Arabs as Sport Horses

texenstar

texenstar

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Hi everyone!

I recently lost my beautiful Arab boy and because I love the breed I have been looking online to try and find others like him (I am nowhere near ready to getting a new one but I wanted to see what the market was like).

However, I've noticed that it is very rare to see any sport horse Arabs for sale or posted about on here. I find lots of show Arabs but hardly any endurance, racers or eventers. My boy was a super all-rounder and would happily jump up to 1m (as long as it didn't involve water!) and he was an ex-racer out of racing lines but I never see anyone else out and about with their Arabs. Do they exist or do people just not train them as all-rounders so you don't see many?

If you do have one then please share pictures and stories as I would love to see!

Pictures to say thanks for looking :)

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My friend has an arab who she tries to do allrounder stuff with ... personally I would have shot him long ago for his antics but she somehow has the patience of a saint and nerves of steel! NEVER known a horse like it, to be consistently a complete ********!
 
Mine was only a PB (70%) but by far the best driving pony (137cm) I've had the pleasure of owning! He competed internationally in a pair and then at FEI level with me as a single. He had full siblings on the Dutch pony SJ team. There's a lot of NRPS that are high % performing. Not so sure about purebreds as I've gone back down the native route.
 
You wouldn't find many pure bred arabs used as performance sports horses, primarily as there are more suitable horses for the job. Don't get me wrong, I have a soft spot for arabs, particularly the race type rather than show type, and think that introducing a small % of Arab blood into sports breeding is good. But pure breds IMO are best used in endurance/racing type settings.

There is a poster on here with an Arab stallion (Rollin), who jumps a bit at a lower level and seems a decent sort. And I think we have a few endurance people who post.

Years ago I had a pure bred by Hanif, ex racing pony. Absolute neurotic nutter! Could and did do a bit of everything but you wouldn't have chosen him as an alleounder
 
rara007 said:
Mine was only a PB (70%) but by far the best driving pony (137cm) I've had the pleasure of owning! He competed internationally in a pair and then at FEI level with me as a single. He had full siblings on the Dutch pony SJ team. There's a lot of NRPS that are high % performing. Not so sure about purebreds as I've gone back down the native route.
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Thanks for your reply :) He sounds great! Do you have any pictures? :)
 
ihatework said:
You wouldn't find many pure bred arabs used as performance sports horses, primarily as there are more suitable horses for the job. Don't get me wrong, I have a soft spot for arabs, particularly the race type rather than show type, and think that introducing a small % of Arab blood into sports breeding is good. But pure breds IMO are best used in endurance/racing type settings.

There is a poster on here with an Arab stallion (Rollin), who jumps a bit at a lower level and seems a decent sort. And I think we have a few endurance people who post.

Years ago I had a pure bred by Hanif, ex racing pony. Absolute neurotic nutter! Could and did do a bit of everything but you wouldn't have chosen him as an alleounder
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I do agree with you! If you had to pick between an Irish Sports Horse and an Arab to take hunting you would, naturally, pick the irish sports horse for the job! However, I spent a fair few years living in the UAE and it's amazing how versatile the arabs are when they are used for activities other than endurance and showing. Saying that, my boy was one of the better Arab jumpers around and I was mostly competing against imported warmbloods but a lot of the other Arabs would happily take you round a xc course or though a dressage test. I guess it depends on what you are wanting from the horse :)
 
I had the most wonderful Arab all rounder as a teenager. She was the sweetest horse and she would do all open PC events (so 1.05m SJ and XC). However, she was very hot; on a good day we were unbeatable against the clock, on a bad day we'd barely survive the warm up ring and crash through everything.

The pony had scope to jump higher but I was too young and inexperienced to get the best from her and due to her size she struggled with distances in affiliated horse classes (by the time we affiliated I was too old for pony classes).

Like other posters have said, if you're looking for a sports horse it can be easier to find a warm blood or ISH that's up to the job than an Arab. That's not to say there's not plenty of arabs that can make nice allrounders, it's just they're often not bred or trained for it.
 
I have 7! I sort of fell into them when my sister trained them for racing, my love is endurance but I'm going to give dressage a go this year I'm too much of a whimp to jump! I'm not sure if I would have any other breed now, they certainly have personality!
 
I love my Arab and wouldn't change him for the world. Some days I feel like we are going to conquer the world, other days I'm getting ditched on the deck. Some days he's sweet as pie, other days I want to sell him. Some days I gaze adoringly at him, other days I shake my head in disbelief.

He can jump around 1m but chooses not to, he threw me off in a 50cm class then cleared the fence alone while I tumbled to the floor, then won 1st place and a champion sash in the 60cm class an hour later.

He has put himself in between me and a bolshy mare who tried to flatten me in the field and stayed beside me with his snarky face and teeth on show at her till I left the field, but also gets bullied by most horses because he doesn't stand up for himself?!

He is a whippet and the speeds he can pick up are unbelievable, he would excel at xc if he spent less time overthinking logs and grass and more time just doing what I'm asking. He is a dream on the flat on a good day and feels like he has 12 legs on a bad day.

