The Bhimthadi or Deccani horse is an almost extinct breed of Indian horses. It was developed in Pune district in 17th and 18th centuries during the Maratha rule by crossing Arabian and Turkic breeds with local horse breed.
109-756: The "Bhimthadi", also known as Deccani or "Deccan breed" gets its name from the vast Deccan Plateau in India. A major trade in arabian horses in the ports of Deccan began after the Bahamani Sultanate revolted against the Delhi Sultanate . Later in the period also the heavy war horses, sought by the Mughals and the Sultans of the Deccan, were always imported, especially from Iran. The Bhimthadi breed
218-400: A desert climate and was prized by the nomadic Bedouin people, often being brought inside the family tent for shelter and protection from theft. Selective breeding for traits, including an ability to form a cooperative relationship with humans, created a horse breed that is good-natured, quick to learn, and willing to please. The Arabian also developed the high spirit and alertness needed in
327-581: A breed-standard appearance but might have lost other useful characteristics and have developed undesirable traits linked to inbreeding. The ancient landrace dogs of the Fertile Crescent that led to the Saluki breed excels in running down game across open tracts of hot desert, but conformation -bred individuals of the breed are not necessarily able to chase and catch desert hares . Some standardized breeds that are derived from landraces include
436-544: A broad, short back, all of which give the breed physical strength comparable to many taller animals. Thus, even a smaller Arabian can carry a heavy rider. For tasks where the sheer weight of the horse matters, such as farm work done by a draft horse , any lighter-weight horse is at a disadvantage. However, for most purposes, the Arabian is a strong and hardy light horse breed able to carry any type of rider in most equestrian pursuits. For centuries, Arabian horses lived in
545-403: A broader scale, New World populations derived from the founder stock of Colonial Spanish horse . The Yakutian and Mongolian Horses of Asia have "unimproved" characteristics. The standardized swine breeds named "Landrace" are often not actually landraces or derived from landraces. The Danish Landrace pig breed, pedigreed in 1896 from an actual local landrace, is the principal ancestor of
654-677: A common maternal ancestry. Fiery war horses with dished faces and high-carried tails were popular artistic subjects in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia , often depicted pulling chariots in war or for hunting. Horses with oriental characteristics appear in later artwork as far north as that of Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire . While this type of horse was not called an "Arabian" in the Ancient Near East until later, these proto-Arabians shared many characteristics with
763-502: A compact body with a short back. Arabians usually have dense, strong bone, and good hoof walls. They are especially noted for their endurance, and the superiority of the breed in endurance riding competition demonstrates that well-bred Arabians are strong, sound horses with superior stamina. At international FEI -sponsored endurance events, Arabians and half-Arabians are the dominant performers in distance competition. Some Arabians, though not all, have 5 lumbar vertebrae instead of
872-718: A dog landrace with a related standardized breed with a similar name is the collie . The Scotch Collie is a landrace, while the Rough Collie and the Border Collie are standardized breeds. They can be very different in appearance, though the Rough Collie in particular was developed from the Scotch Collie by inbreeding to fix certain highly desired traits. In contrast to the landrace, in the various standardized Collie breeds, purebred individuals closely match
981-415: A farmers' variety or cultivar . Traits from landraces are valuable for incorporation into elite lines . Crop disease resistance genes from landraces can provide eternally-needed resistances to more widely-used, modern varieties. Some standardized animal breeds originate from attempts to make landraces more consistent through selective breeding , and a landrace may become a more formal breed with
1090-436: A flat pelvis angle and cannot use their hindquarters properly. However, the croup is formed by the sacral vertebrae. The hip angle is determined by the attachment of the ilium to the spine, the structure and length of the femur , and other aspects of hindquarter anatomy, which is not correlated to the topline of the sacrum. Thus, the Arabian has conformation typical of other horse breeds built for speed and distance, such as
1199-406: A focus on their production may result in missing out on some benefits afforded to producers of genetically selected and homogenous organisms, including breeders' rights legislation, easier availability of loans and other business services, even the right to share seed or stock with others, depending on how favorable the laws in the area are to high-yield agribusiness interests. As Regine Andersen of
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#17327732163641308-656: A foundation sire of the Orlov trotter . Orlov then provided Arabian horses to Catherine the Great , who in 1772 owned 12 pure Arabian stallions and 10 mares. By 1889 two members of the Russian nobility, Count Stroganov and Prince Nikolai Borisovich Shcherbatov , established Arabian stud farms to meet the continued need to breed Arabians as a source of pure bloodstock. In Poland, notable imports from Arabia included those of Prince Hieronymous Sanguszko (1743–1812), who founded
1417-484: A gray does. There is pictorial evidence from pottery and tombs in Ancient Egypt suggesting that spotting patterns may have existed on ancestral Arabian-type horses in antiquity. Nonetheless, purebred Arabians today do not carry genes for pinto or Leopard complex ("Appaloosa") spotting patterns, except for sabino . Spotting or excess white was believed by many breeders to be a mark of impurity until DNA testing for verification of parentage became standard. For
1526-457: A group. These characteristics are used by farmers to manage diversity and purity within landraces. In some cultures, the development of new landraces is typically limited to members of specific social groups, such as women or shaman. Maintaining existing landraces, like developing new landraces, requires that farmers be able to identify crop-specific characteristics and that those characteristics are passed on to following generations. Over time,
