Bedouin families sheltered their best Arabian mares inside the family tent
Desert nomads kept prized war mares beside their children to guard them from thieves, and bred only from calm, cooperative animals. The result is a horse that can be small yet carry a heavy rider, dominates endurance racing, and is gentle enough that American rules let children show its stallions.
The Arabian traces its roots to West Asia and ranks among the oldest modern breeds. DNA cannot confirm purity more than 200 years back, but archaeology shows Middle Eastern horses resembling it some 3,500 years ago. War and trade carried it around the globe, and breeders used it to add speed, refinement, stamina and strong bone to other horses, so that almost every modern riding breed now carries Arabian blood. It is among the ten most popular breeds, found from Brazil and Australia to Britain and its Middle Eastern homeland.
It is instantly recognisable. A wedge-shaped head with large eyes, big nostrils and a small muzzle usually shows a dished, concave profile. The Bedouin named the slight bulge between the eyes the jibbah, thought to add sinus space useful in dry air, and called the elegant curve where head meets neck the mitbah. The tail is carried high, the croup long and level. Some, though not all, have one fewer lumbar vertebra and one fewer pair of ribs than other horses.
Size misleads people. The US breed standard gives a height of about 145 to 155 cm, straddling the traditional horse-pony line, yet every Arabian counts as a horse. Dense bone, short cannons, sound feet and a short broad back give it strength comparable to taller breeds. A persistent myth claims a flat croup means a flat pelvis and weak hindquarters; in fact croup line and hip angle are anatomically separate, and the build matches other speed-and-distance horses like the Thoroughbred.
Temperament was bred in deliberately. Raiding demanded alertness and spirit, while tent life rewarded good nature, producing a horse that is quick to learn and eager but sensitive, so it responds best to skilled, respectful handling. According to the Arabian Horse Society of Australia, Arabians and half-Arabians lead the field at international FEI endurance events.
Source: Arabian horse
