Furūsiyya (Arabic: فروسية) is the historical Arabic term for knightly martial exercise during the Middle Ages, during the Crusades and Mamluk period in particular, especially concerned with medieval Islamic martial arts and equestrianism. The body of Arabo-Persian "Furūsiyya literature" includes the genre Faras-nāma, which is an encyclopedic compilation of facts relating to horses.

It was a concept and noble art that included the arts of war and hunting, equestrianism, tactics and strategy, and certain games like chess (reflection, concentration, skill and moral qualities within that game). The practice was reserved to male elite (Bashid Mohamed, The Arts of Muslim Knight, page 9). This art was practiced from Afghanistan to Muslim Spain, prior to Mongol Conquest in the East and Spanish Reconquista in the West during the 13th century, and saw its greatest achievement in Mamluk Egypt during the 14th century.

Look up فروسية in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up فارس in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The term is a derivation of faras "horse", and in modern Standard Arabic means "equestrianism" in general.^[1] The term for "horseman" or "knight" is fāris (also an Arabic given name, and the origin of the Spanish rank of Alférez).

Disciplines of furusiyya[link]

The three basic categories of furūsiyya are horsemanship (including veterinary aspects of proper care for the horse, the proper riding techniques), archery, and charging with the lance. Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya adds swordsmanship as a fourth discipline in his treatise Al-Furūsiyya (ca. 1350).^[2]

In a narrow sense of the term, furūsiyya literature comprises works by professional military writers with a Mamluk background or close ties to the Mamluk establishment. These treatises often quote pre-Mamluk works on military strategy. Some of these works were versified for didactic purposes. The best known of these versified treatises is the one by Taybugha al-Baklamishi al-Yunani ("the Greek"), who in ca. 1368 wrote the poem al-tullab fi ma`rifat ramy al-nushshab.^[3]

Furusiyya as an ethical code[link]

However, furūsiyya also appears to have retained a wider meaning of "the continuing ethos of manly endeavor of early Islam", comparable to the contemporary European notion of chivalry. The full range of meanings of the term includes the meanings of horsemanship, hippology, and farriery on one hand and chivalry or heroism on the other. Furusiyya faris (whether free like Usama ibn Munqidh or slave professional warriors like ghulams and mamluks) were trained in use of following arms: spear, lance, bow and arrows, cavalry or saddle axe (Tabar Zin) (hence Mamluk body-guards known as Tabardariyya), war hammer, javelin, sword, mace, dagger, and sabre. They were also trained in wrestling, and their martial art skills were to be honed first on a ground and the perfected when mounted (Nicolle, Saracen Faris, page 8-9)

Furusiyyah literature[link]

The following is a list of Furūsiyya literature of the 9th to 15th centuries.

• Kitāb al-khayl - Abī ʻUbaydah Maʻmar ibn al-Muthanná (died 209 AH)^{[4][dubious – discuss]} Al-Asma'i
• Al-sabq wa al-ramī - ʻAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad Ibn Abī al-Dunyā (died 281 AH)^[4]
• Faḍl al-ramī - Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad Ṭabarānī (died 360 AH)^[4]
• Al-sabq - ʻAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad Abū al-Shaykh al-Aṣbahānī (died 369 AH)^[4]
• Faḍāʼil al-ramī – Abī Yaʻqūb Isḥāq ibn Abī Isḥāq al-Qarrāb (died 429 AH)^[4]
• Tabṣirat arbāb al-albāb fī kayfīyat al-najāt fī al-ḥurūb min al-anwāʼ wa-nashr aʻlām al-aʻlām fī al-ʻudad wa-al-ālāt al-muʻayyanah ʻalá liqāʼ al-aʻdāʼ - Marḍī ibn ʻAlī al-Ṭarsūsī (died 589 AH)^[4]
• Mustanad al-ajnād fī ālāt al-jihād – Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Ibn Jamāʻah al-Ḥamwī (died 733 AH)^[4]
• Al-Furūsīyah wa-al-manāṣib al-ḥarbīyah (The book of military horsemanship and ingenious war devices) - Najm al-Dīn Ḥasan al-Rammāḥ, commonly known as al-Aḥdab (died 1295 / 695 AH)^[4]
• Faraj al-Makrūb fī aḥkām al-ḥurūb wa muʻānātihā wa-mudaratiha wa-lawazimiha wa-ma yasu'u bi-amrihā - Yūsuf ibn Aḥmad (known as Sulaymānah), written before 830 AH.^[4]

