* THE PERSIAN HORSE. 295 



he does his own children. She seems to be an inseparable 

 part of his being. A stallion may %e obtained, but the price 

 that has to be paid is almost fabulous. 



The Arabian horse is seldom over fourteen and a half hands 

 high; his head is inimitably beautiful — the forehead broad 

 and square, the muzzle short and fine, the face bony and the 

 veins beautifully coursed, the nostrils wide, the ears small 

 and well set, the eyes large, prominent, and brilliant. The 

 neck is fine, and rises beautifully from the shoulders; the 

 withers are high, and the shoulder is perfect in its form and 

 position, and particularly in its inclination backward. His 

 body is light and narrow before, but the chest swells out be- 

 hind the arms so as to afford sufficient capacity for the lungs. 

 His quarters are strong, muscular, and well set. His legs 

 are small, flat, and sinewy, and the pasterns oblique in their 

 position. The muscles of the arm and ham, which are full 

 and powerful, have every advantage in the flat, bony, and 

 sinewy leg. In spirit, the Arabian is equal to his great 

 physical perfection. He would die rather than give up; and 

 yet, with his native master of the desert, he is the most do- 

 cile and kind animal in the world. The Arab sleeps with his 

 mare, and makes his pillow of her neck. His children play 

 with her as with a family dog. His sagacity is equal to his other 

 noble qualities. If his master, overcome by the heat of the 

 desert, lies down to sleep, he keeps watch over him, and arouses 

 him on the approach of man or beast. He lives on scanty 

 food and performs extraordinary journeys. Layard thinks 

 few genuine Kochlani horses have been imported either into 

 Europe or America. The stock of tall, thin, long-headed, 

 spotted, vicious horses, called Arabians, are the most miserable 

 of all our stock. They have no characteristic of the Arabian. 



THE PERSIAN HORSE. 



He has been celebrated for many hundred years, much longer 

 than the Arabian. His size is near the same, perhaps a little 



