RAS Bint Vanity (Silver Vanity x Blue Sal) 1977 grey mare owned by Rhodes Arabian Stud.

Long Live Crabbet: A Tour of Straight Crabbets in the American North East

By Alexia Ross. The good news is that there are a small number of breeders in America who are still trying to preserve a resource of Straight Crabbet Arabians and are doing so with some very nice horses. Standards vary, as in any bloodline group, with some plain heads and rough couplings in evidence but good temperament and athleticism is pretty standard with more than enough exotic heads and smooth bodies to offer a positive future. On the whole, limbs, length of shoulder and movement are better than the norm that is accepted in the show ring these days with long ground covering strides on offer instead of the stylized, but not particularly functional, high knee action which is becoming fashionable now in Europe.

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The Most Beautiful Little Horse

By Alexia Ross. “That is the most beautiful little horse I have ever seen.” This was the comment of Sir Alfred Munnings on seeing Naseel at Roehampton. A legend in his own time, Naseel was one of the few examples of close double breeding to Skowronek to remain in the British Isles. Yet, circumstances conspired to make his descendants today more conspicuous for quality than quantity.

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