What  are  Arabian  horses?  

Arabian  horses  are  a  breed  of  horse  that  originates  from  the  Arabian  

peninsula.  

Arabian  horses  are  visually  striking.  

They  are  dis;nguished  for  their  recognizable  head  shape  and  high-­‐

carried  tail.  

Arabian  horses  are  perhaps  the  oldest  breed  of  horses  alive  today.  

Archaeologists  have  iden;fied  bones  of  horses  resembling  the  Arabian  breed  in  the  Middle  East  that  are  

over  4500  years  old.  

Arabian  horses  are  very  desirable;  valued  for  their  speed,  strength  and  

intelligence.  

Arabian  horses  are  oGen  bred  with  other  breeds  to  pass  on  their  good  

quali;es.  

Today,  you  can  find  Arabian  bloodlines  in  nearly  every  prominent  

breed  of  horse.  

There  are  many  physical  quali;es  that  make  Arabians  excellent  horses.  

Firstly,  there  bones  are  strong.  

Arabians  have  chiseled  bone  structure  that  is  highly  enviable.  

The  have  an  arched  neck,  concave  profile  and  high  carriage  tail.  

Another  dis;nguishing  feature  common  to  Arabian  horses  is  a  bulge  between  their  eyes  on  the  

forehead.  

This  feature,  known  as  a  jibbah  by  the  Bedouin  people  who  originated  

the  bred,  expands  the  nasal  capacity.  

It  is  believed  this  helps  the  horses  deal  with  the  harsh  desert  climate  

they  were  bred  to  thrive  in.  

Another  interes;ng  quality  that  was  determined  by  their  environment  is  

their  skin  color.  

Arabians  all  have,  regardless  of  coat-­‐color,  black  skin.  

This  helped  protect  them  from  the  intense  sunlight  of  the  Arabian  

Peninsula.  

These  quali;es  have  been  intensified  through  selec;ve  breeding,  giving  us  the  high  

quality  animals  we  have  today.  

Those  quali;es  have  been  bred  into  many  other  types  of  horses.  

Arabians  were  developed  in  harsh  desert  climates  and  as  a  result  they  

have  an  incredible  endurance.  

Through  centuries  of  selec;ve  breeding,  Arabians  have  developed  a  coopera;ve  rela;onship  with  

humans.  

A  well  trained  Arabian  is  quick  and  eager  to  learn  with  high-­‐alertness  

and  spirit.  

The  Arabian  people  who  were  breeding  them  originally  needed  horses  that  would  be  effec;ve  

during  war  and  the  modern  Arabian  horse  is  the  culmina;on  of  that  

effort.  

 So  much  sensi;vity  and  alacrity  in  the  horse  makes  it  necessary  for  the  

owner  to  be  respecRul  and  competent.  

That  being  said,  Arabians  have  been  connected  to  humans  for  such  a  long  ;me  and  bred  with  such  

exper;se  that,  although  they  are  classified  as  hot-­‐blooded,  they  are  excep;onally  well  tempered  horses.  

In  fact,  Arabians  are  one  of  the  few  breeds  that  the  United  States  

Equestrian  Federa;on  rules  allow  youth  to  show  stallions  in  

compe;;on.  

In  Legend  

Arabians,  due  to  their  outstanding  gene;cs  and  long  history,  have  many  legends  and  fables  detailing  their  

excellence.  

They  have  reached  mythic  propor;ons.  

One  such  legend  details  how  King  Solomon  received  a  giGed  horse  

from  the  Queen  of  Shiba.  

Solomon  named  the  horse  Safanad,  meaning  “the  Pure”.  

It  is  said  the  horse  was  faster  than  the  zebra  or  the  gazelle  and  that  every  hunt  he  par;cipated  in  was  

successful.  

Naturally,  he  became  the  stud  that  would  create  the  Arabian  breed.  

There  are  several  other  origin  stories  describing  the  beginning  of  Arabian  

horses.  

