Beginning in 1864, the Italian Government had sent emissaries into Syria and Mesopotamia to purchase desert bred Arabian horses directly from Bedouin tribes.
[1] Numerous stallions and mares were purchased and brought back to Sicily, many being destined for the Royal Remount Station in Catania.
Lastly, the Italian Government could also rely on the expertise of Carlo Guarmani, who was born in Italy in 1828, but whose family moved to the Middle East, where he was raised.
He was commissioned to acquire Arab stallions for the stables of Napoleon III and for the then king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II.
His knowledge and direct contact with the Bedouins of the Arabian desert was far greater than that of Lady Anne Blunt, the founder of Crabbet Park Stud.