"He saw a mighty black horse rear on its hind legs, its forelegs striking out into the air. A white scarf was tied around its eyes. The crowd broke and ran, while lather ran from the horse's body; his mouth was open, his teeth bared. He was a giant of a horse, glistening black." - The Black Stallion, Walter Farley
Lately, watching the video footage from some of the shows, I can't help but notice the size of the handler versus the size of the horse at the end of the lead. In video-after-video, the handlers appear long and lanky, ridiculously towering over the horses. What's happening to our horses? They seem to be shrinking.
In Count Waclaw Rzewuski's 1821 manuscript, Concerning Oriental Horses, he writes,
"It is a great error to believe that desert Arab horses should generally be small. Some of them are, as everywhere, below average size, but this lack of growth is not typical of the Bedouin strain. To the contrary, some of them are found to be large and even very tall."
The version of the book that I am fortunate to own, is translated by James E. Luck and annotated by Andrew K. Steen, who wrote,
"Rzewuski's remarks about the Nejdi Arabian horse make a mockery of William Gifford Palgrave's contrived description which exaggeratedly avowed: Their stature was indeed somewhat low; I do not think any came fully up to fifteen hands; fourteen appears to me about their average..."
James Luck in a separate annotation added,
"Size was quite important to the Bedouin as long as they used swords and lances. It should never be forgotten that the principal use of horses among the Bedouin was for fighting and it's always easier to fight downhill than uphill...When reading Rzewuski's comments on the size of horses one should keep in mind that for him a medium sized horse seems to have been between 15 and 16 hands."
So much of the written information concerning the Arab horse does appear to be unified in support of a smaller size. For whatever the reason, our community seems to prefer these narratives, which appear to be only part of our breed story. Rzewuski, even more so, becomes a welcomed breath-of-fresh-air, with descriptions that are at the opposite end, that of a much taller horse, than previously believed to exist in the desert. Later in the chapter, from where these excerpts can be found, Count Rzewuski provides examples of the horses he purchased,
"I even bought, for Her Highness, the Queen of Württemberg, the Bedouin horse Abou-Arkoub, a deep iron-grey, two-year-old, that measured 17 hands; Obeiyan abou Dahman, a bay, age three-years, that stood 16 palms, Seglawi Giedran, a golden sorrel, age four-years, that also stood 16 palms. Among those that I have reserved for myself, was the famous El Messenneh el Wehabi, which I purchased from Abd-el-Aziz, Prince of the Wahhabis, who was 17 hands high."
Size does matter, as Rzewuski makes it a point to record forever the height of the horses he was personally connected with. Which kind of segways us to another little story, this time, a more personal tale of first impressions and how love makes us all, a little "barn blind". It's a somewhat funny story, that at the time, stung, as it concerned my beloved straight Egyptian mare, who was to me, "the cat's meow". I had already gotten dressed, tacked up, and was now warming up my mare, just prior to entering the ring for my dressage test, scheduled for 1:20 PM. The steward was looking for us, as I had been given the wrong number and was told by a friend to look for the guy riding the white pony. Wait, what did she say? A white pony? Rosie? She's no pony, she's a horse! I remember reading something Lady Wentworth once said about men not wanting to ride ponies, as they would appear to be underhorsed. In my previous blog, I shared a quote by Dr. Fritz Schilke, concerning marketability and how it insures the survival of a breed. In this matter of height, what is more marketable: a small horse or a big horse? Perhaps, in marketing Arabian horses as a prospective adult saddle horse, the taller the horse (and the breed to which it belongs) would be more desireable for other like-minded equestrians. After all, are we not breeding for utility under saddle too?
In Lady Wentworth's career spanning tome, The Authentic Arabian Horse, she says, "There is no standard height, but so long as type is not lost, the bigger, the better." Arlene Magid, in a 1990 article published by The Crabbet Influence magazine, concerning the stallion, Indian Magic (Raktha x Indian Crown), whom Arlene called "The Wentworth Super Horse" wrote that he stood approximately 15.2 hands tall. In her opening sentence, Arlene writes, "Lady Wentworth strove for decades to achieve what she considered to be the ultimate Arabian - a horse of type and extraordinary presence, with superb motion and larger size to appeal to those for whom Arabians were a bit small." I agree with Arlene, when she credited Indian Magic with shattering the "glass ceiling", which at the time, thanks to books like Palgraves' Narratives of a Years Journey Through Central and Eastern Arabia: 1862-1863, created the myth that larger sized Arabian horses were lacking breed-type.
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| *Sharem El Sheikh photo by Judith |
Fast-forward to our most recent past and *Sharem El Sheikh, an *El Shaklan son out of the Gharib daughter (and Hadban Enzahi grandaughter) *Samanna, stood 16.1 hands! A striking liver chestnut, he was bred by Dieter & Annelie Kraut of Germany and imported by the late Sigi Siller of Om el Arab in 1985. Like his sire, he was ultra-elegant with a longer neck, a finer throatlatch and a strong topline than one would see in any size horse, big or small. And he passed on, siring a Legion of Honor son, Eternety+, out of the Hal Gazal daughter, Tomboy.
There are many Arab horses as tall as *El Shaklan, *Sharem El Sheikh, Eternety+ and Indian Magic but unfortunately, this blog format is not big enough to list them all. When I think of tall Arabian horses, these are the individuals who immediately come to my mind. I'm not suggesting that taller horses are better than horses 14 hands and smaller. If that is what you are getting from this blog, then, apologies, because that was never my intent to imply that. Only sharing a personal observation, followed by a personal preference, all for the love of horse.
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