July 2003 Arabian Preservation Breeding

July 2003
Arabian Preservation Breeding
When beginning to study and learn about Arabian blood lines there are several points that have caused much confusion. One of the most frequently asked questions is, "How can any one horse be more than 100% of any thing?" This question always comes up after seeing a blood line break down for a horse that is stated to be (for example) 100% Polish, 50% Crabbet, 15% Traveler's Rest, etc. This confusion stems from the fact that most groups adopt the definition of their blood lines as being "Any horse owned or bred" by their chosen entity. Poland purchased many horses from other countries or breeding farms so their offspring would be considered 100% Polish but have a Crabbet sire that would make that offspring also 50% Crabbet. Crabbet Stud also imported most of their horses from Egypt and one of their most well known sires, Skowronek, was bred in Poland so although the offspring are considered to be 100% Crabbet they also may have several other blood lines percentages. Once that is understood the question arises, "Then why focus on any one blood line group?" Through out the history of horse breeding, all breeders chose horses to breed that fit the image in their "mind's eye" of their perfect horse or horses who they felt would create that image when combined. After many years of breeding the same type of horses they frequently ended up with a uniform type that was set in their herd to the point that it was often hard to tell one horse from another and the breeding program was identifiable when looking at one of their horses. People who liked the type of horse they bred tried to reproduce the same type by breeding only those blood lines and thus Preservation Breeding was born.

When starting to study your horse's blood lines it is important to remember that what pedigree defines is the range of possibilities from which the individual is drawn. If that horse only shows signs of genetic inheritance from the largest percentage of it's blood line concentration then it would be highly unlikely they would pass on traits from another blood line group in their pedigree. That is why it is important once you have chosen which blood lines and type you like to be sure to LOOK at the horse and not just study the pedigree.