Re: A dark day for Arabians

[SandyDSA@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-08-10 00:30:45 EDT, you write:

<< 
 The judge did not even KNOW the breeding of the horses presented, she
 looked at each horse as a dressage prospect...and pretty much any show
 arabian would have washed out in such an evaluation since they have crappy
 hocks, horrible hips, useless backs, and badly set on necks, and ALL these
 things are things that show arabian breeders are selecting FOR...because
 they think its pretty????
 
 Don't get me wrong, I LOVE arabians; the more I work with them the better
 I like them (if you can find one with a good hip...they are out there);
 but I have absolutely NO problem with the reputation that the arabian
 horse has in the rest of the horse industry (especially the QH bus), since
 "top" arabian breeders are selecting for a conformation and disposition
 whcih is totally unsuitable for a riding horse, and horses with this
 conformation and disposition are being lauded as perfection by the arabian
 show world.
 Kat, thank you for reiterating what we have been saying for 2 decades.
Arabians bred by the "best breeders(read, $$$)" are seeking this "look of
eagles", and in our opinion, it is the look of eagles being shot at! we
declined to sell a 15.3 SE Arabian mare several years ago because first of
all, she wasn't OFFERED for sale, but mostly because they were impressed with
her "great head and neck". Well, what about her GRETA REAR END, her strong
hip, her beautiful elastic gaits? Oh, I forgot for a moment, a "good Arab"
breaks chest level at the trot! Oh, no matter - they had no CLUE what they
were looking at! The price was right - the buyer was all wrong. For 24 years
it has been our goal to produce athletes of superb temperament who also happen
to be Arabians! The beauty is there - and so we keep HUNTING to find the rets
of the quotient. Finally, we come to the abysmal conclusion that to get what
we expect of an Arabian, we really have to BREED it ourselves. It just isn't
there in the show ring.
 So if an arabian horse is losing in an open show because it is a good
 "representative of its breed"...well...it should.  However, if the judge
 is unwilling to look at the conformation and disposition of the horse
 presented to it because it happens to have a dishy face...that's
 completely different.
  >>From great antiquity, the deeply dished face has been misunderstood. A
good Arabian may very well NOT have a deeply dished face, but rather a dry,
well-featured faced. The Arabian had to be an athlete of reasonable
temperament to SURVIVE! Can't you just imagine the Champions of the show ring
attempting to traverse a 25 miler let alone a seething desert? What a joke! We
don't WANT our Arabians to be good representatives of what the public and
other breed owners see in the Arabian show rings. We want them to look and say
- great bone, nice fluid movement - what a stud! Also, what a sweet, bright
horse - and see that little girl on that horse??? What a nice horse! Show
horses? If that is ALL they ever do, we don't wnat 'em. We also don't set any
store at all on what the breed judges think of them.
s