Arabs as Sport Horses

ironhorse

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Western trainer Tanya Rowe rides a pure bred arab stallion for one of her clients - she has shown him western and done dressage with him. He is quite a big, sporty stamp of arab. She might be able to help you find what you are looking for.
tanyarowe_uk@btinternet.com
 

texenstar

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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.

I totally agree that asking a purebred Arab (and some other breeds) to work at Grand Prix may be asking a bit much for them. There is a reason, after all, that a the Olympics you mainly see warmbloods and the odd lovely Lusitano or Andalusian. However, getting an Arab to around medium level would turn out quite fun I think. :) Thanks for your reply! I own a Lusitano mare as well and aim to follow classical dressage theories but it is a long learning process! I am beginning to understand the biomechanics of different horses and how it impacts their work which is why I am interested in discussing Arabs as all-rounders instead of just endurance/show horses :)

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.

No problem at all! I am eager to hear other people's opinions :) I probably swing the other way and worry too much that my horses do not enjoy/can not cope with what I ask them but with my Arab, as he was an old boy in his 20s, I always tried make sure that he was not pushed too far :)


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.

I have noticed your horses before, Rollin. I am very envious! They look amazing :)
 

Talism4n

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My current boy is about 75% Arab and a cracking all rounder (the remaining quarter a mix of Welsh D and TB, as if that wasn't a recipe for disaster!). I bought him as a showjumper with a pretty nasty history and he's gone on to do all PC activities with me, endurance, horse agility and now hacks out sporadically around uni. He has very strong views on who he does and doesn't like as far as riders go, and needs to be handled very gently, but he was an absolute saint when I had some health issues a couple of years ago and he's kept me safe in some scary situations over the years. I think Arabs are a little like marmite really, with all that brainpower they're either your best friend or a nightmare to deal with, but, like you OP, I'll be looking for another one when my boy eventually retires. I'll readily admit that I'm a fluffy, soppy fool and I've always found the kind of quirky personality you tend to get with Arabs lends itself well to forming a good bond with a horse - at the very least, they're so trainable and versatile that I've had no bother teaching them to pretend they love me back!
 

linperrie

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My Anglo Arab (75%Arab/25% tb) is mainly used for dressage but she loves the odd course of jumps. She doesn't like too much jumping (I learnt this in the early days!) And will stop when had enough. So in the summers we do like some combined teaining events once a month and then some showing, fun rides, bits of cross country and we hack out alone and in company. She is now 22 and not slowing down. The Arab breed just seems so Hardy. I think I'd always try and have one. Seems a shame that people don't try them to be all rounders more cos at lower levels they are as good as the next horse. Maybe not grand prix dressage but lots of fun to be had along the way!!
 

ihatework

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I think it's important to differentiate between part breds as allrounders (which appears to apply to the majority here) and purebreds as sport prospects.
 

GeorgieD

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I had the most perfect little pure arab mare - XC machine and perfect limbs and feet! we only did BE90/100 as we got her later in her life.. she didn't even start eventing until she was 18! just an amazing animal. She was by Dhruv from the Biddesden stud. Have a look at their website I'd love to get another from there one day I just love the breed!!
 

keri66

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My Arab is fab.
Easiest horse I've ever owned.
Ex racer
Jumped affiliated
Showed
Hacks out in company or alone .
I wouldn't swap her for anything.
As unflappable as it's possible for horse to be.
Having lost my bottle this mare gave it back
She is worth her weight in gold and is beyond price ☺
Oh and she is pure bred
 
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ester

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It's true though I don't think there is any question over the part bred as a sport horse? and enough top flight competitors to demonstrate that! Not so much from the purebred side and the OP was asking about purebreds.
 

Firefly9410

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I used to have a crabbet arab. I never knew her history but it was clear she had been schooled. She was 16 when I got her. I taught her to jump. We mostly hacked both alone and in company. She was good at dressage too. Perfect ground manners and a beautiful horse.
 

HashRouge

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It's true though I don't think there is any question over the part bred as a sport horse? and enough top flight competitors to demonstrate that! Not so much from the purebred side and the OP was asking about purebreds.
Yes I was thinking this. Anglos in particular are known as superb sports horses and I'm not sure PBAs, unless a very high percentage Arab, say very much for the capabilities of the purebred.

