The Sardinian Anglo-Arab or Anglo-Arabo Sardo is an Italian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of riding horse from the Mediterranean island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. It derives from cross-breeding of local mares with stallions of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, Anglo-Arab and

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

stock. Breeding began in 1874; the breed was officially recognised in 1967.

History

Breeding of what would become the Sardinian Anglo-Arab began in 1874, when the or royal stud was established at Ozieri in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

in northern Sardinia. There indigenous Sardinian mares were put to Oriental stallions of the Purosangue Orientale breed, with the aim of producing riding horses suitable for military use in the army of the new Italian state. From 1883 both French Anglo-Arab and

stallions were also used; from 1915 to 1937 the use of these was discontinued and only

stallions were employed. The demand for military horses was already substantially reduced by this time, and following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

became negligible; from that time the horses were bred principally for competitive sport. Since the 1960s the major influence on the development of the breed has been the French Anglo-Arab. The Anglo-Arabo Sardo was officially recognised in 1967. It is registered in the second section of the

stud-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders w ...

of the Sella Italiano. Like other sporting horses, it falls under the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture; the stud-book is kept by the , the national association of animal breeders. In 2018 the breeding stock stood at just over head, consisting of 134 stallions and brood-mares. In 2022 the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of the breed was reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

as 'at risk'/'endangered'.

Characteristics

The Sardinian Anglo-Arab is markedly Oriental in appearance. It is dolichomorphic in outline, lightly built but strong. The head is light and square, with a straight profile, small ears and large eyes and nostrils. The skin is fine, the coat fine, short and silky, with abundant mane and tail; the principal colours are bay,

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

, less often

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

Use

The Anglo-Arabo Sardo was originally bred as a riding horse for military use. Since about the time of the Second World War it has been bred principally for competitive sport. It is particularly suitable for three-day eventing, but is also used for show-jumping and in races held specifically for half-blood horses, of which there are many in Sardinia; most of the horses that run in the Palio di Siena are of this breed. In the three-day event, an early success was that of Rohan de Lechereo, ridden by Marina Sciocchetti, in the team which took the silver medal at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in Moscow in 1980.

References

{{Horse breeds of Italy Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Italy Fauna of Sardinia Part-Arabian breeds of horses and ponies