Our breeding philosophy:
| Why Arabians? Arabians are the oldest known breed of horse in the world. Originating in the deserts of present day Syria, Iran, Iraq and the Arabian peninsula, Arabians were the wealth of the Bedouin tribes. Bred as a war horse, Arabians were expected to be fierce in battle and protective of their rider: athletic enough to remain sound and in good health in harsh conditions with little food or water; and gentle enough to be handled by children as they often shared their master's tent. For thousands of years, Bedouins selectively bred for these traits, keeping careful oral records of bloodlines and breeding only the best mares to the best stallions. They are the original Sport horse known for their versatility and tractability. For thousands of years, Arabians have been used to "improve" every modern breed of horse from Thoroughbreds to Draft breeds. While we like all breeds of horses, when we decided to start our own breeding farm we sought the right breed that could excel in todays vast arena of horse disciplines. We found the horse of the future with the horse of the past, the ARABIAN! Shatormar Arabians is committed to breeding quality purebred Arabians with the bonus of eye-catching color! We strive to produced sane, sound, athletic Arabians that can excel as a family horse, Sport horse AND as a show horse as well as contribute to a quality breeding program. While many breeding programs focus on a single strain or type of Arabian, by carefully crossing Arabian strains, we work to get "hybrid vigor" while at the same time producing a purebred Arabian. Since every strain of Arabian has spotting genes in it, we have been able to include breeding for color while not sacrificing quality. The Bloodlines & Types Crabbet: We have a lot of Crabbet bloodlines in our breeding program. Few breeders would argue that Lady Blunt of the Crabbet Park Stud in England imported some of the best purebred Arabians from the desert to establish one of the finest Arabian breeding programs in the world. Lady Ann Blunt chose horses for their balanced conformation, athleticism with good bone and beauty. The Crabbet Stud influenced nearly every American breeding program as many of the Crabbet horses were used to establish US breeding programs. A large number of the Crabbet horses were spotted and loudly marked. The influence of the Crabbet horses has been well documented. A wonderful brief summary of the Crabbet influence can be found at: Polish & Russian: We have a bit of Polish and Russian in our bloodlines as both are known to add beauty and athleticism to an Arabian breeding program. Egyptian: There a lot of breeding programs to preserve and promote the straight Egyptian Arabian. Egyptian Arabians have influenced every Arabian strain and are present in our bloodlines, particularly through Blacklord Arabi. Spanish: We recently decided to add Spanish to our breeding program with the influx of the Straight Spanish stallion, Bourbon Caballero and Straight Spanish mare BA Spanish Folly as well as Spanish bred mares Bourbons Flaminco, Bourbons Caprice, BA Crimson Glory and Bourbons Scarlett Kiss. We're excited to be adding this rare strain to our breeding program. Not Just Purebreds While we primarily focus on purebred Arabians, we do breed one or two part-bred Arabians by crossing our Arabian stallions to select other breed mares. Each cross is carefully planned to produce a specific type of half-Arabian. We particularly breed for Sport Ponies with color. Temperament is just as important for our half-Arabian foals as for our purebreds, so the mares are carefully selected for kind & gentle temperaments with soundness and athletic ability. Our first half-Arabian Spring Harvest Moon (Joey) is an assistance pony and was the only horse at his barn that wasn't freaked out by his owner's Scooter that she has to use to get around. He has repeatedly proven to be an exceptionally kind and intelligent pony, willing to do anything asked and not freaking out about things most horses wouldn't handle well. He exemplifies the dead calm but spirited, athletic and intelligent half-Arabian that we strive to breed for. The Bachelor Band Our colts run in a bachelor band together. Shortly after weaning our colts are turned out in a large acreage with the other male horses including stallions and geldings. They are allowed to exist in a bachelor band herd setting while they mature. By allowing our stud colts to "just be a horse" they grow up mentally well adjusted and well behaved with other horses. Our Breeding Stallions Each of our studs live with their own band of broodmares. They are allowed to run with the girls during breeding season. When one of the boys isn't standing stud he goes back into the bachelor band. We do this because we don't believe stallions should be isolated from other horses. Our studs are known for being mentally well adjusted and well behaved. Barefoot We keep all of our horses barefoot for a healthier hoof. In my experience as a veterinarian technician I have seen many horses that had hoof problems get better once they were transitioned to being barefoot. I have also transitioned any horses we've purchased to barefoot. All of our horses are sound and do not get hoof problems. Our horses get trimmed regularly but we do not shoe as they don't need it to be sound. These are our philosophies in a nut shell. |
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