“Why breed if no one wants them, except you and me?”
Marge Smith asked this very poignant question in one of the comments to an entry below. If anyone has answers to this specific question, please feel free to share them in the form of comments to this entry. I have my own set of answers, which I will thrown into the mix.
Dear Edouard and everyone who is reading this topic:
This question and topic, is very near and dear to my own heart. As most of you may know, I also author a blog, focused specifically on Straight Egyptian Horses. Every year, during breeding season, I post the following entry:
A long, long time ago, I fell madly in love with the Babson/Halima horses (I still am) and because I found this bloodline to produce more consistently my own personal image of classic Arabian Horse type, I decided that these bloodlines would be the focus of my own Arabian Horse breeding program. However, I soon realized that this combination was already widely-popular, with many breeders already producing this cross. The Babson/Halima horses that I could produce, from the same bloodlines as others were already using, would be exactly the same horses. I would be doing nothing new. Other than satisfying my own heart, these horses were generously represented in the community. Why produce more horses, when so many un-wanted horses are still desperately in need of a loving home? Maybe this feeling of responsibility is what breeders, all breeders, big and small, need to recognize. There is a sacred morality, requiring responsibility, for bringing new life into this world. When people experience success breeding horses, others will try and emulate this success, often with poor specimens of the breed. As a community, we must recognize and understand that horses who are so excellent and should be bred (la crème de la crème)are a very small number of horses. I pray for the day when people will realize that there are other things to do with Arabian Horses than to breed them and create more Arabian Horses! Whether you are on his back or standing by his side, a relationship with an Arabian Horse will be your adventure of a lifetime!
So, am not sure if I have really offered any type of answer…
Will be interesting to see what discussion your very thoughtful entry initiates.
I feel this question to.I have a diverent problem for breeding my Saud Dahmah line.I started with this breeding program 2 years ago and I focused on this line.I new there were not many of these horses but I didn’t realice that my horses were so rare.Now for us it is very important that they still remain and that I bring new life in this breed.not easy… for me it’s satisfying my own heart to ,but I olso think it’s a responsibility.the realize of other things to do with your arabian than breeding is endless for us.I think the Purity,breeding and work need each other.
I asked myself the same question many times
Hi Ralph. You said: Why produce more horses, when so many un-wanted horses are still desperately in need of a loving home? Maybe this feeling of responsibility is what breeders, all breeders, big and small, need to recognize. There is a sacred morality, requiring responsibility, for bringing new life into this world.
I couldn’t agree more.
And then you added: When people experience success breeding horses, others will try and emulate this success, often with poor specimens of the breed
Yes! And isn’t this exactly what happened back in the 80’s, in the States at least, when the prices of Arabian horses went through the roof? Many people got into the “business” of breeding Arabians. The same people who were breeding these horses were also judging (this has always seemed to me a huge conflict of interest, but it still goes on, at least here in Italy.)
People bred their horses according to what was winning at the shows with little or no thought to such a basic thing as temperament. And then the Arabian horse got a reputation for being “flighty and stupid” which, of course, is the exact opposite of what the true Arabian is.
I don’t know how it is ever possible to either weed out or even influence breeders who are driven by dollars, But I DO think it is possible to create the desire for these extraordinary horses by getting the word out–not in the Arabian world but in the general horse world. Because we all live and breathe the asil horse we think other horse lovers must know about them, but in fact it’s still a pretty esoteric and small community.
So how do we do that? Edouard, with this site, has already and continues to do a great job.
Why not think about pony clubs as a great place to educate young people about our horses? There are lots of you out there who would be great not only at speaking about our horses but also instilling in the very young what it means to own one. The friend for life.
At our stable we are starting a summer riding camp–with English lessons in the afternoon. I will be teaching those lessons and the first word I will teach in “English” will be “asil.” 🙂