See also[link]

• Horses in the Middle Ages
• Horses in warfare
• Bem cavalgar

References[link]

• Bashir Mohamed, The arts of the Muslim knight; the Furusiyya Art Foundation collection (2008), ISBN 978-88-7624-877-1.
• James Waterson, The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks Greenhill Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-85367-734-2.
• D. Ayalon, Notes on the Furusiyya Exercises and Games in the Mamluk Sultanate, Scripta Hierosolymitana, 9 (1961)
• U. Haarmann, 'The late triumph of the Persian bow: critical voices on the Mamluk monopoly on weaponry' in: The Mamluks in Egyptian politics and society, Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN, 9780521591157, 174-187.
• David Nicolle, Saracen Faris, 1050-1250AD, Osprey, London (1994). ISBN 18555324539.
• David Nicolle, Arms & Armour of the Crusading Era 1050-1350, Islam, Eastern Europe, and Asia, London 1999.

External links[link]

• Furusiyya: origins of a knightly code (Al-Ahram)

Laura Kraut

Personal information
Born	1965-11-14
Medal record Medal record Laura Kraut Equestrian Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Team jumping

Laura Kraut (born November 14, 1965 in Camden, South Carolina) is an American show jumping competitor and Olympic champion.^[1]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Kraut won the gold medal as part of the United States team with her horse Cedric in team jumping, together with McLain Ward, Will Simpson, and Beezie Madden.^[2]

In 2010 Kraut was featured in the television series A Rider's Story^[3] along with fellow Olympian McLain Ward.

Her accomplishments by year:

2009[link]

150,000 euro Grand Prix of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 1st/Anthem
2010 Grand prix of Chantilly. Cedric. 2011 Finale Grand Prix Florida. Cedric

2008[link]

US Olympic Trials, Wellington, FL, 1st/Cedric
Beijing Olympics, Hong Kong, Team Gold/Cedric
$500,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 1st/Anthem
Masters Class, Antwerpen, Belgium, 1st/Miss Independent
Brussels Grand Prix, Brussels, Belgium, 1st/Miss Independent
Credit Suisse Grand Prix, Geneva, Switzerland, 1st/Miss Independent
Olympia, London, England, 1st/Miss Independent

2007[link]

CSIO *****Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 1st/Anthem
CSIO ***** Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1st/Anthem
CSI *** Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1st/Anthem
CSI*** Hachenburg, Hachenburg, Germany, 1st/Cedric

2006[link]

World Equestrian Games Team Silver, Aachen, Germany Miss Independent
Samsung Super League Team Silver, Miss Independent

2005[link]

$75,000 Cosequin Florida Open, Wellington, FL, 1st/Miss Independent
$60,000 Lincoln Idle Dice Classic, Wellington, FL, 1st/Anthem
Samsung Super League Team Member, Baule, France, Aachen, Germany, team 1st
Rome, Italy, Hickstead, England, team 2nd/Anthem & Miss Independent
$100,000 Washington International President’s Cup, 1st/Anthem

2004[link]

$75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa CSI-W, Tampa, FL 10th/Allegiance
$25,000 WEG Challenge Cup Round 8, Tampa, FL 10th/Allegiance
$50,000 Samsung Nations Cup, Wellington, FL 2nd/Allegiance
$60,000 Idle Dice Challenge, Wellington, FL 6th/Allegiance
$25,000 WEF Challenge Series, Wellington, FL 6th/Allegiance
$25,000 National Speed Stake, Wellington, FL 4th/Liberty
Super League Team Member

