On breeding for straight profiles
I never believed straight profiles were a defect. Most of the desert Arabian horses I grew up with in Lebanon and Syria had straight profiles. Very early on, I found that quote in Lady Wentworth’s “Authentic Arabian Horse”, perhaps taken from Lady Anne Blunt’s unpublished manuscript; it echoed what I was seeing and learning about around me:
“A straight profile should not be a defect if the forehead is very broad, the eyes placed low and very large, and the muzzle small”
I would add deep round jowls and prominent facial bones to this description. Together, a deep jowl, a small muzzle and a broad forehead form a head with a triangular shape in both the profile and the face. I am actually striving to breed an Arabian horse with all these characteristics, to make the point that the resulting outcome is an attractive, even “classic” head.
Jamr’s head, below, approaches this description. The jowl is unbelievably large, and the muzzle is small. The eyes are placed low, but they are not large (a legacy of his maternal grandsire Dib). The facial bones are somewhat apparent but the face will be drier with age. The overall shape of the head is triangular, and exudes masculinity.
He would be a pretty gelding
you always manage to crack me up. one day you will be bored with your classic heads and come back to what i am idealizing now
I understand what you are idealizing (a good example is the head of the Blunt’s Messaoud)
And so… Messaoud should have been gelded ?????????????
(Very glad he wasn’t or my fields would be empty!!)