Sheikh, Esa bin Curtas. 61 



which were all connected with horses, was at Christmas i888> 

 when he won the Calcutta Arab Derby with Fancy ; the 

 second being a horse which I had trained. After he returned 

 to Bombay, he wrote me a letter in which he deplored the 

 preference accorded to Australian horses (Walers) over Arabs. 

 ' It is a well-known fact,' he said, * that the blood of the Arab 

 horse has spread through the world, and has improved the 

 breed of horses from the time of the Prophet Soloman. There 

 are, I hear, some officers who disapprove of Arab horses as 

 chargers and for cavalry, and consequently give preference to 

 Walers. We ought not to forget that it was the Arab horses 

 which were in requisition in former years for the conquest of 

 India and Kabul when Walers were not in existence. It is a 

 thousand pities that Calcutta, being the centre of the sporting 

 community, has neglected to give in the races a portion in 

 the share of justice to the Arabs ; but, on the contrary, gives 

 all advantage and benefits to the wild Walers and country 

 breds who have legs like unto the stem of a hookah.' ' The 

 Walers,' he added in delightfully quaint style, ' are too big 

 and wild for the status of men of the present day, and the 

 Lord has not created man to the present time equal for them.' 

 I could not help thinking, as I read my dear old friend's 

 letter, that I would have had a very poor show during my 

 breaking tour through India, if the Lord had made the 

 average man equal unto the untamed Waler. 



Although I acquired from practice and from the advice of 

 more experienced men than myself, a good knowledge of 

 training and riding ; I felt that I was greatly handicapped 

 by my ignorance of veterinary matters. To somewhat 

 remedy this deficiency I spent a year's furlough at Professor 

 Williams' Veterinary College in Edinburgh. The principal 

 and his professors were kindness itself in answering the con- 

 stant ' Why ? ' which was on my lips. Having obtained the 

 solution of a sufficiency large number of questions, I wrote a 

 book which I knew would have been of great use to me 

 twelve months previously, and which I concluded would be 



