Domestic Breeds & Types Codexery

Arabian horse

One of the oldest and most influential horse breeds.

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It is classified as a "hot-blooded" breed, noted for endurance and a good temperament developed through centuries of close human contact.[1][2][3] The Arabian breed is distinguished by features including a wedge-shaped head that is refined, a broad forehead, and large nostrils.[4]

Biology and range

Arabian horses have a distinctive concave or "dished" facial profile and a slight forehead bulge called the jibbah, which adds sinus capacity.[4] They possess an arched neck with a large windpipe and a clean throatlatch, a structure the Bedouin called the mitbah or mitbeh.[4][5] Purebred Arabians do not carry genes for pinto or Leopard complex spotting patterns, nor do they carry dilution genes for colors like dun or palomino.[6][7] The breed is especially noted for its endurance and is a dominant performer in international FEI-sponsored endurance events.[1][8]

Purebreds registered by the Arabian Horse Association can be bay, gray, chestnut, black, or roan; the most frequently seen colors are bay, gray, and chestnut.[9] Regardless of coat color, every Arabian has black skin, a trait that offered protection from the sun in desert environments, except in areas with white markings.[9][10] Half a dozen genetic disorders are known to occur in Arabian horses; of these, two are always fatal.[11]

What the specialist sources record

The same source notes that affected foals are usually born without clinical signs but develop severe incoordination after about six weeks of age.[12][13] According to Johnson's article, horses with mild cases of CA can survive a normal lifespan, yet the majority are put down before reaching adulthood because their accident-prone behavior makes them hazardous.[12][13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arabian Horse Association, "Arabians are beautiful, but are they good athletes? - The Versatile Arabian", AHA Website; Edwards, The Arabian, pp. 245–246 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arabian Horse Association, "The Arabian Horse Today", Arabian Horse History & Heritage; Upton, Arabians, p. 19; Stallions may be shown in most youth classes, except for 8 and under walk-trot: 2008 USEF Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian Division Rule Book, Rule AR-11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pavord, Handling and Understanding the Horse, p. 19; Rashid, A Good Horse Is Never a Bad Color, p. 50; "Hot-blooded Horses: What are the hotblood breeds?", American Horse Rider & Horses and Horse Information, 2007; Rashid, A Good Horse Is Never a Bad Color, p. 50; Edwards, The Arabian, p. 28 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Upton, Arabians pp. 21–22; Archer, Arabian Horse, pp. 89–92 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Archer, Arabian Horse, pp. 89–92 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edwards, The Arabian, p. 5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Beaver, Horse color, p. 98; Gower, Horse Color Explained, p. 30 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arabian Horse Society of Australia, "Arabians In Endurance", AHSA Website (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arabian Horse Association, "How Do I... Determine Color & Markings?", Purebred Registration; Ammon, Historical Reports on Arab Horse Breeding and the Arabian Horse, p. 152; Sponenberg, Equine Color Genetics, p. 69; Wahler, Brenda, "Arabian Coat Color Patterns", Arabian Horse Association, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stewart, The Arabian Horse, p. 34 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goodwin-Campiglio, et al. "Caution and Knowledge", pp. 100–105; Aleman, Monica, "Juvenile idiopathic epilepsy in Egyptian Arabian foals: 22 cases (1988-2005)", Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, November–December 2006, p. 1443–9; Goodwin-Campiglio, et al. "Caution and Knowledge", pp. 100–105 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Arabian horse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Johnson, Robert S., "Test Allows Arabian Breeders to Scan for Inherited Neurologic Disorder", The Horse online edition, September 23, 2008; UC Davis, "Cerebellar Abiotrophy", Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Johnson, Robert S., "Test Allows Arabian Breeders to Scan for Inherited Neurologic Disorder", The Horse online edition, September 23, 2008. facts only, no text reused. thehorse.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Arabian horse (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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