That's pure nonsense & completely untrue. In fact, although Arabians aren't my breed(s) & I'm not up on the Arabian standards, I would think that blue eyes might be scored against rather than the other way around.

That said, out of all the Arabians I've ever seen - including an Arabian breeding farm just a few miles from me - I have not seen a one that had blue or "wall" eyes.

I think someone was talking through their hat. Trying to visualise our past stallions with blue eyes and failing :)
As a desert horse, pale eye colour would have been a no-no. Something described as a large, dark, full eye is the breed description.
However blue eyes appear to acceptable in the various Arab derivatives, excluding thoroughbred and probably warmblood crosses.
Rose

I concur. Not an Arab person, but I don't recall ever seeing a blue/glass eyed arab. I imagine they are out there,and as Breezy said it would seem to me it would be considered a fault. Personaly I don't like blue eyes in a horse or dog for that matter. I've got a paint out here with 2 blue eyes, he's a nice guy but ya just never know what he's thinkin' LOL.

i used to show arabians. never even SAW one with blue eyes. i think somebody is pulling the wool over yours. ;)

my paint gelding has two blue eyes. had a guy ride up to me on a trail ride one time. said to me "gee, your horse has a gorgeous head and really nice markings. too bad he's blind." duh!

both of my siberian huskies had blue eyes. people called them "spooky". :)

I knew this was plain ole BS!!!But the woman sounded soo convincing, and then her friend with arabs showed up--and BOTH insisted they were right.My son of Nelcrest Champagn+, has beautiful dark eyes--and I couldnt think of the term "wall-eyed" guess if you have abnormality you must try to convince everyone its required, and NOT a undesirable trait.none of the 17 i've had were ever blue eyes--Thanks for assuring me I'm right!! altho trying to convince them different would be like convincing everyone to be vegeteraians-lol

I would think the blue eyes are genetic, as are the pinto, paint markings. Arabs don't seem to have the large bald-faces, splashes of white that cover the eye area of the other breeds. Most common markings are stars, strips, blaze, leg markings, but nothing more. Some Arab lines have wide blazes, lots of white trim, even white body splashes in the barrel areas, but not bald faces.

Skin color seems to affect eye color. White markings over the eye area, seems to go with blue eyes. I have seen the two-color eyeball, where the white and brown face color line cuts across the eyeball. Part blue-part brown eye colors both in the iris. Skin color or lack of it (pink), seems to affect the pigmentation in the eye. The Appaloosas with the mottling, spotting around their eyes, seem to be enough pigmentation to color the eyes dark in most cases.

In any case, the lack of dark color skin and light eyes, often leads to eye problems. I know the pinto and Paint folks are doing the tatooing to color skin around eyes for sun relief. I personally don't care for the light eyes on a horse, mostly from the extra care needed aspect. Heck, even having a blaze face horse, I needed to keep her nose sun screened at shows to prevent burning. Why would I want to sunscreen the WHOLE FACE?? Why would I want to BREED such a problem into my line of horses? This is here in the eastern Midwest, the desert areas would be awful. Cruelty to take pink-skinned horses to those areas and make them work outside. Even the white Arabs have black skin, one of their noted features for protection from the sun. The large, liquid, dark Arab eyes sure would not be the same in blue! Used to be the blue-eyed horses were not desirable for the problems and prejudice mentioned above. Were few and far between except as showy or circus animals. They just didn't get bred or survive well in daily working, living conditions, so were weeded out of the breeding pool.

I like colored horses, all kinds of good marked spotted horses. I just think the breeding of white faced, white headed horse is not a good breeding idea. They do have more problems, have to get special care to stay comfortable in using conditions.

I have NEVER seen a blue eyed pure Arab, and MAYBE one, blue eyed Part-Arab horse in many years of showing and competing horses. Probably are other Part-Arabs with a blue eye, just very uncommon. Arabs are quite prepotent, stronger genetics made for smaller white markings on faces that colts end up marked with.
I do remember a "Pintabian?" group that had colored Part-breds. Photos were all of blazes, stars, on dark heads, spotty bodies. It was a local person (Minn. area? ) promoting their breeding with a special name.

Has anyone ever seen a true albino horse? I know they're not supposed to exist, just wondering if maybe one does! ;)

I've never owned them, but I used to do a lot of reading and dreaming about Arabians. :) I'd be very surprised to see a blue-eyed Arabian. One of the breed characteristics (besides the dark, liquid eye already mentioned!) is black skin, even on the palest grays ("whites"). That, to me, is part of their beauty! I think a dark muzzle looks SO much prettier than a pink one. Blue eyes just DON'T go with the black skin and the limited white markings.

