"In disposition the Arabians are gentle and affectionate, familiar indeed almost 

 to the extent of being troublesome. They have no fear of man whatsoever, and will 

 allow anyone to come up to them when grazing and take them by the head. If 

 they happen to be lying down they will not move though you come close to them. 

 They are not to be intimidated by any lifting up of hands or sticks, for they do not 

 understand that you can hurt them. It often amused us in the desert to see the 

 mares come up to their masters and use them, as though they would one of them- 

 selves, for a rubbing-post. This extreme gentleness and courage, though partly the 

 effect of education, is also inherited, for a colt born and brought up in the stable is 

 just as tame. It never thinks, as English colts do, of running around behind its 

 dam for protection, but comes at once to anyone who enters the box. 



"I have never seen an Arabian vicious, shy, or showing signs of fear. They 

 do not wince at firearms, though they are not at all accustomed to them; and in 

 England no railway train or sudden noise gives them the least alarm. In this they 

 are very different from Barbs, Turks, and all other foreign horses I have had 

 to do with. 



"There is among English people a general idea that grey, especially flea-bitten 

 grey, is the commonest Arabian color. But this is not so among the Anazeh. Bay 

 is still more common, and white horses, though fashionable in the desert, are rare. 

 Our white Hamdaniyeh mare Serifa, which came from Nejd, was immensely ad- 

 mired among the Gomussa for the sake of her color almost as much as for her head, 

 which is indeed of extraordinary beauty. The drawing at the beginning of this chap- 

 ter is her very faithful portrait. Perhaps out of a hundred mares among the Anazeh 

 one would see thirty-five bay, thirty grey, fifteen chestnut, and the rest brown or 

 black. Roans, piebalds, duns and yellows are not found among the pure bred 

 Arabians, though the last two occasionally are among Barbs. The bays often have 

 black points and generally a white foot, or two or three white feet, and a snip or 

 blaze down the face. The chestnuts vary from the brightest to the dullest shades, 

 and I once saw a mottled brown. 



"The tallest and perhaps handsomest horse we saw was a Samhanel-Gomeaa, 

 a three-year-old bay with black points, standing about fifteen hands one inch. He 

 was a little clumsy, however, in his action, though that may have been the fault 

 of his breaking. He had bone enough to satisfy all requirements, even those of a 

 Yorkshire man, but showed no sign of lacking quality." 



Arabian and Barb Horses in England and Their Blood 



Influence in Horse Breeding of that 



Country in the Past. 



It seems from all accounts that there was a small and unimportant race of 

 ponies or small horses to be found in England at a very early day, as well as 

 the ponderous war horse of Scotland and England ; the latter were in all proba- 

 bility of Flemish origin. 



The private horses of William the Conqueror (1066 to 1087) were of Spanish 

 breed and others of the same kind were introduced by the Barons on their estates. 



Roger de Bellesme, follower of William the Conqueror and later created 

 Earl of Shrewsbury, imported some stallions from Spain into England, likely 

 Jennets, about which Drayton, the poet, has much favorable comment. 



The eleventh century was for many reasons favorable to the advancement 



43 



