Window of the Soul

The late EAO stallion, Tagweed (Gad Allah x Tee) as photographed by Mohamed Abdo

A long time ago, or so it seems, the presence of any white in an Arabian horse's eye was considered to be a major flaw, no matter how completely wonderful the rest of the horse was. I find the number of modern Arabian horses possessing a varying degree of white in the eye, to be a disturbing trend. 

This weekend, I was once again reading Count Waclaw Rzewuski's book, Concerning Oriental Horses and Those Originating From Oriental Strains, as translated by James E. Luck and annotated by Andrew K. Steen and found the following passage, which I want to share with you:

"The anatomy of his eye, the black which predominates in the part that is white in other horses and colors the eyeball, and his black eyelashes endow this horse with excellent vision. It seems that nature has adorned his eyes with such a perfect blackness in order to better concentrate the beams of light entering them." 

The late Ansata AlMurtajiz (Ansata Hejazi x Ansata Samsara) as photographed by Jennifer Ogden

In another part of Concerning Oriental Horses, Count Rzewuski further writes,

"The eye is large, protruding, black and alert. The countenance gentle and intelligent is characteristic of Nejdis. The pupil is elongated and straight, of a deep blue color toward the upper part of the pupil. The globes are quite strong and irregular; they should resemble truffles. The rest of the orbit is blackish, brownish; the darker it is, the more the Arabs like it."

The great Michałów-bred stallion, Ekstern (Monogramm x Ernestyna) as photographed by Ewa Imielska-Hebda

In these times, when many of us are pursuing a more authentic horse; how and why have we been convinced that white in the eye is as beautiful as a large, fully black, luminous eye? And how do we get back to where we were so many years ago, when breeders did not accept the presence of any white in the eye? 

***This blog post is lovingly dedicated to a mentor, friend, master breeder and authority on the Egyptian Arabian horse, Marilyn Lang.  Since the early 70s, Marilyn has been breeding straight Egyptian horses! It is only because of Marilyn that I have learned to fully appreciate a black, large and luminous eye.***

****If you haven't yet purchased a copy of Count Rzewuski's book, I encourage you to contact Andrew K. Steen, at Tales of the Breed.****