Definitions of the word TYPE as defined by Websters New World Dictionary: A model, symbol. Archetype. 1. A person, thing or event that symbolizes another. 2. A distinguishing mark, sign, or impress. 3. The general form, structure, plan, style etc. characterizing or distinguishing the members of a class or group. 4. A kind, class or group having distinguishing characteristics in common. 5.A person, animal or thing that is respresentative of, or has the distinctive characteristics of a class or group. 6. A perfect example, model, pattern, archetype. 7. A odd or escentric person, character. 8. The combination of characters of an animal or breed that make it most suitable for a particular use.
There are most definitions of this word but the ones given are enough for the task at hand.
Ok, do you use the word type to describe the head of your Arabian horse? If the horse has a dishy face, maybe tipped in ears, the indefinable lines in its conformation that is unique to many arabians a high tail carriage and arched neck do you say "That Arabian has a lot of type?"
If a horse has the characteristics listed above but a head with a straight profile, a neck that is not naturally arched, ears with anonymous definition, is heavier boned and muscled than you are use to seeing do you say that horse doesnt have much Arabian type?
There are three photos above of purebred Arabian horses. Guess which are the closest representatives of correct "type" of the Arabian horse breed?
Has it ever occured to you that the phrase "off type" could be used for the look of the modern day Arabian type show horse? What if Moniet El Nefous and Morafic were the produce of continually breeding pretty to pretty instead the most fit to the most fit over a period of time? How many other horses during their time had dished faces? Have you ever really looked at old photos of Arabian horses from the 1800s? When did that consistnce look from back then change? Can anyone find a 18th century PHOTO of a dished faced horse like is seen so often today in the show ring? Ok in the past Arabian horses had real jobs. Today they dont but heads have gotten more dished. What is this doing to the breed on the whole? All this dish is a extreme physical characteristic. Does it impede performance? Who out there is riding extremely dished face arabian horses in 50 mile endurance races and finishes the year with top 10s?
What happened to the horses taken from Arabia to Poland? Pure Polish horses, straight profiles, racehorses, good bodies, go figure.
Did you know that Muhammad Ali the Great. Supposedly the greatest horse breeder of all time in Egypt was from Albania! He was not a native Egyptian. He also got his best Arabian horses by force and trickery from the nomadic bedouins of Arabia, more commonly know nowdays as Saudi Arabia. An Albanian breeding bedouin horses, something here just doesnt add up. Then youve got that German dude from the Spanish Riding school in Marbach who went to Egypt to breed Egyptian horses gotten from Arabia.
Once the horses aquired from the bedoiuns left that peninsula those horses stopped being used for their intended purpose. Consistantly the best thing the horses that left Arabia had going for them were the horses taken to Poland and the ones that were raced in short races Egypt. At bot these countries were into racing their arabian horses. What about long races to test real stamina? How much of that did they do?
Ok youve got guys that have lived and whose families still live in Arabia(Saudi) for centuries who kept their horses outside in fresh air with daily exercise who were the original keepers and breeders of these horses, thank God. These men needed them for a purpose. They used them as get away horses while they were stealing from other tribes or to escape or chase a enemy, so they bred them accordingly.
My point here is dont f**k with what works. These horses were bred in Arabia to run, for stamina and to have pliable dispositions. Pretty is not a requirement for these things to work right. If you need a horse primarily for running and the stamina, surely pretty is not on that short list of traits your looking for. Or do you think that somehow dainty heads and bone somehow went hand and hand with those truly imporant traits? I truly believe more than one person actually believes this bullshit possibility. Common sense and need, not romantic hype and the want of a dainty head is what motivated bedouins to breed the horses they did. Dont cha' think?
It can be argued that no one is really sure what country the Arabian horse originated from. My arguement is who cares. It is documented that in the last 200 plus years the best Arabian horses came out of Arabia and this is what is tangible and important.
So now you either know a little more about what type means in association with Arabian horses or your denying all of what I just wrote because you have pretty show horses and believe everthing you've ever read about Arabian horses, lock, stock and barrel.
The grey mare above descends from straight Egyptian stock and the other two horses descend from straight Bedouin stock. There is a huge difference in physical TYPE between the two as you can plainly see.
Which horse do you think would save your ass if you had to rely on one of them to get away from your enemy? This is the real question to ask when looking at Arabian horses, isnt it?
Troy Patterson
Pharrmorarabians.net
The opinions expressed above are my very own. 1-2-08
