i66 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



Andalucia, Granada, and Estremadura. Bay 

 appears to be the predominating^ colour, next to 

 which come black and grey. It has been very 

 generally considered that Barb blood was first 

 introduced into Spain during the Saracen Conquest, 

 but Professor Ridgeway adduces evidence to show 

 that the introduction occurred about a thousand 

 years earlier, although a fresh infusion of the same 

 blood was brought in by the Moors at the time they 

 overran the country. Jennets are characterised by 

 their easy pacing amble. 



The horses of Northern Spain, which are 

 smaller than jennets, but may have a certain infusion 

 of Barb blood, are referred to at the end of the 

 fourth chapter. 



The influence which Arab and Barb blood has 

 had on the indigenous breed of European and 

 Asiatic horses has been incidentally mentioned in 

 the course of the preceding chapters. 



The triumph of the Arab-Barb stock, when 

 mated with the best indigenous breed, has been the 

 development of the English thoroughbred, although, 

 as the latter is essentially a modern type, it can 

 receive but brief notice in the present volume. It 

 will accordingly suffice to state that although the 

 English breed of fast horses had been undergoing 

 a slow but steady improvement for centuries, and 

 that an Arab stallion (the " Markham Arabian ") was 

 purchased for King James I. in 1616, it was to three 



