Blast from the Past

A Blast from the Past

Since I have not blogged in a few months, I decided I needed to get back into it. I think sharing with others is important in this day and age. I received an email from another Arabian Horse breeder that started with

"A Blast from the Past", which triggered memories of why I got into breeding Arabian Horses. So I decided to go through

old magazines that I still have on

Arabian horses and share some of the interesting stories of the past with you.

So lets start with the real history of the Arabian Horse and where they originally came from. This except was taken from the Arabian Horse Express, May 1982, but felt it was worth sharing with you Arabian Horse Lovers.

The Arabian Horse: An Introduction (by Beckie Brenn)

Arabian. The word alone conjures up romantic images. Clusters of tents under a merciless sun. A camel caravan winding slowly across brill ant white sand dunes. Sun browned, bearded sheiks and veiled, dark-eyed women.

Oil wells pumping up black gold.

And horses. Arabian horses, with flaring nostrils and flashing eyes. They pound over the desert, graceful necks arched, long manes and gaily-held tails streaming in a wind of their own creation. They appear to fly without sings, slender legs carrying their weight effortlessly, dancing hooves skimming over the earth

without seeming to touch it.

Surely the writer had the Arabian horse in mind when he penned these verses:

"Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?...The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword....He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage....He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha...." (Job 39:19-25).

The Arabian Horse, ancestor of all light horse breeds, is the most ancient of today's modern breeds. There is evidence that the Near East contained horses of Arabian type as early as the 17th and 16th centuries B.C. Arabians were the war horses of all the nations and city-states in that area. Early Egyptian art pictures horses with the same familiar, distinctly Arabian tail carriage and head style as

found in Arabian horses today.

Horses were apparently not considered necessary by the ancient desert Arabs until they began getting caught by warring Assyrian horsemen. These cavalry units were unable to catch the camels ridden by the Arabs in a long-distance run, but they could catch up fast in a close race; which they did with monotonous regularity and disastrous consequences to the hapless camel-rider. The horses were quicker, more maneuverable, and more effective in hand-to-hand fighting. Consequently, the Bedouins soon became skilled horsemen themselves.

With the advent of heavy armor in Europe and the de-emphasis on quickness and agility, the Arabian horse was gradually replaced by the ponderous, heavy boned draft-type horses. Little was required of the horses except the ability to carry several hundred pounds of rider and armor and to run in relatively straight line at the enemy, in order for the rider to pierce said enemy with his long lance.

It was really no wonder that the Godolphin Arabian, a small bay stallion, was a laughingstock when he was first received in the royal court of Britain. It was not until much later that he was given the recognition due him as a sire of great influence.

In the desert, a male horse was rarely gelded, which resulted in the practice of only mares being used on raids, since silence was mandatory and stallions had a habit of being noisy and too easily distracted. The importance of mares gave rise for the matriarchal system of record-keeping in the Arabian breed. The strain name is passed on only by the tail-female line, from dam to daughter.

At first, there were no written pedigrees; instead, the record of ancestry was kept by memory alone. Today, however, there is a detailed stud book and voluminous literature on the subject. Anyone, who has studied Arabian pedigrees will affirm that the system is quite complicated, including strains, sub-strains, and family names.

Fortunately, the ability to understand and recite pedigrees is not a requisite to appreciating Arabian horses. The Arabian can be appreciated by all horsemen, regardless of which breed they may fancy, for its ancestral influence.

Each of today's light horse has borrowed characteristics from its Arabian forefathers, developing these characteristics to a degree where they have, in many cases, become specialized trademarks of that breed.

For example, the Thoroughbred traces its endurance and heart to the three foundation sires of that breed, the Godolphin Arabian, the Darley Arabian, and the Byerly Turk. Through its foundation sire, Janus, the Quarter Horse inherits its quickness and agility from the Arabian. Saddle bred horses may thank the Arabian for their proud and elegant style. The Morgan horse has many similarities in conformation to the Arabian and possesses the same strength in a deceptively refined appearance.

The Arabian did not appear on the show scene until after most other breeds had been firmly established as show horses. Consequently, at first there were no classes open to Arabians, forcing them to compete in their own shows.

Now showing that is another complicated subject........so to be continued.

The Great Egyptian Stallion *Talal

I thought I would share with you the stories of the Great Straight Egyptian Stallion *Talal since he is a great, great grandparent of Rose. When I first read these articles by Sara Loken about this great horse and his life before being imported to America and ending up living with Jim Kline (Kline Arabians), it sparked something in me. And began the wonderful journey that changed my life forever. And over the years I have watched the many generations and have seen the continuous of this great bloodline in the foals that grace this farm.

Here is *Talal (Nazeer x Zafaarana ). He was the grandson of the great Arabian race horse Balance. He was imported to American at the age of 10 and lived until he was 27 years old. *Talal ran in over forty races, won six, placed in 27 and retired totally sound. Also winning several halter championships after his importation, he was National Top Ten at the age of 12. Talal was a magnificent horse, very athletic, with a long neck. Considered by many to be the finest of Nazeer’s sons in the States.

