Horses

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

In the past, almost everyone owned a horse a couple of camels, and even elephants.

But since the first Anglo-Afghan war, the invasion of India by British Empire, the power and wealth of Pashtun Nomadic tribes deminished. So they were left with less cattle, less horses and they were forced to permanently settle in villages and take up agriculture as a means of income.

Today, only very rich people own horses.

[pashtanajan]

Some interesting History about Afghan horses taken from http://mambo.blogspirit.com/archive/...an-horse.html:

Pre-christian times knew the people of Afghanistan as Ashvakas, or horsemen, since they raised fine breeds of horses and had a reputation for providing expert cavalrymen. For a long time, Northern Afghanistan has been breeding stallions of exceptional endurance and speed. Actually a theory goes that the thoroughbred Arab horse originates from Afghanistan!

Much later, Tamerlan the Great brought 6,000 mares from Arabia to enrich and purify the local breeds. We can definitely say there is some noble blood in afghan horses.


Horses are usually referred to by their color. These are: Jerand (red), Toroq (dark red), Mushki (black), Kahar (yellowish), Gul Badam (dotted), Ablaq (Mixed) and Kabood (gray).

We can break down the afghan horses into different breeds, although the word "breed" is not really appropriate. Indeed, there is no official defintion of each category, with characteristics and morphology description. We could speak of: Herati, Mazari, Qataghani, Turkistani, Waziri and Yabu. But other people speak of: Tartar, Habash, Borta, Waziri, Arabi and Tazi.

There is a great need to document all this. Indeed the afghan horses and the traditions of breeding are disappearing. Just before the end of the war, every family here had their own horses that they were using for carriage or for buzkashi. As of today, most of these horses have been replaced by cars and motorbikes. Luckily the tradition of breeding horses is surviving in some places, in the North of the country, through the local elite, who have their own farms and train male studs for buzkashi.


Two types of breeds are used for buzkashi: The first one is Tartar, which comes primarily from the provinces of Baghlan, Kunduz, Samangan, Takhar, and Badakhshan. Small, but very swift and sturdy, these are the horses that so impressed Alexander the Great. Marco Polo, one of the first "tourists" to visit Central Asia, had nothing but praise for the horses of this area.

The second breed of horse used for Buzkashi is Habash, the great stallion of the Turkistan plains. This vast expanse of arid steppes and low foothills, stretching from Mazar-i-Sharif to Maimana, nurtures this breed. In the spring, large herds of these horses can be seen roaming freely over the grass-covered slopes of northern Afghanistan.

The Tartar, the Habash and the Waziri deserve some special attention as they are horses of amazing qualities. It would be great to label them, and maybe one day, export them. The Tartar would make a perfect polo horse, while the Waziri would be an excellent racing horse.

[Afghanistan2010]

i have no knowledge of horses but I have always heard, for speed you need an Arabian, for strength a European. Is this true?

Oh and I hate Kyrgyz horses. They are extremely ugly.

Yes something like that,

Because most of the European horses are soo fat,and they look so strong,but i doubt they are really fast.

The Arabian in contrary are smart,slim and are really fast,but they can not do the work the European does,they will die.

[Manzareh]

y'all stay on your lil vehicles while i ride up high like a 4x4 jeep on my english shire horse, these things amaze me, the strength and endurance, very smart horses too.

















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The ultimate breed for me would be a shire horse crossed with an arabian, this is the ideal breed as a all rounder

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

really beautiful horses.

[Tor Gul]

y'all stay on your lil vehicles while i ride up high like a 4x4 jeep on my english shire horse, these things amaze me, the strength and endurance, very smart horses too

nice if you need to pull a plow, a huge wagon full of budweiser or are wearing twice your weight in plate armor, but they didn't really benefit the crusader knights that baked in the levantine sun.

in the western USA the big draught horses are crossed w/ hotbloods (usually quarter horses but often mustangs, thoroughbreds or arabs) for packhorses and easy handling mounts for city people. in America arabs are too flighty. i've had friends hurt because their arabs freaked out over small things like windblown leaves. the crossbreds are better for most people here. arabs here are better for good experienced riders.

