We all recognise the many attributes of Arabian horses in general - their beauty and elegance, keen intelligence and fortitude, their distinctive physique, their friendliness and the comfort they give their rider.

However, what the Bedouins most prize is purity - and that is where Crabbet Arabians have no equal. Their ancestors were treasured by the nomads of the Near East, especially for their ferocity in battle and gentleness in the tent, their loyalty and their endurance.

A mare's mating was of the greatest importance as the harsh terrain seldom allowed them to breed a foal more than once every three or four years. 'Match-makers' based in cities like Homs and Hama (in modern-day Syria) advised on the most suitable stallion for each particular mare. The mating was witnessed to ensure purity, and a 'hujja' (signed pedigree) was produced by a scribe. The mare's influence on her foal during its formative years ensured it absorbed her qualities, making the 'tail female' line of great importance.

In the late 1880s, wealthy English land-owners, Wilfrid and Lady Anne Blunt, aware of the value of these Oriental horses, sought their attributes to introduce to their Crabbet Park Stud. Arabian stallions had been widely used in the Old World to improve native breeds, but no stud with pure-bred mares existed in England.

So, on horseback, the couple followed the desert sheikhs' hoof prints from camp to camp, Lady Anne riding side-saddle the entire time. From the Gomussa, the Rualla, and other renowned horse-breeding tribes, they managed to acquire Kuhaylan mares of the finest quality to bring home. Lady Anne in particular verified their bloodlines through many generations, studied their 'hujjas' and, as an accomplished artist, painted or drew as many of their relatives as she could authenticate. Lady Anne recounted and illustrated the romance - and tribulations - of these years in two books: 'Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates' and 'A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the Cradle of the Arab Race'.

As the Bedouin rarely parted with their precious mares, the Blunts' commitment, and their knowledge of both Arabic and horses, helped them achieve what other travellers had failed to do. To these tough resilient mares and early sires such as Azrek, the Blunts added some elegant horses from the collection of Ali Pasha Sherif in Egypt over the next decade, most notably the superlative stallion Mesaoud and the beautiful white mare Sobha.

Almost all of those that survived the sea journey back to England bred on successfully at Crabbet Park. The Blunts' daughter Lady Wentworth inherited the stud - after various scandalous acts on the part of her father! The horses developed and grew so well in the lush English pastures, they grew in stature and took the top honours at the leading horse shows. This attracted the attention of important overseas breeders and heads of state. There is hardly a national stud anywhere in the world that is not based in part on Crabbet-bred horses. Almost all current world champions - within only a few generations - trace to Crabbet horses. Pure Crabbet stallion Magic Domino, bred at Gadebrook in 1988 but exported to America for top level dressage success, was awarded the ultimate accolade of 'Living Legend', accorded to only 12 Arabian horses out of 350,000, once every 25 years!

Endurance riders seek their bloodlines for their soundness and temperament. Hachim, also bred at Gadebrook Stud, was bought for HH Sh Hazza bin Sultan al Nayhan as a six-year old in 2000. He carried the young sheikh to victory in the World Endurance Championships over 160kms in the record time of 7 hours 2 minutes!

The Blunts' importation was of such significance that the illustrious General Stud Book (GSB), created in 1793 to register all Thoroughbred race horses, allowed them to be listed in their Oriental section. These early lines can all claim GSB status, identifying the quality of their origins.

Once the Arab Horse Society, formed in 1918, published their own Arab Horse Stud Book (AHSB), the GSB closed to new Arabian admissions after Skowronek in 1921.

Crabbet Arabians have been victims of their own success as they have been out-crossed to improve the merits of other lines. This has left the pool of pure genes depleted in their homeland.

What Britain has lost, Australia has gained, flourishing from the progeny of horses imported from Crabbet Park by Mrs Dora McLean to her Fenwick Stud in Victoria. The first, Rafina, arrived in 1925 - exactly a century ago!

The three most influential stallions of pure Crabbet lines exported from England to Australia more recently are Greylight by Bright Shadow out of Royal Radiance (imported in utero in 1958 - in the days when horses went by sea!); the bright chestnut Sindh by Silver Vanity; and the tall elegant bay Riffal by Naufal bred by Lady Yule of Hanstead Stud from horses bought from Lady Wentworth.

Fortunately, Mrs McLean's grand-daughter Vicki Johnson still runs Fenwick stud, preserving valuable lines that have helped establish families for so many other breeders. Australia's other notable Crabbet studs include Arfaja, Pevensey, Moonlite, Mill Park, Inshallah and Erin Park.

Crabbet horses have contributed greatly to Australia's success in endurance racing. However, too much of this has been at the expense of lines now lost to Britain.

