Scottsdale

[Littljoe]

Scottsdale means it's time for the annual "What the he11 are they doing to Arabians?" thread. If you look at Fugly, or any of the Arabian boards, you will have heard the story about the stallion who apparently attacked his handler during the show. This is one of his colts:


Yikes! In previous years the breeders have "created" that awful super-dish topline, but now is appears they have managed to deform the jaw as well. How can anyone think this is beautiful? Even the poor little guy's neck is weird.

He's no Bayrab, that's for sure.

--LJ

[snaffle]

Arabian breeders must be related to German shepherd breeders.

[MJ]

He is a beautiful color but definitely not a pretty speciman.

[Reds]

Holy crap.

:x

[Trailpal]

looks like he's crossed with a bottle nose dolphin!

[steph]

That is a shame. I have a lot of friends that show Arabs, but I haven't been to any of the shows in quite some time. I've not seen this look in person and it doesn't look like I'm missing much.

I'll have to search the stallion that attacked his handler. Wow, just wow.

I don't understand why well enough can't be left alone.

[Mary Ann]

*snork!* ;D

You know, there are a lot of Arabian breeders that would say that we just don't understand the modern Arabian. If the above example is the criteria, then I guess I don't. To me, this horse looks exaggerated and distorted. As in dishy, dishier, dishiest and fun-house mirror. When I think of beautiful Arabians, I think of horses like Khemosabi. To me, he was flawless. Mind, substance, and breathtaking breediness. But I wonder what they'd do with him in the showpen today.

If breeding Arabians meant turning out horses like the above, well, I think I'd turn to collecting stamps.

[steph]

I agree, Mary Ann. Khemosabi was amazing.

[Newfygirl]

Unfortunately, the nicely bred horses with the owners who actually care about their horses aren't the ones we hear about...We only hear about the bad ones. Yep - Khemo was an awesome horse. When I boarded at an Arab farm in the 80's the owners of the farm bred a Khemo son - talk about so many gorgeous bays with blazes and socks.

[Littljoe]

My own Keem, of course, is a Khemosabi grandson, with primarily Crabbett breeding. Horses in his line were bred to be sane, sensible, intelligent all-around athletes.



And if you want to talk Egyptian, Mary's Cheyenne is also a Khemosabi grandson, but his other lines are all Egyptian. You can see the Khemosabi stamp even while you can see the difference between the Egyptian and Crabbett types.



The sad thing is, that most of these "modern" Arabs are halter-bred, and are never ridden. They are about as unrealistic and useless as the poor halter-bred QHs with their tiny feet and overdeveloped muscles. In fact, I've heard several comments on how the super-dished Arabs actually have a lot of trouble breathing freely through those constricted noses. Arabs with plastic surgery to narrow their throatlatches, like Magnum Psyche, are still winning too.

As far as I understand it, it's still unclear why the stallion attacked his handler. There is a very vivid discussion going on at Fugly about the incredible abuse that halter Arabians endure, and that many of them are unpredictable or dangerous as a result. I can't even imagine wanting to be part of that world.

--LJ

[rhapsody]

The stallion in question is Scapa, from Paradise Arabians. There is a lot of speculation as to whether the stallion is a) vicious or b) acting out because he'd been abused by a previous halter trainer/handler. One gentleman (Tom Neely at ABN) who spoke to one of the owners on the phone (after leaving an "uncomplimentary" e-mail based on their website and what happened at Scottsdale) said that according to the owners a) the horse was not with the Scottsdale trainer for "rehab" from abuse as was being reported, and b) the owners were shocked and horrified at what had happened.

[Marci]

I think its the non-show breeders who will keep this breed alive. The endurance riders, the people who actually get out and use their horses. I love a pretty araby head but not to the extreme above.
And there have been Arabian stallions attacking their handlers as long as the handlers are smacking them with the whips to make them look more alert and full of fire. They do not suffer idiots that force them well at all. A lot will put up with inept handling but some just break mentally. Who knows what the first "trainer" did to him. Sounds like the owner needed to give the horse more time off from the show ring, if indeed he should ever have gone back into the ring as a halter horse. They actually torture these poor sensitive horses. Looking them up, feeding hot feeds then get them out and beat on them-with a blanket on of course so they don't mar their coat all the while yanking on that thin chain under their chins.
Yeah, I do NOT watch the halter horses its too painful.
I love Shadows head, and she takes a full sized horse sized halter.

Oh and she was shown as a baby at halter (I have her ribbon) and I believe that is why she to this day doesn't like her tail lifted. I'm sure they crammed ginger up her butt.
Oh and he is straight egyptian and they are known to be even more highly strung than your normal Arabian.
Oh and I got to meet Khemo once. What a neat horse. He was gorgeous and had people surrounding him and he was eating it all up. One other arab stallion I saw at a show was one of the Gainey bred horses, so typy and pretty. And his owner was riding him around in a halter. I love the Crabbet horses, and the lines that are mixed. I think by limiting the bloodlines we are really linebreeding too closely.

[snaffle]

The dished head and a tiny muzzle does not make the arabian horse.

When breeders go to the extreme they create problems.

I would assume there are already a lot of arabian foals and horses with deformed jaws.

[rhapsody]

Mish, who was that one mare that got so much attention on one of the other sites. The one who has such an extreme head that it truly does look deformed. Do you remember her name? I think she is/was at Midwest but I'm not sure.

[Remudamom]

Hacinta and Rafiqa are both SE. I don't understand why SEs have such a bad rep.