| A preserved treasure | | | | Arabian mother and non-Arabian father, they called |
| As I mentioned on my previous article, Arabs | | | | him a "Mokref". |
| considered the Arabian Horse as a treasure gift from | | | | So, a non-pure, from an Arab's point of view is not |
| God to Ishmael, or Ismael as Arabs pronounce his | | | | called a Horse. It is either a Berthoun, a Hajeen or a |
| name. So, they did all what they could to preserve | | | | Mokref. |
| the purity of its blood. | | | | The Arabian Horse was preserved socially by giving |
| Arabs believed that this unique treasure, has all the | | | | special names to non-pure or non-Arabian ones to |
| perfect features and characteristics of a complete | | | | distinguish them from the pure Arabian horse. |
| horse. No other breed will come near this treasure, | | | | Cross-breeding, a shameful act in Arab's culture |
| they thought, so the purity of their blood must be | | | | Since Arabs regarded their horses as a gift treasure |
| preserved. | | | | from God to their father Ismael, it was regarded as |
| Arabs also believed that cross breeding will mix the | | | | a shame to cross breed them with other breeds. So, |
| high qualities of their treasure horses, with less | | | | the Arabs preserved the purity of the Arabian Horse |
| qualities of other breeds. That is why they were | | | | blood, and guarded and protected it socially. |
| very careful not to cross-breed their horses with | | | | Arabs had very strict rules for their mares, and never |
| non-Arabian ones. | | | | allowed untrusted stallions to cover their mares. Only |
| Only Arabian Horses are Horses, says the Arabs | | | | high quality pure stallions were allowed for breeding. |
| Taking the above into consideration, Arabs | | | | Arabs preserved this culture for hundreds of years. |
| distinguished between their horses and other | | | | Today, not only Arabs preserve the purity of the |
| non-Arabian ones. They called their horses 'Horse', | | | | Arabian Horse's blood, but all its lovers do the same |
| and gave other names to other breeds. | | | | all over the world. |
| For a completely non-Arabian horse, they gave him | | | | No other bloodline or breed had nearly the same |
| the name of "Berthoun". For a horse that of an | | | | preservation of blood purity that the Arabian Horses |
| Arabian father and non-Arabian mother, they gave | | | | had. |
| him the name of "Hajeen". For a horse that of an | | | | |