To ensure a fresh supply of bloodlines to replenish the gene pool, three committed British breeders - Anne Brown of Gadebrook Stud, John Illingworth of Wickenford Stud and Deborah Duncan of Moorland Arabian Stud - have brought back three pure Crabbet mares from Australia. As a bonus, the mares are all in foal to pure Crabbet performance stallions.

That in itself is a huge achievement on the part of the Australian stallion owners, as their breeding season is the other way round to the northern hemisphere. To foal in a European spring, mares needed to be covered in the antipodean autumn when the mares were at their least 'romantic'. It took two frustrating breeding seasons for the pregnancy scans to show positive.

The stud owners persevered, and, if all goes well, five-year old Kendra Park Zaraelia, will be the first to foal in 2026 - to athletic bay Fenwick Just Brilliant. Zaraelia, bred by Sean and Ken Johnson, is by the elegant Arfaja Starfire and out of Kendra Park Zefia by Arfaja Nassif. Fenwick Just Brilliant's generous owners, Darryl and Steph King of Shanadarr Stud, are delighted that their stallion was chosen for the Boomerang Gang's initial covering. In gratitude, Deborah and Anne sent over an illuminated pedigree by Alexia Ross, herself a keen supporter of Crabbet Arabians.

Now the hunt was on for other suitable mares with genes lost to Britain for decades. The trio managed to locate mares descended from Arabians brought to Britain from the Near East before 1920 and therefore registered in the GSB.

A descendant of the original imports and doyenne of the Macleans' breeding programme, Fenwick Brilliant Star, now 28, appears in two of the lines the Boomerang Gang has acquired. The neat little ridden mare Wollemi Park Amerah Al'Sara is by the Australian World Arab Horse Organization (WAHO) Trophy winner, Arfaja Alexi, and out of Fenwick Brilliant Diamond. Amerah has been covered by the prolific bay endurance producer, Inshallah Maximus. Anne greatly admires Inshallah Stud's powerful horses, having visited the stud twice. She selected the Crabbet bay mare Inshallah Signature to import to her Gadebrook Stud back in 2012. Signature has produced a number of successful horses, including endurance winner Shaarif and brood mare Bright Moonlight, currently in foal to Binley Silvern Mujiza, himself of 50% Austalian Crabbet lines. Now 28, Signature still pounds around the Gadebrook paddocks in the very best of health.

Then, much to Anne's delight, the mature bay Pevensey Zaraya (by Magic Prophecy) unexpectedly became available with the reduction of Danjera Stud.

Zaraya will replace her dam, Pevensey Zariffia, the iconic mare whom Anne imported as a six-year old with Inshallah Signature in 2012. Tragically, Zariffia died foaling her fine colt, Hadiya, in 2016 leaving a huge hole at Gadebrook. Hadiya's first foal crop in 2020 - Kamellia, Bright Moonlight and Hazar - are now forging their careers in dressage, endurance and the breeding barn.

Zaraya already has a daughter and two sons in Australia so had no problem conceiving to bay Danjera Saroyan. He is by Pevensey Safari, the impressive sire of Palma Benay whom Anne imported as a two-year old in 2007. On his dam Danjera Phaedra's side, Saroyan carries a line to Arabian Park Phaeton. In leading breeder Leon Bennet's words: "Phaeton was an absolute magnificent horse with action to die for."

It is hoped that Zaraya will also restore the height and elegance of this valuable line.

The Boomerang plan's logistics have been time-consuming and costly. Sourcing the best mares, getting them covered in Australia's autumn, keeping them for months with cooperative breeders ('agistment'), arranging vetting, transport, quarantine, flights, 'flu inoculations, export documents, British import formalities, insurance and a dozen other details, has been demanding.

That two of the mares were maiden just added to the complications!

The British breeders are very grateful for the support from the generous stallion owners in Australia who donated the coverings for the wider Crabbet cause.

A fourth import, the beautiful winning show mare Arfaja Bisharah (Mill Park Blaidd x Pevensey Baybe, the full sister of Pevensey Safari), is solely owned by John. She should prove to the British just how beautiful and elegant a Crabbet horse can be.

The mares moved into 30-day quarantine in Melbourne in July and flew to Heathrow with IRT in early August where the most enormous transporter awaited them at the Animal Reception Centre.

Crabbet friends around the world, including Leon Bennet in New Zealand, the Kings in Australia, Wesley Hayes in South Africa, the Thomasons in Tennessee, had followed their progress on a flight app, from Melbourne to Singapore, then on to Sharjah and finally London.