1635-435: A horse used for raiding and war . This combination of willingness and sensitivity requires modern Arabian horse owners to handle their horses with competence and respect. The Arabian is a versatile breed. Arabians dominate the discipline of endurance riding and compete today in many other fields of equestrian sport. They are one of the top ten most popular horse breeds in the world. They are now found worldwide, including
1744-429: A landrace and a cultivar, may also include landraces when referring to plant varieties not subjected to formal breeding programs. A landrace native to, or produced for a long time within the agricultural system in which it is found is referred to as an autochthonous landrace , while a more recently introduced one is termed an allochthonous landrace . Within academic agronomy , the term autochthonous landrace
1853-511: A landrace is a mixture of phenotypic forms despite relative outward uniformity, and a great adaptability to its natural and human environment. The word landrace entered non-academic English in the early 1930s, by way of the Danish Landrace pig , a particular breed of lop-eared swine. Many other languages do not use separate terms, like landrace and breed , but instead rely on extended description to convey such distinctions. Spanish
1962-782: A landrace. General features that characterize a landrace may include: Landrace literally means 'country-breed' (German: Landrasse ) and close cognates of it are found in various Germanic languages . The first known reference to the role of landraces as genetic resources was made in 1890 at an agriculture and forestry congress in Vienna , Austria . The term was first defined by Kurt von Rümker in 1908, and more clearly described in 1909 by U. J. Mansholt, who wrote that landraces have more stable characteristics and better resistance to adverse conditions, but have lower production capacity than cultivars, and are apt to change genetically when moved to another environment. H. Kiessling added in 1912 that
2071-400: A long journey through the desert, Muhammad turned his herd of horses loose to race to an oasis for a desperately needed drink of water. Before the herd reached the water, Muhammad called for the horses to return to him. Only five mares responded. Because they faithfully returned to their master, though desperate with thirst, these mares became his favorites and were called Al Khamsa , meaning,
2180-565: A portfolio of landraces over time that have specific ecological niches and uses. Conversely, modern cultivars can also be developed into a landrace over time when farmers save seed and practice selective breeding . Although landraces are often discussed once they have become endemic to a particular geographical region, landraces have always been moved over long and short distances. Some landraces can adapt to various environments, while others only thrive within specific conditions. Self-fertilizing and vegetatively populated species adapt by changing
2289-610: A result, many European monarchs began to support large breeding establishments that crossed Arabians on local stock, one example being Knyszyna , the royal stud of Polish king Zygmunt II August , and another the Imperial Russian Stud of Peter the Great . European horse breeders also obtained Arabian stock directly from the desert or via trade with the Ottomans. In Russia, Count Alexey Orlov obtained many Arabians, including Smetanka , an Arabian stallion who became
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#17327732163642398-510: A stallion, Zad el-Raheb or Zad-el-Rakib ("Gift to the Rider"), to the Banu Azd people when they came to pay tribute to the king. This legendary stallion was said to be faster than the zebra and the gazelle, and every hunt with him was successful, thus when he was put to stud, he became a founding sire of legend. Yet another creation myth puts the origin of the Arabian in the time of Ishmael ,
2507-547: A standardized or formal breed. Two approaches have been used to conserve plant landraces: As the amount of agricultural land dedicated to growing landrace crops declines, such as in the example of wheat landraces in the Fertile Crescent , landraces can become extinct in cultivation. Therefore ex situ landrace conservation practices are considered a way to avoid losing the genetic diversity completely. Research published in 2020 suggested that existing ways of cataloging diversity within ex situ genebanks fall short of cataloging
2616-565: A strict programme of genetic isolation and formal artificial selection to achieve a particular phenotype." In various domestic species (including pigs, goats, sheep and geese) some standardized breeds include "Landrace" in their names, but do not meet widely used definitions of landraces. For example, the British Landrace pig is a standardized breed, derived from earlier breeds with "Landrace" names. Farmers' variety , usually applied to local cultivars, or seen as intermediate between
2725-477: A supply of cavalry horses, and Ottoman nobles, such as Muhammad Ali of Egypt also collected pure, desert-bred Arabian horses. El Naseri, or Al-Nasir Muhammad , Sultan of Egypt (1290–1342) imported and bred numerous Arabians in Egypt. A stud farm record was made of his purchases describing many of the horses as well as their abilities, and was deposited in his library, becoming a source for later study. Through
2834-460: A time, horses with belly spots and other white markings deemed excessive were discouraged from registration and excess white was sometimes penalized in the show ring. Purebred Arabians never carry dilution genes . Therefore, purebreds cannot be colors such as dun , cremello , palomino or buckskin . To produce horses with some Arabian characteristics but coat colors not found in purebreds, they have to be crossbred with other breeds. Though
2943-603: Is a clearinghouse for information on these conditions. Additional information is available from the World Arabian Horse Association (WAHO). Recent trends in halter breeding have given rise to Arabian horses with extremely concave features, raising concerns that the trait is detrimental to the animal's welfare. Comparisons have been made to a similar trend with some dog breeds, where show judging awarding certain features has led to breeders seeking an ever more exaggerated form, with little concern as to
