Arabians

The term "Araber", literally "Arabian" (minus the addition "purebred") is a specifically German term used to describe Arabian horses that are nearly, but not quite, purebred - that is to say, horses that are proven to have small percentages of non-Arabian blood far back in their pedigrees.

They are also known as "Araberrasse", which translates as "Arabian-bred". This classification used to include the Shagya-Arabians, until they achieved recognition s a breed in themselves.

Today, the term "Araber" is used for seven distinct groups of horses:

• Horses of Hungarian origin of mainly Shagya descent, but including blank places in their pedigrees that exclude them from being accepted as Shagyas.

• Arabian horses from Jordan, the Lebanon, and Turkey, whose purebred Status could not be properly ascertained.

• Arabians from Egypt that are registered there as purebreds, but are not WAHO-accepted.

• Horses of the Russian Tersk breed (some of these are also registered as Shagyas, Anglos, or Partbreds).
• Descendants of Arabians whose papers were lost during the War.
• Descendants of the pre-war mare Nigra Zscheiplitz, originally classified as purebred, but later eliminated because of non-Arabian elements.
• Pintos or Palominos with over 90 % Arabian blood.