Meaning of ‘Purebred’
The Purebred Morab Horse Association (PMHA) chose to use the word ‘purebred’ to portray that the breed has documented Morgan to Arabian bloodlines. The argument tends to take the issue as ‘it’s not a purebred because it has two types of horses’. That is one way to regard the ‘word’ purebred, however in the case of the Morab, the bloodlines come from documented Morgan and Arabian stock ONLY. No other bloodlines are permitted and the Morab comes from documented parentage.
Historical Background.
The word ‘Morab’ was coined by William Hearst Sr,, a cattle rancher in California, in the early 1920’s. Early stock was referred to as a Morab, on ‘type’. In other words, there were features of the Morgan and Arabian breeds. Originally, there were some registries that did register Morabs, but not always did the Morab have documented Morgan to Arabian heritage. During the 1980’s and 1990’s there was a concern that Morabs who did not have documented, or incomplete, Morgan to Arabian parentage (i.e. registered on ‘type’) should not be regarded as the ‘same’ as the fully documented Morab with Morgan to Arabian parentage. The issue of ‘type’ vs ‘pure’ became a concern to the purchaser who desired a Morab with true Morgan to Arabian parentage vs the Morab with incomplete documentation. To change breeding philosophy is a bitter pill for any breeder and thus it was difficult for a change to take place to move into the future of the Morab breed.
New Beginnings – PMHA
The North American Morab Horse Association (NAMHA), however, did take the steps to make a change in registration requirements. NAMHA separated out the ‘type’ Morabs from the ‘pure’ Morabs and founded the Purebred Morab Horse Association (PMHA) in 1998. The word ‘pure’ in this case signifies that the Morab has documented Morgan and Arabian parentage. Furthermore, PMHA initiated DNA of stock, as a registration requirement, foaled from year 2000 and after, with the UC Davis lab in California. For Morab breeding formula and other related information about the breed, be sure to view the articles on this web site.