I totally get where you're coming from - they are fantastically capable horses but my guess is people can't be bothered with their spontaneous dramatic outbursts so they buy something that's more likely to behave on the day!!
 
junglefairy said:
Like other posters have said, if you're looking for a sports horse it can be easier to find a warm blood or ISH that's up to the job than an Arab. That's not to say there's not plenty of arabs that can make nice allrounders, it's just they're often not bred or trained for it.
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This sums it up well! It makes sense that in the UAE there would be a lot more sport Arabs because it's so expensive to import other horses. Pity they are not more utilised in this country though :( I am, of course, rather biased and I think I was lucky with my boy! :D
 
Steerpike said:
I have 7! I sort of fell into them when my sister trained them for racing, my love is endurance but I'm going to give dressage a go this year I'm too much of a whimp to jump! I'm not sure if I would have any other breed now, they certainly have personality!
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Wow! Please introduce me to your sister! :P I am having the hardest time finding ex racers! They all seem to sell privately after racing D:
 
Steerpike said:
I have 7! I sort of fell into them when my sister trained them for racing, my love is endurance but I'm going to give dressage a go this year I'm too much of a whimp to jump! I'm not sure if I would have any other breed now, they certainly have personality!
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Wow! Please introduce me to your sister! :P I am having the hardest time finding ex racers! They all seem to sell privately after racing D:
 
Mukhtar Ibn Eternity is a stallion similar to your boy, OP.

He's rocking the showing, XC, SJ etc. You point him at it and he kicks it's ass :)
 
Nice to see you Oberon. :D

I also love Mukhtar Ibn Eternity. Is Orlow Ox is a stallion that is bred to perform. http://www.hengsthaltung-kathmann.de/cms/front_content.php?client=1&lang=2&idart=288 There was someone on arabianlines who has a purebred by Master Design GA that they event, so even show lines can produce performance horses.

Both of my arabs could be fantastic all rounders if they weren't held back by me. ;)

I have seen ex racing arabs advertised on arabianlines, so it's worth keeping an eye on there.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone! When I am ready for a new one I will see about contacting those race trainers and I will keep an eye on arabian lines :) Wonderful looking horse, Leo! and I have 'liked' Mukhtar Ibn Eternity on Facebook, he looks like a fun horse :D

Is Orlow Ox looks like me dream horse! :O

Thanks for sharing :)
 
A couple of friends have horses from the Guisborough stud and there horses are good all rounders. Both do elementary dressage, endurance and jump.
 
I'm hoping the two Anglo Arabs I bred will be just that, decent sport horses able to turn their hooves to anything apart from just looking pretty.
The elder one was overall 12th best 3 year old in the eventing section at Futurity (3rd on the day against others with 'better' or more traditional event breeding) He's now broken and going on nicely apparently while the other, Merlin, is 4 this time and due to go off to be broken and then sold. Merlin certainly looks and moves more of an eventing model; deeper, more bone too but I don't know, we'll just have to see how he turns out as looks can be deceiving!
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He's lovely Maesfen. :) I do like a good anglo. CM is 20 this year and she's been such a fabulous horse for me and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come.
 
I once, many years ago, worked for a very rich lady who wanted to have the first Grand Prix dressage Arabian. She invested millions (this was in America, BTW), and we did get one to PSG, and one AA to Int1, but the elusive GP purebred never happened, and I left the project with strong feelings that it was asking the wrong thing/too much of this lovely, generous breed. Horses for courses, and being the right shape and having muscles in the right place is a large part of being successful in any given sport.
 
How right you are Cortez.

Horses are very much in the don't fit a square peg in a round hole category and it's sad to see so many discarded because they can't or don't have the ability to do what the owners wanted them for - even worse to see them struggle and be blamed for their shortcomings when it's the owners to blame for not picking a suitable horse in the first place. Horses have limitations and preferences as much as humans do, people should remember that.

Sorry OP to hijack.
 
Mine do a bit of everything. One has a cracking jump and is as bold as they come. I would have done more with her if she hadn't damaged herself in an accident when younger. She raced originally although she is tiny, and is still doing endurance now. I think her jumping days may be over now sadly.
The other one is incredibly scopey and utterly bonkers. You wouldn't trust her to go round a course every time but on her day she is fab. She mainly does endurance now having raced before. I did some dressage with her last year to try and get her to behave better in company which sort of worked. I think they are wonderful but I can'tsee a pure bred jjumping round badminton, although my little one would probably have given it a go if she had been 2 hands bigger.
 
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Our Shagya Arabs are definitely sport horses. Some photos attached, apologies if you have seen them before on this forum. Both are home bred, stallion and filly. She is always in a sheepskin noseband - jumping at Le Lion D'angers, last year she jumped 12 clear rounds from 14 starts and qualified for the National Championships at Fontainebleau. Full brother did two season of endurance for his stallion 'performance' including 3 x90km. He now jumps Grand prix at 1.10M. Photo of him on his third 90cm endurance (heart rate at last vet gate 42bpm) and jumping.

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Only got experience of my boys, two pb and 1 full. Full lad was on the stocky side for an Arab, we lost him young but we did do a bit of dressage etc before we lost him.

Both pbs were/are all rounders. D did everything you can imagine proper pony club all rounder. Big guy had a few back issues (related to previous owners saddle) so hasn't jumped much but reckon he could. We night try a bit once dd 2 is here and I'm back onboard :).

Maybe a pb might be worth a look?
 
The old pony is a purebred Arab. He's pretty much retired now, but we used him as a typical kids' pony - he hacked, schooled, jumped sj and xc, hunted, showed, tried sidesaddle, and anything else we asked of him.

In his teens he was nanny horse to a series of youngsters learning to hack, steady neddy for nervous people trying to regain confidence, first ride for people new to horses, and loved hunting.
 
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