FIVE STRAINS OF BLOOD 435 



are occasionally among Barbs." Ridgway says " In Syria 

 there are more grey and far fewer bay horses, and occasion- 

 ally black ; in Turkish Arabia grey practically becomes 

 the universal colour, and sooty black is common in the 

 Kurdish horses ; whilst the Shammar horses [belonging 

 to tribes in the region between the Euphrates and Tigris, 

 north of Erack in Turkish Arabia] seen by Upton were 

 white, grey, and reddish-grey." This divergence from the 

 normal Arab colour he attributes to crossing with "the 

 Upper Asiatic horse [of the type of the pure Mongolian 

 pony], which forms the substratum of all the horses of Syria, 

 Turkish Arabia, Armenia, and Persia." The cross-bred 

 descendants acquire greater size than either original pure- 

 bred parents the Turcoman or Persian horse being 15.2 hands, 

 while the best Arabs average about 14.3 hands. In Arabia, 

 where the total number of pure Arabs is not now great, the 

 best horses are in the possession of the Anazah tribes of the 

 deserts of the central plateau, 4000 feet above sea-level. 

 Blunt specially names the Gomoussa as having " really fine 

 mares." " Arabs trace the pedigree of their horses through 

 the dams, and not through the stallions as with us," which 

 accounts for the difficulty of procuring mares for export. 



Points of the Anazah Arab Horses. 1 In the general 

 form there is a beautiful balance of power and symmetry, and 

 for racing, to which it has been dedicated, the great general 

 length gives it a long reach or stride. The head is not 

 proportionately small, but beautifully formed. It is large 

 and broad above the eyes (which are full and prominent), 

 short, and tapering from the eyes to the muzzle, with a 

 depression or hollow in the face. The unusually long, wide 

 nostrils, capable of being greatly dilated, open upwards and 

 outwards with accelerated breathing, due to violent exercise. 

 Some tribes of Arabs remove the point of a gristle which 

 supports the lower lip of each nostril, to permit of greater 

 expansion. The ears are not long, but pointed, beautifully 

 shaped, and characteristically placed, thus indicating purity 

 of breed. The light but strong and muscular neck is of 

 moderate length, and forms a graceful arch from the poll to 

 the withers. The withers are high, fully developed, and run 

 well back, but they are not too narrow or thin. The back is 

 1 With acknowledgments to Upton. 