Once the three brood mares were off-loaded, Deborah and Anne settled them into deep straw bedsat Gadebrook in the early hours of 8 August - and were delighted to see them drink enthusiastically. In the early morning, the mares were introduced to their paddock and grazed for an hour in hand to ensure they behaved like sensible matrons on release - and not like teenage tearaways.

How they welcomed their freedom! However, coming from 'winter' in Australia, their coats were longer than they needed for the scorching heat that England enjoyed this summer.

The foals, inshallah, will be jointly bred, with the first owned by Anne and subsequent foals alternating between the partners.

The generous support of the Australian Crabbet community has been crucial to success. Gratitude is due to stallion owners Darryl and Steph King at Shanadarr, Gail Rooney at Danjera and Nikki Sample (joint winner of this year's 160 kms Quilty Cup) at Stirling Performance Arabians.

"Let's hope the results justify their faith in us," says Anne.

Selwyn Wallace, the director at IRT (International Racehorse Transport), organised all their flights and transportation for their quarantine.

They assured us: "The mares are fed a rising plane of nutrition, to put on about 7-10kg a week as even frequent flyers can lose 10-15kg on the flight. By adding this weight beforehand, we aim to counteract this."
IRT also handled the legal side, and ensured correct payment of UK import taxes and VAT (a colossal 20% on the cost of both the horse and the flight).

The Plaister Charity, based on the core of Crabbet horses bred by Geoffrey Plaister at his Imperial Stud, has supported the project.

"The latest Boomerang plan, led by Anne Brown, represents a significant investment in the future of the Crabbet Arabian in the UK," confirms Mark Tindall, the Charity's Chair of Trustees.

"Its importance cannot be over-estimated. It brings in four of the best mares available from Australia, carrying classic bloodlines.

"This will benefit breeders and riders who care about preserving the original Crabbet lines with their important attributes for endurance, versatility and easy-going temperaments. The time, effort and money that Anne, John and Deborah have invested in this spectacular project for our Crabbet Arabian horses is to be applauded," concludes Mark.

The Boomerang Plan operates in both directions. Anne's 2009 Crabbet filly Silver Sunbeam (Binley Prince Salim x PHA Silver Heart), bred at Gadebrook, was snapped up by OSO Arabians in NSW and is producing her own family in Australia. Anne's high percentage Crabbet mare Rusleema (Rusleem x Sunne in Silver) Has provided Lynne Bunce with a string of fine foals at Mattilda Arabians in Western Australia.

May this rewarding exchange produce yet more fine Crabbet performance horses.

Anne is a former Hon President of the Arab Horse Society and Chairman of the AHS Premium Performance Scheme

Anne Brown initiated the Boomerang Plan in 2007. She was inspired by the quality of the horses at the many Crabbet studs she visited in 2005 and by the horses paraded at the World Crabbet Convention in Toowoomba that year. She also wanted to restore the almost-lost bay gene.

Bowled over by Leon's glamorous working stock horse, Pevensey Safari, and his bay filly foal Palma Benay from Petra Benay, Anne managed to acquire Palma. However, flying her over as a two-year old in 2007 coincided with Australia's first-ever outbreak of Equine Influenza (EI) which decimated the country's horse population. They had no vaccines. All horses were isolated. No vets, farriers, feed deliveries or other movements were allowed on properties where horses lived. Armed guards patrolled state borders.

Palma, and two-year old colt, Erin Park Excel, were stranded together at Kulnura Quarantine Centre in Sydney. By some miracle, this highly contagious disease passed right over without affecting any horses there. The youngsters' departure was delayed by three months, costing money for their keep that had not been budgeted for. The only alternative was to shoot the horses!

Fortunately, Palma eventually landed safely in England and has proved a prolific brood mare, with her latest colt, Imperial Fire Dancer, at the Plaister Charity. A great-grandson will stand at stud in Cornwall, and her third and fourth generations are flourishing in Spain and Sweden through her son Dandini. Her bay pure Australian son Palermo by Excel, stands in the West Country and has just produced his first pure-bred filly.

The two big bay mares, Pevensey Zariffia by Ghazari, and Inshallah Signature by Crenel (in foal to Monarch Lodge Ambition), followed in 2012 and settled into Gadebrook Stud.

Pevensey Zariffia's colt Hadiya by Binley Prince Salim was one of the finest pure Crabbets of his generation and set for a great future. Then he tragically broke his leg in his trainer's paddock in 2020 at just five years old. Fortunately, he left three impressive foals that year: fillies Bright Moonlight (x Inshallah Signature) and ridden novice Kamellia (x UK WAHO-trophy winner Kamillah), plus colt Hazar from AHS Premium pure Crabbet mare Azarina, the fourth generation of Gadebrook breeding. Hazar has been selected for the Scottish Endurance team for this year's Home International.