2003[link]

Presidents Cup Grand Prix, Washington, DC 2nd/Quickstar II Z
Budweiser Grand Prix de Penn National, Harrisburg, PA 2nd/Anthem
Grand Prix of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 1st, 2nd/Wet Paint
$25,000 New Albany Classic, New Albany, Ohio 1st/Quickstar II Z
$150,000 Prudential Financial Grand Prix, Bridgehampton, NY 7th/Allegiance
$25,000 Sally Hansen Grand Prix, Bridgehampton, NY 2nd/Quickstar II Z
Russell Fortune Grand Prix, Zionsville, IN 1st/Quickstar II Z
$40,000 Kentucky Classic Grand Prix, Lexington, KY 3rd/Milano
$25,000 Lexington Classic, Lexington, KY 5th/Milano
$100,000 American Jumping Classic, Kings Mills, OH 4th/Anthem
BMO Financial Group Nations Cup, Calgary, Canada 3rd/Anthem
Pan American Games Selection Trial 4 4th/Anthem
$50,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix, Lexington, KY 4th/Anthem
$100,000 U.S. Open CH CSIO****, Wellington, FL 4th/Allegiance
$75,000 Florida Open CSI***/W, Wellington, FL 8th/Anthem
$75,000 Zada Enterprises Grand Prix CSI***, Wellington, FL 2nd/Anthem
$25,000 WEF Challenge Series, Wellington, FL 2nd/Allegiance
$50,000 Idle Dice Classic, Wellington, FL 5th/Anthem
$25,000 Kilkenny WEF Challenge Cup, Wellington, FL 3rd/Allegiance
$25,000 WEF Challenge Cup II CSI, Wellington, FL 4th/May
$25,000 WEF Challenge Cup I CSI**, Wellington, FL 6th/Liberty
7th/Anthem
USOC Jack Kelly Fair Play Award
World Cup Final, Las Vegas, NV Tie 5th/Anthem

2002[link]

World Cup Final, Leipzig, Germany 17th/Anthem
Grand Prix, Rome, Italy 2nd/Anthem
Bank of Montreal Nations Cup, Calgary, Canada 1st/Anthem
Pennsylvania Big Jump, Harrisburg, PA 1st/Allegiance
Grand Prix of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 1st/May
$200,000 Atco Power Queen Elizabeth ll Cup, Spruce Meadows,Calgary, Alberta, Canada 2nd /Liberty
Samsung Nations Cup, Lucerne, SUI 1st (tie)/Liberty
$105,705 Loro Piana Grand Prix, Rome, Italy 2nd/Anthem
Samsung Nations Cup, Wellington, FL Team 1st
$25,000 Jaguar/Land Rover WEF Challenge Cup 1st/Anthem
$200,000 Budweiser American Invitational, Tampa, FL 2nd/Anthem
$25,000 WEF Challenge IV, Wellington, FL 1st/Anthem

2001[link]

Samsung Nations Cup, Royal Winter Fair-Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1st/Anthem
Budweiser Grand Prix de Penn National, Harrisburg, PA 1st/Anthem
$50,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Zionsville, IN 1st/Liberty
$100,000 Cosequin US Open Jumper Championship, Wellington, FL 1st/Liberty
$75,000 American Jumping Classic, Kings Mills, OH 1st/Anthem
$50,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix, Lexington, KY 1st/Liberty

2000[link]

Olympic Games, Sydney, Australia Team 6th/Liberty
$125,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of New York, New York, NY 3rd/Anthem
$50,000 Budwesier Grand Prix De Penn National, Harrisburg, PA 1st/Anthem
$100,000 Rolex/U.S. Show Jumping Championship, Gladstone, NJ 1st/Liberty
$100,000 Cosequin Wellington Finale CSI-W, Wellington, FL 2nd/Liberty
Olympic Selection Trials, Gladstone, NJ, the Oaks/Blenheim & Del Mar, CA 3rd/Liberty
$100,000 Mayor’s Jewelers U.S. Open Jumper Championship, Miami, FL 2nd/Liberty
$50,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, Lexington, KY 1st/Simba Run
$30,000 Kentucky Grand Prix, Lexington, KY 1st/Athletico

