BREEDING OF HORSES. 123 



connection I will refer to what has been said upon the relative 

 influence of sire and dam upon the progeny, and the idea which is 

 common among us when speaking of the Arab, and their devotion 

 to the mares of the tribe, from which the idea is obtained that the 

 dam is of more consequence in breeding than the sire. Not long 

 since I read a letter to "General Dumas," written by the celebrated 

 Arab Chief, "Abd el Kader," which was published in the fifth 

 number of "Bailey's Magazine of Sports." He remarks — "It is 

 true that the foal proceeds from the sire and from the dam, but 

 experience of ages has proved that the essential parts of the body, 

 such as the bones, the tenons, the nerves, and the veins, proceed 

 always from the sire. This is beyond all doubt, and the meanest 

 Arab knows that any malady of the bone under which the sire is 

 sufi'ering at the time of service will be perpetuated, such as splints, 

 blood and bone spavins, &c." 



This is going too far, in my opinion, especially in reference to 

 nerves, as the thorough health of the dam, whose blood in the 

 main makes up the strength of the nervous system, has, so far as 

 my experience and observation goes, a controlling influence. 

 And, further, I have in mind a stallion who is spavined in both 

 legs, who has been stinted to hundreds of mares, and a large 

 number of colts pulled through sound, while few were spavined 

 like the sire. These spavins in the sire were caused by 

 excessive labor and exertion. I am willing, however, to adopt in 

 general the proverb of the Arab, as given by Abd el Kader : "El 

 hor ilebal el fahal," — " The foal follows the sire." 



My reasons for this conclusion have been previously given. 

 And as English and French writers upon horses dwell much upon 

 the writings of this celebrated Arab chief, in his descriptions of 

 his favorite animal, I shall take the liberty to give his ideas of the 

 relative value of the sexes. He describes the horses of the desert 

 as distinguishd under the following heads: "El Horr," "El 

 Hagdin," "El llekueref" "El Berdoune." "El Horr"isthat 

 in which the sire and dam are both of noble race, and thus takes 

 the lead. 



" El Hadgin " is that in which the sire is noble and the dam of 

 common race. It is considered less than " El Horr," its name 

 Hadgin, or defective, being derived from the word "Hurdjess," 

 which signifies faulty. 



" El Mekueref " is that in which the dam is high bred and the 

 sire half bred. Although this approaches the Hadjess, it is of 



