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Interesting Arabian Horse Facts

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The Arabian horse is the oldest pure-bred horse in the world.

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Arab blood runs in other breeds, largely because of the Arab's ability to stamp its conformation, stamina, and good nature on its offspring.

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The Arab was captured and domesticated in several locations, resulting in various strains of the breed with slight differences in appearances among them.

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The most famous Arab horses are the Bedouin Arabs, know as the Original or Elite Arab.

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Arab horses have three main charateristic colors: chestnut, bay, and gray.

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Evidence suggests that the Arab evolved from prehistoric wild horses that spread from Asia to the Middle East.

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In Libya there are rock paintings more than 8,000 years old that depict a horse very similar to today's Arab.

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Arabs usually stand 14.1 - 15 hands high.

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The Arab's head is small, with a dished face and thin muzzle.  Elegance and spirit are characteristic of the breed.

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Arabs have associated closely with humans for centuries, and the Arab horse of today enjoys human companionship and learns quickly from its human counterparts.

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Bedouins needed horses that were both beautiful and tough enough to servive the desert.  These nomatic tribes have been breeding horses for two centuries.

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Bedouins always selected mares for stamina and courage, while  stallions were chosen for beauty and intelligence.

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Among the horses that carried their famous riders into battle were Napoleon's Marengo, Alexander the Great's Bucephalus, and the Duke of Wellington's Copenhagen.

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The earlist Arab horse brought to the U.S. is said to have been a stallion called Ranger, which arrived in 1765.  This horse is said to have sired the horse George Washington rode during the American Revolutionary War.

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The anatomy of the Arab is Unique -- it has fewer vertibrae than other horses.

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Arabian horses have 17 ribs, five lumbar bones, and 16 tail vertibrae, compared with other horses that have an 18-six-18 formation.

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The back of an Arab is short and only slightly concave.  There is notable strength across the loins, and croup is long and level.  The ribs are well-rounded with good girth depth.

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In addtion to its popularity for cross-breeding, the Arab makes a good riding horse.

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The action of the Arab is unique and distinctive.  This breed is characterezed by a 'floating' movement, a spring-action movement of utmost ease.

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After theGreeks were introduced to the Arabian horses, thay fashioned a god-like creature called Pegusus-- a winged Arabian horse which occasionly desended to earth from its home on Mt. Olympus.

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There are few dedicated owners of Arab horses who do not attest to a special, almost spiritual bond and kinship between the Arabian horse and his master.

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While long distance riding is not new to the world of horses, endurance riding competitions, for which Arabians are especially well suited, began in the U.S. in the 1960s.

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During the Crimean War (1851-1854), one Arab horse raced 93 miles without harm, but its rider died from exhaustion

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ASIL means pure.  Only pure Arabs were breed into an ASIL line by the desert Arabian. (Thanks for the info. J.L.)

Midi "Ecoes in the Mist" is used by permission and is copyright 2000 Bruce De Boer

I have just started this page and will update it on a regular basis.  If you know any facts about Arabian horses that I could use let me know, just drop a line on my e-mail.

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