1998[link]

Nortel Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Calgary Alberta, Canada 1st/Simba Run

1997[link]

$30,000 Motor City Grand Prix, Detroit, MI 1st/Classified

1996[link]

$50,000 Budweiser Indianapolis Grand Prix 1st/Simba Run

1995[link]

$35,000 North American Grand Prix 1st/Felix
$30,000 Kentucky Spring Classic, Lexington, KY 1st/Simba Run

1992[link]

Alternate, Olympic Games, Barcelona, Spain/Simba Run

1988[link]

$50,000 Sweet Charity Farm Grand Prix, Carmel, IN 1st/Athletico

References[link]

• sports-reference

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (August 2011)

Yahya Al Bishri
Yahya Al Bishri
Born	Yahya Al Bishri (1962-08-13) 13 August 1962 (age 49) Abha, Saudi Arabia
Residence	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Nationality	Saudi
Occupation	Fashion designer
Labels	YAHYA, Elements by Yahya
Website
www.yahyacouture.com

Yahya Al Bishri is a Saudi fashion designer. He has designed garments for King Abdullah and royal families around the world such as Princess Diana.^[1][2]

Early life and education[link]

Yahya Al Bishri was born in Abha, where he received primary education before moving to jeddah, to complete his study. Attracted to art,fashion,and design world which is full of creation and innovation. His hobby was developed to become a profession through academic study at the Milano School of Fashion and the Paris American Academy for art and fashion. Al Bishri, who in the late 1980s was one of the first Saudis to enter the world of fashion, was used to overcoming barriers. His father, shocked and disappointed by his son's choice of profession, initially cut him off, hoping he would return to a more conventional line of work. So Al Bishri supported 2 1/2 years of fashion design studies in Italy and France, by writing and selling poems and freelancing for local newspapers. In 1988 Yahya Al Bishri graduated as a fashion designer.^[3]

Career[link]

Al Bishri is credited with having taken the Saudi fashion industry to the next level, allowing Saudi Arabia’s name to shine in the fashion world with a unique fusion of traditional Saudi clothes with foreign traits. Introducing new designs and fashion in a conservative Saudi society that is proud of its culture and heritage has been a difficult job for Al Bishri. Unlike other Saudi designers, who usually settle abroad in foreign countries, Al Bishri decided to remain in the Kingdom and make Saudi Arabia his primary target market.^[4]

References[link]

Reem Acra is an internationally known Lebanese fashion designer. She studied in Paris, as well as New York. She is known for her bridal designs. Her designs are sold in famous clothing boutiques such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. She has been on several popular magazines including In Style, Town & Country, Vogue, Women's Wear Daily, Sayidaty [English] and W. Her fine evening gowns are also sold all over the world.

The Reem Acra flagship store is located at 730 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Early life[link]

Born in Lebanon,^[1] Reem was introduced to the intricate world of art by her grandmother, who had a skilled hand for creating handmade silk flowers. According to her biography, Reem Acra studied design in both Paris and New York at the Esmod Ecole de Mode of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

After her studies and practical design experience, she returned to New York where her atelier quickly gained international recognition. Her collections are carried in more than 100 of the most exclusive retailers in the world including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue as well as her flagship Manhattan boutique.

As a wedding gown designer, Reem Acra began her career as an embroidery artist in New York. She launched her own bridal gown company in 1995 and has shot to the top in the bridal business.