3052-437: Is actually the action of rabicano genetics. Unlike a genetic roan, rabicano is a partial roan-like pattern; the horse does not have intermingled white and solid hairs over the entire body, only on the midsection and flanks, the head and legs are solid-colored. Some people also confuse a young gray horse with a roan because of the intermixed hair colors common to both. However, a roan does not consistently lighten with age, while
3161-821: Is at the heart of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the "Plant Treaty" for short), under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), though its concerns are not exclusively limited to landraces. Landraces played a basic role in the development of the standardized breeds but are today threatened by the market success of the standardized breeds. In developing countries, landraces still play an important role, especially in traditional production systems. Specimens within an animal landrace tend to be genetically similar, though more diverse than members of
3270-473: Is characterized by white markings such as "high white" above the knees and hocks , irregular spotting on the legs, belly and face, white markings that extend beyond the eyes or under the chin and jaw, and sometimes lacy or roaned edges. The genetic mechanism that produces sabino patterning in Arabians is now thought to be a form of dominant white, and more than one gene may be involved. However, studies at
3379-584: Is described as "Bhimthadi" in British sources. The breed also had some genetic contribution Persian and Turkish varieties. The best Bhimthadi horses were reputed to come from the valleys of the Bhima and Nira rivers in the present day Pune district. However, the breed was allowed to degenerate during British rule in India. The government of Gujarat took an initiative in 2010 to perform research on saving Bhimthadi and other near extinct breeds. In his description of
Bhimthadi - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-487: Is more difficult to train a "hot-blooded" horse. Though most Arabians have a natural tendency to cooperate with humans, when treated badly, like any horse, they can become excessively nervous or anxious, but seldom become vicious unless seriously spoiled or subjected to extreme abuse. At the other end of the spectrum, romantic myths are sometimes told about Arabian horses that give them near-divine characteristics. The Arabian Horse Association registers purebred horses with
3597-607: Is one such language. Geneticist D. Phillip Sponenberg described animal breeds within these classes: the landrace, the standardized breed, modern "type" breeds, industrial strains, and feral populations. He describes landraces as an early stage of breed development, created by a combination of founder effect , isolation, and environmental pressures. Human selection for production goals is also typical of landraces. As discussed in more detail in breed , that term itself has several definitions from various scientific and animal husbandry perspectives. Some of those senses of breed relate to
3706-698: Is sometimes used with a more technical, productivity-related definition, synthesized by A. C. Zeven from previous definitions beginning with Mansholt's: "an autochthonous landrace is a variety with a high capacity to tolerate biotic and abiotic stress, resulting in a high yield stability and an intermediate yield level under a low input agricultural system." The terms autochthonous and allochthonous are most often applied to plants, with animals more often being referred to as indigenous or native . Examples of references in sources to long-term local landraces of livestock include constructions such as "indigenous landraces of sheep", and "Leicester Longwool sheep were bred to
3815-581: Is that this development occurred in the Nejd plateau in central Arabia. Other scholars, noting that horses were common in the Fertile Crescent but rare in the Arabian peninsula prior to the rise of Islam , theorize that the breed as it is known today only developed in large numbers when the conversion of the Persians to Islam in the 7th century brought knowledge of horse breeding and horsemanship to
3924-646: The Barb horse of North Africa. More Arabian horses were introduced to North Africa as a result of the migration of Banu Hilal . Arabian horses also spread to the rest of the world via the Ottoman Empire , which rose in 1299. Though it never fully dominated the heart of the Arabian Peninsula , this Turkish empire obtained many Arabian horses through trade, diplomacy and war. The Ottomans encouraged formation of private stud farms in order to ensure
4033-805: The Dutch Landrace , Swedish Landrace and Finnish Landrace goats . The Danish Landrace is a modern mix of three different breeds, one of which was a "Landrace"-named breed. The wild progenitor of the domestic horse is extinct. It is rare for landraces among domestic horses to remain isolated, due to human use of horses for transportation, thus causing horses to move from one local population to another. The heavy 'draft' type of domestic horse, developed in Europe, has differentiated into many separate landraces or breeds. Examples of horse landraces also include insular populations in Greece and Indonesia, and, on
4142-603: The Ice Age . This hypothesis has gained renewed attention following a 2010 discovery of artifacts dated between 6590 and 7250 BCE in Al-Magar , in southwestern Saudi Arabia, that appeared to portray horses. The proto-Arabian horse may have been domesticated by the people of the Arabian Peninsula known today as the Bedouin , some time after they learned to use the camel, approximately 4,000–5,000 years ago. One theory
4251-593: The Indus The warrior and Maharajah Maratha Yashwantrao Holkar (1776-1811) is reputed to have always battle mounted a mare named Mahua, of Bhimthadi breed. It seems that the Marathas raised a specific breed from the end of 18th century. According to local oral tradition from early 19th century, the breed was crossed with 500 Arabian horses and mares, obtained by the Nizam and nobles of Hyderabad directly Arabia. The breed
4360-646: The Marwari horse of India, the Barb of North Africa, the Akhal-Teke of western Asia and the now-extinct Turkoman Horse . There are different theories about where the ancestors of the Arabian originally lived. Most evidence suggests the proto-Arabian came from the area along the northern edge of the Fertile Crescent . Another hypothesis suggests the southwestern corner of the Arabian peninsula, in modern-day Yemen , where three now-dry riverbeds indicate good natural pastures existed long ago, perhaps as far back as
