Arabian horses evoking the magic …
by Carmel Rowley

The Australian National Arabian Championships are being held in Sydney as I write this blog. This event showcases some of Australia’s finest Arabian horses and celebrates the coming together of like minded people, who, for many different reasons are involved with this magical breed.

With its name alone the ARABIAN horse evokes the mystic, the coveted and the beauty of bygone times. When you have the pleasure to share your life with an Arabian horse you soon realise that all the legends that talk of loyalty, strength and intelligence are based on truth. There are many books written about the biological history of the Arabian horse and whatever its origin, the one thing I feel is gratitude, to the nomads – the Bedouin who bred some extraordinary characteristics into the Arabian horse. The horse with its amiable, ungrudging temperament, its tolerance of climatic conditions and its speed are all vitally important to desert survival. That the horse is beautiful, courageous and (with our own horses) possesses, at times, a sense of humour just adds to the mystic, making the Arabian even more irresistible.

Pearsons Sacra, Simeon Sarah and Pearsons Sashin

Over the years this bewitching breed has tested our dedication but rewarded us a thousand times more. For me personally, the Arabian horse and the fascinating people who own them took over my imagination and led me to writing. The things I’ve seen have inspired and distressed, some have made me feel ashamed for human beings as I watched people behaving in an inordinate, insane manner. But the overwhelming joy of new life and wondrous memories continues to take me to a place that has me laughing aloud one minute and bringing a catch to the back of my throat the next. Don’t they say, if life was easy where would the adventures be?

Pearsons Sashin

I can remember when our now thirty three year old mare Simeon Sarah foaled her second foal by Simeon Stav. Sarah always liked you to be with her to assist with foaling but then insisted she was capable of the rest herself. She was the most wonderful mother to watch. On this particular night the filly Pearsons Sashin totally ignored her dams gentle nudges in the direction of her udder. This adorable baby was just as determined as her dam and continued to nuzzle and butt Sarah between the front legs, even getting stroppy when Sarah’s nuzzling became quite insistent. After about ten minutes of this stand-off Sarah looked across at us, you could see her brain ticking. She lowered her head and pushed the filly toward us, then stared us straight in the eye as if to say, ‘well don’t just stand there – do something!’ Of course once Sashin was drinking Sarah made it quite clear she could handle things from now on and we went and had a cup of tea!

Oden “Odenuel”

Another wonderful story that shows the amicable nature of the Arabian breed was one day during a chilly Toowoomba winter when several visitors insisted they wished to see our stallion Oden “Odenuel” His colour was the most glorious black-bay but it showed the dust and smuts. The weather was bitterly cold and we didn’t want to wash him so we had the idea of getting the vacuum cleaner from the house. I know such things are made for horses nowadays but at that time there was nothing like it, especially in Australia and do you know that wonderful horses just stood in the stable while we vacuumed him clean.

I also remember nearly twenty years ago an elderly farrier imparting some words of wisdom. “You have to be up to owning an Arab!” he said. I asked him to explain.
“It’s like this,” he said. “If an Arab knows he can be the boss of you, you’ll always have his contempt. Firm, but gentle understanding is what an Arab responds to.”
Though all those years have passed I’ve never forgotten his words.

Can there be a more remarkable equine companion than an Arabian horse? I don’t believe there can. Big words I know but they’re based on over thirty seven years of sharing our lives with the breed. Yes, Arabian horses can be hot sometimes, after all they are a hot blooded breed. The farriers words rang true over the years as did the almost human responses to everything we asked of our horses. To me Arabian horses are a breed without malice, even when provoked. They have to be pushed beyond their limit or completely misunderstood for them to do harm. Human beings can learn A-LOT from them.

Brooke and Simeon Stav

Loffler in Asil Arabian II wrote: “All traditions with regard to the horse are drawn up in a similar fashion, and as the Arab takes in love of this noble beast, there is hardly any difference between his attachment to his family and his attachment to his horse.”

You can learn more about the Arabian horse at the official Arabian Horse Society of Australia Ltd website – www.ahsa.asn.au and you might have time to visit the Sydney International Equestrian centre, Saxony Road Horsley Park NSW for the last day of the 2013 Australian National Arabian Championships.

If you have a story about your horses I’m sure we would all love to hear about it. Send it with a photograph to carmel@carmelrowley.com.au and I’ll share it on my blog.