need holiday reading?

I highly recommend the fascinating late nineteenth century journal of Lady Anne Blunt (including her sweet watercolour sketches). The journal details her (often adventurous) travels amongst the Bedouin tribes and elsewhere in search of Arabian horses for the Crabbet Stud (many of whom were to become wonderfully influential dams and sires of the breed).  Among the many lovely horses she imported to England were Skowronek (Poland) and Mesaoud (Egypt). Her journal entries are always entertaining and include tales of woe relating to over-exuberant camels and some lovely descriptions of horses.

There is a lovely blog (at Clouddragon) on Lady Anne Blunt here, by the happy owner of a Crabbet descendant (note that the story also continues at the bottom of her page).