Al-ITAQ will achieve its mission through knowledge sharing, research promotion, advocacy, authentication, and standard-setting activities.
Over the next few years, Al-Itaq will endeavor to:
- Create an open, collaborative, and dynamic web-based platform in both Arabic and English for the certification of individual Arabian horses based on historical and scientific information.
- Foster an online community of Arab and Western users and researchers that will collect and aggregate historical information about individual Arabian horses.
- Work with scientists and other researchers to put in place genetic testing procedures to help safeguard the integrity of the Arabian horse breed.
- Design, organize and promote cultural events and sports competitions based on traditional Arab equestrian heritage.
- Promote the digitization, translation, publication, and dissemination of foundational historical texts about the Arabian horse.
Genetic Heritage
In the realm of modern Arabian horse breeding, science can provide us with insights and tools for understanding the breed's unique genetic composition, and in answering the question of authenticity. It is our collective responsibility to perpetuate the breed's unparalleled quality and characteristics. Scientific research can work hand in hand with historical research to interpret scientific results in their cultural context. Al-Itaq believes in the role of modern science in understanding the history and drawing the future of the breed.
We testify by God and his Prophet, in truth and righteousness, that the grey horse, brother of the bay horse, which [the grey] has a small star on his face, and which is five years of age, and which was purchased by Abdel Aziz Bek and Husayn al-Hilal from Adham al-Humayyid, that he is Saqlawi Jadran, and that his dam is a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah, and his sire a Saqlawi Jadran, from the horses of Dari Ibn Mahmud, the Shaikh of the tribe of Shammar al-Zawba’; and the horse is shubuw [to be mated] and can be mated, and is protected [from the side of both] his sire and his dam, and that there is no impurity in his origin; and for this reason we have prepared this testimony, and God is the best of witnesses. August 31st, 1936
Authenticity and Modernity
The philosophy of Al-Itaq is rooted in the socio-cultural values of the breed’s first custodians, the Arab Bedouins, and in a belief in the potential of science. It adopts authentic definitions and concepts directly driven from Bedouin culture.
Al-Itaq's definition of the Arabian horse turns theory into action. The definition is elaborated on with definition notes within a set of guiding principles. Al-Itaq shall constantly develop the necessary criteria and processes along with the underlying scientific and technological tools that support an actionable definition within a governance framework.
Al-Itaq aims at guiding the community endeavors to preserve the Arab Horse identity, and shall achieve its mission through a holistic approach that involves modern science and technology adoption.