The Harmless Conspiracy

These are some of my thoughts on reading a recent article from Monty Roberts entitled "Arabian Tales" Here are a few quotes and my thoughts, however disjointed they may appear.

"Make a historical journey through the genealogy of horses employed in Thoroughbred racing, show jumping and dressage, and you will discover the genetic influence of the past three centuries or so. I recently embarked on research on this topic, and what I have found is a very interesting pattern, which I would tend to call a harmless conspiracy.

The term harmless could be used because no one is detrimentally affected by its presence. The term conspiracy could be used because there seems to be a clear tendency on the part of the early breeders to hide or thinly veil the presence of Arabian blood found in significant amounts in the world-class athletes that we celebrate in the disciplines I have addressed."

This "harmless conspiracy" has been evident to me from day one of my involvement with Arabians. According to most horse people I've talked to. Arabians are too hot, too spooky, too smart, too sensitive, too hard to handle. When ever one of my horses would so much as perk an ear up I get the "Well, that's an Arabian for you." And when they do something really well, don't turn out to be holy terrors or even do something just plain normal I get the, "Wow! That's pretty amazing for an Arabian." Now I can understand this from horse loving friends who are not well educated or experienced with other horses and breeds but it's the same reaction with experienced and even professional horse people.

Now being an Arabian forum I know we've all experienced this but the real question is why. Other breeds don't seem to create controversy or illicit the negative response from others that we get about Arabians. It reminds me greatly of another, and frankly more important,  aspect of my life. That of being a Latter-day Saint or a Mormon. Now bare with me. I promise I'm not going to derail this thread into a religious statement. Most people have preconceived notions about who we are, what we believe or how we live our lives. And these aren't just Huckabee groupies. (Sorry, couldn't resist. ) These are intelligent, thoughtful, educated people. Many have heard things like we have multiple wives, we all live in Utah, we can't dance (Well that ones true. I can't dance but it's not for lack of trying. ), etc. They are surprised to learn we are committed Christians, many of us successful in a variety of endeavors, and as a whole, are just your average apple-pie-eating Americans.  Why is that? No one is surprised when a Lutheran or Presbyterian is any of those things. And just like that people are surprised when Russian Roulette does well or when some kid has success with an Arabian in Pony Club or 4H. Oddly few seem to note there are an awful lot of those anomalies.

I think that it's fueled partly by that fear of the unknown or unfamiliar. We've done a good job of promoting the breed as exotic. Yet there are a lot more Arabians and Half Arabians in the US than there are TWH or Morgans (Just like there are more Mormons than Presbyterians or Lutherans) yet the breed is still considered exotic. People don't seem to know the breed and when they do see one do well they chalk it up to an anomaly instead of the innate qualities of the breed. Is it because they don't know the breed? That would explain the inexperienced horse people but what about others? Is it because there are aspects of our breed that make people uncomfortable? Is it something as simple as the looks? Is it their intelligence or temperament? What one thing or group of things is it that breeds this surprise or unfamiliarity.

"If, in fact, the pure Arabian is so slow, petite and incapable of high jumping, why is its blood so important to the breeds which rule the world in these three disciplines? For the answer I reach back to my university years and to the words of my genetics professor. Dr. Noble was a strong advocate for hybrid vigor. His position was that when two pure breeds come together, the first cross is extremely superior to its parents."

I don't think experienced horse breeders doubt the athleticism of the Arabian breed. Most of those WarmBlood registries will allow approved Arabians and thoroughbreds to be added to their stud books. Yes there are the "frilly" halter horses but that is a relativley recent trend in the over all history of the breed. How often has someone taken a no named Arabian and made a successfull endurance horse out of it. The same can not really be said about your grade stock horse or thoroughbred. There has to be something innate to the breed. And please note ,according to this article, that thoroughbreds are two-thirds Arabian. Which means you could "almost" say they're specialized form of Arabian bred for running a specific distance.

"Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has undertaken a study which concluded that the stallion Godolphin was born in what is now Saudi Arabia, and actually very near Dubai, an Arab emirate that he rules. It is with this information in mind that Sheik Mohammed has titled his racing interests Godolphin Racing.

Sheik Mohammed is the world's largest owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and coincidently one of the largest owners of pure Arabian horses. He is the world's primary supporter of Arabian endurance racing, and he and his sons actually ride in these extremely large competitions."

As an Arabian lover I think it's great that someone of Monty's celebrity is pointing these things out. Of course, he's already pointed out the reason he's been writing on it. Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has a huge amount of influence in the horse world. It's really cool what he's doing for the promotion of our breed as athletes. It's also kinda scary what one person with a whole lot of money can do. 100 years from now he'll probably be looked upon like Lady Wentworth is in our day. Be that good or bad.

To conclude this long missive. It doesn't look like the "harmless conspiracy" is new to recent history. I also find it hard to believe that any of this about thoroughbred bloodlines comes as a surprise to Monty Roberts considering his career in the horse racing industry. But that's why he considers it a "Harmless Conspiracy". As much as everyone preaches the downfall of the breed I don't think we're anywhere near there. Maybe the downfall of the Main Ring show scene. But I think the breed will outlive it all.

Well that's enough serious thought for the day. Back to work for me.

Daniel