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and then someone creates a time capsule so that people of the future can
see how things used to be. Some of these time capsules are especially valuable
because they pass on in unchanged form the most beautiful and useful things
of one time period to another: a symphony of Beethoven for the future,
an instance of technology or mathematics which has made a special contribution.
A
time capsule is a way of saying, "We think this is beautiful and we
want to be sure you do not forget it," or "We have perfected
this item of life, and we want you to remember what we did."
The
best time capsules preserve something that is useful: something that makes
life better for people in the future.
We
have time capsules in Arabian breeding, too. They are the multitude of
projects of our preservation breeders. Each of these is something that
some serious person is preserving of the best in the history of Arabian
breeding: the defining horse of some certain kind, the best way of breeding
horses, the best goals for breeding Arabian horses. The idea of preservation
breeding is to be sure the present glories of the breed do not lose contact
with the wonderful horses and breeders from which they came.
Preservation
breeding means setting a boundary around treasured areas of past breeding.
Each is kept as a separate entry, as a capsule of Arabian breeding that
does not change with time as far as essentials are concerned. These separate,
distinct capsules are not isolates in Arabian breeding. They contribute
on a continuing basis to the larger Arabian breeding scene as effective
elements of current activity. Some Preservation horses attain the highest
honors in their own right. It is surprising how many others turn up as
parents and grandparents of successful horses. Preservation breeding is
not a matter of being a hermit or operating a zoo for antique types of
Arabian horses.
Mainstream
Arabian breeding is sometimes portrayed as an affair of the moment. Glory
goes to today's champion, yesterday's import, and tomorrow's trend. Preservation
breeders live a different life. Each is tuned to some part of the history
of Arabian horses that worked especially well. To recognize success, the
Preservation breeder does not have to depend on judges or representations
by artists or standards that have been prepared for a transient show context.
It is so much simpler instead to refer to flesh and blood horses of the
past that were proven success or to the breeding plans from which such
horses came. Preservation breeders have the further advantage that their
breeding stock does not go out of date. It may become old and blemished,
but its function in preserving values of past Arabian breeding remains
a constant. Judges, champions, and markets come and go, but Preservation
breeders and their horses just keep rollin' along.
One
of the marvels of Arabian breeding is that almost everyone who seriously
tries a breeding program may be successful. That is true for Preservation
breeders, too. Thanks to them we have a variety of successful types within
the Arabian breed that far exceeds what any person could conceive of as
a single standard for the Arabian horse. There is, indeed, a special kind
of Arabian horse for each person who wants one. Many such horses are either
themselves examples of Preservation breeding or have Preservation horses
as close-up ancestors.
Could
the breed continue without Preservation breeding? Perhaps it could for
a while, but to maintain quality we would have to learn about breeding
horses in an entirely new way. We could not count any longer on what we
have learned from the most successful breeders of the past, nor could we
count on using their bloodlines as building blocks for present pedigrees.
After a while we would no doubt find ourselves identifying special groups
of horses that liked and could rely on and which would then become preservation
groups in the future. Would these new groups be successful in preserving
the Arabian breed? The answer would depend on how good a use they made
of Preservation groups of the past.
Preservation
breeding and Arabian horses go together. We are not willing to forget or
discount the beautiful horses of the past which led to the beautiful horses
we now have. One of the ways we ensure that new generations of horses remain
"Arabians" is by constant reference to the "time capsules"
of Preservation horses which are saved for us. We value these horses for
what they are and because they need no excuse or explanation. We constantly
use the option of sprinkling the pedigrees of of other kinds of Arabian
horses with carefully guarded time capsules made up of the best that they
preserve.
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