and riches are with you wherever you may be. And I have endowed thee to fly without wings; you are for pursuit and for flight. And thou shalt carry men who will glorify me, and thou shalt glorify me thereby." And when the horse neighed, He said to it, "I have blessed thee and will affright the pagans with your neighing, and I will fill their ears with it and fill their hearts with great fear from it, and humiliate their necks with the sound of it! "The Legend Of The Five" "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" (el Khamsa, el Khoms, etc.) was used to designate the five best or favorite "breeds," strains or families, of the unique and ancient breed of horses of the native Bedouin. These travelers indicated that there were many strains and that the list of "the five" varied from tribe to tribe or from sheykh to sheykh. The story of "Al Khamsa" refers to the five favorite horses of the prophet Muhammad (AD 570-632). According to this 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 their 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. Just which strains these were depended on the teller of the tale as there are actually more than five strains and all are related and of equal importance.  The term "Al Khamsa" signified purity of bloodlines to the Bedouin, as it does today to supporters of Al Khamsa. Copyright © 2004-present All text, graphics, images, and photos are copyright property of Story Teller Arabians and may not be reused, reproduced, copied, or altered in any way with out expressed permission.   Questions? Contact the Webmaster.