Characteristics

Arabian horses have refined, wedge-shaped heads, a broad forehead, large eyes, large nostrils, and small muzzles. Most display a distinctive concave or "dished" profile. Many Arabians also have a slight forehead bulge between their eyes, called the "jibbah" by the Bedouin, that adds additional sinus capacity, believed to have helped the Arabian horse in its native dry desert climate. Another breed characteristic is an arched neck with a large, well-set windpipe set on a fine, clean throatlatch. This structure of the poll and throatlatch was called the mitbah or mitbeh by the Bedouin, and in the best Arabians is long and somewhat straight, allowing flexibility in the bridle and room for the windpipe.

Other distinctive features are a relatively long, level croup and naturally high tail carriage. Well-bred Arabians have a deep, well-angled hip and well laid-back shoulder. Most have a compact body with a short back. Some, though not all, have 5 lumbar vertebrae instead of the usual 6, and 17 rather than 18 pairs of ribs. Thus, even a small Arabian can carry a heavy rider with ease.

Arabians usually possess dense, strong bone, sound feet, and good hoof walls. They are especially noted for endurance. Arabians have natural balance, nimbleness and impulsion, qualities originally essential in a desert warhorse, and today seen in various competitive disciplines.


Size

The breed standard for Arabian horses, as stated by the United States Equestrian Federation, describes the Arabians as standing between 14.1 and 15.1 hands tall, "with the occasional individual over or under." Thus, all Arabians, regardless of height, are classified as "horses," even though 14.2 hands is the traditional cutoff height between a horse and a pony. Because many horse owners in Europe and the Americas prefer taller animals, the Arabian has been bred for increased height, and many Arabians today are between 15 and 16 hands (60-64 inches at the withers).

Temperament

For centuries, Arabian horses lived in the desert in close association with humans. Prized war mares were sometimes kept in the family tent, along with children. Only horses with a naturally good disposition were allowed to breed on. Arabians today are one of the few breeds where the United States Equestrian Federation allows children to exhibit stallions in show ring classes limited to riders under 18.

On the other hand, the Arabian is also classified as a "hot-blooded" breed, a category that includes other refined, spirited horses bred for speed, such as the Thoroughbred and the Barb. Like other hot-bloods, Arabians' sensitivity and intelligence enable quick learning and greater communication with their riders. However, their intelligence also allows them to learn bad habits as quickly as good ones. They also can quickly lose trust in a poor rider and do not tolerate inept or abusive training practices.

Colours

The Arabian Horse Association recognises purebred horses with the coat colors bay, gray, chestnut, black, and roan. All Arabians, no matter the coat color, have black skin, except under white markings. Black skin provided protection from the hot desert sun.

Although many Arabians appear "white," this is the natural action of the gray gene. Gray horses are born bay, black or chestnut, then get progressively lighter as they age, until their hair coat eventually turns pure white or becomes "flea-bitten." Their skin is black and remains so throughout their life. Therefore, all "white" Arabians are actually grays.

Black Arabians are somewhat rare. One reason is that the black gene is genetically suppressed by the more dominant Agouti gene that creates the black points of a bay horse. Some breeding farms now use DNA testing to breed black Arabians.

Arabians are crossed with other breeds to produce half-Arabians with additional colors. Purebred Arabians never carry dilution genes such as the dun gene, nor the cream gene. Because they do not carry any dilution genes, purebred Arabians cannot be cremello, perlino, palomino or buckskin.

Purebred Arabians also do not presently possess genes for spotting patterns, such as pinto or appaloosa. White spotting patterns were once thought by some to be a sign of "impure" blood. Until the development of DNA testing to verify parentage, an Arabian foal with blatant body spots or excessive white markings could not be registered. However, there is pictorial evidence from depictions of chariot horses in Ancient Egypt and some later artwork that some of these patterns were present in the past. It is now known that one spotting pattern, called sabino, does exist in purebred Arabians.

The sabino gene (or gene-complex), produces "high white" leg and facial markings, body spots and occasional roaning. However, the sabino gene in Arabians does not appear to be the "SB1" gene, as Arabians are never "maximally expressed"--a completely white horse with pink skin, a trait associated with the SB1 gene.

Arabians also never carry the proposed "dominant white" (W) gene that produces a true white horse. Thus, though the purebred Arabian produces a limited range of potential colors, there is also a positive result: because they never carry white or frame overo genes, they never produce foals with lethal albino or lethal white syndrome.

There is scientific debate over whether roan Arabians actually exist. There are very few Arabians registered as "roan," and fewer, if any, have been DNA tested for the roan gene. Some geneticists suggest that roaning patterns on purebred Arabians are actually the action of the sabino or the rabicano genes. Also, some people confuse a young grey horse with a roan because of the intermixed hair colors common to both. However, a roan does not change color with age, while a gray does.

The Bedouin had assorted beliefs about color. Some areas considered black Arabians to be a bad omen, in other areas they were a valued treasure. It is also said that a particular type of flea-bitten gray with localized aggregations of pigment known as a "bloody-shouldered" horse, was prized as a superior animal, particularly if a mare.