Arabians: amiable, versatile, fleet and intelligent

By Marty Metzger
North Forty News

Bob Valentine knows what it's like to ride the wind: the Fort Collins businessman owns and breeds Arabians.

His small but excellent band of eight Polish-bred mares produces babies via artificial insemination from the shipped semen of noted stallions such as First Cyte and Pyro Thyme. The resulting foals are highly sought--and bought--by discerning horsemen and women in South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as domestically in Colorado, California and other areas. This broad-based market for his horses isn't accidental but rather established by word of mouth and decades in the horse business.

Valentine spent part of his early years in Vermont, where he learned about equines working with drafts and several light horse breeds. In 1971, he began an Arabian program in California, got out in the '80s, and jumped in again after relocating to Fort Collins in 2000. In the short space of just eight years, he now owns #2 Aristocrat mare, which has foaled 12 champions. (To receive the title "Aristocrat," a mare must produce more than six champions in her lifetime.)

The Arabian aficionado said he prefers the breed for several reasons and isn't blindly biased, having owned several breeds, including Quarter Horses. Valentine claims that, for one thing, his desert-derived breed is smarter than most.

"They like to bond to people," he said, "but you can't push them. They're easy keepers and, supposedly, can go without water four or five days. I've had all kinds of horses and I ultimately picked Arabs because they're the best."

Does he recommend the breed as a family horse? "Absolutely," he said. "They're pocket horses."

He breeds for English, Western and Hunter Pleasure, but touts Arabs' overall versatility. He has a passing acquaintance with Arabian racing, which competes at six-furlong distances. Valentine said two-mile courses would far better display the horses' fleetness and endurance, for which they are bred.

That genetic trait possibly dates back to the Ice Age in what is modern-day Yemen. Domestication of the breed's ancestors is alternately theorized to be by Bedouins 4,000 to 5,000 years ago or by Persians, who introduced the equine strain to the Bedouins around the 7th century A.D.

Either way, the breed as it appears today was designed hardy by desert conditions, brave and spirited by usage as warhorses, and amiable by abode. The nomadic Bedouins were known to shelter their prized war mares in the family tent alongside their own children.

Because only good-natured horses were allowed to reproduce, even today's Arabians carry that gentle temperament. The U.S. Equestrian Federation, in fact, names the breed as one of the few whose stallions can be exhibited by children in most show ring classes.

The Arabian's hardiness was honed by climate. When no pasture or water was available, Bedouins fed their horses dates and camel's milk.

Raids required speed, endurance, soundness, intelligence and often stealth. Mares were often preferred over noisier stallions and thus became highly prized as war mounts.

Arabians differ from most breeds in conformation as well as behavior. Their heads are refined and well-chiseled, with broad foreheads, small muzzles and large, prominent eyes and nostrils. Facial profiles are "dished" and some display a bulged forehead between the eyes. This feature, called the "jibbah" by Bedouins, increases sinus capacity, thereby combating dry desert conditions. Poll and throatlatch placement create flexibility of neck in the bridle and a large windpipe, aiding stamina.

The elegant breed sports high tail carriage and a short back. Some have five lumbar vertebrae unlike most breeds' six, and some have 17 instead of 18 pairs of ribs. Most individuals have strong, ample bone and sound feet with good hoof wall.

Valentine diplomatically tells those who prefer another breed to Arabians that they're actually riding part-Arabs. In fact, most modern light horse breeds and some drafts carry an infusion of Arabian blood, which improved or refined them. One noted breed that largely owes its existence to the Arabian is the Thoroughbred. Two of its three foundation sires were the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian. The Welsh pony, Percheron draft horses and many European breeds carry much early Arabian blood.

To those who would breed Arabians, Valentine's advice is to begin with one really good mare, rather than four or five mediocre ones, and breed her to a good stallion. About his own "sweetest herd of mares," he knows they'll continue producing fantastic babies that will grow up to carry their riders as if on the wind