Horse Breeding: Desert Bred - Origins of the Arabian Horse

The Arabian horse has scholars in disagreement about his exact origins. Some argue that the proto-Arabian horse evolved in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run. Others believe the southwestern Arabian Peninsula once boasted natural pastures, citing as evidence dry riverbeds that date back to the Ice Age.

Scholars also differ in their theories about the progenitors of the Arabian horse. Some think the Arabian descended from one of the four subtypes of Equus caballus:

• Akhal-Teke of western Asia
• Barb of North Africa
• Marwari Horse of India
• Turkoman Horse (now extinct)

Others assert that the Arabian had its own subtype: Equus caballus pumpelli.

Whatever his ancestry, aside from having grown somewhat larger, the Arabian horse has remained largely unchanged through thousands of years. His wild progenitor originally appeared as far back as 2500 B.C., in rock paintings found in the Arabian Peninsula. By 1550 B.C., an Egyptian painting depicted a chariot pulled by a horse with certain recognizable characteristics of the Arabian type: a refined head, an arched neck and a high-carried tail.

It is doubtful that the horse migrated on his own into the desert of the Arabian Peninsula. The area has been an arid, inhospitable land for some 10,000 years and it would have been nearly impossible for horses to exist there without human caretakers, since horses can only survive for 72 hours without water. The Bedouins, a nomadic people of the Nejd desert, seem to have domesticated the Arabian horse prototype around 5,000 years ago, shortly after they began making use of the camel. In the midst of the desert, with no natural pasture available, the Bedouins provided their horses with water and food in the form of camel's milk and dates.

Bedouins had a purist philosophy of horse breeding, maintaining bloodlines through inbreeding and line-breeding. Over time, prized strains evolved, each with distinguishing characteristics. Horses were bred for intelligence, speed, agility and endurance. Weak horses were culled from the gene pool. Though beauty was not necessary for survival, the Bedouins nevertheless selectively bred their horses for refinement. Mares were preferable to stallions because they were more tractable and also because they were quieter, facilitating nighttime raids. Prized mares were often kept inside the family tent to guard against theft, and so a good disposition was vital. What becomes apparent is that the Arabian horse is the oldest human-developed breed of horse in the world.

As the Arabian horse spread to the East - through trade, abduction, bribery, deception and tribute - he changed the world. Estranged cultures were united. Empires rose and fell due to the warhorse's prowess. The Arabian horse appears in hieroglyphics, his image is carved in monuments and on signet rings, his glory is extolled in paintings, and ancient documents attest to the fearsome beauty of his thundering hooves.

One day, the question of the Arabian breed's origins may be answered definitively. Archaeologists could make new discoveries that upend previous assumptions about his beginnings. Or perhaps his true origins will be forever cloaked in mystery. Until then, we can only marvel at the serendipity that brought us such a magnificent animal. Through the ages, caretakers and breeders have preserved his qualities for posterity and have passed down this most important bequest - the Arabian horse.