Use of arabs in breeding, sports horse

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lizness

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Hello,
Was just wondering today about how much arabs are used as a cross, after looking at whirlwinds lovely arab stallion and arab x. I know Tamarillo had quite a bit of arab in him, but have they been used much more in sports horse breeding. I think i think they used to be used to refine plainer horses, but have they come out of fashion?
Liz
 
They are definitely still being used in sports horse breeding. Biddesden stud who bred and own Tamarillo are still breeding PB Arab sport horses including the PB stallion Persiflage. Plus the stallion H Tobago is being used on a lot of WB mares with super results. The Trakehner stud book also still accept Arabs in the book and so they are definitely still being used to improve breeds.
 
personally i think the arab should be a little mroe widely used in some circles to lighten the frame and add a little refinement to alot of horse breeds whihc have become very heavy built, we have an Anglo Arab broodmare at work and she has bred some absoultely stunning lighter weight warmblood crosses with Mooiman that have the most fantastic movement and also presence but without being heavy i dont like heavy built horses,
 
i like arab as long as theres not too much arab! my little un, 6yo is full KWPN papered, foal book, yet her grandsire is full arab. you can tell by the ears, and she never gets tired!
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i hope this isnt massive!
 
My friend has a stunning arab x irish sports x thoroughbred. Hes excelled in showing, jumping, dressage, equitation (sp?) and eventing :)
Hes not too fine and hes around 16.2hh i think, i think arab blood can make any breed better but thats my opinion.
 
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The French use arabs just look at the SF. Tamarillo is based on performance arabs, & that is what some people forget. His sire Tarnik evented as did his dam Mellita, they were not just show arabs. I have been looking for a decent AA stallion to use on a TB mare & so far now that Fairlyn Gemini has passed there is nothing that catches the eye. Years ago I used an AA who had raced sucessfully, hunted, show jumped & gone XC. The resulting offspring was the most honest horse over jumps & the easiest horse to deal with I have ever owned. The Trakehner has plenty of arab blood, though you dont see it being used much now. They add toughness & stamina, but use one that has proved itself to have the heart to perform, whether that is endurance, dressage, racing, etc. Tamarillo was bred for a purpose, his breeding was thought out & not just thrown together.
 
I'm hoping that an Arab/AA influence does work in a sports horse. I bred my AA mare to a showjumping WB hoping to get an eventer. My reasoning was the speed. agility and stamina of the Arab and TB coupled with the sire's SJ ability would produce a good eventer. Only time will tell (if someone will take her on for me . . . . . anyone . . . . she's 3 now???!)

As an aside - Tamarillo also did well in the show ring as a youngster. He won the Part-bred championship at Malvern AHS show as a 3 year old and was runner-up (I think, will need to look it up) as a 2 year old
 
I am delighted with my first Shagya Arab x Cleveland Bay. If my Shagya colt is approved for the Shagya Stud book I will do this again.

Ramzes foaled in 1937 was by the TB Rittersporn out of the Shagya mare Jordi.

The Shagya Foundation Stud in Hungary claims Shagya blood lines for Milton, Ratina Z, Rembrandt and Corso.
 
i think a bit of arab blood is a good thing as others have said adds lightness and they have great movement and very kind.

my horse would/could be classed as a sports horse i suppose - he is part arab, his dam was bavarian by jalisco jnr (jalisco) and his sire is pure arab red warrior (stood up in aberdeenshire)
he turns his hoof to most things, dressage & showing being the main things but that more me than him, he has a fab jump (when in the mood!)

http://www.animalsnapperphotography...ory=gallery/shows/SRGAHS/eveperform&start=672
 
I definately think the arab has a lot to add. I personally have used an arab, Red House Condor on one of my broodmares to refine and lighten. the resulting foals (now 3 and 4) are stunning. The first one is quite araby and the second looks like an IDxTB.
I think egyptian and crabbet arabs are most suitable, in that they have more bone and proper behinds. Both of my youngsters have powerful engines and great hard legs and feet.
The Sf is very influenced by the arab, as are some French racehorses-there was a winner in Cheltenham(sp?) a year ago that had arab way back in his breeding-I can't rememer his name now but he was a novice chaser I think.
The Selle Francais are no 1 in showjumping in the WBSH rankings and rapidly catching us up in the eventing rankings too so they can't be bad!!
Also as a prolific refiner of breeds the arab comes out on top. I still think you can see their influence in the modern Connemara in the head I think.
 
