64 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



unusual thing for the Sultan of Turkey, the Emperor of Morocco, 

 or some other potentate of the Saracenic races, to present to the 

 President two horses, and as they were presents from royalty to 

 what they esteemed royalty, they were necessarily of the highest 

 caste and of the greatest value of any horses in all their domin- 

 ions. It is probable that Mr. Jefferson was the first president to 

 receive these royal gifts, and under the requirements of the con- 

 stitution and without any disrespect to the donor, he ordered 

 them to be sold to the highest bidder, and turned the money into 

 the treasury. Several of the presidents received these presents 

 of horses, and without knowing the fact, I will presume disposed 

 of them the same way. In the case of President Lincoln, Mr. 

 Seward seemed to be more highly favored and the sultan sent 

 the horses to him. Through the State Agricultural Society, Mr. 

 Seward presented his royal presents to the State of New York. 

 My recollection is not very distinct, but my impression is that 

 Mr. Van Buren had disposed of his in the same way. When 

 General Grant received his, he was not in public office and hence 

 they became his personal property. A number of the first of 

 these importations, together with some others that were brought 

 from Arabia, individually and by private persons, were, in the 

 early part of the century, carried into the South, which was then 

 the "race-horse region," but the breeders there very soon dis- 

 covered that in breeding from them they were taking a backward 

 instead of a forward step. Their progeny could neither run nor 

 trot, and as they were too small for the ordinary uses of the 

 farmer and planter, they were almost unanimously rejected, with 

 nothing left but the ignorant "fad" that was embodied in the 

 name "Arabian." 



The most notable example of the folly of attempting to re- 

 generate the American race horse by the introduction of the 

 "blood of the desert" is furnished in the sad experience of the 

 late A. Keene Richards, of Kentucky. He inherited a large 

 estate, and when he came into possession he proved himself an 

 intelligent and successful breeder, and ran the colts of his own 

 breeding, with a full share of winnings. He was not a spendthrift 

 nor a gambler, but he was not content with mediocrity in shar- 

 ing triumphs with his neighbors, for he was ambitious to beat 

 them all. He soon had his head full of such horses as the Parley 

 Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian, and he argued if that blood 

 founded the English race horse, he would go to Arabia and get it,, 



