ARABIAN HORSES COME TO AMERICA

In the 20th century, Europeans and Americans began importing and breeding the Arabian, bringing about some subtle and significant changes to the breed.

Created centuries ago by Bedouin breeders in the Middle East, the Arabian horse until the 1870s was almost entirely the product of the needs and taste of traditionally nomadic tribesmen living in a harsh, arid environment. The first American-style horse show ever held in the Middle East was not put on until 1983; from this it is evident that the Bedouins have not considered the “show horse” a priority. Traditionally, Bedouins have bred Arabian horses for warfare, for racing and for gazelle hunting, which requires flat-out gallops over miles of rocky terrain. For these pursuits, speed, soundness, stamina and a brave but kind nature are valued above all.

The Bedouin term for a purebred horse is “asil,” which means an animal descended in an unbroken line from a founding mare rather than a founding stallion. In tribal breeding, every effort is made to ensure that mares are covered only by stallions who are considered asil, generally within the mare’s own family or “strain.” Although recent DNA studies of Bedouin horses show that there has been some mixing of strains over the centuries, out of necessity and sometimes out of ignorance non-Bedouin breeders have mixed them much more. This has not necessarily been harmful, but it was the first factor that caused Arabian breeding outside of Bedouin hands to take a different direction.

A second and crucially important factor in creating a new Arabian phenotype0 outside of Asia is that the first European to purchase, export and breed Arabian horses in significant numbers was a woman, Lady Anne Blunt of Crabbet Park in England---as likewise was the largest American importer and most prolific breeder, Ruth

ARABIAN EXODUS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

“Bazy” Tankersley. In Bedouin culture, horse breeding is almost exclusively a man’s enterprise, and Bedouin women have had virtually no influence in making the Arabian “more beautiful.”

Only a tiny percentage of Arabian horses have ever left the hands of the Bedouin tribesmen who breed them. The Arabian was virtually unknown to Europeans until the Middle Ages, when it is probable that Crusaders encountered them on their travels to Palestine. There has been speculation that Arabians might have been brought back to Europe at that time, but there are no breeding records from this early period, and contemporary artwork does not support the idea.

Two centuries later, however, the aggressiveness of the Ottoman Turks proved to be pivotal in bringing the Arabian horse from Asia into Europe. In 1522, a huge Ottoman army led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent conquered Hungary. They advanced westward, and by the autumn of 1529 over 100,000 cavalry were encamped outside the gates of Vienna. The Viennese, forewarned of their danger, fortified the city walls and withstood a two-month siege. Heavy rains bogged down Ottoman artillery while continual damp helped to spread disease among men, horses and camels. Rapidly running out of food and water and with temperatures dipping below freezing, the Turkish army abandoned thousands of horses in the field. Most of the abandoned horses were Turkmene, but a few might have been asil. Seeing the invaders go, the Viennese were not

slow to round up surviving animals, which were then sold to buyers in Poland, Prussia, Russia, Germany, France and ultimately England. King James I imported the Markham “Arabian” to England in 1616, a stallion that historians and DNA researchers now consider to have been---like the more famous Darley, Godolphin, and Byerley stallions imported over the next several decades---not asil but rather of Turkmene or mixed Arabian and Turkmene descent. It was, however, a start---and important in making Europeans aware of a type of horse quite different from those native to lands west of the Bosporus.

Although Europeans usually have not followed Bedouin traditions and rules for within-strain breeding, from the first they nonetheless highly esteemed the Arabian horse. In Russia, the Empress Catherine the Great reportedly owned a herd of 12 purebreds in 1772. At about the same time, for the huge sum of 60,000 rubles Count Alexey Orlov imported the asil stallion Smetanka to Russia from Turkey. He bred the stallion to Danish, Dutch and Thoroughbred mares, thus initiating the development of the Orlov Trotter. The Prussian stud at Trakehnen, established in 1731, was likewise devoted to cross-breeding; a high point of this philosophy was reached under the directorship of Gustav Rau in the 1920s with the importation from Poland of the purebred stallion Fetysz. The Hungarian stud at Bablona and that at Marbach in Germany first began using Arabian stallions between 1780 and 1820. In 1815 the asil stallion Siglavy (Saqlawi) was imported from Syria to the Lipiça stud in what was then Austro-Hungary, where he founded the Lipizzaner family known by that name. Finally, in 1830 the asil stallion Padischah was imported to England, where his bloodline still exists. Fortyeight years later, the existence of asil Arabians in England inspired Lady Anne and Wilfrid S. Blunt to establish the largest and most influential of all English Arabian-breeding farms, Crabbet Park.

