The Lady Wentworth School claims the true homeland of the Arabian horse is the Arab peninsula, in particular the Yemen region. German Carl Raswan claims Nejd as the main centre.It was allegedly Noah’s great, great, grandson Baz (3000 B.C.) who was the first to capture and tame one of the wild ancestors, but the Iranians also have always claimed to be the first to domesticate the Arabian horse.
There is evidence that the Arabian horse is derived from a prototype which came from America at an early stage and spread across the temperate regions from East Asia to North Africa. This idea is supported by the discovery of bones similar to the modern Arabian horse in Japan and Western Iran and pre-historic rock drawings of horses with Arabian horse features were discovered in Fezzan, Libya, dating back to more than 8000 years.
The Arabian horse is a taproot and not a derivative. It has absolute dominance and unrivalled power.
The Arabian horse was introduced to Europe, Northern Africa and subsequently to the world through either trade or wars with the Arabs. It became a favourite internationally. There are now centres of breeding in many countries around the world for the Arabian horse
The Arabian horse imprint is present in many breeds around the world. A few examples include:
Russian Akhal-Teké
The Russian purebred Akhal-Teké was introduced in 1930 noted for its speed, endurance on long marches and adaptation to severe climate conditions. Known also for its pale golden colour with distinct sheen and natural metallic bloom. They stand between 14.3 to 16.3 hands. They have a fine head, upright neck, slightly convex profile, long back, sloping shoulders, strong but fine limbs, long ears and almond-shaped eyes. The mane and tail are usually sparse.
Orlov Trotter
The Russian Orlov Trotter has a fast trot, outstanding speed and stamina. The Orlov breed has a mixture of various European mares (primarily of English, Dutch, Mecklenburg, and Danish breeding) with Arabian stallions.
American Standardbred
Best known for harness racing with a trot or pace instead of galloping under a saddle. It is a solid, well-built horse, people-oriented, easy to train. Standardbred breeds include the Morgan.
South American Criollo
The South American Criollo, has the best endurance of any horse breed in the world next to the pure Arabian. It can go for week without food. It is a hardy horse with short, strong legs, good bone, resistant joints, and hard feet. With long muzzled head and a straight or slightly convex profile with wide-set eyes. The croup is sloping, the back is short. Shoulders are sloping, strong with muscular neck and broad chest. The Criollo is intelligent and sensible. The Criollo horse averages 14.1 hands. The breed may come in bay, brown, black, chestnut, grulla, buckskin, palomino, blue or strawberry roan, and gray colours. The breed is famous for their endurance and ability to live in both extreme heat and cold weather have good resistance to disease.
Thoroughbred - Crabbet Stud
The Thoroughbred is a race horse, the breed was developed during the 17th century in England by breeding English mares to Arabian stallions. The Thoroughbred stands from 15.2 to 17.0 hands high and is usually bay, brown, chestnut, black, or gray in colour. Thoroughbreds have well chiseled heads, long necks, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, lean body, and long legs. They are known for speed, boldness and agility.
Lady Wentworth was known for raising the Crabbet stud during the late 1800’s when the first Arabian horses brought to England by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt arrived at their estate named Crabbet Park in Sussex. The Arabian horse origin is also present in the British New Forest Pony, the Hackney, and the Welsh Mountain Pony.
Darley Arabian
To whom 95% of today's Thoroughbred breeds trace and carry its genetics, was imported to England from the Middle East in the late 17th century.
German Hanoverian
In Germany the Weil stud founded in 1817 and today the Weil-Marbach Stud farm is known for training Arabian horses.
East Russian Trakehner
Austrian Lipizzaner
Gidran Arabian and the Hungarian Shagyas
Hungary imported the Arabian horse in 1816 and founded these two strains.
Spanish breeds were influenced by the stocks brought by Muslims. Purebred lines are of recent origin from descent stocks acquired in the 19th century.
India was exposed to the Arabian horse in 1290 as a result of trade with the Arabs
In France the Arabian horse has been present since the 7th century known as the Pompadour stud or the French Anglo-Arab.
There is now a world Arabian Horse Association. The concern today is to save the breed, not fro extinction but from the loss of purity. The Emirates Arabian Horse Society gained recognition of the World Arabian Organization in 1989. They support the need to foster a continuance of the purebred Arabian horses in the land of its origin. Consequently there is now a significant boost to breeding programs throughout the Arab Emirates (UAE), as well, the international races in the Dubai World Cup (the world’s highest price race) at Nad al-Sheba track, and Abu Dhabi’s al-Wathba endurance track.In Sharjah today there are two shows, one for the internationally bred horses and one for the locally bred.
Purity and breed of the Arabian horse is an ongoing venture in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and also Iran.
Today, the European Conference of the Arabian Horse organizations has 60 active members.
