INTRODUCTORY 3 



passed by as the froth of dreamers, or not noticed 

 at all. 



I do not propose to write a history of the Arab 

 horse, nor even to attempt an original brochure 

 on the subject ; I have neither the special knowledge 

 requisite nor leisure for the task. But I have had 

 so many applications from all parts of Australia for 

 information as to the stud of Arabs which I have 

 started, and I find that there is so little known here 

 about the breed, that I am desirous that the 

 Australian horse-breeder (other than the racing-stud 

 masters, some of whom know, perhaps, too much) 

 should have an opportunity of learning something 

 reliable about its quality, and therefore I have 

 ventured to put together these observations on the 

 subject. If we were to listen to some of the book- 

 makers and racing men, we should almost be led to 

 suppose that the English thoroughbred is the only 

 respectable horse in the world, and that the Arab horse 

 does not exist at all, or, at least, that he only exists 

 in romance, and was never a real living creature, and 

 that his supposed good qualities were to be put down 

 entirely to the dreams and fancies of some absurd 

 poet or young lady songster. 



It seems to me that the truth in this respect is 

 that the most dangrerous fancies with regard to the 

 horse are the fancies of the racing gentlemen, who 

 naturally look upon him as the implement of their 

 occupation, whose love for him as a gambling- 

 machine has distorted history, and whose opinions 



