THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ARAB HORSE 105 



all appearances was as young as ever, especially 

 when mounted. 



He explains a peculiarity of the pure Arab, that 

 of sometimes looking as if he were hollow-backed, 

 which, he points out, is not really the case. He 

 shows that Eclipse rose very little on his withers, 

 and was higher behind than before, that in the 

 Arabian also the hind-quarters are frequently higher 

 than the fore-hand, and that in picking Arabs for 

 racing it is not a bad plan to take Eclipse as a 

 model. He points out that the Hon. A. Stewart's 

 famous Arab was a horse whose measurements 

 were 14 hands and -^ inch at the withers, and 

 14 hands 2^ inches over the loins, for which at first 

 he was more laughed at than admired ; but after he 

 had shown his quality all the self-styled judges, as 

 usual, merely said that no one could form an opinion 

 of an Arab. That is the polite way of putting it. 

 In plain language, their eyes have got so accustomed 

 to the weedy, long-legged sprinter that they do not 

 know a true horse when they see him. 



Having, so to speak, launched the subject with 

 the opinions of an English soldier who had spent 

 the best hours of his life in the saddle, I propose 

 now to set forth some extracts from a book by a man 

 of another European nationality, also a military 

 man, necessarily free from the idiosyncrasies of an 

 Englishman, and uninfluenced either by goody- 

 goodiness or sport — a stern, hard-headed soldier. 

 It may be his misfortune, but perhaps he never saw 



