Page "Purebred" Paragraph 8

Sometimes the word purebred is used synonymously with pedigreed, but purebred refers to the animal having a known ancestry, and pedigree refers to the written record of breeding.

Not all purebred animals have their lineage in written form.

For example, until the 20th century, the Bedouin people of the Arabian peninsula only recorded the ancestry of their Arabian horses via an oral tradition, supported by the swearing of religiously based oaths as to the asil or " pure " breeding of the animal.

Conversely, some animals may have a recorded pedigree or even a registry, but not be considered " purebred ".

Today the modern Anglo-Arabian horse, a cross of Thoroughbred and Arabian bloodlines, is considered such a case.