More on Trash Talking Arabian Horses

Part One Trash Talking Arabian Horses

The only way I know to successfully deal with ignorance and fear is through education. So with that in mind, I’m going to put my frustration at all the trash talking about Arabian horses I’ve heard into writing this blog. Hopefully along the way we’ll change some minds or at least give some folks food for thought. Maybe even we’ll get lucky and get some to understand why I am as committed to Arabians as I am.

The interesting thing to me is that every place that I have been with one of my horses where I have had to deal with snickers, rude glances or the like, normally by the time we’re ready to leave, those same folks have been swayed in some way by my horse.

Poker rides are a perfect example. I’ve never gone on a poker ride where I have not encountered some kind of remark or a negative non-verbal communication towards Arabian horses. But I’ve never left that ride without the same people asking about bloodlines and acknowledging that this horse didn’t behave in the manner they had expected from an Arabian horse.

What that tells me, is that many times the negative opinion they have of Arabian horses is not as much based on fact but more on lore, the this friend’s friend who had an Arabian that did such and such syndrome.

Then add to that information the Arabian horse they saw spook at a show or on a trail and now you have an observer that believes the incident they've just witnessed was proof that this kind of behavior is indeed breed specific. No further information was necessary for them to now be convinced of the trash talk about this gentle breed.
Even people who consider themselves to be accomplished horse people can succumb to this ignorance and help perpetuate it. I can’t help but wonder had they seen any other breed of horse commit the same offense, would they have jumped to the same conclusion – it’s a breed issue? I suspect not.

Is it the horses or is it the people? And if it’s the horses, what is it about Arabian horses that would enable people to jump to the conclusions that they do? Are Arabian horses different than other horses? That’s a lot of loaded questions and depending on who’s doing the answering they can surely open up quite a debate.

It would take volumes to cover them adequately so I’m going to think about them for a while and answer then tomorrow tell you what comes to mind for me and maybe some of you will have your own answers to these questions.