At about the same time, governmentsponsored breeding farms cropped up in other countries. Poland acquired numerous purebred horses from Ottoman Turkey and began producing Arabians under the aegis of careful record-keeping. For the first time in this era, a national stud was also established in Spain. The Tersk stud in Russia was established in 1921 with purebreds purchased in Syria and also from Crabbet Park. While the Blunts never obtained horses from

ARABIANS IN THE USA

anywhere but the Middle East, their daughter Judith Blunt-Lytton (Lady Wentworth), who took over operation of the farm after 1917, made key purchases from Poland, particularly the stallion Skowronek, foaled in 1909.

Europeans and Americans originally did not distinguish between different Asian horse breeds, tending to label them by the point of export (a “Turk” was thought of as any horse exported from Turkey), or else calling them all “Arabians” because this designation could bring higher stud fees and sale prices. Indeed, the name “Thoroughbred” originally meant a “purebred” horse of Asian or part-Asian breeding, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, Arabian and Turkmene horses were commonly called “thoroughbreds.” It is confusing and somewhat ironic that the Thoroughbred, which arose through judicious crossbreeding, should bear a name connoting “pure breeding.” The success of the crossbreeding that created the Thoroughbred served to inspire first Count Orlov and other Europeans, and finally it also began to interest American breeders.

Americans needed to see more of the Arabian horse to be convinced of its excellence. The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, also called the World’s Columbian Exposition, a huge affair featuring exhibits from many states and from countries around the world, attracted a great deal of media interest. Among the reporters who were sent to cover it was Homer Davenport, a columnist and political cartoonist for the Chicago Daily Herald newspaper.

At the Expo, Davenport discovered the Arabian Village, which featured numerous asil Arabians that had been imported directly from Syria. He studied them and made sketches and interviewed their Bedouin handlers. After the fair closed in the autumn of 1893, 28 asil horses were auctioned off, many to Peter Bradley of Hingham, Massachusetts. Partnering with Bradley, Davenport eventually acquired all but one of the original Expo horses. Asked where his passion for them came from, he said, “I have dreamed of Arabian horses all my life.”

In 1906 Davenport used his political connections with President Theodore Roosevelt to obtain permission to travel within the Ottoman Empire. Roosevelt, a fine rider himself, was interested in upgrading the quality of American cavalry horses with Arabian blood. So persuasive was Roosevelt that Sultan Abdul Hamid II granted Davenport a permit to export up to eight horses, and remarkably, permission was specifically given to purchase and export mares.

Upon arrival in Damascus, Davenport immediately paid a visit to the royal stables. His next move was a breach of protocol; he chose to visit Akhmet Haffez, a Bedouin who served as liaison between the Ottoman government and the Anazeh tribe, before calling upon the Governor of Syria, Nazim Pasha. Haffez considered Davenport’s visit a great honor and promptly gave

CHANGES IN THE ARABIAN WITH CHANGING PRIORITIES

him *Wadduda, his finest war mare. Upon hearing this, and not to be outdone, the Pasha gave Davenport the handsome, intelligent and tractable stallion *Haleb, known as the “Pride of the Desert.” Sheikh Haffez then personally escorted Davenport into the desert, where he chanced to save the Bedouin’s life. The two took an oath of brotherhood, which guaranteed that Homer Davenport would have access, as no European or American has had at any time before or since, to the finest asil horses.

Upon his return, Davenport helped organize the Arabian Horse Registry of America, recording 71 animals in its first volume. Davenport’s importations, along with the existence of responsible registration, inspired other Americans to travel to the Mideast in quest of horses. Prominent breeders from 1900 to 1960 included Spencer Borden, W. R. Brown, Henry Babson, Roger Selby, James Draper, William Randolph Hearst, Patricia Hewett, and W. K. Kellogg, who founded the horse program at California Polytechnic State University (“Cal Poly”). In accordance with Teddy Roosevelt’s wishes, the U.S. Army Remount Service eventually acquired a number of Arabian stallions, standing them at public stud for a reduced rate. The most influential of these was *Astraled, foaled in 1900 and bred at Crabbet Park in England by Lady Wentworth. Imported to the United States in 1909, he was acquired for the U.S. Cavalry in 1923.