4469-602: The National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB, UK). However, more may need to be done, because plant genetic variety, the source of crop health and seed quality, depends on a diversity of landraces and other traditionally used varieties. Efforts (as of 2008 ) were mostly focused on Iberia , the Balkans , and European Russia , and dominated by species from mountainous areas. Despite their incompleteness, these efforts have been described as "crucial in preventing
Bhimthadi - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-694: The Thoroughbred , where the angle of the ilium is more oblique than that of the croup. Thus, the hip angle is not necessarily correlated to the topline of the croup. Horses bred to gallop need a good length of croup and good length of hip for proper attachment of muscles, and so unlike angle, length of hip and croup do go together as a rule. The breed standard stated by the United States Equestrian Federation , describes Arabians as standing between 14.1 to 15.1 hands (57 to 61 inches, 145 to 155 cm) tall, "with
4687-598: The Turkish Angora and Turkish Van breeds and their possible derivation from the Van cat landrace, the relationships are not entirely clear. Dog landraces and the selectively bred dog breeds that follow breed standards vary widely depending on their origins and purpose. Landraces are distinguished from dog breeds which have breed standards, breed clubs and registries. Landrace dogs have more variety in their appearance than do standardized dog breeds. An example of
4796-535: The University of California, Davis indicate that Arabians do not appear to carry the autosomal dominant gene "SB1" or sabino 1 , that often produces bold spotting and some completely white horses in other breeds. The inheritance patterns observed in sabino-like Arabians also do not follow the same mode of inheritance as sabino 1 . There are very few Arabians registered as roan , and according to researcher D. Phillip Sponenberg, roaning in purebred Arabians
4905-672: The bridle and room for the windpipe. Other distinctive features are a relatively long, level croup , or top of the hindquarters, and naturally high tail carriage. The USEF breed standard requires Arabians to have solid bone and standard correct equine conformation . Well-bred Arabians have a deep, well-angled hip and well laid-back shoulder. Within the breed, there are variations. Some individuals have wider, more powerfully muscled hindquarters suitable for intense bursts of activity in events such as reining , while others have longer, leaner muscling better suited for long stretches of flatwork such as endurance riding or horse racing . Most have
5014-512: The genetic diversity of domesticated plant species lies in landraces and other traditionally used varieties. Some farmers using scientifically improved varieties also continue to raise landraces for agronomic reasons that include better adaptation to the local environment, lower fertilizer requirements, lower cost, and better disease resistance. Cultural and market preferences for landraces include culinary uses and product attributes such as texture, color, or ease of use. Plant landraces have been
5123-473: The jibbah by the Bedouin , that adds additional sinus capacity, believed to have helped the Arabian horse in its native dry desert climate. Another breed characteristic is an arched neck with a large, well-set windpipe set on a refined, clean throatlatch . This structure of the poll and throatlatch was called the mitbah or mitbeh by the Bedouin. In the ideal Arabian, it is long, allowing flexibility in
5232-499: The Arabian came from a separate subspecies of horse, known as equus caballus pumpelli . However, others, including Gladys Brown Edwards, a noted Arabian researcher, stated that the "dry" oriental horses of the desert, from which the modern Arabian developed, were Equus ferus caballus with specific landrace characteristics based on the environments in which they lived, rather than being a separate subspecies. Horses with similar, though not identical, physical characteristics include
5341-627: The Arabian horse spread across the known world of the time, and became recognized as a distinct, named breed. It played a significant role in the History of the Middle East and of Islam. By 630, Muslim influence expanded across the Middle East and North Africa, by 711 Muslim warriors had reached Spain, and they controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula by 720. Their war horses were of various oriental types, including both Arabians and
5450-655: The Bedouin developed several sub-types or strains of Arabian horse, each with unique characteristics, and traced through the maternal line only. According to the Arabian Horse Association , the five primary strains were known as the Keheilan, Seglawi, Abeyan, Hamdani and Hadban. Carl Raswan , a promoter and writer about Arabian horses from the middle of the 20th century, held the belief that there were only three strains, Kehilan, Seglawi and Muniqi. Raswan felt that these strains represented body "types" of
5559-597: The Bedouin. The oldest depictions in the Arabian Peninsula of horses that are clearly domesticated date no earlier than 1800-2000 BCE. Regardless of origin, climate and culture ultimately created the Arabian. The desert environment required a domesticated horse to cooperate with humans to survive; humans were the only providers of food and water in certain areas, and even hardy Arabian horses needed far more water than camels in order to survive (most horses can only live about 72 hours without water). Where there
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#17327732163645668-559: The Bhima River in the Pune District, hence its name, Bhimthadi. Deccani has become extremely rare: in 1988, according to the count sent to FAO, they numbered less than 100. It was later added to the list of indigenous breeds of horses by FAO, around 1999, with Chummarti and Sikang, two other endangered breeds. CAB International (2002) 26 and other sources (2004) consider race to be "virtually extinct". The conservation status of
5777-535: The British encouraged inhabitants of the Bombay area to continue horse breeding in order to restore the old characteristics that are useful to them in the breed, by investing from around 1827 about £100,000 in a stud farm in Alegaon Paga. The experiment was abandoned fifteen years later in 1842. Famines and various British conquests that hit the region in the 19th century wiped out the livestock of Marathas. In 1850,
