Re: bloodlines (long)

[Trishmare <Trishmare@aol.com>]

Dear Becky,
     One thing to keep in mind thought, as regarding "pure-bred" arabians, is
that the ancient bedouins who are considered responsible for the original
desert horse which came to be known as the "Arabian" used the word "pure-bred"
very, very differently from the modern interpretation, and this has caused
much confusion . . . it is also responsible for the complete myth that the
Arabian horse is the oldest "pure" strain of horse.  (the Akhal-Teke and
Caspian both predate the Arabian,as "pure" strains of a consistant type; in
the case of the Akhal-Teke, by a thousand years, at least.)
    To the bedouins, who lived by the quality of their horses, and also, died
by that quality, or lack thereof, a "purebred" horse was ANY horse which could
do well what they wanted it to do.  That is, live and thrive in harsh
environmental conditions, carry a rider safely over miles and miles of desert
terrain, be "hot" enough to have the lightning fast reflexes, yet human-
oriented enough to be trainable and tractable, stay SOUND!!!!!  Under all
these conditions . . . any quality that would aid the bedouin in the way he
lived his life, was a prized quality in a horse.  Any quality which hindered
this, was considered bad, and a sign of "impurity."
    The bedouins did not judge a horse's purity so much by "bloodline" and
traceable ancestry, but by sheer QUALITY.  Though bedouins did keep written
records of bloodlines, no bedouin who was interested in a horse would ever ask
to "see" its "pedigree."  He would be considered a laughing stock, and no kind
of a horseman, were he to do that.  This is because any bedouin worth his
sheepskin tent was expected to just be able to "see" if a horse were "pure" or
not.  The quality should speak for itself.  If you had to ask for a horse's
pedigree, that indicated you were ignorant about what a decent horse should
look like; you knew nothing of conformation, nor "presence."
    If a bedouin had a chance to obtain a horse who epitomized everything (or
even most of the things . . . there were no perfect horses, even back then )
that these people prized in a mount, the man would certainly do so, even if
the animal were of a "type," or "breed" well different from his own.  This
horse was added to his herd, and any offspring . . . if they turned out to be
good, were considered "purebred" horses.  Why?  Because their "quality"
indicated they were, indeed, "pure!"
    Similarily, any foal of poor quality was considered "impure," NOMATTER HOW
"PURE" THE PARENTS!   The desert people lived and died by their horses, and
would not pass up a good horse, because it was of a certain currently
unfashionable lineage, or no lineage at all.  They also were not impressed
with pedigrees.  Would the horse be able to save them when push came to shove?
You don't ride a pedigree . . .
    When "westerners" first "discovered" the Arabian horse, it did not take
the bedouins long to discover that the Europeans had real corny ideas about
what constituted a "pure-bred" horse, and as a result, some of the poorest
specimens ( in the bedouins mind) of horseflesh available were sold to the
Europeans as "pure-bred" Arabians.  Which they were, by European standards.
That is, they had traceable pedigrees.  But these animals were asses, by
desert standards . . . pedigree or no pedigree.  The Europeans cared more for
the papers than they did for the quality of the horse, and I wish I could have
been at some of those desert campfires after a day of "horsetrading," and
listened to the arabian laughter as it floated across the sands . . .
     Myself, I have never been overawed by a pedigree, nor any claims of
purity.  Not that I do not think we should be careless with maintaining a
"closed" studbook . . . we don't want to end up like the quarter-horse people.
God only knows how much "quarter-horse" blood is in any given quarter horse!!!
But I also know, all these debates about Bask's "purity", or Skowronek's, or
etc. etc, is just so much drivel.  The bedouins would have laughed their asses
off . . .

Trish & "pretty David" 
(who is Russian-bred, and thus, "impure." That is, not Straight-Egyptian.  But
not "impure" by bedouin standards, I think . . .)
ps: I've seen Shadowfax . . . the bedouins would have considered him "pure"
too!!!  But not because he is straight-egyptian . . .

<< > Mention was made of the Otts and the BlueList-Blue Star business from way
 back 
 > in the 70's. Those people were BIZARRE to say the least, eccentric 
 > breeders with a fanatical view of purity-- one could call them the Jihad 
 
 I would like to know what is fanatical about purity????
 
 In my understanding, purity, at least for Arabians, is supposed to mean
 PURE, 100%, no crosses.
 
 When there are 'Purebred" Arabian horses registered the AHRA that show
 "unknown"  and "no recorded history" in their pedigrees that says to me
 that the AHRA does not practice what it preaches!!!!!!!!!!!!
 Not to mention documented accounts of crossbred horses being registered as
 pure....
 
 I am not trashing Skowronek or Bask or ANYONE, but I sure as heck don't see
 ANYTHING wrong with people who want BE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT about something,
 rather then just "probably right" or "mostly right"
 
 BTW.  Shadowfax, that distroyed the Foxfire camp last week is a BLUE STAR. 
 He traces in All lines to the ARABIAN desert without question.  He is also
 PURE IN THE STRAIN HAMDANI, bred following the Bed traditions that created
 and maintained the incredible horses we all love.
 
 After 65 miles, he trashed the camp.  This was an all-out-no-holds-barred
 anaerobic, running, bucking and jumping.  He had absolutely no damage to
 his legs/tendons etc.  we did 11 more miles, his heart rate was as low as
 usual and he checked in almost immediately when we got back to camp.  The
 reason we pulled was because of the soreness and bruising from hitting the
 trailer.  I am (far from it) bragging about any damage he did, I have
 apologized over and over.  But consider what kind of horse could do that
 after so many miles...
 
 call me BIZARRE, eccentric, fanatical or whatever, I will say THANK YOU....
  at least I KNOW mine is pure.
 
 Becky Huffman >>