My purebred was a handy type of horse (still is, only she's retired!) and had a good jump when she was in the mood. Never actually tried any form of SJ competition or XC though and I suspect she would have been a bit too spooky to be consistent. I do think more of them would make useful allrounders if they were actually bred/ produced with that in mind. I can't see an Arab ever doing Grand Prix dressage or 3* eventing, but I'm sure plenty of them are capable of doing well at the lower levels in most disciplines. Ultimately, though, most people who buy Arabs don't buy them with the intention of making them into a good all rounder. They are more specifically bought for endurance, hacking or ridden or in-hand showing. Which is why you don't see many of them doing BE100s etc.
 

Pigeon

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Are you in the UK? (Only asking as your pictures are sunny haha!!) Beautiful horse btw - so sorry for your loss.

Maybe look at tbs? Mine is an ex racehorse, he is quarter arab. I've seen some with as much as 75% arab still listed as tb.

He's beautiful and stubborn - the Arab shines through lol!

Tbh you might be best buying a younger and getting it professionally trained.
 
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Rollin

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The Shagya Arab is 90% Arabian and stands at 15.2hh-16.2hh. They were bred to be Cavalry horses for the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The Hapsburg Imperial Cavalry always rode Shagya Arabians.
 

texenstar

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were you here when jess was still on the forum with the bay tiger?

Yes, I do remember her little bay arab, I used to watch a lot of the YouTube videos Jess used to make of him. A cracking little horse!

My current boy is about 75% Arab and a cracking all rounder (the remaining quarter a mix of Welsh D and TB, as if that wasn't a recipe for disaster!). I bought him as a showjumper with a pretty nasty history and he's gone on to do all PC activities with me, endurance, horse agility and now hacks out sporadically around uni. He has very strong views on who he does and doesn't like as far as riders go, and needs to be handled very gently, but he was an absolute saint when I had some health issues a couple of years ago and he's kept me safe in some scary situations over the years. I think Arabs are a little like marmite really, with all that brainpower they're either your best friend or a nightmare to deal with, but, like you OP, I'll be looking for another one when my boy eventually retires. I'll readily admit that I'm a fluffy, soppy fool and I've always found the kind of quirky personality you tend to get with Arabs lends itself well to forming a good bond with a horse - at the very least, they're so trainable and versatile that I've had no bother teaching them to pretend they love me back!

They do have lovely personalities! And their intelligence does lend itself to close bonds, I think (or cheeky *******!)

I had the most perfect little pure arab mare - XC machine and perfect limbs and feet! we only did BE90/100 as we got her later in her life.. she didn't even start eventing until she was 18! just an amazing animal. She was by Dhruv from the Biddesden stud. Have a look at their website I'd love to get another from there one day I just love the breed!!

She sounds great! I, too, only got my boy later on in life. He was 14 but it took me about a year to work out how the breaks worked! D: Tricky horse but the best teacher I could have asked for :)

My Arab is fab.
Easiest horse I've ever owned.
Ex racer
Jumped affiliated
Showed
Hacks out in company or alone .
I wouldn't swap her for anything.
As unflappable as it's possible for horse to be.
Having lost my bottle this mare gave it back
She is worth her weight in gold and is beyond price ☺
Oh and she is pure bred

The is what my boy was like :) You could ride him down the motorway with no bother!

Are you in the UK? (Only asking as your pictures are sunny haha!!) Beautiful horse btw - so sorry for your loss.

Maybe look at tbs? Mine is an ex racehorse, he is quarter arab. I've seen some with as much as 75% arab still listed as tb.

He's beautiful and stubborn - the Arab shines through lol!

Tbh you might be best buying a younger and getting it professionally trained.

I bought him whilst I was living in Dubai but I flew him back to the UK with me when he was 18 as I was worried about what would become of him if I sold him at that age abroad :( Luckily, he didn't hate me too much for moving him to rainy Cumbria! And I was thinking of something similar with getting a youngster and training them up. Would be a good learning experience too!

The Shagya Arab is 90% Arabian and stands at 15.2hh-16.2hh. They were bred to be Cavalry horses for the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The Hapsburg Imperial Cavalry always rode Shagya Arabians.

Wow! Impressive lineage then! :D
 

Meowy Catkin

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And I was thinking of something similar with getting a youngster and training them up. Would be a good learning experience too!

That's what I did with my two. :) It's very rewarding and I would do it again if I ever needed to buy another horse as I can't imagine buying a ready made horse now.
 

