Morocco has always been a country of horses and, after Islam spread there (in the 8th century AC), not only a country of the horses of the Berbers, but also of Arabian horses. And their number is on the increase, just as is the number of breeders and riders, of shows and sports events – promoted by the Royal House, but also carried by the passion and know-how that the country population has had since ancient times when it comes to horses. What is more, for the last ten years the new young elites among the Moroccan population have discovered their love for horses. They attempt to combine ancient traditions with modern technologies in horse breeding.

This oriental country with its ancient history of man spanning more than 5000 years is located on the Western coast of Africa and has always succeeded in fascinating people with its historic heritage, the origins of which give proof of so many peoples: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors… There is the culture, there is the extremely manyfold nature, and there are, in particular, the horse loving people of this country.

When the young king Mohammed VI mounted the throne in 1999, the „Arabian spring“ started for the population, owing to the spectacular reforms this king introduced. The indigenes of Morocco, the Berber tribes, were finally legally acknowledged as a demographic group enjoying equal rights according to the new constitution, after having lost their rights in the course of a history that took place under various colonial powers.

When the Arabs brought Islam to Morocco at about 700 AC, they arrived with their Arabian horses and settled mostly in the Northern part of the country. Marrakech and the South were the country of the Berber tribes. There were also a number of Moors and muslimic Andalusians who had been driven out of Spain during the early Middle Ages and fled to Morocco with their Arabian-Andalusian horses, settling there for good. After all, Morocco was an interesting country in a geopolitically important location, so it attracted the attentions and desires of different colonial states. In the Middle Ages, these were the Spanish and Portuguese, and later on, the French and the English. All of them would, in the course of time, meddle with the historically grown power structures of the country, find allies, destroy adversaries, establish new hierarchies. However, they would not only build castles, cities, and defensive structures, but their cavalries left horses in the country.

After all, Morocco has always been a country of horses. The climatic conditions, apart from the life-defeating sand deserts of the Sahara in the South of the country, are quite ideal for keeping horses. In many parts of the country, it is possible to feed horses outdoors all year round by keeping them in herds, together with sheep and other grazing animals. Moroccan transport depended on the backs of horses for many centuries, and in rural areas, it still does to some extent. Every country Moroccan would know and still knows how to handle horses. The Berbers had horse breeding of their own, with their horses being strongly built and with a less noble head, but with good legs and enormous stamina and speed. After the Arabs had settled in the country, mixed breeds started to emerge. Up to today, Barb horses display a high percentage of Arabian horse blood in their genetic makeup.

Around the beginning of the 19th century, France started to enforce her colonial interests in Africa, occupying large parts of the North. In 1830, Algeria was conquered and occupied by France. The Moroccans offered resistance, of course, but step by step the Europeans established their economical interests and dominated Africa’s North on a whole number of levels.

Riders on Arabian and Barb horses were a dominating factor in the streets at that time, even in the cities and towns. It was the Fantasia in particular that would fascinate the visitors from the North: an unruly mounted game accompanied by lots of singing and good food. Riders in their traditional tribal clothing would simulate a mounted attack, executing a „sliding stop“ by command and shooting their rifles into the air. As soon as in the 16th century, the Flemish painter Vermeyen (1500-1559) drew a Fantasia ridden in Morocco. Initiated by Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt (1798), the Arabian horses of the Orient became models not only of power and stamina, but also of beauty for the Europeans. Pictures of them were much in demand in Europe. However, many of the „orientalists“ among the painters would only make it as far as Morocco when searching for models of Arabian horses to paint – this country was comparatively easy to reach and appeared to be less dangerous than some others. For the French painter Eugène Delacroix, 1832 was the year when he saw his first mounted festival in Morocco. The famous watercolor he painted from that after coming back to France has a place in the Louvre in Paris today. He was one of the most impressive painters of his time, and many of his works depicting Arabian horses and riders originated during his travels through Morocco, which is easily recognized from the traditional Moroccan stirrups and saddles shown – even if his students would later use these pictures as prototypes for paintings of historic events with any Arabian horses, transferring the Moroccan tack to Bedouins in Arabia or to Mamelukes in Egypt.

The experiences that Emperor Napoleon had won with Arabian horses during his campaign in Egypt had long-term positive effects for Morocco, too. When he came back to France, he decided to go on breeding these Arabian horses for his army, keeping them pure because of their power, their stamina and their will to perform. When the French conquered the North of Africa, their cavalries would again introduce Arabian purebreds into Morocco. However, there in Morocco there was a well-structured breeding concept in existence by then, centered in the Royal courts. There was the earlier influence from Arabian horses from southern Spain, mostly crossbreds with the Limousin breed, as well as from English Thoroughbreds that had been introduced by the British during colonial times, when they had brought them to the racing tracks of Tanger. All of these influences played an important role in the country in addition to the ancient Barb horse breed, but with the purebred Arabians, there was their elegance, their beauty, their refined and noble heads with the big nostrils and the round black eyes, and their proud tail carriage, all of which made them particularly enchanting to the nobles and kings, who established separate breeding concepts with closed studbooks. Alongside the Barb horses, Arab-Barbs evolved, combining the power and speed of the Barb horses with the elegance and willingness to perform of the Arabians, but also with their attachment to man. In 1927, the national stud of Morocco stabled 130 purebred Arabians for breeding, in addition to 50 Barbs and 67 Arab-Barbs. During the early 1970ies, almost 500,000 horses were registered, with most of them working in agriculture. After that, however, there were several long draughts and transport was modernized, so the number of horses of different breeds went down to 180,000. The national stud, which is under the immediate direction of the king, decided to develop a breeding strategy that could afford to put quality first. This resulted in pure-bred breeding stock being promoted and supported. Competitions were organized, of different kinds, on different levels and in all parts of the country, all of them intended to make sure that positive selection would take place.

The royal stud in Bouznika is home to the purebred Arabians kept by his Majesty King Mohammed VI and his family, all of them are passionate horse breeders, just as their ancestors have been.

The father of today’s king, who was his Majesty Hassani II, was the first passionate breeder who stabled, in Bouznika, Straight Egyptian Arabians for breeding and show purposes. Even if the Straight Egyptians are registered in the studbook of the purebred Arabian breed and don’t have some special position as to their performance in sports or with Arabian shows, they do represent the original Arabian breed, the breed tailing back to the famous Bedouin Nejd Arabian breeding in the uplands of what is today Saudi Arabia. These are the Arabian horses that were closest to the Arabian and Egyptian pashas and kings – which is why for many breeders all over the world, conservation breeding of desert-bred Arabians means breeding Egyptian horses. And they have already arrived in the future with these.

ISSAN STUD stands for breeding the finest and most noble Straight Egyptian Arabians. By wise selection and by integrating historical as well as scientific findings into their breeding work, Mostafa Benlafih and his family have succeeded in creating a future for the Egyptian Arabians in Morocco.