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Arabian
The Arabian is a speedy and powerful horse. It is an ultra-marathon runner, and often competes in 100-mile races.
Many famous generals rode on Arabians. Napoleon Bonaparte's horse was Marengo, a gray Arabian stallion. George Washington rode a half-Arabian named Blueskin.
Height: 14-15 hh (horse hands)
Color: Gray, Chestnut, Bay, Black
Body Type: Light
This breed comes from...
The Middle East
Explore the traits of this breed!
SIDE VIEW
It has short cannons and well-defined tendons.
See how its face curves inward? It has a concave face. All Arabians share this trait.
Arabians are small and light. They're not much bigger than ponies. At the withers, this horse is 14.2 hands (58 in, 147 cm) high.
The Arabian has a short and strong back. This trait helps support the weight of the rider across long distances.
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FRONT and BACK VIEW
The Arabian has a very fine coat of hair. Around the muzzle, it often has no hair at all.
It has large, flaring nostrils. The Arabian can breathe in a lot of air quickly.
The eyes are large, low and wide-set. They often have black rings around them.
A big-barreled chest gives the Arabian a very large lung capacity.
The tail is set high. When an Arabian runs, the tail arches up, like a bird's plume!
Gray is a common color for Arabians. They are also bay, chestnut, and black.
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about traits
The Arabian Story
The wild ancestors of the Arabian horse may have evolved in and near the hot deserts of Western Asia. Nomadic desert people called Bedouins tamed these animals, and may have introduced them to the Arabian Peninsula as early as 3,000 years ago. There, these ancient animals were bred as warhorses.
In 632 AD, Islamic warriors rode Arabian horses to conquer Egypt, eastern Mediterranean, and Spain. In the Middle Ages, the Arabian horse was very different than European horses. The Arabian was very light, agile, and swift.
In the 1700s, European breeders began to import Arabian horses to crossbreed with local riding horses. One of the new breeds that was created was a speedy racehorse called the Thoroughbred. Today, many horse breeds, including the Percheron, Quarter Horse, and Connemara Pony, are a part of the Arabian bloodline.
Appaloosa | Arabian | Belgian Draft | Connemara | Friesian | Haflinger | Hanoverian | Icelandic Horse | Lusitano | Miniature Horse | Morgan | Oldenburg | Paint | Percheron | Quarter Horse | Selle Français | Thoroughbred
Credits:
All images, © AMNH