Are french arabians a new thing? I have read as much as I can but I am not finding much as far as some history on this particular type. They say they are bred particularly for the track, and that so far people are really liking crosses between french stallions and domestic mares.

Anythoughts on this? I've never heard of a french arabian until I started doing my racing homework a while back, but still haven't gained much insight.

Eeehhhh, sorta/kinda new. I think I will defer to far more knowledgeable folks than myself - folks such as Dan Woods, Jeff Wintersteen, Marsha Parkinson(stadnini koni), Carolyn Gipson(missmagus), and Esta (ebbsaffyre) to better comment upon the racing world. I have seen quite a few of the French breds and read much about their race track success but know very little more. Race folks? Fire away...

Cyclone

the french breed a part arab they use in eventing and racing, they have a particular name for these. one did well in the last olympics. otherwise i would think purebred arabians from france would be somewhat like polish? in most european cases with 'state' owned and bred horses and being allowed to breed by the govenment proving the horse on the track would be a requirement.

Do you mean the Selle Français horse?

So far I've not seen a very good looking french arabian. As far as arabian type goes that is.

Is this because they may not be actual purebred?

as far as I have seen (in my very limited CA view) there has been a rise in popularity of French bred Arabians (yest they are pure and the French have been breeding them for about 100 years) due to the recent stakes winners sired by FALINA DES FABRIES who is by the leading French sire DORMANE.
While relatively new here in the US, if you Google "FRENCH BRED RACING ARABIANS" a myriad of info will come up. Arabian racing is much more popular in Europe than here, but with the higher purses now being offered it is slowly gaining popularity.

The French have been racing Arabians since the mid 1800s, with more attention on breeding for racing starting in the eary 1900s. But, they didn't start getting much notice here in the US until the 1990s, when some French runners came to the US and quickly made a name for themselves.

Beth

Not racing but endurance . I really liked this farm's stallion but dropped the ball on breeding to him . Their new stallion is a French/Russian horse . The foals from the cross on their stallions daughters are just coming of age and I've kept my eye on them to see how they do Asgard Arabians .

Since I was mentioned I will throw in my two cents. I think it is important to mention a bias from the get go, in that I am not a huge fan French horses in general, but certainly conceed they have had a significant impact in the US, and dominant in the Middle East. As of July 2007, two out of the top five sires in the US are imported French stallions.

The controversy which has been hinted at in previous posts, is the discernable like of type in most French bred horses. This is not something new, when the first French horses first arrived in Poland in 1929 their notable lack of type and beauty was a cause of concern despite their superior racing ability. Consequently, the Society of Arabian Horse Breeders ruled that the French horses could not compete in the Classic races for fear of compromising their prized “Polish” look. More recently when I was in Poland in 2004 I spent some time chatting with a breeder from Iraq (yes Iraq!), he also made a comment about the French horses lack of type, and whether they were purebred.

In the defense of the French horses, their proponents maintain that their lack of type is due to the breeding program was focused entirely on racing, where with the Polish program racing was only a component to test courage, soundness, etc. Certainly there can be some validity to the argument. It should not be surprising to have the "purebred" issue in racing because Arabians are just not as fast as TB's or QH's, so when speed is the only measurement and any horse is considerable faster and less Arabian looking rumors will fly. Obviously DNA has eliminated this, but some maintain the damage is already done before DNA.

From a personal perspective, French horses are here to stay. Some are very good, but so are the domestic and Polish horses. A good Polish horse will beat a bad French horse any day of the week. DA Adioas, a PP stallion recently retired as the winningest US race horse of all time, a majority of his career was spent battling the "French invasion". As a huge generalization, I find soundness more of an issue in French horses than other strains, not surprising if speed is the only measurement for breeding.

Jeff

Some many years back, I worked for a farm that I will not mention the name as Breeding Manager for the Mare and Foal barn. This farm was heavily into racing both TB's AND Arabians. As a previous breeder of PP and Russian/Polish individuals, I recongnized many of the names in the pedigrees of the horses handled in the barn. Shucks, some were even there! There were also many French and French related Arabians at this farm and I can say from my own personal experience that the French Arabians did NOT appear to be Purebred for MANY reasons. They are MUCH MUCH taller, very lanky in appearance like alot of TB's and lack Arabian type to an extreme for the most part. YET they could RUN FAST & WIN $$$$$. But there has been question for many many years about the Muniqie(sp) strain of Arabians as well that are also known to be good running horses so who is to say what is and what isn't. Heck, I own a Purebred SABINO Arabian

Denise Gainey

Thank you so much for your reply Jeff thats exactly the info I wanted.