SHAGYA HISTORY

Shagya breeding in America officially began in 1986 with the founding of the North American Shagya-Arabian Society. NASS is a member of the International Shagya-Araber Gesellshaft (ISG) which is the international body supporting the breeding and preservation of the Shagya-Arabian breed.

The Shagya-Arabian Horse was developed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire over 200 years ago. The breed originated from the need for a horse with the endurance, intelligence and character of an Arabian but with larger size and carrying capacity required by the Imperial Hussars. Over time, Shagya's were utilized both as carriage and light riding horses. The registry of the breed is the oldest next to the registry of the English Hunt Club.

The breed takes its name from the dapple-grey stallion Shagya, born in 1810. Shagya was prepotent and appears in almost all Shagya pedigrees.

One of the purposes of the Shagya has always been as improvers of other breeds. Shagya mares and stallions appear in the bloodlines of many warmblood breeds.

Shagya breeding in America officially began in 1986. The American foundation stallion was Hungarian Bravo, whose parents *Pilot (born at the Janow-Podlaski Stud in Poland in 1939) and *52 Gazall I (born at the Babolna State Stud in Hungary in 1937) were brought to America in 1947 under the direction of General Patton as prizes of war. Bravo began his purebred Shagya breeding career when he was 24 years old. He produced three sons and eleven daughters which are being used in Venezuela where he is helping to found Shagya breeding in South America.