Barb Horse
Modified: 30-11--0001 00:00:00
The Barb of North Africa is the second of the world's foundation breeds. Like its better-known neighbor, the Arab it is a desert horse, but the two are very dissimilar in appearance and character. There is a theory that the Barb may have come from a pocket of wild horses in the fertile coastal area, which escaped the ravages of the Ice Age. If that were the case, it could be argued that it is an older breed than the Arab. However, definitive ancestry remains a vexed question, and in the absence of documentary evidence is likely to remain so.
BARBS AND ARABS
Arab and Barb horses were probably crossed luring the Muslim conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries and the modern Barb certainlyhas a percentage of Arab blood. Surprisingly, however, there is little sign of the Arab's prepotency in the Barb, with its characteristically long, convex head, sloping quarters, and low-set tail; this seems to indicate a massively dominant gene in the breed. Indeed, the Barb bears some resemblance to the postulated pre-domestic Horse Type 3 which was, it is suggested, highly resistant to heat and drought, like the Barb, and would have been just as spare and hard.
BARB INFLUENCE
The Berbers from North Africa formed a substantial part of the Muslim armies that invaded Spain in the 8th century, and it seems clear that their Barb horses played a majorpart in the developmentof the Spanish Horse, the modern version of which is the Andalucian .
The Barb was also influential in the evolution of the Thoroughbred Horses from North Africa, variously termed Berber, Barb, or Barbary, were imported to the Royal Studs of England from beforethe time of the Plantagenets. Roan Barbary, the favoritehorse of Richard II (1377-99), was one of many horses of the same origin at the king's studs. Barb blood, together with that of the Spanish Jennet, itself at least a firstcousin to the Barb, was certainly a predominant element in the Royal "running horses", which formed the base stockfor the early Thoroughbred.
There is also enough evidence to show that Ireland's Connemara owes a debt to Barb horses, "those swift runners that do come out of Tunnis land", as the 16th-century authority Thomas Blundeville put it. There is even more evidence showing the effect of the Barb on French stock. The medieval Limousin, which in its time was purpose-bred as a military charger, was based largely on Barb stock brought to France by Muslim armies. The Muslims were defeated at the Battle of Poitiers in AD 732, but after that battle Barb stock was used to upgrade the Frankish horses, which at Poitiers had been found to be far too slow to pursue the broken enemy.
The Barb may also have had something to do with the famouswhite horses of the Camargue to which it bears a strong resemblance, while it is certainly possible to perceive its presence in the horse breeds and types of both North and South America. The various mustang societies of North America, whose object is the conservationof the wild horses, place much emphasis upon what they term "Spanish Barb" blood, and one organization, the Spanish Mustang Registry, defines a "primitive" Barb type which it equates with the North African Barb.
THE MODERN BARB
The modern Barb, still plentiful in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, is the traditional mount of the famous Spahi cavalry, which has always used Barb stallions. As a result of the Arab influence, it is usually grey, but it was originally bay or black. It stands between 1.47 m and 1.57 m (14.2-15.2 hh), and is renowned for being incredibly tough, possessed of great stamina (as well as a less than certain temper), and for having the ability to subsist on meager rations. It is agile and very fast over short distances.
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