Wedding gown designer, Reem Acra is recognized for her signature use of embroidery. Acra's collection also includes daywear pieces.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Reem Acra

• Official site
• Reem Acra designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• [1]
• [2]

The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War.^[1] The series premiered on ABC on September 20, 1989 and ran for three seasons until the final episode aired on July 23, 1992.^[1]

Production[link]

Filming of the original pilot for the series took place in California. After the ABC network picked it up, the series production moved to Tucson, Arizona, with filming in "Mescal", a western-themed movie town operated by Old Tucson Studios.^[2]

Before the series premiere, producers of the 1988 film Young Guns filed a lawsuit against ABC and the series producers, claiming the series title combined with its plot infringed on their trademark.^[3]

In the second season, Don Franklin joined the cast to portray the character Noah Dixon. In doing so, he became the third African-American actor to hold a starring role in a television western – after Raymond St. Jacques who had co-starred on the final season of Rawhide as cattle drover Simon Blake (1965) and Otis Young who co-starred with Don Murray on the shortlived (1968–69) TV series The Outcasts. Having never ridden a horse before, Franklin was sent to "Cowboy Camp" for 3–4 days where he learned how to mount and dismount, and the basics of riding. Desiring to also work behind the cameras, Franklin talked with producers about writing and directing an episode for the series. In an interview, he noted that the series producers were very receptive and was regularly encouraging the cast to not only make suggestions, but also follow through with them. When the cast noted that they didn't like the series becoming a "guest-villain-of-the-week", it was changed to refocus back on the individual characters and their relationships with each other. Franklin himself also encouraged that more black characters be included in the series.^[4]

Cast and characters[link]

• Aloysius "Teaspoon" Hunter is a former Texas Ranger and one of the few survivors of the Battle of the Alamo. A colorful character, Teaspoon can be a tough task master but he cares about all of his riders. Played by Anthony Zerbe.
• The Kid is a soft-spoken southerner. He loves his horse, Katy, who he purchased by winning the money to buy her in a boxing match. He is the first of the riders to learn that Lou is a girl, and he falls in love with her. Played by Ty Miller.
• William F. Cody is arrogant and brash, but also devoted to his friends. He is an excellent shot with long arms such as rifles. Played by Stephen Baldwin.
• James Butler Hickok is hot-tempered and quick to go for his gun. He is a fast draw and gains a reputation as a gunslinger that he doesn't particularly want as it causes people to come challenge him. His temper frequently gets him in trouble, though Teaspoon and Sam try to help him learn to control it. Played by Josh Brolin.
• Buck Cross (Running Buck), is a half Kiowa who is close friends with Ike. Buck helps break down stereotypes that the townsfolk have of Indians in the area. Played by Gregg Rainwater.
• Louise "Lou" McCloud presents herself as a man so that she can join the riders. The Kid finds Lou out in the first episode, and the other riders when they help her rescue her brother and sister from their abusive outlaw father. She eventually falls in love with and marries The Kid. Played by Yvonne Suhor.
• Sam Cain is the current marshal of Sweetwater, and a former gunslinger. He is in love with Emma and she finally marries him at the end of Season 1. Because of his own past, Sam tries to help Hickok deal with his growing gunslinger reputation. Played by Brett Cullen.
• Ike McSwain is mute and bald, but that doesn't keep him from being an excellent rider. He is particularly close to Buck, who taught him sign language. Ike can be very passionate about protecting people. Played by Travis Fine.
• Noah Dixon is a free-born black man who joins the Riders in the second season. Played by Don Franklin.
• Emma Shannon is the caretaker of the station and the riders. Though she can be just as tough as Teaspoon when the riders do wrong, she tries to be a mother to them all. She is in love with Marshal Cain, but because of her past, she hesitated to marry him until the end of the first season. Played by Melissa Leo.
• Jesse James, is a young boy who joins the riders in the third season. Played by Christopher Pettiet.
• Rachel Dunne takes on the role of station caretaker after Emma leaves. Played by Clare Wren.