Quotes from Sara Loken Article:

EGYPT REMEMBERED, Arabian Horse World, June 1980

“After four years of racing, *TALAL went into training for dancing horse competition, a skill which can be brutal in its excessive restraint. We were told that “some Arabians will die before they will dance” and *TALAL was one of those. For this reason, the owner allowed us to buy him.
“Almost a year after he came to us, a regional dancing horse competition was held at our stable. The flute and drum orchestra sat against the outside wall of the high-walled manege, where *TALAL was cooling down after a ride. We noticed the spectators gravitating to the manege and looking into it with interest. Curious, we went over to see what was going on. Inside, *TALAL, “the horse that would never dance,” alone and free in the large arena, was dancing to the music, proudly and with deep concentration."

“On the subject of voice commands and responsiveness: I had worked with *TALAL on the development of a fairly extensive Arabic vocabulary, which included the usual equivalents of whoa, trot, walk, etc. I didn’t babble at him; I talked when there was something to say, or ask. And the time came when it proved its usefulness.

“*TALAL bred BINT GHAZALAH , and I rode him after each servicing to cool him down and also to remind him that our relationship was not to be forgotten, despite the mare’s charms.

“Some weeks later, *TALAL decided he must see BINT GHAZALAH again. He dithered a bit as we passed her stable and then, without further ado, planted his feet firmly and refused to budge, like the proverbial Egyptian mule. Since we were in full view of the tea tables of the stable, we were soon surrounded by horsepeople of all nationalities and traditions. “Hit him on the nose,” “Hit him on the legs,” “Twist his tail,” “Set a fire under him,” and so forth. *TALAL comprehended that further efforts would ensue and made his own decision: he performed a Bedouin warhorse movement which is written in the old literature – he rose in a high rear and spun on his hind legs, sending me off into the dirt. With me disposed of, he stood and called for BINT GHAZAHAH.

“I mounted him again, leaned forward and whispered the Arabic word for “please” in his ear. “Midfadlak!” The tension in his body melted, and I pressed my legs against his sides and whispered “Midfadlak!” again. And off we strolled.

“Some weeks later, my husband and I went on leave, and one of Egypt’s finest horsemen (accustomed primarily to foreign horses, not Arabians) offered to ride *TALAL and solve the problem of the vigil for BINT GHAZALAH . When we returned from holiday, I quickly heard from everyone that he had experienced the same equine solidification problem but, with his expert knowledge and experience, had solved the problem easily. I could hardly wait to learn his method.

“When I saw my friend, he told me all the techniques he had used which hadn’t worked. “Well” I asked, “what did work?” In a burst of chagrined honesty, he replied, “This is ridiculous….I whispered “midfadlak” as you told me!

It was the only thing that worked!”

The Halter

Well, Rose has her first halter.

At first, it was to big, but she didn't seem to mind.

Now, I was able to adjust it for her.

Has never seemed to bother her. I think she thinks a piece of jewelry for her to show off in.

Love that attitude.

Communicating

Have you ever thought about if people could be more like horses?

When you meet someone you could just softly blow into their nose to see if they are
friends. That's what horses do when they want to see if the other is a friend or someone they should be afraid of. I thought I would bring it up, since Rose was having me do that and then she was fellowing me everywhere because she established that I was her friend.

I find it very interesting watching and learning about the different behaviors and how they communicate to each other. Now the key here is to establish that I am the Alpha Person, so they won't bite or kick me.

You will see foals when they feel threaten doing a mouthy thing (moving their month, like they are saying, don't hurt me I am little). It's like when a puppy feels threaten how they expose their belly.

Another thought is how they seem to send telepathic pictures to each other when they are communicating. I have watched them do this. Now wouldn't that be a better way to communicate then us talking, and trying to see if the person is receiving what we are trying to tell them?

They do use a lot of body language. For instance, A mare just has to flick an ear in warning to one of the others and they back off. Or how a mare will move her foal around the pen. Nipping it if it does something she doesn't like.

I remember having this colt race up to his mother, who was eating peacefully, he thought he would be cute and climb up on her, she never lifted her head, but took her back leg and shoved him about ten feet. He got up, shook his head and never tried that again.

So, I sometimes wonder if our way of communicating is so great?

Butt Scratching

Well, every since Rose was a few days old we have scratched her rear. Now it is an everyday thing that requires a few moments of time to Love on her and scratch her butt.

She thinks this is the way it is.

Tale of the Flowing Water

Well, I found a major water leak, that was causing a river to flow down the hill in the paddock where Rose is. She loved it, she was over there pawing at it and sticking her nose in it. Who said these Egyptian Arabians were afraid of water. Not this group.

I did have one once who was afraid of a butterfly, kept leaping up in the air to get away from it.

My wonderful neighbors came over last night and fixed it for me. They had to dig up the pipe that had broken in the ground and replace the frost free faucet.

Thank Goodness for wonderful neighbors!

Anyway, now Rose is puzzled..what happen to her play thing, it's all dried up. So I guess I will have to run a little water in the paddock for her to be happy.

Rose is turning Grey

This morning I really noticed how much Rose is turning grey, along with rubbing her neck and mane. Of course, I was concerned so I took a real good look at the rub spot and realized she was probably getting sprayed with the automatic fly spray (which shoots a small amount of spray every 30 minutes). Well I am sure it itches, so she rubs. So I finally got smart and decided the flies where better than having Rose rub out all her hair. I turned it off. So my advise to others is to move their automatic fly sprayers out of the stall itself. Also Rose is losing her lovely chestnut hairs and in return there are grey ones emerging. So with an Arabian Horse, they truly are a horse of a different color!