Tamba

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I have an arab. He came from racing bloodlines. He would and did anything i asked of him. He did elementary dressage. Definitely would have gone further, but i started him late on. Hes 24 now and still fit and healthy.
 

ester

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For amusement purposes we (my mum) have a half arab, racing bred, she is conformationally challenged and useless at most things other than looking pretty :D.
She was the subject of a 'so what does your horse do better than mine' conversation the other day, mum could come up with 2 things. Walking and not having scabby cob skin, that was it! :D
 

JDee

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The one I had for a few years was mostly a 'go where you point me' horse other than if he could go around a jump he couldn't see any reason to go over it. I did take him on a fun ride organized by the Hunt and he jumped everything he was asked too but he got so over excited it wasn't really an enjoyable day at all
 

MagicMelon

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Like others have said, there are generally other breeds better for the job. I think most breeds have things they're generally better at due to their build or nature etc. Arabs IMO are brilliant at endurance and I see many doing that especially at the higher levels. But they arent exactly renowned for jumping, not many seem to jump particularily big (which is limiting for a competition horse) and as you mentioned OP I've always been told they hate water which is no good for eventing ;) Obviously like any breed, you get the odd one who is amazing but I think they're a risk. Ive had several part bred Arabs (have one now as my competition horse) and I love them as it gives them that highly intelligent edge and sensitivity I like - but I think a pure bred would be too much!
 

Under-the-radar

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I have a purebred - showing bred - but by the time she was less than 1yo, she made it very apparent that she did not think much of this showing lark. The people who bred her sold her to another showing home and before she was 2 she was up for sale again - having yet again shown her disapproval for showing.

She is now 7yo and becoming a really super ridden horse. I mainly enjoy dressage, so that is the main part of my training, but have now started our jumping training, which she thinks is a great hoot! Her first time jumping was going to our RC camp last year - I'd never ridden her over a pole before and over the weekend she was jumping doubles and a good range of XC jumps. I'm hoping we can push on with the jumping a bit more this year - but do think she will be rather limited by my jumping skills - but we will see.

She is probably the most brave and honest horse I have ever had - she's quite a sensitive soul, totally wears her heart on her sleeve. I hope she will become a good all round sports horse as we carry on - but we will do what she enjoys most.

I think if you have a specific job in mind, then an arab may not be the horse to take you to the top the SJ or DR world, but if you want to enjoy a horse who will have your back no matter what and have a huge amounts of laughs with a horse, while training them - then an arab may be the horse for you. Sense of humour is key I think ;)
 

texenstar

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I have a purebred - showing bred - but by the time she was less than 1yo, she made it very apparent that she did not think much of this showing lark. The people who bred her sold her to another showing home and before she was 2 she was up for sale again - having yet again shown her disapproval for showing.

She is now 7yo and becoming a really super ridden horse. I mainly enjoy dressage, so that is the main part of my training, but have now started our jumping training, which she thinks is a great hoot! Her first time jumping was going to our RC camp last year - I'd never ridden her over a pole before and over the weekend she was jumping doubles and a good range of XC jumps. I'm hoping we can push on with the jumping a bit more this year - but do think she will be rather limited by my jumping skills - but we will see.

She is probably the most brave and honest horse I have ever had - she's quite a sensitive soul, totally wears her heart on her sleeve. I hope she will become a good all round sports horse as we carry on - but we will do what she enjoys most.

I think if you have a specific job in mind, then an arab may not be the horse to take you to the top the SJ or DR world, but if you want to enjoy a horse who will have your back no matter what and have a huge amounts of laughs with a horse, while training them - then an arab may be the horse for you. Sense of humour is key I think ;)


She sounds lovely but I am not seeing nearly enough pictures from people! :D :D

Thanks for sharing everyone!
 

rebeccag

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I had the most perfect little pure arab mare - XC machine and perfect limbs and feet! we only did BE90/100 as we got her later in her life.. she didn't even start eventing until she was 18! just an amazing animal. She was by Dhruv from the Biddesden stud. Have a look at their website I'd love to get another from there one day I just love the breed!!

What was her name? Would love to see a picture if you have one! trying to assemble as many as possible of horses we have bred on our gallery page (http://biddesdenstud.co.uk/about/gallery/) thanks, Rebecca
 

lottiepony

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Bit late seeing this. I've got PBA, 50%. Hes 3 this year and all I can say is I'm looking forward to finding out where his talent lies. Can't help but get excited :) we achieved the 3rd highest score over all ages at the BEF Futurity last year. In the endurance section mind you due to a stupid rule change they bought in. So despite the fact he was bred for eventing I couldn't put him in that section - I won't add anymore on that subject as have ranted about it numerous times lol!!
 
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