5886-502: The Deccani was listed as 'critical' by the FAO in 2007. Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( Arabic : الحصان العربي [alħisˤaːn alʕarabijj] , DMG al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī ) is a breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula . With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in
5995-565: The Fridtjof Nansen Institute (Norway) and the Farmers' Rights Project puts it, "Agricultural biodiversity is being eroded. This trend is putting at risk the ability of future generations to feed themselves. In order to reverse the trend, new policies must be implemented worldwide. The irony of the matter is that the poorest farmers are the stewards of genetic diversity." Protecting farmer interests and protecting biodiversity
6104-560: The International Agricultural Congress, organized by the predecessor of the FAO, an extensive discussion was held on the need to conserve landraces. A recommendation that members organize nation-by-nation landrace conservation did not succeed in leading to widespread conservation efforts. Landraces are often free from many intellectual property and other regulatory encumbrances. However, in some jurisdictions,
6213-460: The Ottomans reached Vienna , where they were stopped by the Polish and Hungarian armies, who captured these horses from the defeated Ottoman cavalry . Some of these animals provided foundation bloodstock for the major studs of eastern Europe. With the rise of light cavalry, the stamina and agility of horses with Arabian blood gave an enormous military advantage to any army who possessed them. As
6322-548: The Ottomans, Arabian horses were often sold, traded, or given as diplomatic gifts to Europeans and, later, to Americans. Historically, Egyptian breeders imported horses bred in the deserts of Palestine and the Arabian peninsula as the source of their foundation bloodstock . By the time that the Ottoman Empire dominated Egypt, the political elites of the region still recognized the need for quality bloodstock for both war and for horse racing , and some continued to return to
6431-499: The Prussian cavalry mounts were superior in endurance to those of the British, and credited Arabian bloodlines for this superiority. Landrace A landrace is a domesticated , locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism , and due to isolation from other populations of
6540-595: The Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) in 1908, which is known today as the Egyptian Agricultural Organization (EAO). RAS representatives traveled to England during the 1920s and purchased eighteen descendants of the original Blunt exports from Lady Wentworth at Crabbet Park, and brought them to Egypt in order to restore bloodlines had been lost. Other than several horses purchased by Henry Babson for importation to
6649-594: The Slawuta stud. Poland's first state-run Arabian stud farm, Janów Podlaski , was established by the decree of Alexander I of Russia in 1817, and by 1850, the great stud farms of Poland were well-established, including Antoniny, owned by the Polish Count Potocki (who had married into the Sanguszko family); later notable as the farm that produced the stallion Skowronek . The 18th century marked
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#17327732163646758-726: The South Wind: "I want to make a creature out of you. Condense." Then from the material condensed from the wind, he made a kamayt -colored animal (a bay or burnt chestnut ) and said: "I call you Horse; I make you Arabian and I give you the chestnut color of the ant; I have hung happiness from the forelock which hangs between your eyes; you shall be the Lord of the other animals. Men shall follow you wherever you go; you shall be as good for flight as for pursuit; you shall fly without wings; riches shall be on your back and fortune shall come through your meditation." Arabians are thought to be one of
6867-533: The United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, continental Europe, South America (especially Brazil), and their land of origin, the Middle East. Arabian horses have refined, wedge-shaped heads, a broad forehead, large eyes, large nostrils, and small muzzles. Most display a distinctive concave, or "dished" profile. Many Arabians also have a slight forehead bulge between their eyes, called
6976-557: The United States in the 1930s, and one other small group exported to the US in 1947, relatively few Egyptian-bred Arabian horses were exported until the overthrow of King Farouk I in 1952. Many of the private stud farms of the princes were then confiscated and the animals taken over by the EAO. In the 1960s and 1970s, as oil development brought more foreign investors to Egypt, some of whom were horse fanciers, Arabians were exported to Germany and to
7085-584: The United States, as well as to the former Soviet Union. Today, the designation "Straight Egyptian" or "Egyptian Arabian" is popular with some Arabian breeders, and the modern Egyptian-bred Arabian is an outcross used to add refinement in some breeding programs. Probably the earliest horses with Arabian bloodlines to enter Europe came indirectly, through Spain and France. Others would have arrived with returning Crusaders —beginning in 1095, European armies invaded Palestine and many knights returned home with Arabian horses as spoils of war. Later, as knights and
7194-579: The Wind" to the first Arabian horse. Finally, a Bedouin story states that Allah created the Arabian horse from the south wind and exclaimed, "I create thee, Oh Arabian. To thy forelock, I bind Victory in battle. On thy back, I set a rich spoil and a Treasure in thy loins. I establish thee as one of the Glories of the Earth... I give thee flight without wings." Other versions of the story claim Allah said to
7303-498: The appropriate information for landrace crops. An in situ conservation effort to save the Berrettina di Lungavilla squash landrace made use of participatory plant breeding practices in order to incorporate the local community into the work. Preservation efforts for cereal strains are ongoing including in situ and in online-searchable germplasm collections ( seed banks ), coordinated by Biodiversity International and
7412-568: The breed, with the Kehilan being "masculine", the Seglawi being "feminine" and the Muniqi being "speedy". There were also lesser strains, sub-strains, and regional variations in strain names. Therefore, many Arabian horses were not only Asil , of pure blood, but also bred to be pure in strain, with crossbreeding between strains discouraged, though not forbidden, by some tribes. Purity of bloodline
