Breed History
Allah said to the South Wind,'Become of solid flesh,for I will make a new creature of thee,to the Honour of My Holy Name,and the abasement of Mine enemies,and for a servant to them that are subject to me.'
The South Wind said,'Lord,do Thou so.'
Then Allah took a handful of the South Wind and He breathed thereon,creating the horse and saying,'Thy name shall be Arabian,and virtue bound into the hair of thy forelock,and plunder on thy back. I have preferred thee above all beasts of burden,inasmuch as I have made thy master thy friend.I have given thee the power of flight without wings,be it in onslaught or in retreat. I will set men on thy back,that shall honour and praise Me and sing Hallejuah to My Name.'
This Bedouin legend demonstrates the beliefs of the desert tribsmen on how the Arabian Horse was created.The Bedouins formed a unique bond with the Arabian and the Arabian slept in their tents,sharing their food & water.It was the Mares,not the stallions that were prized.
The Early Shows:
It was only after the Second World War that the boom of Arabian showing began.Until the Arabian Horse Society was formed in 1918,there were hardly any breed classes for Arabians.In the mid-ninetenth century,breed specific classes were very common at horse shows,but not for Arabians.Hardly anybody knew the Arabian and were often regarded as an overgrown pony or undersized horse in Britain.In Europe,however,the Arabian was highly regarded as light cavalry horses.
The first show of the recently formed Arabian Horse Breeders Society of Southern California was quite unusal(it was held in 1945).A dog judge was hired to judge the show and there were 17 classes,4 performance classes.The show held the following year was much more successful.The sucess of these shows led to other All-Arabian shows.Soon,more associations were founeded and there were shows all over the US.This led to the creation of Regional & National Championships.
