Tell me about your arabs

[shadowboy]

I am off to view an arab on monday next week. Apparently hes very quiet- but I was under the impression they were quite flighty, stressy horses? could you give me your experiences of them so I have a more balanced view. Thanks guys

 

[Guinness]

Not at all! They can be neurotic, but once you have earned their trust they will do ANYTHING for you. Very brave horses, but you have to earn their respect! Love arabs

 

[mga4ever]

I find they generally take a little longer to mature than other breeds but once you have earned their trust they are the most loyal and willing horses. I love both my arabs to bits they will do anything I ask. I also find they are very sensitive as all they want to do is get things right to please you.

 

[MrsMozart]

I've worked on a Arab stud in the UK, and had friends with an Arab stud farm in the USA.

Always found them intelligent, honest, fun and hard working. They'll question you certainly, but so long as you have the answers and are willing to repeat yourself, you'll be fine

.

Have fun

 

[Grey_Arab]

I have a full bred arab and he is very laid back and chilled, sure he has his moments of being excited, adrenaline filled etc, but that is the same with any horse!
He is very intelligent as well, so is always a bit quirky, but never ever nasty (things like, letting himself out of his stable, taking himself to his stable from the feild etc.) He also has a great knack for getting himself out of the way if another horse we are with is pratting about

He does a bit of everything, dressage, SJ, XC, general babysitting and is going to go into pony racing next season.
So as you can probs see I love him to bits, and wouldn't swap him for anything

some pics, I can't resist

(not me on him in any of them!)

 

[hussar]

I have a 3/4-bred (retired) and a full Polish Arab, both endurance horses. Both are highly intelligent and curious about everything! The part-bred is very sensible, 100% in traffic, could turn his hoof to anything including cross-country, SJ and dressage, has a foul temper but loves being groomed.

The younger one is an idiot a lot of the time, unpredictable in traffic, won't go over a pole on the ground, hates schooling but has paces to die for and a lovely temperament.

Both of them respond better to being asked to do something than being told to do it! I learned very early on not to give them a smack with a whip as they really resent it and will switch off.

We see a lot of Arabs in endurance and most of them are fun rides, can be challenging, but rarely stupid or dangerous. TBH, if the rider is highly-strung, then so is the Arab! They're very much 'one person' horses and can bond very strongly with their rider. They do take longer to mature than some other breeds but many are still doing endurance in their late teens and 20s.

 

[BigRed]

Never mind the pony - what a fantastic back drop in the photo. Is that your house ?

 

[Hippona]

Mine is PBA...he looks very similar to your boy though Grey_Arab.

Lovely, lovely nature...very loyal/loving- playful with other horses, likes human and equine company but will happily hack out alone.
Fun to ride- can be sharp/spooky on occasions but never nasty.

Does get a bit stressy on occasions but is easily managed- he loves a routine.

Love him to bits...still going strong at 21, you wouldn't believe his age.
Next one will be a full arab.....I love 'em - they're special.

 

[jumpthemoon]

I'm on a yard where there are 3 Arabs. Two of them are described as really quiet Arabs, which they are, but they are still Arabs and still highly strung. A quiet Arab is never going to be like a quiet WB, or a quiet cob - they are naturally highly strung and sensitive.

 

[Silverspring]

Like all horse's it depends how they are handled as to how the respond. When I got my pure bred Arab 4 years ago she was really quite stressy and flighty. She was ridden in an Amercian gag and would spook and take off at the sight of her own shadow. She is now ridden in a Myler snaffle, no martingale. She relatively quiet, she has her moments of madness and when she gets a fright it's either straight back to normal or you're going to be spooking the rest of the hack.

She is howere the bravest animal I have ever ridden, if asked she will go past anything, maybe at speed but she never says no! We fell in really deep mud out on a hack, went right down and she struggled to get back out (I had rolled on to safer ground from the saddle) I got her up, calmed her down then jumped back on. 100 yard down the track more mud, she had a think about what to do and instead of taking a flying leap (and risking landing right in it!) she sort of floated over it (like only an Arab) could. So many other horse's would have point blank refused to go near more mud after nearly getting stuck in it 5 minutes before.

Tell us about this Arab you are going to see, height etc and what you want to do with him

 

[Grey_Arab]

Sadly no it isn't my house!

