Customer Reviews

The Classic Arabian Horse

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This book presents the basics of the historical background of the modern arabian horse. It is slanted a bit towards the Egyptian Arabian but that is ok, as it does mention other sources. It has some excellent photos and is a stepping stone to hte next Forbis book, Authentic Arabian Bloodstock.

I was very dissapointed in this book. When I ordered it, I was expecting a well-informed and objective discussion of the arabian breed in general. What came in the mail was a vindictive, biased, insulting diatribe that could be called "The Gospel of Judith Forbis".
If you are a straight egyptian enthusiast, this may be an enjoyable book, because the author is extremely prejudiced towards this group of bloodlines. There is an implicit, haughty assumption throughout the book that the only "true" arabian horse is a straight egyptian, and a considerable amount of time is spent bashing people who throughout modern history have deviated from this idea. For example, it seems that the author virtually worships Anne Blunt, and makes assertions such as that Lady Wentworth whored out her mother's stud by buying and using Skowronek, who was "impure" because he came from polish bloodlines (an assumption she contradicts at a later point). She also suggests that Lady Wentworth destroyed the Crabbet Stud by not becoming a preservation breeder of Ali Pasha Sherif bloodlines and was ill-informed about the breed or outright lied to say that true arabian greatness was no longer procurable in Egypt as it once had been.
Okay, let me see. Horses descending from Skowronek and other non-egyptian lines have formed the foundation of Al-Marah, Varian Arabians, and etc., etc, etc. It is hard to see how one can respect this idea. For example: Bay El Bey, Witez II, Raffles, Indraff, Xenophonn, Khemosabi, GS Khocise, Magnum, Sanacht, and so on ad infinitum. Egyptians are not the only horses out there.
Judith Forbis also makes predictions such as that all arabian breeders are rushing to recreate the original bedouin horse and that we are on the threshold of seeing straight egyptians dominating every aspect of show and performance at every level. 27 years later, what has come of these prognostications? There are very good straight egyptians, but who could say that they are totally, or even mostly dominating the arabian horse world?
Some other problems: Why is Nazeer so much more valuable than virtually every other modern sire? Was it ony because he was a direct progrenitor of Ansata Ibn Halima, Ansata Bint Mabrouka, and so on? Why are Lady Wentworths ideas so wrong? is it because if they are taken in a certain way, it means that the Ansata horses are not what Mrs. Forbis wants them to be?
The strength of this book lies in that it is good historically regarding the development of the breed and that its author does have some valid ideas about correct conformation. But even this aspect is dissapointing because Mrs. Forbis is not a very good writer, and the words are overblown, sickly, and purplish prose. And once she gets to the period of the 18 century on, when the breed begins to diversify in earnest, the book is so narrow in scope and consideration of other ideas that it becomes effectually worthless.
I would not reccomend this, as it is not represented in very good context. I have nothing against straight egyptians, but I think it also important to give fair consideration to other bloodlines and ideas. This cannot be considered to be what ist is represented as, which is a comprehensive history and discourse on the purebred arabian horse.

This book contains a rich background on the imports brought to America by Ansata Arabians. Wonderful pictures of desert-bred horses and their progeny in the United States. Very informative, I enjoyed reading it, and especially studying the pictures and pedigrees of past generations of Arabians.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I own Egyptian Arabians which are very closely realted to many of the ones mentioned in this book. However, even if I didn't, the book contains many historical facts, is written in a wonderful, easy-to-read style, and is interesting. This book comes very close to the ultimate book of Arabian history. I did not find all the Arabian lines researched in this book (which was not its sole purpose), and that is the only thing keeping it from "the best" in my library. Great book! I loved every moment.

Judith Forbis offers a wealth of information on horses of Egyptian breeding, namely those bred by the RAS or EAO and supposedly "blue list". I bought the book due to my love of Arabians and the fact that many of my horses have a hefty dose of Egyptian blood. However, these horses, fine as they are, are no better than Polish, Crabbett/Kellogg (English), Spanish, French, Brazilian or any other lines of Arabians. They all go back to desertbreds from the same part of the world. Racial prejudice is alive and well in the Arabian horse world.

This book is written by a foremost authority of Egyptian Arabian horses, and a preservationist of the original Egyptian bloodlines, so you should assume she is going to discuss straight Egyptian arabians. Other reviewers seem to take this personally; simply know that background when you read. Having said that, her book is an excellent source of photos and information on the Egyptian arabian background. She includes many photos of horses which are rarely seen, including many foundation horses.

Ms Forbis naturally believes her line of horses, based on *Ansata Ibn Halima, a horse she imported, are the finest and there is a bit of bias in this direction. It is hard to argue with her knowledge and she has bred and exported these horses worldwide, including back to the desert, so she is certainly successful and true to her original vision. However, she covers all the strains in considerable detail and there is a lot of knowledge to gain from this book. I read my copy dozens of time & still refer to it often. The classic arabian horse is a worthwhile addition to any horsemans library.

I wanted to know about the history of the Arabian horse and found this book not only to be easy reading but also giving me the information that I was looking for. The book is well documented and gave me a good idea of what so called desert Arabians look like and were they came from. I really like to recommend this book to anyone that is interested in some background information of the Arabian horse.

The Classic Arabian Horse, by Judith Forbis is an excellent, entertaining and well written book that every student of the breed should have in their library. Her depth of research, particularly with regard to the horse of ancient times is exceptional. One need only glance at the book's bibliography to affirm that she left no stone unturned in her quest to depict the authentic origins of the Arabian horse.

The world of the Arabian horse can be quite complicated. There are Polish Arabs, Spanish Arabs, CMK Arabs, there is also the Al Khamsa and the Babson horses; there are halter horses, performance horses and family-friendly horses; there are so many different sorts of Arabian horses that it is so easy to lose any direction in this fascinating and puzzling world. Anyway, for me, everything looks as clear as the desert sky: there are Arabians, there are Straight Egyptians and there is the Ansata, the Top of the Arabian World. The charming magic, it looks like they came from another world, the better world. Ansata Halim Shah, Ansata Hejazi, Ansata Almurtajiz, the Poet Warrior, their names themselves sound for me like the sweetest music. Ansata Nile Echo, or the king of trot, Ansata Nile Pearl, Ansata Majesta, Ansata Shah Zaman, and yes, Ansata Ibn Halima, "my first Arabian horse". They are amazing, indeed. Every each of them is so beautifully balanced, and every each is blessed with a subtle touch of class that barely can be found in others' horses. You can call me Ansata biased, and I wouldn't mind. For me, it is as natural to prefer the Ansata horses over the others as to value the diamonds over the glass.
This book is written by the creator of the Ansata breeding programme, and it is as breathtaking as her horses themselves. The story of the Arabian horse, it reads like a fairy tale from the One Thousand and One Night. While reading this book, it is so easy for me to leave the real world behind and let the magic embrace myself. I've read this book not once, and it inspires me over and over again, no matter how often I read it. Actually, I even purchased two copies - one for reading, and one for a friend. All I can do is to highly recommend this book, as well as other books like `The Story of Ansata and Sharing the Dream' and `Ansata Ibn Halima - the Gift', although, they are very hard to find, and to say thank you so much to the author for her wonderful books and her wonderful horses.
- Vasyl Chorni