| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| martha615 |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 10:55:31 AM
Some nice (true) words about arabians from NH horseman, Warwick Schiller. I thought to this was worth flagging up as Warwick Schiller is certainly not one to mince words, sugar-coat, or try to "look cool". He says what he thinks, and he says some true things here about arabian horses here.
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ari |
Posted - 05 Oct 2013 : 5:08:50 PM
It's the lightness and intelligence I love and so enjoy. Yes Arabs are "different" and some may find that difficult but there is no better feeling than getting the trust and love of an Arab. |
| Mags |
Posted - 05 Oct 2013 : 4:24:59 PM
ah yes I will agree with you there  I miss those quick reactions and lightness |
| Ari |
Posted - 05 Oct 2013 : 4:19:48 PM
Mags when I say "sharp" I just mean lightening quick reactions and very athletic not daft or dangerous. My sharp chap will stand to one side to let a string of racehorses gallop past but an Arab eating rock is something else that requires evasive but safe action on his part to get us both safely past lol. |
| Mags |
Posted - 05 Oct 2013 : 08:04:34 AM
Forget the ponys I want to buy the dalek!!
Have to admit though my first venture into arab owning was a suprising one. Much more quiet and sensible than expected and definately not sharp. Still hooked though, miss my tiny pony and thinking that id like another but bigger. Everything else was right, and I knew she was to small when I bought her but she needed a home at the time so she got one ... |
| Alyth Long |
Posted - 05 Oct 2013 : 03:54:24 AM
I personally think the best movement is in the shoulder/hip rather than the knee/hock....also, like every other horse, they have different 'horsonalities', some are calm, some are exuberant, some reactive....and their 'horsonalities' can vary according to circumstances....but all reflect their owners/riders....and I do hope most of them are ridden/driven!!!
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| pippic |
Posted - 04 Oct 2013 : 10:16:14 PM
Exacttly!!! |
| debs |
Posted - 04 Oct 2013 : 7:43:22 PM
Of course he did.... they may have been full of food |
| pippic |
Posted - 04 Oct 2013 : 10:55:01 AM
ooh Pasch I'm with you there... a neighbour put a huge pile of recycling sacks last week. Gus snorted and danced but HAD to go and investigate and have a rifle through |
| debs |
Posted - 04 Oct 2013 : 06:14:22 AM
Esther, think that is different to the high knee action that is 'encouraged' by certain shoeing methods.... |
| Pasch |
Posted - 03 Oct 2013 : 11:05:11 PM
Also like Esther's saying!
Pasch is a bit more strung up but Armos can be a real dope...then suddenly wake up and turn into an arab in a nano-second!But until now I have yet to find something he's really scared of.He can jog and snort a bit but if asked he will go investigate.he can feel the other horses' excitement a lot but will continue walking(well with another horse next I confess)with long reins while others pass him at a canter from behind.Most of all he will react to what I feel to the point sometimes I will realise I'm tense or nervous by the way he acts. |
| pippic |
Posted - 03 Oct 2013 : 7:42:11 PM
ooh Esther i like that saying!! Nice to see any horse so calm in a new environment.
After a year of owning my boy he's just remembered he's not a dope on a rope but an arab and we've both been quite surprised but rather delighted by it  |
| Kazhak |
Posted - 03 Oct 2013 : 08:09:14 AM
mmm I find my arabs to be rather passionate, I like the fire they can come out with.. such beautiful animals.. but yes certainly not crazy.. he had some nice things to say :) |
| Esther |
Posted - 02 Oct 2013 : 05:19:51 AM
I always say that an arab should be firey enough to take you to war but calm enough to live in your tent 
Re Knee action - Spud has more knee/hock action than Felix, particularly when he's a bit off on one and is getting tight and hollow and stressed. Whereas full bro Felix has much more relaxed, fluid paces. The difference in how they move is the most striking difference between them, and it's partly due to subtle differences in their conformation (Felix has a better shoulder) and partly because of Spud's history as a stressed in hand stallion and weaving himself into oblivion - Spud was soooo tight through the shoulder when we got him it took a long time to get him to actually move out rather than be choppy and stilted. Tension can really spoil paces. He can move out now though, oh yes  |
| debs |
Posted - 02 Oct 2013 : 12:50:03 AM
Hate hate hate that high knee action. Like saddlebred movement...and when they are encouraged to go forward longer and lower they look amazing Not in an Arabian! I think it is only for certain disciplines in the US show scene, but urgh it's horrid. But then I dont like the riders, esp the men in whatever it is where they ride sat so far back they are almost off the end! JMO 
My first Arab was as far removed from sharp as he could be! He was 'all there' but relaxed, attentive, most humorous, loving and loyal. From pretty much the day I got him. Pure joy...the horse of a lifetime.
Little Als has been much more of a challenge but he/we are getting there.... better every day! Apart from the odd two steps back in the ridden side! Even that is improving though!
He hasn't quite developed his sense of humour yet though.... one of Gizmo's 'things' was, as I was mucking out, he would very delicately get my, tight(!) jods between his teeth and ping them! I always used to threaten him with a good hiding if he bit me (joke) but he never did. Was as quick as a flash...bless him
Relax everyone ramble over!
