than back sinew. This last is perhaps the finest point of the Arabian, in whom a 

 •breakdown' seldom or never occurs. The bones of the pastern joints are fine, some- 

 times too fine for strength, and the pastern itself is long even to weakness. Its length 

 is a point much regarded by the Arabs as a sign of speed. The hoofs are round 

 and large, and very hard, though, from the barbarous method of shoeing and par- 

 ing of the foot practiced by the desert blacksmiths, a stranger might doubt this. 

 The toe is often cut ludicrously short, out of economy, to save frequent shoeing. 



"The only defect of the Arabian as a race horse, compared with our own, is his 

 small size. Inch for inch there can be no question which is the faster horse. 



"It is commonly said in England that the Arabian has but one pace — the gal- 

 lop; and in a certain sense this is true. Trotting is discouraged by the Bedouin 

 colt breakers, who, riding on an almost impossible pad, and without stirrups, find 

 that pace inconvenient. But with a little patience the deficiency can easily be rem- 

 edied and good shoulder action given. No pure bred Arabian, however, is a high 

 stepper. His style of galloping is long and low, the counterpart of our English 

 thoroughbreds. He is a careless, but by no means a bad or dangerous walker. It 

 is considered a great point of breeding that a horse should look about him to right 

 and left as he walks ; and this, combined with the great length of his pasterns, makes 

 him liable to trip on even ground, if there are slight inequalities in his road. I have 

 never, however, seen him even in danger of falling. The horse is too sure of his footing 

 to be careful, except on rough ground, and then he never makes a false step. The 

 broken knees one comes across are almost always the result of galloping colts before 

 they are strong enough over rocky ground, and, though a fearful disfigurement in our 

 eyes, are thought nothing of by the Bedouins. The reputation so often given to 

 the Arabian, of being a slow walker, is the reverse of true. Though less fast than 

 the Barb, he walks well beyond the average pace of our own horses. His gallop, as 

 I have said, is long and low, and faster in proportion to his height than that of any 

 other breed. If one could conceive an Arabian seventeen hands high, he could 

 not fail to leave the best horse in England behind him. As it is, he is too small to 

 keep stride with our race horses. 



"The Arabian is a bold jumper, indeed the boldest in the world. Though in 

 their own country they had had absolutely no knowledge of fences, not one of the 

 mares we brought home with us has made any difficulty about going at the fences 

 we tried them at. One of them, on the evening of her arrival in England, on being 

 let loose in the park, cleared the fence which is five feet six inches high. We pulled 

 down the lower rails after this, and walked her back under the top one, a thick oak 

 rail which was several inches higher than her wither. Another, though only four- 

 teen hands two inches, clears seven yards in her stride over a hurdle. The mare I 

 rode on the journey carried me over the raised water courses by the Euphrates in 

 the cleverest way in the world, off and on without the least hanging or hesitation, 

 and always with a foot ready to bring down in case of need. 



"Of the galloping powers, as compared with those of English thoroughbreds, 

 I cannot speak from experience. I do not, however, suppose that over three miles, 

 the longest English race, an Arabian would have much chance against any but quite 

 inferior animals. Over five miles it might be different, but over twenty I am con- 

 vinced that none but very exceptional English horses would be able to go with them. 

 The Arabians seem capable of going on for surprising distances under heavy weights 

 without tiring ; and they have the advantage of being able to stand almost any amount 

 of training without going 'stale.' The thoroughbred Anazeh horse will train as fine 

 as any English race horse. Be this as it may, there is no doubt that the pure bred 

 Arabian possesses extraordinary powers of endurance. On a journey he may be 

 ridden day after day and fed only upon grass. Yet he does not lose heart or con- 

 dition, and is always ready to gallop at the end of the longest march, a thing we have 

 never ventured to propose to our horses on any previous journey. 



42 



