So along the lines of other conversations here where I state my belief that to preserve the working lines you must work (and prove!) your dogs. We touched on the the QH halter horses not being able to ride the range for hours, be a working cow horse or a fast barrel horse or be a top hunter-jumper. I noted that Thoroughbreds don't even have halter classes, they breed racing stock or show jumpers or 3 day event athletes. Arabian horses were originally war horses of the deserts of the Middle East. Small, compact, go-all-day horses, and it was 3 Arabian stallions that began the Thoroughbred breed. But they were also known for beauty and in America the halter classes for Arabians was competitive and fierce. They bred for more and more refinement, dished faces, large eyes, high tail sets, fancy exaggerated movement until they had "park horses". Horse racing in Europe and Russia included Arabian horses, and this caught the fancy of some breeders in America, and a small group of racing Arabians ran at a few racetracks around the country. They race only against other Arabs, not against Thoroughbreds or Quarter Horses. So with that little bit of background to get you up to speed, the racing Arabian breeders did begin breeding their horses only to other horses who preformed well at the racetrack in in the last 50 years they developed (or re-developed) a very athletic Arabian horse. Some are very pretty, but none "exotic" like the show horses. The Backyard Arabians were something in between and more numerous than show or race Arabs. These were like our most common Dobermans - owned by people who don't show and don't do sports. These riding horses are the ones that serious endurance riders looked for to compete in distance riding: 25, 50 and 100 mile rides. As the racing Arab industry grew, the horses that were not fast enough to win races got sold to riding homes, turns out they made excellent distance athletes. Endurance riding sport has always been dominated by the Arabians - it is open to all breeds including mustangs and mules. So to bring this around to my point, the Tevis Cup (toughest 100 mile race in the U.S.) was held this weekend and race-bred Arabians dominated the top 10:
So, why this in the chat about working dogs? If you breed for excellence in sport, you must test your animals and breed the best to the best. They have proven that they can do well and stay sound by being tested. You might have to settle for a head that's not so pretty, but the we had a saying: you don't ride the head. They want a sound athlete! These horses went 100 miles over mountainous terrain in 24 hours. The Halter Arabians are not where these folks look for their next mount.
The point I'm making is if you want a companion dog, pedigree is not such an important factor. If you want to compete in sports with a serious athlete you'd be smart to learn the pedigrees of dogs who actually are bred to do just that and follow that lead. Some of the best horses in the Olympics were ex-racehorses and now some of the best 100 mile Arabs are from the racing bred community. Dobermans that excel in physical sports will continue to be what I look at to judge what a Doberman should look like!
So, why this in the chat about working dogs? If you breed for excellence in sport, you must test your animals and breed the best to the best. They have proven that they can do well and stay sound by being tested. You might have to settle for a head that's not so pretty, but the we had a saying: you don't ride the head. They want a sound athlete! These horses went 100 miles over mountainous terrain in 24 hours. The Halter Arabians are not where these folks look for their next mount.
The point I'm making is if you want a companion dog, pedigree is not such an important factor. If you want to compete in sports with a serious athlete you'd be smart to learn the pedigrees of dogs who actually are bred to do just that and follow that lead. Some of the best horses in the Olympics were ex-racehorses and now some of the best 100 mile Arabs are from the racing bred community. Dobermans that excel in physical sports will continue to be what I look at to judge what a Doberman should look like!
