After visiting the Middle East, British aristocrats Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt began breeding Arabian horses at Crabbet Park in 1878. Over the years, they took many trips deep into the desert and immersed themselves in all aspects of Arab language and culture, gaining the trust of their hosts. Devoted and brilliant horse breeders, the Blunts learned all they could about the best Arabian bloodlines, examples of which most Europeans had never even encountered.
Over the years, the couple and their daughter Lady Wentworth purchased Bedouin horses of the highest quality, adopting the tribesmen's passion for purity of type and pedigree. The Blunts recognized the many traits that made these horses special, including beauty, stamina, intelligence, and remarkable loyalty. As the Smithsonian magazine attests: "The Arabian look signals aristocratic beauty, but the breed's form has pragmatic roots. The arched throat and the widely spaced cheekbones make room for a large, loosely slung windpipe. The hold of the head and neck… tilts the whole apparatus at a prime angle for easy air exchange. Arabians also move differently from other horses; their famous 'floating-on-air' gaits are the strides of long-distance runners."*
For close to 100 years, the Crabbet Park breeding program pursued a strategy that? while maintaining the horses' original qualities? emphasized temperament, beauty, and athleticism. In fact, ". . . under Lady Wentworth the word "Crabbet" became synonymous the world over with the highest possible class of Arab horse . . . and there is scarcely a country where Arabians are bred that does not rely upon Crabbet blood." **
Today, Crabbet Arabian breeders the world over are continuing this tradition. Crabbet-line horses are still bred for temperament, soundness, and beauty and the results have been impressive. The Blunts would be proud!
*They Drink the Wind, Smithsonian, September 2001
**The Crabbet Arabian Stud, Its History & Influence; Archer, Pearson,
and Covey; 2002