i68 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



The first of these extracts from Sir Edward 

 shows the reliance placed by the successful Sultan 

 on the Arab horse at a great crisis, for often, if 

 not mostly, many of the candidates were massacred 

 straight away by some rival claimant. The second 

 extract proves the admiration shown for him, and the 

 honour always done him by a great conquering race, 

 who conquered by the endurance, the speed, and the 

 docility of their horses. 



General Sir Thomas Edward Gordon, Military 

 Attache at Teheran, says that the Persian horses are 

 small, but very wiry and enduring, capable of very 

 long journeys. On one occasion, owing to some 

 great man having got the post-horses ahead of him, 

 he was driven to continue the use of those he had 

 been using for ninety-six miles right away, with 

 only three hours' rest at one place and one hour's 

 rest at another. 



He was shown the Royal Stud racehorses, Arabs 

 from Arabia, and riding horses, deer-like Arabs of 

 the best blood. 



According to Madame Waddington, wife of the 

 French Ambassador, the Russian Emperor Alex- 

 ander III. always rode his little gray Cossack horse. 

 He rode it at his coronation, and some days after- 

 wards at a review. 



Lieutenant-Colonel Prejevalsky, a Russian, says 

 the Mongol riders go at full speed across the desert 

 like the wind, and their horses possess wonderful 

 powers of endurance on very indifferent feed ; they 