Complete BS.

Blue eyes are USUALLY associated with lots of white markings around the eye - you do see blue eyes in pinto horses. However, I dont know how prevalent the various pinto genes are in the Arab breed. There are two half-Arabs in my barn that are pintos and have three blue eyes between them.

Am going to be digging up what I can on this...going by what those of you from the US say, a disproportionate number of chestnuts and greys with extensive white markings (possibly restricted to the Crabbett blood horses??) were brought to Australia from the UK before Egyptian, Polish bloodlines etc came on the scene. Certainly the greys of all tones have black skin underneath as do any belly patches on a chestnut Arab but the snips and leg marking do not. Hence there are problems of sun exposure and fungal eczema in wet weather, in the tropics at least. Can't swear to the higher parts of a blaze.
Rose

Any excuse to surf the net on my pet breed. That led me to the sabino gene and these horses
http://www.sabinoarabs.com/

Then I called an Arab judge and historian in Australia. She has seen a very few blue-eyed purebreds; in each case, there was a baldy face where the white marking included the eye. The blue eye would not therefore be downgraded, but she agreed with me that it, along with the pink nose, was an undesirable trait in our environment.

Thinking back, two of our working horse purebreds with pink noses developed skin cancers inside the nostril. My horse died of a large secondary tumor which on postmortem was found to have surrounded his jugular vein and carotid artery. (Thankfully, he went quickly.)
Rose

Great details Rose. Thanks for doing the work.

It was fun, goodhors.....I wish someone would pay me to play on Google :)
Rose

Prettiest horse I ever saw up close was a Lippizaner with green eyes, he was part bred, not pure.

Smart old fella, cream all over, long mane and so forth, but those eyes were pretty!

Well I know this is late but I used to own a purebred Arabian mare with 1 and 1/2 blues eyes. She was a chesnut that grayed. I still own her daughter who stayed a chestnut. Both of these horses are sabinos. Of pinto color. They have wide balzes but are not close to the eye. Both had 3 high white stockings and belly spots. They blue eye goes with the sabino gene. They aren't unheard of just not very common. Joeleana had black around her eyes. You can see her on the www.allbreedpedigree.com/joeleana site. Just type in her name. and click on her picture.
So it isn't a myth. Some arabians do have blue eyes!

Blue eyes are said to be from pinto or dilute genes and some lines of appaloosa. Of those, only sabino is possible in pure blooded Arabians. I called a good friend who is an Arab judge just to be sure of this. He said that blue eyes are rare in Arabs, but not unheard of because of the sabino gene. He has only seen it a couple of times in his 25 years of judging and those were one blue eye or partials.

I confirmed this on equinecolor.com as well.

Amy

In the 45 years I worked with and owned Arabians I only knew two with a blue eye. One horse was purebred bay with a wide blaze and the blaze went over one eye, that eye was blue. One a black partbred with two blue eyes, it was quite dramatic.

When I lived out west, I had a friend who had a palomino stallion with two blue eyes. They called him "Stoney".

My palomino was born with blue-green eyes, but they turned very dark within 3 days. I was so sad!

Blue eyes on an arabian? Go to Midwest Arabian Breeders Cup.com and check out the Stallions listed to see the purebred Arabian colt, RFR The Iceman. According to Phil Sponenberg, one of the leading equine geneticists in the world, The Iceman's eyes and pattern are recorded among desert arabians as long ago as the 1400's. A 15th century painting of King Philip of Spain shows his favorite Arabian Stallion, a Sabino with white markings and 2 blue eyes. As for the physical mechanics of the blue eye, both Dr. Sponenberg and the UW Madison Vet School say they function exactly like and as well as the dark eye. The famous Khimosabi line in Arabians is noted for the sabino markings and the blue eyes that often accompany the sabino gene. Do take a look at The Iceman who, by the way won a halter championship in his only open show in 2008. He is actually a race and performance bred Arabian so it was quite a feat. Say what you will but just imagine all the little old ladies who are going to bet on him for no other reason than those beautiful 'Baby-blues'. Also, Sponenberg expects him to pass on his pattern and eyes to almost 50% of his progeny.

Here is a link that might be useful: Midwest Arabian Breeders Cup