7521-431: The breeding of their camels, Saluki dogs, and their own family or tribal history. Eventually, written records began to be kept; the first written pedigrees in the Middle East that specifically used the term "Arabian" date to 1330 AD. As important as strain was to the Bedouin, modern studies of mitochondrial DNA suggest that Arabian horses alive today with records stating descent from a given strain may not actually share
7630-458: The coat colors bay , gray , chestnut , black , and roan . Bay, gray and chestnut are the most common; black is less common. The classic roan gene does not appear to exist in Arabians; rather, Arabians registered by breeders as "roan" are usually expressing rabicano or, sometimes, sabino patterns with roan features. All Arabians, no matter their coat color , have black skin, except under white markings . Black skin provided protection from
7739-410: The concept of landraces. A Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) guideline defines landrace and landrace breed as "a breed that has largely developed through adaptation to the natural environment and traditional production system in which it has been raised." This is in contrast to its definition of a standardized breed : "a breed of livestock that was developed according to
7848-742: The creation of a breed registry or publication of a breed standard . In such a case, one may think of the landrace as a "stage" in breed development. However, in other cases, formalizing a landrace may result in the genetic resource of a landrace being lost through crossbreeding . While many landrace animals are associated with farming, other domestic animals have been put to use as modes of transportation, as companion animals , for sporting purposes, and for other non-farming uses, so their geographic distribution may differ. For example, horse landraces are less common because human use of them for transport has meant that they have moved with people more commonly and constantly than most other domestic animals, reducing
7957-560: The desert in close association with humans. For shelter and protection from theft, prized war mares were sometimes kept in their owner's tent, close to children and everyday family life. Only horses with a naturally good disposition were allowed to reproduce, with the result that Arabians today have a good temperament that, among other examples, makes them one of the few breeds where the United States Equestrian Federation rules allow children to exhibit stallions in nearly all show ring classes, including those limited to riders under 18. On
8066-480: The deserts to obtain pure-blooded Arabians. One of the most famous was Muhammad Ali of Egypt , also known as Muhammad Ali Pasha, who established an extensive stud farm in the 19th century. After his death, some of his stock was bred on by Abbas I of Egypt , also known as Abbas Pasha. However, after Abbas Pasha was assassinated in 1854, his heir, El Hami Pasha, sold most of his horses, often for crossbreeding, and gave away many others as diplomatic gifts. A remnant of
8175-561: The economy of India at the end of the 19th century, Sir George Watt was very impressed with this breed, he considers it one of the best in India. He reports that the best ponies are named "Dhangar" or "Khilari". The people see them as a separate breed, but Watt believes that this distinction comes from a difference in breeding practices, the breeders from the Dhangar community used to castrate their animals. The latter raise groups of 20 to 30 ponies. After their conquest of Maratha territories,
8284-456: The establishment of most of the great Arabian studs of Europe, dedicated to preserving "pure" Arabian bloodstock. The Prussians set up a royal stud in 1732, originally intended to provide horses for the royal stables, and other studs were established to breed animals for other uses, including mounts for the Prussian army. The foundation of these breeding programs was the crossing of Arabians on native horses; by 1873 some English observers felt that
8393-424: The extinction of many of these local ecotypes". An agricultural study published in 2008 showed that landrace cereal crops began to decline in Europe in the 19th century such that cereal landraces "have largely fallen out of use" in Europe. Landrace cultivation in central and northwest Europe was almost eradicated by the early 20th century, due to economic pressure to grow improved, modern cultivars. While many in
8502-555: The five . These mares became the legendary founders of the five "strains" of the Arabian horse. Although the Al Khamsa are generally considered fictional horses of legend, some breeders today claim the modern Bedouin Arabian actually descended from these mares. Another origin tale claims that King Solomon was given a pure Arabian-type mare named Safanad ("the pure") by the Queen of Sheba . A different version says that Solomon gave
8611-418: The frequencies of phenotypes. Outbreeding crops absorb new genotypes through intentional and unintentional hybridization, or through mutation. A clear example of vegetal landrace would consist in the diverse adaptations of wheat to differential artificial selection constraints. Members of a landrace variety, selected for uniformity with regards to a unique feature over a period of time, can be developed into
8720-501: The heavy, armored war horses who carried them became obsolete, Arabian horses and their descendants were used to develop faster, agile light cavalry horses that were used in warfare into the 20th century. Another major infusion of Arabian horses into Europe occurred when the Ottoman Turks sent 300,000 horsemen into Hungary in 1522, many of whom were mounted on pure-blooded Arabians, captured during raids into Arabia. By 1529,
8829-582: The herd was obtained by Ali Pasha Sherif , who then went back to the desert to bring in new bloodstock. At its peak, the stud of Ali Pasha Sherif had over 400 purebred Arabians. Unfortunately, an epidemic of African horse sickness in the 1870s that killed thousands of horses throughout Egypt decimated much of his herd, wiping out several irreplaceable bloodlines. Late in his life, he sold several horses to Wilfred and Lady Anne Blunt , who exported them to Crabbet Park Stud in England. After his death, Lady Anne
8938-400: The incidence of populations locally genetically isolated for extensive periods of time. Many standardized breeds have rather recently (within a century or less) been derived from landraces. Examples, often called natural breeds , include Arabian Mau , Egyptian Mau , Korat , Kurilian Bobtail , Maine Coon , Manx , Norwegian Forest Cat , Siberian , and Siamese . In some cases, such as