Guest stars[link]

Many prominent actors guest-starred on the show, including James Gammon, Kelli Williams, Fisher Stevens, Della Reese, Melissa Michaelsen, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Sr., Pernell Roberts, David Soul, Cynthia Nixon, Richard Roundtree, Buck Taylor, Nick Ramus, Jamie Walters, Frances Fisher, Kelli Williams, James Cromwell, William Russ, Rebecca Staab, Peter MacNicol, Tim Thomerson, Stan Shaw and Bart the Bear.

Reception[link]

In its first year on the air, The Young Riders was plagued by low ratings. In November 1989, it ranked 60th out of 84 programs for its time slot in the Nielsen ratings.^[5] In its second season, the series made a dramatic turn around, winning its time slot five out of its first seven weeks, and consistently outperformed its generally highly popular competition China Beach and Twin Peaks. Though still only ranked 57th in the Neilsen Ratings, it was enjoying a consistent popularity over the other network channel offerings and began building a "small, but loyal" following among teens and young adults.^[6]

Diane Holloway of the Austin American-Statesman felt it offered a new take on the standard Western, and praised the series for its "beautiful" cinematography.^[5] The Philadelphia Inquirer's Ken Tucker heavily criticized the series when it premiered considering it "one of the season's most pretentious bombs" and feeling "everything about [it] is overdone" including the acting. Considering it a rip off of the films Young Guns and The Long Riders, Tucker considered the series failed at period authenticity and thought the riders dressed no different from 1980s young adults.^[7] Writing for The Atlanta Journal, Phil Kloer agreed with Tucker, also calling the series a rip off of Young Guns. Kloer considered the pilot to be "not particularly good or bad", and felt the series was doomed to fail quickly. He did, however, praise the series cinematography as being "more like a film than a TV series, very beautiful with lots of soft light".^[3] Ron Miller of TV Weekly, however, praised the series when it was released. As it entered its second season, he renewed his praise, noting the more successful series was now "thumbing its nose at all the prognosticators" who had considered it unlikely to succeed.^[6]

Media[link]

MGM released the first season of The Young Riders as a single Region 1 DVD box set on March 21, 2006. No other season sets have been released thus far.^[1]

The season 1 set was released to Region 2 (Europe) on January 15, 2007.^[8]

All three seasons of the show were available to view via Netflix (streaming only) from November 2010 - February 2012.

All three seasons of the show are currently available for viewing on Hulu as of March 2011.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Lacey, Gord (2006-01-06). "The Young Riders — Yee-Haw! Baldwin and Brolin saddle up on DVD this March...thanks in part to YOU!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Young-Riders/4864. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 
2. ^ Zollinger, Norman (1989-09-17). "Television; For the Western Serial, Time to Saddle Up Again". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4D61038F934A2575AC0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Kloer, Phil (September 20, 1989). "'Riders' Destined to High-Tail it Off the Air - Television Review". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: p. D9. ISSN 1539-7459. 
4. ^ May, Mitchell (September 5, 1991). "Tinseltown not all glitter for 'Young Riders' co-star". Fort Worth Star-Telegram: p. E8. ISSN 0889-0013. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Holloway, Diane (1989-11-16). "'Young Riders' puts new face on Western: Show ranks tops in quality, No. 60 in Nielsens". Austin American-Statesman (Austin, Texas): p. B6. ISSN 553-8451. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Miller, Ron (December 2, 1990). "Young Riders Outguns the Competition". TV Weekly: p. 3. 
7. ^ Tucker, Ken (September 20, 1989). "3 Premieres in Prime Time, But Two Are Far From Prime 'Peaceable Kingdom,' 'The Young Riders' and 'The Nutt House' Provide a Night of Diverse Debuts". Philadelphia Inquirer: p. D01. ISSN 0885-6613. 
8. ^ "hmv.com: dvd: Young Riders: Season 1 (2007)". http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1;-1&sku=578742. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 

External links[link]

• The Young Riders at TV.com
• The Young Riders at the Internet Movie Database