The origins of the Shagya-Araber breed can be traced to the oriental horses brought to Hungary during the ‘great migration’ of nomadic tribes from the Mongolian plateau between the 5th and 9th centuries.

Through the following centuries, when Ottoman Turks invaded and dominated large regions of eastern Europe, the oriental horses were blended with various local breeds, eventually becoming renowned throughout Europe as cavalry mounts.

In the late 1700’s, a deliberate decision was made by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to develop a specific type to meet the high demand for light cavalry horses.  Purebred Arabian stallions were selected and imported from the desert as a key part of this process, to further develop the speed and stamina needed by the cavalry.

World War II devasted the breeding program, with the breed only beginning to recover in the 1960s when European breeders recognised their genetic potential and began using them to improve various warmblood sport horse breeds.

In 1976, the breed was officially named ‘Shagya-Araber’ to distinguish it from the purebred Arabian. Shagya was the name of one of the most influential of the early Arabian imports, and proved to be a very prepotent sire.  He is found in the pedigree of nearly every Shagya-Araber horse.

The breed was accepted and approved by WAHO in 1978.  The Internationale Shagya-Araber Gesellschaft (ISG) was formed in 1983 as the governing body for the breed.  The Shagya-Araber studbook at Babolna contains an unbroken lineage back to the establishment of the stud in 1789.