xvi Introduction 



** Arabian horses are the most beauti- 

 ful; they are larger, more muscular, and 

 handsomer than the Barbs. The Arabs 

 preserve with care, and for an amazing 

 length of time, the races of their horses; 

 they know all their alliances and genealo- 

 gies. 



• ■•••• 



'* The Arabs, by long experience, know 

 all the races of their own horses, as well 

 as those of their neighbours." 



Then follows a long account of the 

 care given to secure properly selected 

 mates inbreeding their horses, the formal- 

 ities observed when the horses are bred, 

 the solicitous painstaking when the foal is 

 born to make certain his identity, so 

 that it can never be questioned, the 

 methods of feeding and growth, of train- 

 ing and care. After setting out these 

 matters with great detail he concludes: 



"From all these facts it appears, 

 that Arabian horses have always been, 

 and still are, the best horses in the world ; 

 that from them, or by the mediation of 

 the Barbs, are descended the finest horses 



