620 ASIATIC AND NORTH AFRICAN HORSES. 



14. 1. The more an Arab exceeds, say, 14.2 in height, 

 the more inchned is he to be long in the legs, light in the 

 loins, and flat-sided. We may infer from the foregoing 

 remarks, that the typical Arab is, according to our Western 

 acceptation of the term, a pony. 



Although Arabs are greatly used for racing purposes 

 on the Bombay side of India, the events in which they 

 compete, are almost always restricted to their particular 

 class or to ponies of 14 hands and under ; because, even 

 with the liberal allowances they receive from all other 

 classes, they have no chance against foreign rivals. In 

 fact, they are neither race-horses nor racing ponies. The 

 English fourteen-hand mare. Skittles, which belonged to 

 Captain Mowbray of the Black Watch, beat in a two-mile 

 match at Cairo, in 1886-7, the Arab Haddeed in a common 

 canter, when giving him 7lbs. Haddeed was looked upon 

 in Egypt as an extremely fast Arab. Mr. Kelly Mait- 

 land's 13.2 mare, Fleur de Lys, several times proved her- 

 self as fast as any Arab in India for three-quarters of a mile. 

 Taking the time test, which has been applied with great 

 precision to the running of Arabs, we find that their perfor- 

 mances in India have been much inferior to those accom- 

 plished by the English ponies. Lord Clyde (formerly the 

 property of Mr. John Watson), Predominant (Fig. 278), 

 and Labby, and by the Australian mare Achievement, 

 none of whom exceeded 14 hands in height. Even at 

 polo in England, Arabs have to take a back seat, 

 especially as the polo height has been raised to 14.2, 

 which is a height that allows English polo ponies to 

 have a large infusion of thorough-bred blood. Arabs are 

 inferior to high-class English polo ponies, not only in 

 speed, but also in cleverness. In India, a few Arabs 

 have distinguished themselves at steeple-chasing, in their 

 own class and against " country-breds," but Arabs as a 

 rule, are not nearly such clever jumpers as ponies which 

 have a strong admixture of English blood in them. 



Despite the fact that Arabs do not shine as racers, 



