SOME of the world's finest Arab horses were on display in Purton as a breeder opened his doors to the public.

Visitors from South Africa, America, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand came to Geoffrey Plaister's stables to see his rare collection of pure bred Crabbet horses.

The animals' pedigree can be traced directly to the desert horses brought to England by Lady Anne Blunt of Crabbet Park in Sussex in 1877.

By 1881 Lady Blunt had imported 29 desert bred mares and stallions into the country and in 1920 the horses were passed down to Lady Blunt's daughter Lady Wentworth. Mr Plaister's horses are all bred from animals bought 31 years ago from the son of Lady Went-worth's head groom.

Mr Plaister, 73, is a former farmer who ran a shop in Wootton Bassett High Street with his wife Barbara, 73. He says breeding the horses is his hobby and something he wanted to do since he was young. He said: "I was brought up on a farm and I loved seeing the Arab horses going into the yearling sales. They were such graceful horses with such intelligent faces that I wanted to breed them when I grew up.

"They come from the horses Bedouins used so they have great temperaments. In Arabia the horses are part of the family so you find these horses are great with children and love people."