The largest single importation of Arabian horses to the United States came about with the death of Lady Wentworth in 1957, when most of the Crabbet herd were offered for sale and newspaper heiress Ruth “Bazy” Tankersley acquired 32 animals. These were shipped to her Al-Marah breeding facilities in Maryland and Arizona. Already standing at Al-Marah was *Indraff, a son of the stallion *Raffles who likewise had been bred at Crabbet Park. Tankersley continued to import or purchase Crabbet-related horses, and Al-Marah became a mecca for “Crabbet breeding.” In a career spanning some 70 years, Tankersley is credited with producing more than 2,800 Arabian foals, making her one of the world’s most prolific breeders of Arabian horses.

Like her father, Chicago Tribune baron Joseph McCormick, Tankersley was active in politics and knew how to organize. Her wealth and savvy gave her great influence from the 1940s onward in the now-defunct International Arabian Horse Association (IAHA), and her ideas concerning Arabian “type” and how the breed should be trained and shown made the American Arabian “scene” unlike that in any other country.

Tankersley’s approach was a direct reflection of events at the Crabbet stud. In the 19th century, Lady Anne Blunt had followed her mentor the Ottoman Turk Ali Pasha Sherif in valuing the Arabian horse for tractability, soundness, speed and athleticism. Her philosophy was that the desert-bred Arabian “needed no improvement,” but

Lady Wentworth especially valued sharply dished heads with short

muzzles and very full, bulging foreheads. Such heads are baby-like and “cute,” with the animal’s eyes

appearing large and prominent.

when her daughter Lady Wentworth took over the Crabbet breeding program in the early 20th century, she sent it in a different direction. Lady Wentworth especially valued sharply dished heads with short muzzles and very full, bulging foreheads (the Bedouin term for this bulge is “jibbah”). Such heads are baby-like and “cute,” with the animal’s eyes appearing large and prominent. Lady Wentworth selected individuals for characteristics such as a level croup, elastic back and high, flashy action not useful for warfare or racing but favored at horse shows. The bloodstock available for sale upon her death reflected this philosophy, which has been continued not only in the Al-Marah breeding program but by almost all American breeders.

Today, the Arabian is not the only horse in America bred primarily for beauty and for show, but it must be noted that this is totally alien to the culture of the Middle East and of course to the priorities of the original Bedouin breeders of the Arabian horse. Having been schooled by Ali Pasha Sherif, the Blunts understood that designation as asil had never depended upon the shape of the horse’s head or any other physical feature but only upon the horse’s proven origin. In 1972, a committee of bilingual experts from the World Arabian Horse Organization (WAHO) traveled to Syria to inspect horses and verify pedigrees. Quoting from their report: “Despite the fact that the majority of [Bedouinbred] horses do not conform to current western show ring ‘type’, the WAHO ... Committee could not fail to notice the many qualities that are the undoubted signature of the original ‘desert-bred’ Arabian---gentle temperaments, fine black skin, soft hair quality, large flexible nostrils, excellent necks with clean throatlatch, good shoulders, strong backs, clean limbs and in particular, the hallmark ‘flagging’ tail carriage. It was also noticeable that in one generation, those horses which were sired [in Syria] by the few imported Egyptian, Russian or American stallions had not lost those qualities, but the heads in particular were enhanced.”

“Enhanced” heads did not, in fact, become very common even among American-bred Arabians until the 1960s. Valuable observations on this point are provided by Mary Gharagozlou, the wife of an Iraqi (Muslim, but non-Bedouin) breeder. In a 1972 essay, she remembers taking some British guests with her to visit her Bedouin mentor, Sheikh Hajat. On a chilly evening as they warmed themselves around a brazier of charcoal, Gharagozlou, acting as translator on behalf of the British, asked the Sheikh his opinion as to the qualifications of a good asil horse. He replied, “First ask them which horse they are talking about---the horse of the ‘khiaban’ [which means a horse for show, parade or festivities], or the horse of the ‘biaban’ [which means the horse of the wilderness, the one for fighting, long distance riding or gazelle hunting]?”

