PREFACE 



By sir WALTER GILBEY, Bart. 



Having been requested by Sir James Boucaut to 

 write a preface to the following chapters, I gladly 

 consent, believing as I most firmly do that the 

 Arab is the horse which has laid the foundation of 

 all the best saddle-horses in England, America, 

 India, and on the Continent. 



Up to the present time more than 4,000 distinct 

 works, in various languages, have been devoted to 

 the horse, and among these are nearly ninety in 

 Arabic and Persian, which are specially devoted to 

 the Arab breed. 



Careful research into the history of the horse 

 shows that there have been two distinct types in 

 England since Julius Caesar visited our shores nearly 

 2,000 years ago — namely, the light horse and the 

 heavy horse. 



There can be no doubt whatever concerning 

 the importance of the part which the Arab horse 

 has played in the work of building up all our breeds 

 of light horses. 



