Post by AmberC on Feb 25, 2010 9:19:42 GMT -5
Well they have pretty heads, not those wierd deformed heads.
I just hate how Arabian breeders are getting away from what the Arab was originally created as. They were supposed to be a smaller (NOT 16h!) horse that was hardy and athletic, with endurance and heart. They had to be able to travel across the desert all day. AND they were supposed to be pretty. The extreme dished faces we're seeing now often have breathing problems, and it's rare to see a winning halter horse that even looks like it could handle a trail ride, let alone all day in a desert.
It's just another case of breeders taking a feature and running away with it (bulldog heads, German Shepherd's sloping back legs, etc) and resulting in an animal that looks nothing like it was supposed to.
Thankfully you can still find good examples of the breed, and there are people out there who are breeding for strength and endurance, and type without going overboard. And those who take the temperment of the animals they are breeding into consideration as well. I don't care how pretty a horse is, if he's a rank jerk who'd be just as likely to take a chunk out of my shoulder as walk beside me, I don't want him!
And OMG the abusive training practices have GOT to stop! It's shameful for the AHA to allow this stuff to go on at sanctioned shows. The comments on the Fugly blog about things people have seen are just plain horrifying, if they are even half true. When training techniques cause a horse to totally lose his mind (and not talking just about Scapa, but I bet he did as they are making darn sure the video doesn't come out), there is something seriously wrong. Proper training does not cause a horse to go ape-shit and attack his handler. And apparently, it's not all that rare.
I just hate how Arabian breeders are getting away from what the Arab was originally created as. They were supposed to be a smaller (NOT 16h!) horse that was hardy and athletic, with endurance and heart. They had to be able to travel across the desert all day. AND they were supposed to be pretty. The extreme dished faces we're seeing now often have breathing problems, and it's rare to see a winning halter horse that even looks like it could handle a trail ride, let alone all day in a desert.
It's just another case of breeders taking a feature and running away with it (bulldog heads, German Shepherd's sloping back legs, etc) and resulting in an animal that looks nothing like it was supposed to.
Thankfully you can still find good examples of the breed, and there are people out there who are breeding for strength and endurance, and type without going overboard. And those who take the temperment of the animals they are breeding into consideration as well. I don't care how pretty a horse is, if he's a rank jerk who'd be just as likely to take a chunk out of my shoulder as walk beside me, I don't want him!
And OMG the abusive training practices have GOT to stop! It's shameful for the AHA to allow this stuff to go on at sanctioned shows. The comments on the Fugly blog about things people have seen are just plain horrifying, if they are even half true. When training techniques cause a horse to totally lose his mind (and not talking just about Scapa, but I bet he did as they are making darn sure the video doesn't come out), there is something seriously wrong. Proper training does not cause a horse to go ape-shit and attack his handler. And apparently, it's not all that rare.
