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What is a Shagya?
You may have asked this question yourself already and perhaps wondered what it is, that makes it a special horse. Now, to begin with it's the name for a rather old and rare Arabian breed.
The History of the Shagya Arabian Horse Breed It reads like a thrilling novel full of passion and glory. War and disaster lined the way of those noble horses they often were prizes of war. The origin of the Shagya Arabian breed dates back to the second half of the 18th Century. At that time Central Europe had been shaken by numerous wars. Spain, Great Britain, Austria, France and Prussia were directly or indirectly engaged in wars to decide the succession of the European dynasties and the hegemony in the Western hemisphere. Military strength was a must for the leading countries and consequently the economies of these countries were groaning under the expenses for warfare. A major source of income for the battling countries were colonies. France and England fought about their colonies in America and India. England battered their American colonies with such high tax rates on imported goods that in 1773 the colonists rose against their parent country and set a clear sign of separation with the Boston Tea Party. Improvement of Horse Breeding Mobility was one of the crucial assets of a powerful army. It was important to rapidly move troops and arms to strategically important locations. Horses were employed as riding horses mainly in the cavalry and all over the army as draft horses to pull supply cars and artillery. Especially during movement of troops in the winter time stamina and frugality of the horses were of essence since these properties directly influenced the speed of movement and the amount of horse feed the troops needed to carry along. Austria as one of the leading players in European politics had her share of death and destruction. Due to several wars, the situation of horse breeding in Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was desperate and remounting turned out to be a real problem. Empress Maria Theresia issued the first decrees in 1763 to reraise the quality level of horse breeding and later on, her son Joseph II has even expanded those efforts. The leading idea was a military one, as remounts for the army were badly needed. General of Cavalry Count Hardegg was appointed to raise systematic horse breeding on principles, that are still valid today. Superior Horses: The Basis of a Powerful Army What made life difficult for the crusaders with their strong and heavy horses became a real necessity at the time after the invention of firearms revolutionized the military art: the agility and stamina of small and swift horses of the Orient. They moved so fast, that they seemed to come out of nowhere, apparently never got tired and needed - in comparison to heavy horses - practically "no" food. As revolutionary those Arabian horses were, they were very rare and to the strategists they still had one drawback. They were too small to carry the fully armed soldier over the vast distances modern warfare demanded. Better arms and better equipped troops were always considered to be an advantage in war. So the army developed a new war horse by crossing the quality mares, that were kept at the military stud farms Mezöhegyes (Hungary), Radautz (Bukowina/Rumania today) Piber (Austria) and the nobel studfarm Bábolna, (Hungary) with imported purebred Arabians mostly from Syria. Repeatedly difficult and costly imports of purebred Arabian stallions, mares and foals in the years of 1816 until 1852 were made, to achieve this. Among those exquisite horses was the dappled-grey stallion Shagya or.ar. After 40 days on a warship Shagya or.ar. finally came to Bábolna in 1836 and was such an outstanding producer that he appears in nearly all Shagya pedigrees and therefor the breed was named after him. Especially the Shagyas of Radautz were known for their quality and beauty. Other foundation stallions were the original Arabians Gazlan-Gazal, Koheilan, Mersuch, Dahoman, Siglavy, Siglavy-Bagdady, O'Bajan and from the Royal studfarm of Weil in Wurtemberg - Amurath and Kemir. The so called Shagya Arabian Breed was born - and what a success! The desired agility, hardiness, stamina and frugality of the Bedouin Horse as well as its Arabian type, beauty and amiable character was kept and added to the assets of a good riding and driving horse: size, substance, riding qualities/conveniences like tractability and balance. The Shagya Arabians besides being superior cavalry and carriage horses were mainly used for improving other breeds. In 1809 Napoleon's troops forced their way into Hungary. While the French gave a battle at Györ all the horses were evacuated to Mezöhegyes. When they finally arrived at Bábolna and had to realize that all the precious horses were gone, the French - due to their fierce disappointment - set the studfarm on fire. Quite interesting you might think but nowadays we don't need any war horses. The Shagya is bred since 200 years and I assure you, it's so much more than an interesting pedigree. Time for our Second Question: What makes him Special? All the advantages of a good war horse are still needed today. The Shagya Arabian is a versatile horse, measures between 15 and 16 hands (minimum cannon bone 17 inches) and meets the definition of a family-horse as well as the needs of an ambitious rider: Shagyas have a very nice temperament and tend to really befriend their owner. They have a very good jumping ability, excellent movements (dressage), are wonderful carriage horses and are suitable for leisure, competition, hunting and endurance. They are sound, tough horses and easy to keep. Unless you don't know one, you don't really know what I am talking about... Aha, one of those leisure horses not capable of real perfomance you may think; wait a minute: If you take the time to have a closer look at the pedigrees of famous Sport horses of today, you will be surprised: you can find Shagya ancestors in quite a few of them. Famous Ramzes had a Shagya dam, Lapis ShA the father of Burnus AA was a Shagya-Arabian too. Gazal ShA as well as Mersuch ShA and Kuhaylan Zaid ShA influenced the winning charts of 1976 considerably. Today the meanwhile famous Bajar ShA proved to be a real winning guarantee: think of Ghazzir ShA and Bachus (Bajar out of the Holstein mare Olympia of Rasputin - Ramzes) meanwhile bought by Zangersheide. Puschkin ShA a grandson of Bajar and the black Bahadur, a grandson of Gazal VII for instance already proved their impressing skills. You can find Shagya blood in horses like Rembrandt, Milton, Corso, Calvaro to name a few. All these traits and qualities make a Shagya special, especially to his owner who knows that his horse will always mirror his own capabilities.The Shagya-Arabian is bred as an all-rounder and not as a specialist limited for one purpose. He is a versatile, noble but tough horse with all the qualities you may ask of a good horse today. The umbrella organization for the breed is the International Purebred Shagya Society, ISG and the total amount of registered Shagya-Arabians world-wide is 1700 horses at the moment. The usual brand is the Shagya sun and I do hope that by now your interest is high enough to look out for this exceptional breed. Shagyas have been a recognized breed in the United States since 1986 with the formation of the North American Shagya Society. The most influencial sires are Bravo, Shandor, and Oman. Oman has proved his Sporthorse ability more than once and is successfully competing in endurance races which include his participation in the grueling 100-mile Tevis Cup Race. ...."written by Gabriele Conradty"
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