HE MODERN ARAB. 23 
propellers being of this shape give a vast stride, without fear of overreach. 
The thighs and hocks are good ; the latter very rarely know either kind 
of spavin or curbs. The points and processes are pre-eminently well 
adapted for the attachment of the muscles; while the flexor tendons of 
the hind legs generally correspond with those of the fore. The hocks are 
not so much let down, nor the hind legs so greyhound-like, as in the 
thorough-bred English horse. In stride, too, he is somewhat different, 
inasmuch as it is a rounder way of going, and is not so extended or so 
near the ground, but is more like a bound. However, there are excep- 
tions ; and I have bred pure Arabs whose stride, for their size, was very 
extended, and quite like that of English racehorses ’ 
THe Mare is commonly supposed to be more highly prized by the 
Arabs than the stallion; but this idea is said to be unfounded by the 
celebrated Abd el Kader, in a highly interesting letter to General Daumas, 
which is published in the fifth number of Baily’s Magazine of Sports. 
He remarks :— 
“Tt is true that the foal proceeds from the sire and from the dam, but 
the experience of ages has proved that the essential parts of the body— 
such as the bones, the tendons, the nerves, and the veins—proceed 
always from the sire. This is beyond all doubt. The meanest Arab 
knows now that any malady specially belonging to the bones, under 
which the sire may be suffering at the time of covering, will be perpetuated 
in his produce, such as splints, bone and blood spavins, the shape of the 
bones, and all diseases of the vertebral column. The dam may give to her 
produce colour, and a certain amount of resemblance in form, the foal 
naturally partaking of some of the qualities of the animal which had so 
long borne it; but it is an incontestable fact, that it is the sire who gives 
strength to the bones, substance to the tendons, vigour to, the nerves, 
rapidity of pace, in short, all the principal qualities. He also communicates 
what may be called moral qualities, and if he be unquestionably of high 
blood the foal is preserved from vice. Our fathers have said, HZ aénd 
por ma audouche hiela—‘ A horse of noble race has no vices.’ An Arab 
will lend his stud horse gratuitously ; he never accepts payment for his 
services. ‘To hire out a stud horse for money is, in the eyes of an Arab, 
an unworthy action, and is contrary to the generosity for which he is re- 
nowned, and although the law allows it, I have never known an instance 
of it. But though the Arab lends his stud horse gratuitously, he does 
not do so to the first comer, nor for any mare. No; the suppliant is 
often obliged to make use of the intercession of persons of great interest, 
or even of his wives, if he would not see his request refused. On the 
other hand, the Arabs are very difficult in their choice of a stud horse, 
and if they cannot find one of pure blood, they prefer leaving their mares 
unproductive rather than put them to a common horse. To procure a 
good sire they do not hesitate to travel any distance. The preceding has 
already intimated to you my conclusion, that the sire has more to do with 
the foal than the dam. And my conclusion is identical with the universal 
epinion of the Arabs. They say, 7 hér ilebal el fahal—‘The foal follows 
She sire.’ ” 
In corroboration of this opinion, he describes the Arab horses as dis- 
tinguished under the following heads :—“ £/ Horr, El Hadjim, El Mekueref, 
and El Berdoune. El Horr is that in which sire and dam are both of 
nohle race ; that takes the lead. #1 Hadjim is that in which the sire is 
noble and the dam of common race ; it is considered less than Zl Horr, 
its name Hadjim, ‘defective. being derived from the word ‘ Hurd/iss,’ 
