60 THE HORSE OF AMEEICA. 



Barb, while no man knows whether he was either one or the 

 other. With the most prominent horses of the nation and of 

 their century thus used to mislead the public mind as to their 

 lineage, what are we to expect from the great ruck of the obscure 

 and less prominent? But, as a more elaborate and methodical 

 discussion of this topic will be found in the chapter on the Eng- 

 lish and American Race Horse, we will now turn our attention to 

 the actual experiences with the Arabians in recent times. 



When we come down to the present century we get into the 

 era of newspapers that really begun to give the news, and thus 

 educate their readers, not very authentically, but circumstantially, 

 in what was passing in the world in every department of knowl- 

 edge and enterprise. Under these wide sources of information, a 

 few authentic experiences will serve to illustrate the true status 

 of the Arabian horse and his influence, or lack of influence, on 

 English and American horses. More than twenty years ago the 

 Prince of Wales made a royal progress through Her Majesty's 

 dominions in the East. The enthusiasm was unbounded and he 

 was loaded down with many valuable presents, among them 

 several elegant, high-caste Arabian horses. It appears that some 

 of these horses had already won reputation and money on the 

 turf, and were considered the very best that could be found in 

 the East. On their arrival they were greatly admired and praised, 

 especially by the sporting friends of the prince, who seemed to 

 have no doubt, nor did they conceal their opinions, that they 

 could beat any horses in all England. This was a conclusion 

 that a great many racing men, with longer memories, could not 

 accept, and after a good deal of diplomacy a match was finally 

 concluded between the prince's best horse and an old horse that 

 was third or fourth-class, in his prime, but was unsound and 

 liable to break down any time he was extended. The prince was 

 popular, had many supporters, and much money was pending. 

 The old horse was patched up as well as possible, the day came, 

 the race was started, and the old cripple was so much faster than 

 the Arab that his managers had the hardest work in the world to 

 prevent him from running clear away and disgracing the prince. 

 This account of the race I had from one of the most eminent and 

 successful trainers that England has produced. He witnessed 

 the race and knew all the facts concerning it. Notwithstanding 

 the popularity of the prince and the universal feeling of loyalty 

 toward him, it was a long time before his Arabs ceased to be a 

 laughing-stock among horsemen. 