 

[Foxyeventing]

I have 2 arab race mares, and one colt who im hoping to train also. They are incredible, I wasnt an arab lover growing up on an arab stud and lerning to ride on the damn things but as you get older and want a one to one they are amazing!!!!
As i said mine are fully fit racing arabs, but i can still take them anywhere do anything because they love ME!!! They ask permission before everythng, you never have a dull ride, and they always cheer you up, never ever nasty, but can be oh so naughty!!! Wouldnt swap them fo rthe world... If you can ride youll be fine and really love it, and never ever swap it for anything....

 

[Niraf]

I have a purebred Egyptian Arab. He is 20 and looks just like Grey Arab's horse. He is very moody and some days he is a complete plod and others he pretends he is a big racehorse and dances about. He sometimes likes me and is affectionate and tolerant and other days he would bite me as soon as look at me. He has in fact bitten several people, all men and he is not a man's horse and definitely prefers women. Overall a sensible and safe boy that will go anywhere and do anything although it did take him two years before he would walk in the sea without performing !

 

[Faro]

Arabs...

Yes they can be highly strung - but it tends to be in small, quick doses (5 minutes of being a drama queen then back to being kind, calm and loving once again). I really believe that a lot of the reputation they get from being fiery and neurotic is due to the Arab show scene, where they are really hyped up deliberately and a good show horse is trained to act that way.

I don't do the Arab show scene at all with my 3 (hadn't you guessed?), and mine are a total contrast to the stereotype from shows.

A non-hyped-up-for-show-purposes Arab is gentle, thoughtful, a thinker, very much a one person horse (although happy to share their humans with other horses). Extremely inquisitive and curious. They are also well known for being absolutely fantastic with children (my 5 yo niece has been riding my 3 purebreds since she was 3).

Very sure footed, loads of stamina, usually a forward-going, light, responsive ride (hence their great success in endurance). Arabs can and will jump, although they do tend to be a bit lazy with their feet and don't always pick them up. And there is absolutely nothing to stop them being successful at dressage (except for a judge who is biased towards horses with the action of a warmblood!).

Can live in or out (all year), are generally good-doers with minimal extra feed requirements, are one hell of a lot tougher than they look, usually have pretty good hoof quality and can carry considerably more weight than you'd expect too.

Bad points - there are a of of Arabs nowadays with poor leg confirmation, especially the hocks., although if you take a look at the average endurance ride results, poor leg confirmation doesn't appear to stop them doing well! Other bad point - it can be difficult to get an off the shelf saddle to fit an Arab. You may need to go for a treeless saddle, non-conventional tree (Free and Easy or Reactorpanel) of one of the specialised companies such as "Arabian Saddle Co." to get a saddle with a really good fit.

 

[Fazzie]

Mine are both well balanced fantastic allrounders, 100% in every way brillant rides and I would change them for world. NEVER sick or sorry **touch woods** : )

 

[Faro]

Oh and I forgot to add.

The common saying that "Arabs don't do water" is an absolute myth. If only I could post pictures on here I would prove it.

 

[rubyrumba]

I have an Anglo yearling, he is 50/50. He absolutely loves people, especially my 4 year old son! I trust him 100%. When i went to see him when he was 3 months he left his mother and followed me all the way back to the gate (which was far away from mum), then i knew i had to have him. He is an amazing little chap and much much more versatile than my warmblood yearling. He will do ANYTHING i ask and without a fuss, he is very special.

 

[atot]

Oh I adore them. I rode a few ex endurance arabs and they are such fun. Different to anything else though! Many of them aim to please, and just love getting on with the job. Best of luck with the viewing, let us know how it goes.

 

[Pink_Pampas]

I'm going to collect my new one on Saturday

 

[shadowboy]

It looks like this one could turn out ok then- He not really been handled much so I was worried about how he would be to get used to humans- having worried that they were a bit stressy- but on the whole your comments are very positive. Hes apparently a polish arab but without reg papers- although looks 100% arab in pictures. We shall see!

 

[Enfys]

Nothing really to add to what has already been said.

I was bought up in hunter country where arabs were considered pretty, but useless. The DC of my Pony Club had a grey called Eliza and I always have a picture of her in my mind being ridden sidesaddle out hunting and beating the legs off the tb's across country. I didn't have anything else to do with arabs until I answered an ad to exercise race horses, I almost didn't bother when I found out they were arabs, I sat on one, a little stallion, and was hooked, completely and utterly. I worked with one of the best russian racemares in the country at one time and she was a poppet, but an absolute tiger on the track. As long as I have horses I will have an arab somewhere on the place.

