24 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



Starves on a ration that the South African pony 

 thrives on. I venture to say that it is not a mere 

 question of ration ; if that were so, the remedy would 

 be easy — give him another ration. But it is a ques- 

 tion of breed. The big Australian horse is soft, the 

 little one nearly pure ; consequently, in difficulties 

 the one was all funk, the other full of pluck to the 

 end. The little one was, I take it, Arab. Major- 

 General Plumer's criticism was as to the big horse 

 as contrasted with the little one. 



A writer (I have the print, but have lost the 

 name and date), quoting the Ltz'c Stock Journal 

 and ' Impecuniosus,' says that for many years past 

 the English thoroughbred has been bred for speed 

 alone, and that the great qualities of strength, stout- 

 ness, and courage, for which the breed was once 

 famous, have been completely ignored. He asks, 

 ' What cross-bred horse could be as well fitted to 

 produce hunters as old Panic ?' And he says that 

 there were fifty years ago any number of equally 

 stout thoroughbreds, but that at the present day 

 they are few and far between. In their absence he 

 affirms that no better sire than such a sound Arab 

 as that mentioned by ' Impecuniosus ' could be 

 wished for as a sire for hunters. 



Lord Kitchener wired to the Queensland 

 Government that the Victoria might ' be fitted 

 up with as many small stout horses as she can 

 carry '; and his lordship in a telegram (December 1 1, 

 1900) says : ' English horses arriving are still too 



