Approved version OWNER-REVIEW-20261108T074741068 · last approved 8 November 2026
Names from folk tradition, kept apart from the scientific names.
The natural range of the horse is taken to be its distribution in the late glacial period 9,500 to 15,000 years ago, when wild horses ranged from North Africa across Europe and east to China and Mongolia, and as far as North America. Wild horses became extinct in North America 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and domestic horses were later reintroduced there with European colonization.
The Bedouin classified purebred Arabian horses into maternally inherited strains (arsan) and sub-strains (marabit); among the best-known strains are Kuhaylan, Saqlawi, Obayan, Hamdani, Hadban and Dahman. However, mitochondrial DNA studies found no clear differences distinguishing these strains in Desert-Bred and Egyptian horses.
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