[Manzareh]

Yeah your right they are not agile and fast at all, crossed with another breed would be another story..I love arabian horses, but for me there not strong or big enough, if i was sitting on that horse in your video it would look small and be under stress as i weigh 16 stones :-| and they do get frightened easily as somebody else mentioned.. for speed and power i would choose an American Quarter breed, there quite impressive for endurance and stamina too.

American Quarter Horses - YouTube

[al-arab]

That's an beautiful horse indeed. I think that's the best non-Arabian posted yet in my opinion.

From the look of it I think it has Arabian blood in it, that's also what I can read shortly when I google it. Do you know about it's stamina? It says it's the best horse in short distances.

Yeah, the Arabian can panic in new enviroment. In the wadis in Iraq/KSA/Jordan and desert areas with mountain terrain it can panic more than necessary. But with a little training and adjustments there will be no problem.

Do you think the Arabian in that video is small? It's a young horse but not that small again.

A full-grown Arabian looks like this in terms of size:



That's quite a big horse unless you are an fat American which I doubt that you are.

[Manzareh]

haha no im not fat at all but i am heavy, the arabian horse you posted is an ideal example. Your right the modern quarter horse has been breeded with Turkic,Arabian and Barb horse breed since about 100 years ago. It can run a quarter of a mile the fastest (hence the name). I have rode a arabian horse, when you sit on a quarter horse you can feel its very powerful streight away, check out the body shape, the neck and legs were all the strength is generated:

[Afghanistan2010]

If you ride that one above posted in video by brother Manzareh,your adrenaline will rise within seconds to its peak....with the maximum speed.

[Tor Gul]

That's a very beautiful horse indeed. I would like to ride on such a horse. I wonder how it would be in a desert and warm climate. It would probably need very much water and much more than the Arabian which has no problem in desert climate.

That's good to hear. I saw some days ago an documentary about the problem of more fat people in USA. It said if I remember correct that about 40 percent are overweight which is unbelieveable. Having said that there are unfortunately also a few fat and lazy people in Saudi Arabia (less in Hejaz Alhamdulillah) and a few in Iraq. But nowhere near same level.

the quarter horse originated mostly in Texas which about half of which is dry desert & high plains. so their water needs shouldn't be much different from an arab.

[Manzareh]

That's a very beautiful horse indeed. I would like to ride on such a horse. I wonder how it would be in a desert and warm climate. It would probably need very much water and much more than the Arabian which has no problem in desert climate.

That's good to hear. I saw some days ago an documentary about the problem of more fat people in USA. It said if I remember correct that about 40 percent are overweight which is unbelieveable. Having said that there are unfortunately also a few fat and lazy people in Saudi Arabia (less in Hejaz Alhamdulillah) and a few in Iraq. But nowhere near same level.

brother 70% of saudi arabians are obese! its crazy

[RevolutionThroughReason]

brother 70% of saudi arabians are obese! its crazy

yeah seriously, almost very Saudi man here in America is a butterball.



the Saudi women though , vaaa vaaa vaaa vooom.

[RevolutionThroughReason]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_Saudi_Arabia

Obesity in Saudi Arabia is a growing health concern with health officials stating that it is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in Saudi Arabia. According to Forbes, Saudi Arabia ranks 29 on a 2007 list of the fattest countries with a percentage of 68.3% of its citizens being overweight (BMI>25)

Holy crap!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States

Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, obesity rates in the United States are among the highest in the world.[2] Of all countries, the United States has the highest rate of obesity. Estimates have steadily increased, from 19.4% in 1997, 24.5% in 2004[3] to 26.6% in 2007,[4] to 33.8% (adults) and 17% (children) in 2008.[5] In 2010, the CDC reported higher numbers once more, counting 35.7% of American adults as obese, and 17% of American children.[6]

[IamDZJ]

Hidalgo trailer - YouTube