The  different  mythologies  are  evidence  of  how  old  the  breed  is  

and  how  important  the  animals  are  to  the  culture  of  the  area.  

In  fact,  there  is  li[le  agreement  in  where  the  breed  truly  originated.  

Some  believe  the  Bedouin  people  of  the  Arabian  peninsula  began  

domes;ca;ng  them  shortly  aGer  beginning  to  domes;cate  camels,  around  4500-­‐5000  years  ago.  

Others  maintain  that  Arabian  horses  began  to  develop  in  large  

numbers  aGer  the  rise  of  Islam  around  the  7th  century.  

Newly  converted  Persians,  moving  from  the  fer;le  crescent  to  the  Arabian  peninsula,  brought  the  knowledge  of  horsemanship  and  

breeding  to  the  Bedouin.  

Regardless  of  fabled  origin,  it  was  the  climate  and  culture  that  

ul;mately  created  the  Arabian  horse  as  we  now  them  today.  

Horses  cannot  survive  as  long  as  camels  without  water,  so  humans  had  to  provide  water  and  food  to  

the  animals  in  the  deserts  In  Middle  Eastern  deserts,  it  can  be  leagues  and  leagues  before  you  find  water  and  a  horse  cannot  survive  more  than  72  hours  without  drink.  

The  owners  would  feed  their  horses  dates  and  camel’s  milk  by  hand,  which  helped  to  forge  the  deeply  coopera;ve  rela;onship  between  

the  horses  and  humans.  

The  harshness  of  the  area  also  necessitated  very  selec;ve  breeding,  such  that  the  weaker  bodied  horses  were  not  allowed  to  reproduce.  

Also,  the  ways  humans  used  the  horses  also  guided  their  

development.  

The  horses  were  trained  in  wars  and  raids,  so  traits  like  speed,  strength  and  intelligence  were  valued.  

Arabian  horses  were  hugely  important  of  the  development  of  

the  Middle  East  and  the  surrounding  areas.  

They  pulled  chariots  in  Ancient  Egypt  and  carried  warriors  across  

the  O[oman  Empire.  

They  eventually  spread  into  Europe  and  were  brought  to  the  New  World  

by  Spanish  conquistadors.  

Prior  to  the  rise  of  industrialism  and  the  moderniza;on  of  warfare,  

breeding  opera;ons  were  numerous  and  wide  spread.  

What  About  Today  

Rebecca  astride  First  Ghazi  in  compe;;on  

Today,  Arabian  horses  are  used  in  many  different  ways.  

They  compete  in  nearly  every  type  of  compe;;on  at  every  level.  

From  racing,  show  jumping,  cubng,  reining,  and  dressage,  the  Arabian  

horse  is  a  successful  in  all  disciplines.  

The  event  where  the  Arabian  has  the  most  gene;c  advantage  is  probably  endurance  racing.  

For  example,  at  the  Tevis  Cup,  an  endurance  race  in  California  where  compe;tors  cover  100  

miles  in  a  single  day,  Arabians  are  the  leading  breed.  

In  America,  there  are  spor;ng  compe;;ons  that  are  Arabian  and  half-­‐Arabian  only,  under  the  direc;on  of  the  Arabian  Horse  

Associa;on.  

Arabian  horses  are  amongst  the  most  beau;ful  and  faithful  horses  

someone  can  own.  

Their  high-­‐spirits  and  bodily  prowess  has  earned  them  a  well-­‐deserved  

reputa;on  of  excellence.  

Arabians  were  hugely  influen;al  in  the  rise  and  fall  of  civiliza;ons,  the  

spreading  of  ideas,  and  the  migra;on  of  people.  

Rebecca  Skeeles  is  someone  lucky  enough  to  grow  up  riding  Arabian  

horses.  

She  has  shown  them  in  compe;;on  and  been  delighted  by  their  intelligence  and  sensi;vity.