9047-425: The inherent function of the animal. Some veterinarians speculate that an extremely concave face is detrimental to a horse's breathing, but the issue has not been formally studied. Arabian horses are the topic of many myths and legends. One origin story tells how Muhammad chose his foundation mares by a test of their courage and loyalty. While there are several variants on the tale, a common version states that after
9156-444: The intense desert sun. Although many Arabians appear to have a "white" hair coat, they are not genetically "white". This color is usually created by the natural action of the gray gene , and virtually all white-looking Arabians are actually grays. A specialized colorization seen in some older gray Arabians is the so-called "bloody-shoulder", which is a particular type of "flea-bitten" gray with localized aggregations of pigment on
9265-655: The modern Arabian, including speed, endurance, and refinement. For example, a horse skeleton unearthed in the Sinai peninsula , dated to 1700 BC and probably brought by the Hyksos invaders, is considered the earliest physical evidence of the horse in Ancient Egypt . This horse had a wedge-shaped head, large eye sockets and small muzzle, all characteristics of the Arabian horse. Following the Hijra in AD 622 (also sometimes spelled Hegira),
9374-406: The modern Arabian. Horses with these features appeared in rock paintings and inscriptions in the Arabian Peninsula dating back 3500 years. In ancient history throughout the Ancient Near East , horses with refined heads and high-carried tails were depicted in artwork, particularly that of Ancient Egypt in the 16th century BC. Some 20th-century scholars of the Arabian horse once theorized that
9483-644: The native landraces of the region". Some usage of autochthonous does occur in reference to livestock, e.g. "autochthonous races of cattle such as the Asturian mountain cattle – Ratina and Casina – and Tudanca cattle." A significant proportion of farmers around the world grow landrace crops . However, as industrialized agriculture spreads, cultivars , which are selectively bred for high yield, rapid growth, disease and drought resistance, and other commercial production values, are supplanting landraces, putting more and more of them at risk of extinction . In 1927 at
9592-509: The non-Arabian parent was a carrier. There are six known genetic disorders in Arabian horses. Two are inevitably fatal, two are not inherently fatal but are disabling and usually result in euthanasia of the affected animal; the remaining conditions can usually be treated. Three are thought to be autosomal recessive conditions, which means that the flawed gene is not sex-linked and has to come from both parents for an affected foal to be born. One may be an autosomal dominant . Arabians are not
9701-447: The occasional individual over or under". Thus, all Arabians, regardless of height, are classified as "horses", even though 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm) is the traditional cutoff height between a horse and a pony . A common myth is that Arabians are not strong because they are relatively small and refined. However, the Arabian horse is noted for a greater density of bone than other breeds, short cannons , sound feet, and
9810-462: The oldest human-developed horse breeds in the world. Recent genetic studies of mitochondrial DNA in Arabian horses of Polish and American breeding suggest that the modern breed has heterogeneous origins with ten haplogroups . The modern concept of breed purity in the modern population cannot be traced beyond 200 years. The progenitor stock, the Oriental subtype , had characteristics similar to
9919-474: The only breed of horse to have problems with inherited diseases; partbred Arabians may inherit deleterious genetics from other breeds. Genetic diseases that can occur in purebred Arabians, or in partbreds with Arabian ancestry in both parents, are the following: The Arabian Horse Association in the United States has created a foundation that supports research efforts to uncover the roots of genetic diseases. The organization F.O.A.L. (Fight Off Arabian Lethals)
10028-575: The other hand, the Arabian is also classified as a "hot-blooded" breed, a category that includes other refined, spirited horses bred for speed, such as the Akhal-Teke , the Barb , and the Thoroughbred. Like other hot-bloods, Arabians' sensitivity and intelligence enable quick learning and greater communication with their riders; however, their intelligence also allows them to learn bad habits as quickly as good ones, and they do not tolerate inept or abusive training practices. Some sources claim that it
10137-449: The position of the fighters. A good disposition was also critical; prized war mares were often brought inside family tents to prevent theft and for protection from weather and predators. Though appearance was not necessarily a survival factor, the Bedouin bred for refinement and beauty in their horses as well as for more practical features. For centuries, the Bedouin tracked the ancestry of each horse through an oral tradition . Horses of
10246-402: The process of identifying the distinguishing characteristic or features of a new landrace is reinforced by cultivation processes; for example, descendants of a plant that is notably drought tolerant may become iteratively more so through selective breeding as farmers regard it as better for dry areas and prioritize planting it in those locations. This is one way in which farming systems can develop
10355-484: The purebred Arabian produces a limited range of potential colors, they do not appear to carry any color-based lethal disorders such as the frame overo gene ("O") that can produce lethal white syndrome (LWS). Because purebred Arabians cannot produce LWS foals , Arabian mares were used as a non-affected population in some of the studies seeking the gene that caused the condition in other breeds. Nonetheless, partbred Arabian offspring can, in some cases, carry these genes if
10464-426: The purest blood were known as Asil and crossbreeding with non- Asil horses was forbidden. Mares were the most valued, both for riding and breeding, and pedigree families were traced through the female line. The Bedouin did not believe in gelding male horses, and considered stallions too intractable to be good war horses, thus they kept very few colts , selling most, and culling those of poor quality. Over time,
