January 7, 2022 The Legend of the Bloody Shoulder Arabian

The Legend of the Bloody Shoulder Arabian

There are different versions about how the bloodied shouldered horses came to be, but here is one that I like by Arabian Horse World. THE LEGEND OF THE BLOODY SHOULDER ARABIAN

Long ago on the sands of a great desert lived a Bedouin chieftain by the name of Ahmed and his tribe. In the tents of Ahmed was his most prized possession, a beautiful grey mare who was renowned throughout the desert as the fleetest and most beautiful horse in the world. Many people coveted the mare, and kings and chieftains had tried to acquire her, but Ahmed could not be persuaded to part with his beloved mare.

Ahmed decided to breed his mare, and searched the desert for a suitable mate for her. After a time, the mare was bred to the premier stallion in the Sultan’s stable. Months went by and the time for the mare to foal grew near.

Riding across the desert one day, several miles from his tents, Ahmed was seen by a group of robber Bedouins. Fearing that he would lose his beloved mare as well as his life, Ahmed turned and raced toward his tents, knowing in his heart that the mare, heavy in foal, could never out-distance the bandits.

The mare seemed to realize that she was running for her master’s life, and slowly, very slowly, she began to gain ground on her pursuers. Shots rang out and bullets peppered the sand around them as the distance gradually widened. They were almost out of rifle range when one last shot rang out. A bullet pierced Ahmed’s heart, and he fell forward over the neck of his beloved mare. The mare never slackened her stride, and carried her master back to his tents on their final ride together. Ahmed’s people gathered around the mare and removed his lifeless body from her back. Down one of her shoulders, his blood had dried a nasty brown in the desert heat. There the mark remained, for no one could remove it.

That night in the tent of her dead master, the mare foaled. The foal was acclaimed by all as a perfect specimen of the Arabian breed, and on his shoulder was the same rusty red mark that his dam bore. And so it came to pass that every great horse descended from that mare carried the mark of the bloody shoulder, and it was a thing greatly prized in the desert.

What a story that is, right? Breyer has created a couple models with this marking on them and I happen to be lucky enough to own both of them. The first one is the original Bloody Shouldered Arabian, Freedom, produced in 1997 as a Commemorative edition consisting of 10,000 pieces. He is featured on the Proud Arabian Family Stallion mold and is model #972.

The second model Breyer graced with a bloody marking, was done on the 2017 Breyerfest volunteer model, Assam. This one is model #711271 done on the Weather Girl mold.

Assam

Most horses that bear these markings have Arabian blood lines in them. The horse is usually born a solid color then after three or more years of age start to gray and become flea bitten with the “bloody” or “rusty” colored markings being caused by the darker chestnut hairs. They can appear anywhere on the horse, although most are on the shoulder.

These horses are truly unique in their markings and there are many more stories about the bloody shoulder Arabian. Add one of these beauties to your collection or maybe paint one up for yourself!

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