30 THE HORSE 



From the full development of the brain in this breed it might bo 

 expected, a jjriori, that the amount of intelligence and courage possessed by 

 them would be far above the average ; and such is the result of experience. 

 JNIost of them are extremely docile, and in their native plains, where they 

 pass their lives in constant communion with their masters, they ax'e pos- 

 sessed of fine tempers ; but if they are highly fed, and at the same time 

 deprived of exercise and cruelly treated, their nervous system is so sensitive 

 that they rebel, and when they fight they persevere to the death. A 

 vicious Arabian is, therefore, a very unmanageable brute, and difficult to 

 cure of his bad propensities. Good treatment, however, has its efiect upon 

 him, and when he once shows his forgiveness he may be depended on by the 

 individual that he takes into his good graces. This trait was well exempli- 

 fied in the savage Arabian tamed by Mr. Rarey, and in a still more marked 

 manner in former years in the case of Chillaby, who was, if possible, more 

 savage than Cruiser, and yet was so completely tamed by Hughes, the 

 celebrated circus-horse trainer, that he was able to exhibit him as a trained 

 horse, and was never once disappointed by him. 



The food of this kind of horse is of a very dry though nourishing nature, 

 and neither when at liberty nor when tied up can he get much water, the 

 prevalent opinion being that an unlimited supply of this fluid injures his 

 shape, and interferes with his wind. It is said that the Arab horse is only 

 fed twice a day ; but I conclude that this only refers to his allowance of 

 corn, and that in the intervals he is permitted to pick up what little dry 

 herbage the soil affords. Wonderful stories are told of the distances which 

 young colts are compelled to go when first mounted, but I confess that I 

 look with great suspicion upon these travellers' tales. About five or six 

 pounds of barley or beans, or a mixture of the two, constitute the daily 

 allowance of corn, which is about the weight of half-a-peck of good oats, 

 and would be considered poor feed by our English horses, unless the 

 proportion of beans is very large. 



The colours of the Arabian horses are mostly bay, chestnut, and grey, 

 but occasionally black. The skin itself of the grey horses is of a deep 

 slate coloui', and the manes and tails are darker than the rest of the body. 



The speed of the Arabs, which have recently been brought over to this 

 country, is undoubtedly not nearly equal to that of our thoroughbred horses 

 for courses of moderate length, that is, not exceeding two miles ; and there 

 is no reason to believe that at longer distances there would be any essential 

 difierence in the result. In the Goodwood Cup an allowance is made them 

 of a stone, yet no Arab has ever had a chance of winning, and as far as 

 this test goes they are proved to be inferior to the French and American 

 horses. In India a difference of weight, varying from 1 stone to 1 stone 

 7 pounds, is made in favour of Arabs as against imported English horses, 

 " in order to bring the two together " in racing parlance, yet even then few 

 Arabs can compete with the second-rate horses which are imported from 

 this country. Colonel Bower tells us that " in India the weights range 

 from 7h stone to 10 stone, and no uncommon timing for Arabs is 2 minutes 

 and 54 seconds the mile and a half ; 3 minutes and 52 seconds the 2 miles 

 ^-it has been done in 3 minutes and 48 seconds, and the Arab that did it 

 was once my property, and his name was the Child of the Islands. He 

 was a daisy-cutter, and yet I have ridden him over the roughest ground and 



