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Whether you are seeking infor­ma­tion about Arabian horses or the specific work of the Insti­tute for the Desert Arabian Horse, you’ve come to the right place.

What is a Desert Arabian Horse?

The orig­inal Arabian horses were bred for millennia by semi-​​nomadic Bedouin clans. The horses were trea­sured for their utility in war and raiding, and they were inte­gral to the culture of the Bedouins who survived in the harsh desert environment. The horse-​​breeding Bedouin clans migrated in the areas that now comprise much of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Yeman, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.

Over time, the Desert Arabian horse spread throughout the world, founding virtu­ally all modern light breeds of horse, including the modern Arabian breed. Mean­while, the Desert Arabian became increas­ingly scarce in its orig­inal home­land. A few breeding programs in the West and in the Middle East have perpet­u­ated the orig­inal Desert Arabian, but their numbers have declined, espe­cially during the past 25 years.

Why is it Disappearing?

The Bedouin had strict rules about breeding. They focused on horses whose purity and authen­ticity could be estab­lished according to their cultural norms. Such horses were consid­ered “asil” — a term roughly trans­lated as “pure­bred.” When Arabian horses were taken out of the desert by Western people, these stan­dards were not followed, because most West­erners wanted to use the Arabian to improve local horses. Very few “asil” horses were bred together. Mean­while, the Bedouin culture was affected by war and changing geopo­lit­ical events, and much of the tradi­tion (and need) for breeding horses has passed into history. Today, fewer than 10 percent of the horses that are consid­ered “Arabian” are believed to descend entirely from orig­inal Bedouin “asil” horses.

What Makes the Desert Arabian Horse Special?

The Desert Arabian horse has its own value as a riding and plea­sure horse, reflecting the orig­inal Bedouin values of good tempera­ment, hardy consti­tu­tion, ability to survive on little food and in harsh condi­tions. In addi­tion, these horses comprise a unique gene pool that may be useful for future breeding into the general “Arabian” breed.

Join us in a journey of discovery, appre­ci­a­tion, and activism as we secure this precious heritage now and for gener­a­tions to come. Only a concerted inter­na­tional effort can salvage the precious genetic stock of the orig­inal Desert Arabian horse for the future.

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Read more about the Desert Arabian horse.

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Learn more about the work of the Insti­tute.