10573-509: The region are already extinct, some have survived by being passed from generation to generation, and have also been revived by enthusiasts outside Europe to preserve European agriculture and food culture elsewhere. These survivals are usually for specific uses, such as thatch , and traditional European cuisine and craft beer brewing. The label landrace includes regional cultigens that are genetically heterogeneous , but with enough characteristics in common to permit their recognition as
10682-601: The shoulder. There are a very few Arabians registered as "white" defined as having a white coat, pink skin and dark eyes from birth. These animals are believed to manifest a form of dominant white , W3, a result of a nonsense mutation in DNA tracing to a single stallion foaled in 1996. It is possible that white mutations have occurred in Arabians in the past and it is likely that mutations other than W3 exist but have not been verified by genetic testing. One spotting pattern, sabino , does exist in purebred Arabians. Sabino coloring
10791-411: The so-called Deccan race of the south completely disappeared. In 1898, the British could no longer find these ponies for their regiments and therefore replaced them with mules, because the race was decimated during the second campaign of Afghanistan. In 1907, the race horse breeder, Sir Humphrey Francis De Trafford reported that the Deccani breed lives "bad days". The breed originates from the valley of
10900-525: The son of Abraham . In this story, the Angel Jibril (also known as Gabriel ) descended from Heaven and awakened Ishmael with a "wind-spout" that whirled toward him. The Angel then commanded the thundercloud to stop scattering dust and rain, and so it gathered itself into a prancing, handsome creature - a horse - that seemed to swallow up the ground. Hence, the Bedouins bestowed the title "Drinker of
11009-445: The species. Landraces are distinct from cultivars and from standard breeds . A significant proportion of farmers around the world grow landrace crops , and most plant landraces are associated with traditional agricultural systems. Landraces of many crops have probably been grown for millennia. Increasing reliance upon modern plant cultivars that are bred to be uniform has led to a reduction in biodiversity , because most of
11118-477: The specific criteria which describe landraces, although there is broad consensus about the existence and utility of the classification. Individual criteria may be weighted differently depending on a given source's focus (e.g., governmental regulation , biological sciences , agribusiness , anthropology and culture, environmental conservation , pet -keeping and -breeding , etc.). Additionally, not all cultivars agreed to be landraces exhibit every characteristic of
11227-662: The subject of more academic research, and the majority of academic literature about landraces is focused on botany in agriculture , not animal husbandry . Animal landraces are distinct from ancestral wild species of modern animal stock, and are also distinct from separate species or subspecies derived from the same ancestor as modern domestic stock. Not all landraces derive from wild or ancient animal stock; in some cases, notably dogs and horses, domestic animals have escaped in sufficient numbers in an area to breed feral populations that form new landraces through evolutionary pressure . There are differences between authoritative sources on
11336-412: The usual 6, and 17 pairs of ribs rather than 18. A quality Arabian has both a relatively horizontal croup and a properly angled pelvis as well as good croup length and depth to the hip (determined by the length of the pelvis), that allows agility and impulsion. A misconception confuses the topline of the croup with the angle of the "hip" (the pelvis or ilium ), leading some to assert that Arabians have
11445-581: The world. It is also one of the oldest modern breeds. Although modern DNA cannot trace breed purity in the modern population beyond 200 years, there is archaeological evidence of horses in the Middle East with landrace characteristics that resemble modern Arabians dating back 3,500 years. Throughout history, Arabian horses have spread around the world by both war and trade, used to improve other breeds by adding speed, refinement, endurance, and strong bone. Today, Arabian bloodlines are found in almost every modern breed of riding horse. The Arabian developed in
11554-511: Was also able to gather many remaining horses at her Sheykh Obeyd stud. Meanwhile, the passion brought by the Blunts to saving the pure horse of the desert helped Egyptian horse breeders to convince their government of the need to preserve the best of their own remaining pure Arabian bloodstock that descended from the horses collected over the previous century by Muhammad Ali Pasha, Abbas Pasha and Ali Pasha Sherif. The government of Egypt formed
11663-568: Was developed in Pune district in 17th and 18th centuries during the Maratha rule by crossing Arabian and Turkic breeds with local ponies. These horses proved excellent for Maratha forces in fighting the Mughal army in the hilly terrains of Western Maharashtra . During their conquests in the 18th century, the Marathas were proud to claim that the Deccan horses had quenched their thirst with waters of
11772-678: Was no pasture or water, the Bedouin fed their horses dates and camel's milk. The desert horse needed the ability to thrive on very little food, and to have anatomical traits to compensate for life in a dry climate with wide temperature extremes from day to night. Weak individuals were weeded out of the breeding pool, and the animals that remained were also honed by centuries of human warfare. The Bedouin way of life depended on camels and horses: Arabians were bred to be war horses with speed, endurance, soundness, and intelligence. Because many raids required stealth, mares were preferred over stallions as they were quieter, and therefore would not give away
11881-441: Was very important to the Bedouin, and they also believed in telegony , believing if a mare was ever bred to a stallion of "impure" blood, the mare herself and all future offspring would be "contaminated" by the stallion and hence no longer Asil . This complex web of bloodline and strain was an integral part of Bedouin culture; they not only knew the pedigrees and history of their best war mares in detail, but also carefully tracked
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