Arabian Horse Breeding Programs


The 18th century marked the establishment of most of the great Arabian studs of Europe, dedicated to preserving pure Arabian bloodstock. One example was the Babolna Stud of Hungary, set up in 1789.

Polish and Russian Breeding Programs
The stamina and agility of horses with Arabian blood gave an enormous military advantage to any cavalry who possessed them. Thus, many European monarchs began to support large breeding establishments that crossed Arabians on local stock. One example was the Imperial Russian Stud of Peter the Great, and another was Knyszyna, the royal stud of Polish king Zygmunt II August.

European horse breeders also obtained Arabian stock directly from the desert. Count Alexey Orlov of Russia obtained many Arabians, including Smetanka, an Arabian stallion who was a foundation sire of the Orlov trotter. Orlov provided Arabian horses to Catherine the Great, who in 1772 owned 12 pure Arabian stallions and 10 mares. Notable imports from Arabia to Poland included those of Prince Hieronymous Sanguszko (1743-1812) of Poland, who founded the Slawuta stud. By 1850, the great stud farms of Poland were well-established, including Antoniny, owned by the Polish Count Potocki (who had married into the Sanguszko family); and Poland's first state-run Arabian stud farm, Janow Podlaski, established by the decree of Alexander I of Russia in 1817.

Arabians in 19th Century Europe
The 18th century marked the establishment of most of the great Arabian studs of Europe, dedicated to preserving "pure" Arabian bloodstock. One example was the Babolna Stud of Hungary, set up in 1789. and the Weil stud in Germany (now known as Marbach), founded in 1817 by King Wilhelm I of Wurttemberg. Arabians were also introduced into European racehorse breeding, especially in England via the Darley Arabian, Byerly Turk, and Godolphin Arabian, the three foundation stallions of the modern Thoroughbred breed, who were each brought to England in the 1700s. Other monarchs obtained Arabian horses, often as personal mounts. One of the most famous Arabian stallions in Europe was Marengo, the war horse ridden by Napoleon Bonaparte.

This century also marked a period of considerable travel to the Middle East by Europeans, and in the process, some noticed that the Arabian horse as a pure breed of horse was under threat due to modern forms of warfare, crossbreeding and other problems that were reducing the horse population at a rapid rate. The most farsighted began in earnest to collect the finest Arabian horses they could find in order to preserve the blood of the pure desert horse for future generations. The most famous example was Lady Anne Blunt, the daughter of Ada Lovelace and granddaughter of Lord Byron.

The rise of the Crabbet Park Stud
Perhaps the most famous of all Arabian breeding operations founded in Europe was the Crabbet Park Stud of England, founded 1878.

Starting in 1877, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt made repeated journeys to the Middle East, including visits to the stud of Ali Pasha Sherif in Egypt and to Bedouin tribes in the Nejd, bringing the best Arabians they could find to England. Lady Anne also purchased and maintained the Sheykh Obeyd stud farm in Egypt, near Cairo. Upon Lady Anne's death in 1917, the Blunts' daughter, Judith, Lady Wentworth, inherited the Wentworth title and Lady Anne's portion of the estate. She obtained the remainder of the Crabbet Stud following a protracted legal battle with her father, Wilfrid. Lady Wentworth expanded the stud, added new bloodstock, and exported Arabian horses worldwide. Upon Lady Wentworth's death in 1957, the stud passed to her manager, Cecil Covey, who ran Crabbet until 1971, when a freeway was cut through the property, forcing the sale of the land and dispersal of the horses.