Freaks
I am waiting to see when their muzzles will start bending upwards and then backwards to reach their ears. At the rate things are “evolving”, I am saying ten years.
Meanwhile, I will be busy breeding real Arabian horses, with straight or slightly concave profiles, a triangular nor rectangular head, a small muzzle and deep jowls.
Poor thing. The neck is also very odd.
Going out on a limb here, contrary to what has been posted but this is a really nice foal. I love the neck. Not only is it longer but it’s got a beautiful shape, with length in the poll and room in the throat, qualities that are harder to find these days. Did you check the underline of the neck? It’s not even base heavy. And the neck set? It’s awesome. Look at the wither. From what you can see of the body, the foal has a strong and smooth topline, close-coupled too for as big (size) as the foal appears to be. The lines flow gracefully. Foal is not thick, short or chunky, There is a suggestion of scope, even with the limited portrait. Eyes are large, fully black with no white. Larger jowl. Head is connected to the neck to form a nice mitbah. If I bred a foal like this, I would be thrilled.
Sometimes, I feel like I don’t belong anywhere in the Arab world. I am a dedicated student of the breed with many years loving this special breed behind me, and within my own personal (and private moments) a purist and lover of the authentic Egyptian Arabian horse and like you all, at odds with some of the practices/beliefs of the mainstream world and yet, in the community that champions all I personally believe in, it’s like the table is set but all are not welcomed. Fingers always seem to be pointed, ready to tell a fellow horse lover how they ad their horses don’t measure up. Sorry Edouard, I love you dearly but “Freaks”? Really? How can any being made by God be a “freak”?
I live by what Carl Raswan once said, these words seem to define all that I believe in: “Beauty, grace and refinement are not in contrast to soundness, stamina and endurance. Beauty simply replaces ugliness, grace takes the place of clumsiness and refinement – coarseness.” And while I recognize that what is beautiful and ideal varies from eye-to-eye, the foal pictured embodies all of the qualities that Raswan mentioned, that is beauty, grace and refinement.
The break between the forehead and the muzzle (the so called dish, which here is extreme) is a real problem Ralph, and there is nothing deep about the jowl that I can see. The rectangular head is an aberration too. Look at the drawing Sherifa’s head here:
http://daughterofthewind.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/sherifa-head.jpg
there is a continuum, not a straight line but also between the forehead and the muzzle, not pronounced angles like in the above.
I’ll bet he’s a partbred too.
Hi Edouard and I read what you have typed. I recognize, understand and respect what you have said. Yes, there are a few things in the foal that I may not particularly like but it is a foal and needs time to grow into all of the parts. What he may look like today, in the photo or rather, the extreme qualities we see, may not be as extreme, when fully mature. I kind of regret saying anything (Lyman’s reply is the last thing I wanted anyone to post, as a result of what I have posted) and the reason why I feel like there is no where in the Arab world that I feel represents where I am today and where I may fit. It’s a horrible feeling to wake up one morning and find the world different than the way it was and the safe haven/escape into the world of horses is no longer safe, peaceful or stress-free. I’ll go back to my corner, duct tape on my mouth (and typing fingers) and keep my opinions to myself. Not mad or anything Edouard, just feeling weird. Like I said, I understand and respect where you are coming from. Good morning, happy Sunday by the way.
You need not feel like this Ralph, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, and yours is valuable as anyone else’s, mine included. No one wants to put duct tape on your mouth, and your voice is appreciated and sought after always. Me, I am saddened to see the type evolving too fast towards the extreme, and the dish is perhaps what bothers me most, alonside the stunned look of the foal. The title is meant to provoke a discussion, and that is exactly what you are doing. Please keep doing it.
Taking another look at the photo, there’s a chance that the foal’s dish was enhanced by how the background was colored black.
It’s expression may be one of bemusement at whatever the photographer’s assistant is using to get it’s attention.
As to pure- or partbred (in whomever’s definition), I think this is more a matter of selection toward a particular phenotype.
That said, I am saddened by the trend to breed towards an “extreme” that is verging on caricature. I suppose there’s a place for it, as long as the horses can be healthy and functional, and the trend doesn’t overshadow the rest of Arabian breeding.
I’d be willing to bet that the above is what Sig Bag 6 looked like as a young foal. Remember young mammals are small and refined so they can be born without killing their mothers. Comments by Counsel Skene about weighing a cubic inch of a desert breds leg bones in comparison with one not raised in the desert, might be germane in the context of this discussion. I’m struck by the sport horse worlds’ on paper quest for larger bone. The general consensus being that bigger is better. And yet- there are examples of some of the Shagyas in this country- 14.3 hand stallions with 8 and one half inch cannons whose grandsons developed osteo chondrosis rendering them not safely rideable. The veterinarians I’ve dealt with in ocd cases have always remarked that the condition is associated with the bigger growthy foals. The problem with issuing hard and fast rules to the effect that larger leg bone is for sure more athletic, is that there are no double blind control studies proving a link between soundness and large sized legs. To my knowledge there are not even double blind control studies proving that straight legs go with more soundness, only anecdotal associational remarks by breeders and riders. That said however I just finished a 4 year long patchup job dealing with a quarabs spinal offset, in this case a kink to the right, which was part of his inability to bend to the right with the same ability he had to bend to the left rendering him chronically uneven and crooked. Even though only lightly ridden he ended up developing ringbone and sidebone on both front pasterns, navicular changes, chronic hoof abcesses, recurring back to front leg interference problems and resultant body soreness issues and so much pain that eventually the equioxx, isoxuprine, and other meds caused ulcers. It does stand to reason that rotations, deviations and offsets of leg bones go together with spinal crookedness. But the question needs to be asked whether or not the spinal offsets from straight alinement come first and the twists and crooked legs developed as a result. Do we know if the crooked legs caused the spine to offset and twist or if the spine was first crooked and the leg crookedness came as an adaptation to the bent backbone.
The above horse weighed 1135 lbs on the vets scale when in very good flesh and stood only 15.2+, He had 7 and five eights inch front cannons and on exrays showed the pattern of destruction in his hocks and stifles common to futurity reining horses. As to size of rider, the attending veterinarian at his final lameness exam and subsequent euthanasia stated that the only hard and fast rider size rule is the dictum that total weight of rider and tack should not exceed 20 per cent of a horses live weight. In this case total rider and tack weight of 197 lbs and live weight of 1135 lbs gets us down to 17%. So I can say that refinement may be something to stay away from- but its far more important to breed out the tendencies toward crooked spines and legs.
best
Bruce Peek
Dear Edouard – do not judge this foal based on that kind of very bad faked photo. I agree with Jenny – but in the normal German rude way you all expect 🙂
I disagree. This is no longer an arabian horse. This is seahorse.
My apologies for the incorrect use of it’s in my comment above. SMH