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Arabian Warhorse
The Arabian horse is a noble breed from the Arabian Peninsula famed for speed, endurance, and loyalty, compact in build with narrow nostrils and shar…
Timeline
- c. 500–900Najd and Hejaz · Arabian PeninsulaBedouin people of the Arabian Peninsula long selectively bred warhorses, valuing speed and endurance; during the Islamic expansion, Arabian horses spread with the conquests to West Asia, North Africa, and Iberia, becoming the standard mount of light cavalry.
- 1122–1130Battlefields of the Levant and Anatolia · LevantIn the 1120s, Seljuk, Fatimid, and local emir cavalry generally rode Arabian horses, excelling in mobile raiding and mounted archery; Crusaders also captured quality horses in battle, recognizing them as far superior to local European breeds.
- 1200Mediterranean world · North AfricaArabian horses entered Europe through the Crusades, the Spanish Reconquista, and Ottoman expansion, crossbreeding with local breeds to produce many excellent riding breeds; their bloodlines remain an important genetic source for Thoroughbred racing and light riding horses to this day.
Sources
- Hyland, Ann The Warhorse 1250–1600 — Ann Hyland (1998)
- Edwards, Elwyn Hartley The Encyclopedia of the Horse — Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994)