THE SADDLE BREEDS OF HORSES 147 



foundation or improvement of modern breeds may be had 

 from a review of the origin of some of them. The term 

 oriental is used in this connection for the reason that 

 earlier writers were not specific in their references to 

 Barbs, Turks or Arabians. The Darley Arabian, Byerly 

 Turk and Godolphin Barb, with the " Barb mares," have 

 been called the real foundation of the Thoroughbred. The 

 Percheron owes his origin to the mating of oriental horses, 

 left by the Saracens or brought back by the Crusaders, 

 with native French mares of the Flemish blood. Subse- 

 quently, there were made at intervals systematic top crosses 

 of blood from the Orient. Gallipoli and Godolphin were 

 two of the most important of these, and the former is re- 

 garded as the most influential sire in the history of the 

 breed. The prototype of the Hackney, the Norfolk 

 trotter, was the result of a Barb union with the Black 

 trotter of Friesland. The Cleveland Bay was the product 

 of a Barb- Yorkshire cart horse cross. The hot blood of the 

 desert is mentioned in connection with the origin of the 

 German coach horse. Bars 1st, progenitor of the 

 Russian Orloff trotter, was three generations removed 

 from Smetanka, a gray Arabian taken into Russia. The 

 Prussian Trakehner is derived from an admixture of 

 oriental and Thoroughbred blood with the native stock. 



176. Importance of the Barb. The importance of the 

 Barb is a matter of history, although it is only recently 

 that there has been available much reliable data concern- 

 ing him. Much of the early literature has been more or 

 less obscured in mythology and superstition. 



A study of the origin of each of the breeds of horses 

 shows that there were two original sources from which 

 the foundation blood of each breed was drawn. These 

 were the Wild Black horse of Flanders, thought to have 



