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Celebes
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All born to run?
From the deserts of the Middle East evolved the oldest known breed of riding horse. Through conquests and crusades, development of nations, colonizing new lands; and in peaceful times developing equestrian games, beginning new breeds-- the Arabian horse has captured a title in history that will never be matched.
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Naborr
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Abu Farwa
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Count Dorsaz
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Ferzon
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Witraz
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Skowronek
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Hadban
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Gokart
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Gwalior
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Krezus
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Bask
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Corsair
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Nana Sahib
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Topol
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Salon
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Gorgeous horses with strength, speed, durability, stamina, grace, and great minds. This is the Arabian racehorse.
Volumes have been written about the history of the Arabian horse, his spot as the original racehorse, the forefather of the Thoroughbred breed. But what about today's Arabian? Bred for centuries for endurance and speed, a major trend in the U.S. has been to use them for exhibition and show. Following two initial surges of imports to the U.S., especially the importations of the late 50's and early 60's, the Arabian boasted trade value that made exhibition and selling show horses the prime market for breeders. Racing was put on the back burner. Now Arabian breeders are bringing racing forward to its rightful place.
Bloodlines of Arabian racehorses come in all strains.
Many popular Arabians were initially imported from Poland, where breeding selection was based upon racing ability. The object was not necessarily to win races. The breeders examined a horse's ability to carry weight over distance with speed, and his or her soundness and capacity for quick recovery. Those that passed the tests were retained for breeding on the stud farms. A sustantial number of imports were also made from Russia, where the Arabian testing ground was most frequently the racetrack, and those who failed to measure up in either conformation or ability were ruthlessly culled. Imports also came in great numbers from England, where the Crabbet stud had been famous for years for Arabians of great durability. Many of the Russian horses had roots in the Crabbet program. Egyptian horses were imported to the U.S. and highly valued for their beauty- so notable for their appearance that their excellent racing legacy is often overlooked.
Breeding to Race- or Racing to Breed?
Certainly many show events and sporting events besides racing require a very high level of athleticism. While some current generations of show Arabians have not proven racing ability on the flat track, their purebred bloodlines have genetic potential to succeed in racing. Some would say this is a risk to take for a newcomer to racing, since other Arabian breeders have focused primarily on selecting qualities of speed and endurance in their stock to aim for the track.
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Trypolis
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Wielki Szlem
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Witraz
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One thing is very certain. In the quest to breed the very best Arabian horses, racing cannot be overlooked. Honest Arabian enthusiasts know that. The qualities of speed and endurance are what have put the Arabian horse in the forefront of horse breeding throughout history. For the Arabian horse is to maintain his important status as the top breed in the world, breeders must protect the athletic prowess that brought him to this point in the first place.
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Silver Drift
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Ibn Moniet El Nefous
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Morafic
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Preservation is Key
We have seen the evolution of the Thoroughbred racehorse breed for the last centuries from roots in Arabian stock. It is possible that we, too, as U.S. Arabian breeders will continue through selective breeding to see developments in our Arabians' athletic capabilities. A prime consideration in this breeding progress is for Arabian owners of various bloodlines to embrace the importance of racing and choose successful racers for their breeding programs even if they choose not to race themselves. If we fail to do that and all Arabian bloodlines are not utilized, Arabian racehorses risk becoming a sub-strain, with characteristics that do not exemplify all the qualities that are held valuable in the breed. Alternately, horses bred purely for appearance risk losing the athletic qualities that are indeed breed "type." Preservation of all Arabian qualities is key for many breeders.
So while the Arabian racing industry is very old, as old as the horse itself, our development of U.S. breeding programs to protect Arabian racing ability is very young. It is an exciting time to enter the Arabian racing world. It is a renewal of vows as responsible Arabian breeders to preserve all qualities that have made the Arabian great, and it holds promise of a strong future for the Arabian horse.
What is the Trend?
As with all Arabian breeding programs across various disciplines, trends in breeding occur when a particular sire or a dam line proves successful. A Polish bloodline trend has recently been replaced with a trend for French lines. While pure French lines are not historically significant in the U.S. Arabian show horse world, it should be noted that many of the Russian bloodlines found in the U.S. contain French Arabian blood. Who knows the next trend of Arabian racehorse breeding-- the next great winners set the examples for breeders to follow. Perhaps it will be a new cross waiting to be discovered.
We encourage all Arabian horse breeders to give Racing a try- you've got nothing to lose but a race, and everything to win by putting Arabian breeding on the right track.
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Amurath Sahib
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Aswan
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Nabeg
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Namiet
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Knipple
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Kilimandscharo
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Negatiw
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Pesniar
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Pietuzsok
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