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Shagya-Arabian should be beautiful and balanced, with an expressive face, a well-shaped neck, a good topline, a long croup with a well-carried tail, and strong, dry legs. Most importantly, he should move correctly in all three basic gaits. Shagya-Arabians are typically 15 to 16 hands in height (with occasional individuals over and under) and with a minimum of 7 inches of bone at the cannon. Grey is the most common color, although there are also bay, chestnut and black Shagya-Arabians. 

The Shagya-Arabian horse was developed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire over 200 years ago. The breed originated from the need for a horse with the endurance, intelligence and character of an Arabian but with larger size and carrying capacity required by the Imperial Hussars. Over time, Shagya-Arabians were utilized both as carriage and light riding horses. The registry of the breed is the oldest next to the registry of the English Hunt Club.

The Shagya-Arabian was originally developed at the Imperial Stud at Babolna, Hungary. Failed experiments with Spanish and Thoroughbred blood eventually led the breeders at Babolna to a cross of native Hungarian mares with stallions of pure Desert Arabian blood. Shagya-Arabian bloodlines were also developed at the stud farms at Radautz (Hungary), Topolcianky (Czechoslovakia), Mangalia (Rumania), and Kabijuk (Bulgaria).  

The breed takes its name from the dapple-grey stallion Shagya, born in 1810. The Bani Saher tribe of Bedouins, who lived in what is now Syria, bred Shagya and sold him to agents of the Habsburg monarchy. In 1836, he became the breeding stallion at Babolna. Shagya was prepotent and appears in almost all Shagya-Arabian pedigrees.

One of the purposes of the Shagya-Arabian breed has always been as improvers of other breeds. Shagya-Arabian stallions appear in the bloodlines of many warmblood breeds, including the influential stallions Gazal VII and Bajar. The Shagya-Arabian mare "Jordi" is the dam of the great warmblood stallion "Ramzes". "Ramzes" descendant "Rembrandt" won the 1988 Olympic Gold Medal for dressage.

Shagya-Arabians not only served as cavalry horses, they were also prized as parade horses by European royalty. The Imperial Guard of the Habsburgs was always mounted on Shagya-Arabians. Every royal officer regarded it as a privilege to be able to ride a Shagya-Arabian. The toughness, courage, endurance and rideability of these horses was legendary among European horsemen. The motto of the Hungarian breeders was "Nothing but the best is good enough".