marks of the firing-irons on many parts of the body are common enough. The 

 actual cautery is the sovereign remedy for almost all ailments. Scars from firing 

 of the width of two fingers, and extending from the elbows to the stifle, along the 

 whole side and belly, are very frequent; besides these, there are cicatrices from 

 wounds, principally from the lance. 



"It is not uncommon for Arab horses to stand back more or less at the knees; 

 many are stag-legged, in fact. There is no prejudice among the Arabs against 

 such a formation; many do not like it in England, whilst others, and among them 

 members of the veterinary profession, do not object to it, and some even prefer it. 

 I am not sure if such a formation is not generally accompanied with the best and 

 most lasting of legs, and we observed that when the knees were a little back the 

 heels were rather higher than usual. This stag-legged formation was of two kinds, 

 one in which the whole of the fore leg, from the knee to the pastern, inclined for- 

 ward; not only the metacarpal bones, but the back sinews, had the same direction, 

 and in many cases by the time the animal was fully grown the leg had assumed 

 an upright position. This kind may be described as accidental and genital, rather 

 than structural. The other kind is that in which the back sinew is perpendicular 

 to the ground, and the metacarpals only have the inclination backward to the knee, 

 and this is further increased in some cases and to a certain extent by the size and 

 prominence of the head of the shank-bone. This is a natural and structural for- 

 mation. All desert-bred Arabs, at least, have a long-striding, free walk. "When 

 trotting (which is quite an unusual pace among Arabs, as it is, indeed, to the horse 

 generally ; for naturally the horse does not go at a trot for any distance — as a pace of 

 the road and for harness the trot has been artificially acquired), the hind legs of 

 the Arabian appear to be, and often may be, too long, and there is too much reach 

 for a pleasant trotting pace; yet with good riding some will trot grandly, but it is 

 far more labor to the Arabian than galloping, who from the present length of the 

 hind extremities and his reach is essentially a galloper by nature, and the faster 

 the pace the more easy and the more true the action. 



"In height the Arabian in the desert, or rather (to confine my remarks more 

 strictly to those we saw) the Anazeh horse, ranges from about fourteen hands one 

 inch and a half to fifteen hands, but generally just under the latter height. We 

 remarked that we did not see any that we thought as low as fourteen hands, or 

 even perhaps fourteen hands one inch; some we measured proved to be fourteen 

 hands three inches, which is a very general height, and several would be found, I 

 have no doubt, quite fifteen hands. The height hardly varies a hand. 



"The Bedouin of these tribes admit the superiority of the Anazeh horse over 

 their own, not only by the fact that they use horses of that blood on all possible 

 occasions, but they candidly told us, 'If you wish to see or want a superior horse, 

 you must go to the Anazeh.' " 



Major Upton continues as follows : 



"There are some who aflfect to consider that horses were not known in Arabia 

 until a recent date. For example, Youatt states that 'so late as the seventh cen- 

 tury the Arabs had few horses, and those of little value.' But history says other- 

 wise when it records the fact that Rabiah-al-Faras had the horses of his ancestors 

 allotted to him. Reference to the accompanying table of descents will show that 

 David, Ki n g of Israel, was probably, or might have been, contemporary with Rabiah- 

 al-Faras. 



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