We are adding WB to our retired international endurance arabian mares :D Our first foal was born this year out of a pure bred mare (Peleng/Aswan) by our WB stallion Legrande and to say we are delighted with the resulting foal is an understatement.

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Our mares are all proven performers in their own right and were retired sound from internationl competition. As we are breeding mainly for endurance performers, I prefer to use an arabian mare with a WB stallion. However, I think the performance arabian stallion is very under estimated by mare owners, there are lots of positive qualities they bring forward.
 
my lad is a 15.2hh sport horse, registered with sport horse soc of GB. His sire is Accondy and his Dam is ArabxHighland... the Arab lines are Gainsborough, but I havent been able to find out anymore about them.

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he is a nicest most genuine horse ive ever met:)
 
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Thankls for the replies, anymore input would be interesting.
Another idea for a stallion for my mare when I put her in foal
 
This is my young Arab x Trakehner mare. Her sire was a pure bred arab who had done well in endurance and was a 'Sky Arabian' and came from the famous Sky Crusader line. Her dam was a Trakehner mare who is by Downlands Hasardeur. My mare is rather fine and has the paces of a warmblood with the speed, intelligence and willlingness of the arab coming through... Im thrilled to bits with her and wouldn't hesitate to have another part bred arab. Here's my girl (apologies for the overload of photos):

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magic10 - have you looked at Fairlyn Falcon? i used to own him, hes by Fairlyn Gemini, and i think he stands down south now somewhere. he was nicely put together, big movement and very sweet. he never did much performance wise but had a good show record, he was too old when i got him to start really but he would have evented etc. nice horse.
 
I also have a part-bred arab eventer, he's only 5 yo but qualified to go to the federal championships in Germany next week - can't wait. Here his website www.horsearena.co.uk. His breed has only been approved 2 years ago to take part in this event, so it is still quite rare amongst the other warmblood breeds and will be very interesting how the other breeders react, also because of his colour.
 
I do like arabs and think they have a lot of talent in the right hands. I am personally a fan of putting arab lines into the sport horse, to help with the stamina and also they have the abilty to be just as good and other horses. I do think that some people (such as my old college tutor) are highly against them and put them down.

x
 
i was never a big fan of arabs until the purebred stallion "red house condor" came to live with us a few years ago and now i think every mare should be crossed with an arab. ive got a daughter and three of condors sons and curiosity is making me want to keep them all. they seem to last forever, condors 24 and he's still ridden and acts like a 3 yr old out on the roads. i def think more effort should be put into encouraging people to use arabs to improve their breeds.
 
Arabs do go on for years! My aunt's 1/2 arab mare was still SJing (only unaff) at 27 and the second from right in my sig is also 1/2 arab, 31 and looks nothing like her age!

Toughness, soundness, intelligence and longevity are qualities arabs have in spades, often forgotten these days I think.
 
Toughness, soundness, intelligence and longevity are qualities arabs have in spades, often forgotten these days I think.

Hardly surprising, how many times does an Arab stallion get a mention when someone on here for instance asks about a stallion for my mare? I dont think it helps that there is little promotion when they do appear in a horses breeding, or that they are not thought of as show jumpers or eventers in their own right. Most owners of Arab stallions seem to confine them to the showing areana or perhaps endurance, racing or lower end dressage. How many times do you see a full Arab stallion eventing or show jumping? The AHS run a premium scheme, but it only gets promoted in a few equine magazine at the start of the breeding season. My own PB had Crabbet breeding on the dam side a Arab x Welsh & her sire was an AA by Hassani Of Fairfield. If my 4yo PB Trak had been a filly then I would be looking at an AA or Romarnic Ranger. As I said before when a horse is classed as a PB the breeding can be lost as the horse may well be classed as one of the WB breeds or SHGB.
 