When the British indicated they were interested in the latter, the Sheikh smiled and replied, “First, before

THE ARABIAN HORSE TODAY

looking at the horse’s body, you must ensure that it has the five key qualities of character: courage, intelligence, stamina, spirit and above all ‘Nejabat’ [a difficult word to translate, indicating a mixture of nobleness, gentleness and the ethics of an aristocrat]. If it lacks these virtues, no matter how pleasing he is to the eye, he is a worthless horse, so do not waste your time. If he has them, then run your eyes over his conformation. The forehead should be wide, the eyes large and alive, the ears well placed and alert, the throatlatch slender and refined, the shoulder sloping, the girth deep, the cannon short, the forelimbs straight,”---and so on.

In short, Gharagozlou reports, “the Sheikh's stipulations were similar to the opinions held by many writers, except when it came to the head, croup and tail carriage. He did not approve of the dish. He had seen it in exaggerated form on a stallion sent as a present from the States and considered it a deformity. The completely flat croup, he said, was pleasing to the eye, but likewise unnatural. In different strains and for different purposes, different types of croup [with more or less slope] are desirable. The tail, he said, should never be carried [straight out] like a cane, but rather [with a soft curve] like a flag. The cane-like carriage, he said, came from a weak back and the flaglike carriage from a strong and straight spinal column.”

Purebreds, though not usually bred according to Bedouin principles, are produced today in many countries worldwide. The registry organization in the United States and Canada is the Arabian Horse Association

(AHA), founded in 2003 through the merger of the Arabian Horse Registry of America (AHRA, founded 1908) and the International Arabian Horse Association (IAHA, founded in 1950). The World Arabian Horse Organization (WAHO) works with Middle Eastern breeders, inspects horses and authenticates pedigrees and stud books worldwide. The AHA also acts as an Arabian horse club, sponsoring horse shows and other competitions, and sanctioning flat-track races for purebreds and half-Arabians. Endurance competition, once the poor cousin of horse showing, is now an Olympic discipline falling under the oversight of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). In the United States, endurance competitions of different types are sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) and the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC). These competitions are open to all breeds, but Arabians have dominated in the winnings. Purebreds and half-Arabians have also shown successfully in other competitions open to all breeds, including cutting and reining.

American, Canadian, English and Australian breeders have in recent years banded together to establish “sub-clubs” within the larger umbrella of the AHA that reflect particular breeding interests. These include the Al Khamsa Society, which registers horses descended from Davenport, Babson and other select bloodlines; the Pure Polish Association; the Russian Arabian Organization; the Egyptian Arabian Breeders’ Association; the CMK (Crabbet-Maynesboro-Kellogg) Association and more.

With 26,000 members, the AHA is among the largest horse interest groups in the United States. The registry database includes pedigrees of over 900,000 Arabian horses worldwide, of which about half reside in the United States. Although there are fewer Arabian breeders in English-speaking countries today than there were in the 1970s and 1980s, it is still easy to find a reputable breeder offering quality livestock for sale. The AHA website offers assistance in finding horses for sale, trainers, shows, events, publications and local clubs interested in the Arabian horse.

In these pages, the complete history of the Arabian horse cannot, of course, be covered. Books and Internet links for further study are listed at right. The accompanying sidebars feature old photographs of “foundational” and other important horses, some of which lived more than a century ago. The object is to bring this material together for your convenience, but also to help you learn to identify the different “styles” of Arabian horse that are typical of the Middle East, England, America and other countries around the world. Your homework for this month is, first, to learn the differences in skull structure that constitute a dished versus non-dished head. You’ll also enjoy comparing the conformation analysis of the Ali Pasha Sherif stallion, featured last month, with analyses of the three American-style stallions---all champions---presented in this installment.

Next: “Pick Your Favorite---The Arabian Horse in America Today”

Although there are fewer Arabian breeders in Englishspeaking countries today than there were in the 1970s and 1980s, it is still easy to find a reputable breeder offering quality livestock for sale.