6o THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



him for being ignorant, and the ' poor ignorant 

 breeder ' goes his way rejoicing. Yet the poor 

 fellow is not entirely to blame, because till South 

 Africa was discovered there was none to show him 

 the contrary. 



Mr. De Vere Hunt speaks of weeds and wastrels 

 as fostered for speed at short distances under light 

 weights, so that for one sound weight-carrying and 

 long-running racehorse an abnormally great 

 number of unsound, weedy half-milers or four- 

 furlong shadows can be polled. Even Mr. Day, 

 who at times so cracks up the English thorough- 

 bred, says that ' wiseacres prefer to breed from a 

 stallion that has been parted with chiefly on account 

 of disease, or a defect which really renders him quite 

 unfit to be a sire.' That sentiment is very emphati- 

 cally verified, as above mentioned, by the statement 

 in the Australian Stud- Book that many of the 

 Australian-bred sires are not worthy of entry. No 

 wonder if Mr. Day be right ! 



An article on colour in horses in the Australasian, 

 January 14, 1899, incidentally states that the short- 

 distance handicaps are believed by many horse- 

 breeders, and he thinks with much reason, to be the 

 cause of the falling off in the thoroughbred. How 

 gingerly it is put — ' are believed '! Again I say, Why, 

 they know it. Mr. Adye says that it is no exaggera- 

 tion to say that nine-tenths of our racehorses are 

 hopelessly and helplessly used up before maturity. 

 I shall again refer to Mr. Adye. 



