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Can Arabians become Endangered Species?
Are you doing your best for the Arabian breed?Think about it, what have you done to preserve and nurture the precious blood which has been entrusted to your care?
As we are all well aware the Arabian breed has suffered from big booms and even bigger busts in recent years. There are many problems facing our industry. Keeping and breeding horses is a lot of work and the financial rewards are few and far between. You who are Crabbet fanciers know that your chosen bloodlines are limited in numbers. Very few current breeders are working within the traditions started by the Blunts.
Each breeder has a vision of the type of animal they are breeding for. If we let the current downturn in the industry force us to geld or not breed our good horses then we are putting the breed through a severe genetic bottleneck. Genetic diversity is a precious commodity that must be maintained through careful breeding. Once lost it can never be regained. Our Crabbet bloodline horses possess a rich source of unique genes through the importations of the Blunts and with the additions from other importers such as Homer Davenport and William Randolph Hearst. This unique storehouse of desert bred horses has been responsible for starting the major breeding programs in Russia, New Zealand and Australia not to mention its influence in the United States. It is hard to name a country which does not owe a debt to these horses.
In future years how will the breeders of that time look upon our stewardship of these horses? Will Crabbet and related bloodlines be relegated to mere curiosities? Will we have conspired to produce a severe unnatural selection that limits our genetic diversity in ways which will have far reaching effects for all Arabian breeders? Today we are losing a whole generation of horses. Older stallions are dying and younger ones are being gelded. I fear that precious bloodlines will be irretrievably lost in this wholesale rush not to breed. Granted, in the past we had too many stallions and a good gelding is much better than a mediocre stallion but we cannot continue the current practices without causing irreparable harm to the breed.
So, what can you do? Find the time and energy to stand a stallion at stud, breed one or two of your best mares and help preserve the bloodlines which you find so desirable so that future generations may enjoy them. If you are already standing a stallion, consider making his semen available through the new transported semen program so breeders who are far away can benefit from his genes. Support your local breeders. Participate in local Crabbet days and exhibitions which show the beauty and grace of our favorite horses. These tasks will not be easy but I believe they are necessary.
It's time for all Arabian breeders and owners and especially owners of those few precious Crabbet, Maynesboro, Davenport and Kellogg bloodline horses to stand together and preserve this heritage for the next generation of breeders. Here at Desert Weyr Arabians we will continue to offer stallions at stud, we support our youth groups with breeding discounts for 4-H and FFA members and we are currently exploring the exciting new world of transported semen to bring valuable genes to breeders who cannot transport their mares to us.
Let's not let this temporary decline in our chosen breed destroy all the work that prior generations have invested. You are the caretaker of a special heritage. With your help we can all look back and be proud of the way we have maintained the animals entrusted to our care. Together we can keep the Crabbet Arabian off the endangered species list.