The Insti­tute for the Desert Arabian Horse* is dedi­cated to protecting and conserving the cultural legacy and genetic integrity of the Bedouin-​​bred Arabian horse through histor­ical and scien­tific research, educa­tion, stan­dard perfor­mance eval­u­a­tions, inter­na­tional collab­o­ra­tion and conser­va­tion projects.

Research may be under­taken to reveal lapses in historic data; to iden­tify mate­rials, docu­ments, photographs and arti­facts worthy of conser­va­tion; to iden­tify threat­ened and endan­gered genetic lines; to eval­uate the continued use of the desert Arabian horse to improve other light breeds of horse; and to inves­ti­gate, verify and expand, through modern scien­tific means, the quan­tity and the veracity of tradi­tional historic data.

The Insti­tute intends to develop an Archives Library for the conser­va­tion of mate­rials, photographs, docu­ments, arti­facts and genetic mate­rial conducive to its purposes.

Educa­tion will be a primary func­tion of the Insti­tute and will be focused to enlighten the general public, as well as the horse commu­nity, regarding the historic and contem­po­rary value of the desert Arabian horse. Toward that end, the Insti­tute may develop an Inter­na­tional Herd Book (Census/​Roster) of eligible Arabian horses. Educa­tional mate­rials and publi­ca­tions will be designed to educate and inform all segments of the commu­nity, and the Insti­tute intends to main­tain a phys­ical pres­ence at major horse events inter­na­tion­ally to meet its educa­tion mission.

The Insti­tute will develop and support stan­dards of excel­lence in confor­ma­tion and perfor­mance and will provide inter­ested parties and breeders a forum through which they can have their horses fairly and consis­tently eval­u­ated by a panel of experts. In addi­tion, the Insti­tute intends to initiate and support perfor­mance events that demon­strate the desert Arabian horse’s unique strengths in endurance and versa­tility to the public at large.

The Insti­tute will collab­o­rate with histo­rians, researchers, educa­tors, and breeders in North America and inter­na­tion­ally who share common interest in the legacy and future of the desert Arabian horse.

• *The Insti­tute for the Desert Arabian Horse is incor­po­rated as a not-​​for profit corpo­ra­tion in the State of Delaware. The Insti­tute is an approved IRS 501(c)(3) public charity.