Just got in from a day working in Paris, up at 4.30 and just got in, desperate to sleep but now wide awake....grrrr! Needless to say I dont think I will be up for a morning session at 6 with Ali baba!!! |
| Kes |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 9:23:06 PM
Martha, no idea, but no likey!!!
I love the Arabian ground covering floating movement, I'm not sure why some have had their movement changed/ altered, is it for the show ring? There is no way it can be as comfortable as the usual Arab stride, I wouldn't want to do 50kms like that anyway!! |
| Ari |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 8:45:06 PM
Very true words from Warwick, in my view Arabs are intelligent, loyal and yes they are sharp with a strong flight instinct but I have yet to meet an Arab that is crazy or doesn't do the very best it can in any given situation with respect and affection for a trusted rider/handler. All breeds and types have their strong points, horse for courses. |
| martha615 |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 7:59:43 PM
Kes, I noticed this kind of "hackney action" as you call it when watching a youtube video about a show in America. What is that all about? I always think of arabs as low action.
LOL, the dalek! Yes, my son owns it....or does it own him??? |
| Kes |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 6:56:20 PM
I'm not going to ask why you have daleks Martha!!
I do totally agree with your statement about everyone liking different things in the Arab breed though. Although your points of intelligence and beauty are probably universal, I think they are traits inherent to the breed amongst others - we could go on forever on that subject!!
Pop, I wasn't calling a QH a native, by native I mean welsh, Dales, Connemara etc I was just trying to point out that I think each breed should represent it's breed typically, but this is just my opinion. I'm not a great lover of seeing pure bred Arabs with Hackney actions and the like, but again, just my opinion and I appreciate others in return. |
| martha615 |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 4:48:48 PM
Yes, that does sound like the QH!
Sadly, the breed has been let down by people breeding for excessive traits like small hooves and ultra-sloped HQs, plus the tendency for croup-high. They look awful sometimes... :(
Having said that, my friend just got a GORGEOUS palomino QH gelding that I drool over!
Maybe what I remember were not true quarter horses but mixtures that looked, mostly, like quarter horses. I haven't owned one for over 30 years!
Whatever was bred into my Millie (welsh D) to make her behave so lavishly when near large lorries anyway? Poor thing nearly gave herself a heart attack today, and this after an hour of wonderful hacking up and down hills with only me as company....horses, who can understand them?
Despite being a native pony, Millie does welcome creatures from other planets
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| Pop |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 4:21:31 PM
Yes, calm and forgiving, gentle and kind; but I think this gets them mistaken for slow and 'unsporty'.
Some interesting facts (Do excuse the word 'Colonist' Martha) about the Qtr horse. 55mph, I'm impressed :)
Sprint races were also popular weekend entertainment and racing became a source of economic gain for breeders as well. As a result, more Thoroughbred blood was added back into the developing American Quarter Horse breed. The American Quarter Horse also benefitted from the addition of Arabian, Morgan and even Standardbred bloodlines.
As flat racing became popular with the colonists, the Quarter Horse gained even more popularity as a sprinter over courses that, by necessity, were shorter than the classic racecourses of England, and were often no more than a straight stretch of road or flat piece of open land. When matched against a Thoroughbred, local sprinters often won. As the Thoroughbred breed became established in America, many colonial Quarter Horses were included in the original American stud books, starting a long association between the Thoroughbred breed and what would later become officially known as the "Quarter Horse," named after the distance at which it excelled, with some individuals being clocked at up to 55 mph.
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| martha615 |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 3:57:17 PM
I don't know....I just hacked out my Welsh native and she was PERFECT until we saw the enormous lorry too close to us at which point she scooted away in a nano-second, the big coward!
I think a person can like different things in the arab breed. I like the intelligence and beauty but I like my mare to stay as calm and relaxed as possible (and I think she likes this, too). However, I feel that if I were braver and liked going faster she would be happier with me!
Some QHs are sharp, yes. But mostly they are pretty calm in my experience. Of course, I am talking about my experience in America as a child and (in my case) they were dead quiet, beautifully behaved, and really lovely....but god knows what has been bred into them since!
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| Pop |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 3:36:57 PM
Many view the Quarter Horse as sensible and calm; many view the Arab as completely crazy and bonkers. I think that was the point he was making.
In my experience, Arabs are not crazy; any more that Quarter Horses are deserving of being considered 'very steady'.
A Quarter horse is an extremely reactive and forward ride, perhaps not as sharp as an Arab, but certainly (in my opinion, and in general) considerably more 'sporty' than what I think you mean by a 'native'. |
| Kes |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 2:07:06 PM
That's really great Martha, that horse was attentive but not fixed on him, totally relaxed, the yawning was funny!!
The only thing I would say in a not so positive manner was regarding the comments about being a quarter horse, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against quarter horses whatsoever, but I like an Arab to be an Arab, a native to be a native etc etc. Or did I hear that wrong, I did have the sound very low as working? That horse look lovely and laid back but one of the reasons I bought an Arabian is because I wanted something sharp and reactive, again, could have been that I heard it wrong. |
| Goldenmane |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 1:58:51 PM
Never heard of him, but loved his Crazy Arabian and his words! |
| Pop |
Posted - 01 Oct 2013 : 1:37:45 PM
So funny when the Crazy Arabian just yawns at him, |