Further to the lost breeding, ie PBA's not being recognised is (if the info is correct that is) King's Mistress by Louella Inschallah II. Inshcallah II is recorded as Hanoverian yet he is by Inschallah an AA bred in France by the AA Israel ex of AA Resena. There are many other examples & I am sure others on here can give us some more.
 
Thanks for all the interesting replies, it seems that they may be very overlooked.
Looking back through some older horse and equitation books i have arabs are often featured in these as examples of good riding horses.
So an arab or anglo arab would be a good cross for an everyday low level or riding club horse (ie not proffesional) for the toughness, longeivity and intelligence.
I have an apppaloosa x cob and think an arab or arab cross may do well to add quality to her, although breeding is not an option at the min is nice to window shop!
L
 
I have been an advocate of using Arabian blood in my own sport horse breeding programme for over 35 years. The hundreds of trophies, and thousands of rosettes, won bear testament to its success. I have a number of First Premium graded sport horses gracing my fields and all of them have relatively high percentages of Arabian blood. The Grading Inspectors from the Dutch Warmblood Studbook were loud in their praise and explained that a growing number of Dutch breeders are now using Arabian blood to refine the Warmblood. For quality, nimbleness, intelligence, speed and stamina, there is nothing to beat the Arabian, in my opinion. Below is an example. Ruby Shy was graded First Premium as a foal. Her dam is also First Premium and Ster graded. She is a multiple winner of jumping classes, her agility enabling her to shave vital seconds off her rivals' times.

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I think the warmblood breeders are often a little wary of using an arab in the first generation as the demand from the buyers for usch a foal is not as strong. However some arab blood back another generation or two does give you that soundness and toughness etc mentioned above, but without alienating the buyers. I know I have an arab stallion in mind for next season for oen of my Trakehner mares, with the aim of breeding a filly to retain in the broodmare herd
 
I live in Hungary and I have seen and ridden some stunning shagya arabs. A lot taller and more substantial than the arabs we are often used to seeing in the UK. They move nicely in more of a sportshorse manner. If I have the money I would be very tempted to bring one home with me as a sportshorse. In a recent horse festival there was a shagya stallion competeing in the GP dressage comp. I don't know if he was a purebred but he looked it and was stunning. I think that sort of arab would cross very nicely with a warmblood mare to produce a sportshorse :)
 
Hollycat said:
I live in Hungary and I have seen and ridden some stunning shagya arabs. A lot taller and more substantial than the arabs we are often used to seeing in the UK. They move nicely in more of a sportshorse manner. If I have the money I would be very tempted to bring one home with me as a sportshorse. In a recent horse festival there was a shagya stallion competeing in the GP dressage comp. I don't know if he was a purebred but he looked it and was stunning. I think that sort of arab would cross very nicely with a warmblood mare to produce a sportshorse :)
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I would second the Shagya Arabian, they are strong and do have substance, but they still retain the athleticism and grace :D, I just adore our shagya broodmare, I always call her our little warmblood arabian (she is just a fraction under 16 hands).

I don't think there is a shagya arabian stallion standing in the UK, if anyone knows differently, I would love to hear about him.
:D
 
Maybe I should bring one home. Helped at the vetting of a gorgeous young stallion destined for top level endurance. Sold for only 2500 Euros!!!!!
 
Hollycat said:
I live in Hungary and I have seen and ridden some stunning shagya arabs. A lot taller and more substantial than the arabs we are often used to seeing in the UK. They move nicely in more of a sportshorse manner. If I have the money I would be very tempted to bring one home with me as a sportshorse. In a recent horse festival there was a shagya stallion competeing in the GP dressage comp. I don't know if he was a purebred but he looked it and was stunning. I think that sort of arab would cross very nicely with a warmblood mare to produce a sportshorse :)
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Did you actually get to Babolna Hollycat?? Here is my colt at two. His dam is from Babolna and is a daughter of Paris.

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and this is the result of crossing a Shagya Stallion with a Cleveland Bay 3 months old

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This is my other mare ex Babolna she is a daughter of Pamina

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