Aussie Breed Traces Its Roots

www.horseyard.com.au

Written by IRT, on 21-04-2010

Brumbies join the ranks of Dubai’s many horse imports.

A few years ago Ali Mohammed Al Mohairi - the racing manager for deputy ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum - took a trip to the outback of Australia's Northern Territory. He was looking for a very particular breed of horse and before he knew it, they'd found him.

"There was a mare and a foal and they were galloping from behind and I yelled to go, I was screaming at the driver," he recalled. "Then they crossed in front of us and the sparks were coming off the road. When they came to a lake, they jumped straight in and swam across."

Mr Al Mohairi had finally seen first-hand and in their own environment the dash and daring of Australia's famous "brumbies" and they weren't done yet. After they crossed the lake "There was a rocky hill on the other side and I said: 'Impossible, they will not climb that.' And they did."

It may play like a deleted scene from Jurassic Park, but the brumby breed is not science fiction and like many Australians, their pedigree traces back to the other side of the world. In fact, they are said to come from Arab horses taken to Europe. Now it seems, some of them, are going home. IRT recently transported 14 brumbies to Dubai for the Sheikh, to be trained for the rigors of endurance racing.

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