A part-Arabian, partbred Arabian or, less precisely, half-Arabian, is a horse with documented amounts of Arabian horse breeding but not a purebred.[1] Because the Arabian is deemed to be a breed of purebred horse dating back many centuries, the modern breed registries recognized by the World Arabian Horse Organization generally have tightly closed stud books which exclude a horse from registration if it is found to contain any outside blood. However, Arabian breeding has also been used for centuries to add useful traits to countless other horse breeds. In the modern era, crossbreeding has been popular to combine the best traits of two different breeds, such as color, size, or ability to specialize in a particular equestrian discipline.
Thus, in the modern era, the desire to recognize and acknowledge Arabian breeding in non-purebred horses has led to the formation of partbred sections in many purebred Arabian registries in order to record the pedigrees of crossbreds. In addition, some particularly successful or popular crossbreds have created their own registries, usually closed to most outside breeding, but which generally allow additional infusions of purebred Arabian blood. Some registries, particularly those for sport horses and various warmbloods, have an open or partially open stud book that still allows some infusions of Arabian blood as well as that of other breeds, sometimes based on a documented Arabian pedigree, sometimes on a pedigree plus a studbook selection process. There are cases where a horse may qualify for registration in more than one registry and thus may be marketed as "double-registered".
A few breeds, such as the Thoroughbred, acknowledge Arabian ancestry with named, documented horses in their stud books, but no longer accept new infusions of Arabian blood and the breed is considered a purebred in its own right. Literally hundreds of other horse breeds have some evidence of Arabian influence. In some breeds, such as the Percheron, Arabian influence is considered highly probable, but dates back hundreds of years and thus is difficult to conclusively prove as pedigree records cannot be linked to individual animals. In other breeds, such as the Andalusian horse or the American Quarter Horse, documentation of Arabian bloodlines in the breed can be found but either the records are controversial, or the infusion of Arab blood itself was controversial and for various reasons the breed registry today seeks to downplay Arabian type or influence.
Breed registries for part-Arabians include:
An Appaloosa-Arabian cross
A Morgan-Arabian cross
An American Saddlebred-Arabian cross
A horse with over 99% Arabian blood and tobiano coloration; Pintabian horses with a registered Arabian parent also qualify for registration as Half-Arabians
A cross between a Shetland Pony, Appaloosa and Arabian
An American Quarter Horse-Arabian cross, a few American Paint Horse bloodlines are also found in this breed.
A Welsh pony-Arabian cross.
Horse registries with an open stud book that allow Arabian and part-Arabians as well as other breeds to be registered include:
Has an open stud book that allows some Arabians and part-Arabians via a studbook selection process.
Has an open stud book that allows some Arabians and part-Arabians via a studbook selection process.
A color breed registry that accepts horses of palomino color, including part-Arabians and even the occasional chestnut purebred Arabian with flaxen mane and tail if a light enough chestnut to meet the registry standard. (Purebred Arabians do not carry the creme gene that produces a true genetic palomino.)
An American color breed registry for parti-colored horses that accepts part-Arabians with pinto color patterns and a few purebreds if they strongly exhibit the sabino color pattern that is known to exist in purebreds.
A French breed with significant Arabian, Anglo-Arabian and Thoroughbred influence.
Breeds with a "partially open" stud book, but that still allow new infusions of Arabian breeding, some based only on documented pedigree, some requiring a pedigree and studbook selection, include:
Has some Arabians in foundation bloodlines. Allows horses with one Arabian, Thoroughbred, or American Quarter Horse parent crossed on an Appaloosa parent, so long as the ensuing foal also has leopard complex traits.
Has been strongly influenced through regular crossbreeding to Arabian stallions.
Similar to Appaloosa, has Arabian foundation stock.
An Italian breed developed by crossing Arabians on local horses in Sicily.
Still allows infusion of Arabian, Thoroughbred, Anglo-Arabian and Shagya blood in limited circumstances.
Breeds significantly influenced by acknowledged, documented Arabian foundation bloodstock recorded by their breed's stud book during their formative years, but have closed stud books that no longer accept Arabian blood directly include:
A Hungarian horse breed that is predominantly Arabian but with a very small percentage of non-Arabian breeding.
All Thoroughbreds today descend from three Arabian foundation stallions from the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
A Russian horse breed whose foundation sire was Smetanka, a purebred Arabian stallion.