6o8 



ASIATIC AND NORTH AFRICAN HORSES. 



usually docile, and, unlike other horses in Persia, they 

 have good mouths. The fact of the Persians hogging 

 the manes of these animals, and leaving their tails long, 

 gives them a strange appearance (Fig. 585). Turkoman 

 horses are rarely seen south of Ispahan, or in the 

 Western Provinces. They are never ridden by fashionable 

 Persians, probably on account of social prejudice 



We read in Delton's La Photographic Hippique, 



Fholo by} 



Fit;. 587. — Mr. Charters' Shirazi horse (15.0). 



[W. A. Della uana. 



November, 1892, that Merv horses (Fig. 585), which are 

 Turkomans, often make the journey across the very 

 hard desert, from Merv to Khiva (280 miles), in three 

 days, while carrying a weight (including rider, saddle and 

 equipment) of about 18 stone. 



The Kurdistan Pony (Fig. 586), which is a native of the 

 province of Kurdistan in Western Persia, is a hardy little 

 animal that stands from 14 hands to 14.2, is usually of 

 a grey or bay colour, and is capable of much exertion 



