32 THE HORSE IN AMERICA 



Golddust, and also the Arab stallion Leopard, 

 given to General Grant in 1879, when the Barb, 

 Linden Tree, was also presented to him by the 

 Sultan. It was with these two Grant stallions, by 

 the way, that Mr. Huntington began the experi- 

 ment I just alluded to. 



What gave the Arab horse a kind of disrepute in 

 America was the experiments of Mr. A. Keene 

 Richards. Mr. Richards was a man of wealth and 

 education and a breeder of race-horses in the Blue 

 Grass section of Kentucky. In studying the his- 

 tory of the English Thoroughbred he came to the 

 conclusion he would like to get fresh infusions of 

 the original blood. He went to Arabia, and per- 

 sonally selected several stallions. These he mated 

 with his Thoroughbred mares, and when the colts 

 were old enough he entered them in the races. 

 They were not fast enough to win even when con- 

 ceded weight. He went again, this was about 

 1855, taking with him the animal painter, Troye. 

 They took their time, and came back with a su- 

 perior lot. Mr. Richards tried over again the 

 same experiment with the same result. The colts 

 did not have the speed to beat the Thoroughbreds. 



