Excellent presentation of early Egyptian imports & historyReviewed by M. ANNE, 2006-12-17
This book is written by a foremost authority of Egyptian Arabian
horses, and a preservationist of the original Egyptian bloodlines,
so you should assume she is going to discuss straight Egyptian
arabians. Other reviewers seem to take this personally; simply know
that background when you read. Having said that, her book is an
excellent source of photos and information on the Egyptian arabian
background. She includes many photos of horses which are rarely
seen, including many foundation horses.
Ms Forbis naturally believes her line of horses, based on *Ansata
Ibn Halima, a horse she imported, are the finest and there is a bit
of bias in this direction. It is hard to argue with her knowledge
and she has bred and exported these horses worldwide, including
back to the desert, so she is certainly successful and true to her
original vision. However, she covers all the strains in
considerable detail and there is a lot of knowledge to gain from
this book. I read my copy dozens of time & still refer to it
often. The classic arabian horse is a worthwhile addition to any
horsemans library.
Interesting, but...Reviewed by Jene Moseley, 2004-04-02
Judith Forbis offers a wealth of information on horses of Egyptian breeding, namely those bred by the RAS or EAO and supposedly "blue list". I bought the book due to my love of Arabians and the fact that many of my horses have a hefty dose of Egyptian blood. However, these horses, fine as they are, are no better than Polish, Crabbett/Kellogg (English), Spanish, French, Brazilian or any other lines of Arabians. They all go back to desertbreds from the same part of the world. Racial prejudice is alive and well in the Arabian horse world.
Not what I expected...Reviewed by Anonymous, 2003-10-02
I was very dissapointed in this book. When I ordered it, I was
expecting a well-informed and objective discussion of the arabian
breed in general. What came in the mail was a vindictive, biased,
insulting diatribe that could be called "The Gospel of Judith
Forbis".
If you are a straight egyptian enthusiast, this may be an enjoyable
book, because the author is extremely prejudiced towards this group
of bloodlines. There is an implicit, haughty assumption throughout
the book that the only "true" arabian horse is a straight egyptian,
and a considerable amount of time is spent bashing people who
throughout modern history have deviated from this idea. For
example, it seems that the author virtually worships Anne Blunt,
and makes assertions such as that Lady Wentworth whored out her
mother's stud by buying and using Skowronek, who was "impure"
because he came from polish bloodlines (an assumption she
contradicts at a later point). She also suggests that Lady
Wentworth destroyed the Crabbet Stud by not becoming a preservation
breeder of Ali Pasha Sherif bloodlines and was ill-informed about
the breed or outright lied to say that true arabian greatness was
no longer procurable in Egypt as it once had been.
Okay, let me see. Horses descending from Skowronek and other
non-egyptian lines have formed the foundation of Al-Marah, Varian
Arabians, and etc., etc, etc. It is hard to see how one can respect
this idea. For example: Bay El Bey, Witez II, Raffles, Indraff,
Xenophonn, Khemosabi, GS Khocise, Magnum, Sanacht, and so on ad
infinitum. Egyptians are not the only horses out there.
Judith Forbis also makes predictions such as that all arabian
breeders are rushing to recreate the original bedouin horse and
that we are on the threshold of seeing straight egyptians
dominating every aspect of show and performance at every level. 27
years later, what has come of these prognostications? There are
very good straight egyptians, but who could say that they are
totally, or even mostly dominating the arabian horse world?
Some other problems: Why is Nazeer so much more valuable than
virtually every other modern sire? Was it ony because he was a
direct progrenitor of Ansata Ibn Halima, Ansata Bint Mabrouka, and
so on? Why are Lady Wentworths ideas so wrong? is it because if
they are taken in a certain way, it means that the Ansata horses
are not what Mrs. Forbis wants them to be?
The strength of this book lies in that it is good historically
regarding the development of the breed and that its author does
have some valid ideas about correct conformation. But even this
aspect is dissapointing because Mrs. Forbis is not a very good
writer, and the words are overblown, sickly, and purplish prose.
And once she gets to the period of the 18 century on, when the
breed begins to diversify in earnest, the book is so narrow in
scope and consideration of other ideas that it becomes effectually
worthless.
I would not reccomend this, as it is not represented in very good
context. I have nothing against straight egyptians, but I think it
also important to give fair consideration to other bloodlines and
ideas. This cannot be considered to be what ist is represented as,
which is a comprehensive history and discourse on the purebred
arabian horse.
Excellent intro to the origins of the Arabian horseReviewed by Anonymous, 1999-04-09
This book presents the basics of the historical background of the modern arabian horse. It is slanted a bit towards the Egyptian Arabian but that is ok, as it does mention other sources. It has some excellent photos and is a stepping stone to hte next Forbis book, Authentic Arabian Bloodstock.
WONDERFUL BOOK!Reviewed by Anonymous, 1999-01-20
I really enjoyed reading this book. I own Egyptian Arabians which are very closely realted to many of the ones mentioned in this book. However, even if I didn't, the book contains many historical facts, is written in a wonderful, easy-to-read style, and is interesting. This book comes very close to the ultimate book of Arabian history. I did not find all the Arabian lines researched in this book (which was not its sole purpose), and that is the only thing keeping it from "the best" in my library. Great book! I loved every moment.
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