long and well-carried necks, perfect heads and shoulders, and they all possess 

 the Arabian beauty of their sire. 



It was only during the last few years of Mr. Huntington's breeding expe- 

 rience that he permitted any of these rare horses to serve other than his own mares. 



Remarks by Mr. John Gilmer Speed 



The able writer, John Gilmer Speed, has remarked in his very admirable 

 book, "The Horse in America" : 



"To most horsemen in America the name of Arab is anathema. They will have 

 none of him. So far as their light goes they are quite right in their prejudice. But 

 prejudice in this instance, as in most others, is the result of ignorance." 



Mr. Speed further comments on Mr. Huntington's Arabian-Clay produc- 

 tions in part as follows : 



"Henry Clay was one of the greatest horses that ever lived in this country. 

 He was very fast, very strong, and as game as it was possible for a horse to be. He 

 founded a distinguished family, and from that family Mr. Randolph Huntington, 

 of Fleetwood Farm, Oyster Bay, Long Island, by crossing Clay mares with Arab 

 and Barb stallions, has created a type of as splendid horses as ever touched the 

 earth. And it is a great pity that the United States Government has not long ago 

 taken over all of Mr. Huntington's horses, so as to perpetuate this new and useful 

 type into a great national horse." 



Mr. Speed's remarks concerning Clay Kismet and others of Mr. Hunting- 

 ton's productions, we quote in part as follows: 



"His second attempt proves that he is entirely right, as he produces with an 

 absolute certainty two classes of as admirable horses as I have ever seen. The 

 first, and the one that ought to be most useful, is represented in the illustration in 

 this book of Clay-Kismet, and the other by Nimrod. Clay-Kismet is sixteen and 

 one-half hands high, and is as perfectly adapted for a carriage horse as any I have 

 seen — as well adapted even as the Golddust, of which I spoke in the Morgan chapter. 

 His symmetry, finish and high breeding adapt him for this, while the cleanness of 

 his action gives a final perfection that cannot fail to excite admiration in those who 

 know and love horses. He is by an Arab stallion fifteen hands in stature, out of a 

 closely inbred Clay mare, the union resulting in a horse larger than either sire or 

 dam. It is a singular thing that even the purely bred Arabs, mated by Mr. Hun- 

 tington and bred on his place, increase very much in size and action. For instance, 

 Khaled when I last saw him was fifteen hands three and one-half inches high, which 

 is something like a hand taller than either Naomi, his dam, or Nimr, his sire. Here 

 was an interesting instance of inbreeding, as Naomi was the grandam of Nimr, the 

 sire of Khaled. 



"These Clay-Arabians are as remarkable for their intelligence and docility 

 as are the Morgans. Their action is as clean and elegant, and their bottom cannot 

 be surpassed. If this double accomplishment of a single private owner be suffered 

 to be wasted, it will be a pity indeed, as well as a national reproach." 



The following remarks by Mr. Speed relate to Dr. Salmon's selection for 

 the U. S. Government stud : 



"I need not explain to the readers of this book that I do not entirely agree with 

 Dr. Salmon in his views of the American trotting horse, but in the main I do agree 

 with him in the selection of his mares." 



13 



