22 THE HORSE. 
the English. He is not so well topped, which I attribute to the different 
way he is reared, and to his not being broken in regularly, like the 
English horse, before he is put to work. His shoulders are not so flat 
and thin, and he is thicker through in these parts generally for his size 
than the English thorough-bred horse. His girth does not show so deep, 
that is, he does not look so deep over the heart ; but between the knees 
and behind the saddle, where the English horse very often falls off, the 
Arab is barrel-ribbed ; and this gives him his wonderful endurance and 
his great constitutional points. This also prevents him from getting 
knocked up in severe training or under short allowance of food, and in 
long marches. His chest is quite broad enough and deep enough for 
either strength or bottom. The scapula, or shoulder-blade, is both in 
length and backward inclination, compared to the humerus, or upper bone 
of: the arm, quite as fine in the high-caste Arab as in the English horse ; 
while both bones are generally better furnished with muscles, better deve- 
loped, and feel firmer to the hand. But some of the very fastest Arabs 
have their fore legs very much under them ; indeed, so much that no 
judge would buy an English horse so made. Yet, whether it be that this 
form admits of the joints between these bones becoming more opened, 
when the horse extends himself, or whatever be the cause, it is a fact that 
blood-horses thus made are almost always fast horses. The upper part of 
their shoulder-blade seems to run back under the front part of the saddle, 
when they are going their best. This formation is most common in the 
Jower-sized Arab, and apparently makes up to him for his deficiency in 
height. The very finest-actioned Arabs have had this peculiarity of form. 
They are rather apt to become chafed at the elbow-points by the girths, 
and almost require to have saddles made on purpose for them. ‘The 
elbow-point, that essential bone, which for the sake of leverage should be 
prominent, is fine in the Arab, and generally plays clear of the body. The 
fore-arm is strong and muscular, and is pretty long; the knee square, with 
a good speedy cut for the size of the animal, equal to the English horse ; 
while below the knee the Arab shines very conspicuously, having a degree 
of power there, both in the suspensory ligaments and flexor tendons, far 
superior, in proportion to his size, to the English horse. These are dis- 
tinct and away from the shank-bone ; they give a very deep leg, and act 
mechanically to great advantage. The bone looks small, but then it is 
very dense, the hollow which contains the marrow being very small, and 
the material solid, more like ivory than bone, heavy, and close-grained. 
The flexor tendons are nearly as large and as thick as the canna bone. 
The pasterns and their jomts are quite in keeping with the bones above 
them, and are not so long, straight, and weak as those of the English 
horse. The feet are generally in the same proportion: but the Arabs 
themselves appear to be very careless in their treatment of them. The 
body or centre piece of the Arab horse has rarely too great length. This 
is a very uncommon fault in the pure breed; and there is no breed of 
horses that are more even in this respect than the Arab. Behind this, we 
come to a great peculiarity in the breed—his croup. I might say an 
Arab horse is known by it: he is so much more beautifully made in his 
hind quarters, and in the way his tail is put on, than most other breeds. 
His loins are good; he is well coupled; his quarters are powerful, and 
his tail carried high ; and this even in castes that have very little more 
than a high-bred stallion to recommend them. ‘The straight-dropped 
hind leg is always a recommendation, and almost all racing Arabs have it; 
end this when extended, brings the hind foot under the stirrup, and the 