I have had two absolute stars for a total of 20 years between them, and my current mare for almost 3 now, all completely different types and characters. If you like them, you love them, if you don't, well, there's plenty more pebbles on the beach breedwise.

They are a bit like thoroughbreds in that there are a huge variety of types, some flashy, some with stupidly over dished faces, some plain, some more chunky than others, some like mini thoroughbreds (french and russians especially) if you get into arabs you'll soon sort them out.

Go look, you won't know unless you do. Good Luck.

ps, as I am a pedigree junkie what's the breeding please?

 

[mrdarcy]

I've got four purebreds at the moment - well four and a half as my mare is pregnant (just!).

As everyone else has said they are highly intelligent and don't tolerate ignorant human behaviour, as say a WB would. But if you treat them fairly they give you back 110%. The only horse on my yard who isn't an arab is more trouble than all mine put together - he's an IDxTB cross btw. He's far more stressy than my arabs and when he loses the plot his already meager brain cells seem to leak out of his ears. My arabs are all extremely polite on the ground, would never run you over, leap on you or do anything that would endanger you. Yes they can be sharp to ride, but not necessarily so. But even the sharpish ones do their very best to look after their human rider - there's never anything nasty intended.

No other breed can come close to them IMO.

 

[ecrozier]

[ QUOTE ]
an IDxTB cross btw. He's far more stressy than my arabs and when he loses the plot his already meager brain cells seem to leak out of his ears. My arabs are all extremely polite on the ground, would never run you over, leap on you or do anything that would endanger you. Yes they can be sharp to ride, but not necessarily so. But even the sharpish ones do their very best to look after their human rider - there's never anything nasty intended.

No other breed can come close to them IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]
Lol that is so funny - exactly my experience of a friend's ISH mare!! She is such a nutcase!

There were 3 arabs on our yard, mine and my friend's who are 12/14 respectively, and I would confidently say the most easy to do and fun allrounders on a yard of 20 horses. Also a yearling colt who had barely been touched when he arrived, who learnt SO quickly and is now such a star - still a bit nippy but rising 2 and uncut so not a huge surprise!

As for the two older boys, they are both INCREDIBLY polite but maintain a fun personality, sharp and responsive to ride, and excellent allrounder. Before breaking my leg I was out at Intro with mine (he's just shy of 15hh), I was 4th at MK 3Day last year and friend just comleted it with hers. Hers is slightly more stressy than mine but only shows it by losing weight more easily! For me, I would never now have anything with less than 50% arab blood. My lad is my horse in a million - going to have to bore you with some photos now!!

Have some better dressage and SJ ones but not on photobucket. As you can see he can def jump - and he isn't as scopey as my friends one who clears 1.20 without batting an eyelid!!

So def go try and don't be put off at all by people who tell you arabs are flighty/can't jump etc - absolute rubbish, all down to the owner.

 

[MrsMozart]

I love Arabs. Did have a slight issue with one, but that was probably because he was a stallion

. He'd bite one end, kick the other, and fly kick if you were in the middle. Had to have someone hold him back with a fork at one point when mucking out, BUT, get on him, and he was great

. Four strides of extended trot across the diagonal - felt like floating on clouds

. Perfectly manageable when out and about as well, so long as you were kindly firm and confident

.

 

[Silverspring]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh and I forgot to add.

The common saying that "Arabs don't do water" is an absolute myth. If only I could post pictures on here I would prove it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never heard that one before, my Arab drags me towards most water, she generally wants a little drink then a play then needs to check there isn't any food lurking in the water than maybe a splash and she'll be willing to move on

 

[ecrozier]

Oh yes that was the other one I was going to post to prove arabs def do water....

And drops

He also leaps off drops into water - but I don't have any pics of that. It did take a while to convince him there were no crocodiles in the water but he believes me now! And then I made him do this....

 

[ajb123]

I have a Quarab! Quarter horse/Arab. Only had him a couple of months and he is "interesting" to say the least! Have had a partbred Arab in the past and I must admit do love the Arab type - v. intelligent and once they "bond" with you they are fantastic!