62 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



seventy-six runners, only one solitary horse carried 

 above 8 stone 7 pounds, while seventy- four carried 

 a less weight down to the minimum. Were these 

 the wretched creatures to run down De Wet ? Were 

 these the boasted English thoroughbreds ? I may 

 remark in passing that it seems to me rather a funny 

 way of improving the breed, to penalize the best 

 horses by handicaps. I should rather think that the 

 best horses should be encouraged. But, really, im- 

 proving the breed is the last thing thought of. 



Mr. Burdett-Coutts, M.P., in his preface to ' The 

 Brookfield Stud in 1901,' challenges the exclusive 

 use of the thoroughbred for light horses, and writes 

 on the tendency of such sires to get long-legged 

 and weedy stock. He adds that it was time 

 that the industry of horse-breeding should shake 

 off the silken chains of sport and caprice, and 

 don the sober garb of an economic pursuit. Mr. 

 William Day caps this by saying that ' such was 

 the rage nowadays for fashion, that dwarfs or giants, 

 legs crooked or straight, are alike quickly bought at 

 any, even enormous, prices, often to their new 

 owners' sorrow' ('Racehorse in Training,' p. 126). 

 One can hardly help feeling sad : ' dwarfs or giants, 

 legs crooked or straight ' ! 



Of course, the public craze and folly spoil the 

 jockey-boys, and Mr. Day fears that the Education 

 Act will still further elevate the ideas of both men 

 and boys, who are already too prone to think them- 

 selves above their work. Certainly the education 



