FARMERS REGISTER— THE ARALIAN HORSE. 



645 



if the animal be yonno^; and also to increase their 

 stock of inierinr horses, which they often palm 

 on the merchant as descended li-on) the sacred 

 breed. They are said to be even i?\vifter than the 

 domesticated horse, and are usually taken by traps 

 hidden m the s:tnd. Mr. Bruce, however, doubts 

 whether any wild horses are now found in Arabia 

 Deserta.* 



Although in the seventh century the Arabs had 

 no horsesl)f value, yet the Cappadocian and other 

 horses which they had derived irom their neigh- 

 bors, were preserved with so much care, and |)ropa- 

 gated so unilbrmly and strictly from the finest of 

 the breed, that in" the thirteenth century the Ara- 

 bian horse began to assume a just and unri- 

 valled celebrit}'. 



There are said to be three breeds or varieties oi' 

 Arabian horses; tiie jfitechl, or inferior breed, on 

 which they set little value, and which are found 

 wild on some parts of the deserts; the Kadischi, 

 hterally horses of an unknown race, answering to 

 our half-bred horses — a mixed breed; and the 

 Kochlani, horses whose genealogv, according to 

 tJie Arab account, is known for two thousand years. 

 Many of theai have written and attested pedigrees 

 extending more than four hundred years, and, 

 with true Eastern exaggeration, traced by oral 

 tradition from the stud of Solomon. A more care- 

 lul account is kept of these genealogies than be- 

 longs to the most ancient family of the proudest 

 Arab chief, and very singular precautions are taken 

 to prevent the possibility of li-aud, so lar as the 

 written pedigree extends. 



Y' The Kochlani are principally reared b)^ the Be- 

 douin Arabs, in the remoter deserts. A stallion 

 maj' be procured without much ditficulty, although 

 at a great price. A mare is rarely to be obtained, 

 except, by fraud and excessive briber}^ The Arabs 

 have found out that virhich the English breeder 

 should never forget, that the female is more con- 

 cerned than the male in the excellence and value 

 of the produce; and the genealogies of their 

 horses are always reckoned from the mothers. 



The Arabian horse would not be acknowledged 

 by every judge to jiossess a perfect foi-m: his head, 

 however, is inimitable. The broadness and square- 

 ness of the forehead, the shortness and fineness of 

 the muzzle, the prominence and brilliancy of the 

 e3'e, the smallness of the ears, and the beautiful 

 course of the veins, will alwayi^ characterize the 

 head of the Arabian horse. 



His body may be considered as too light, and 

 his idlest as too narrow; but behind the arms the 

 barrel generally swells out, and leaves sufficient 

 room for the play of the lungs. 



In the Jbrmation of the shoulder, next to that of 

 the head, the Arab is superior to any other breed. 

 The withers are high, and the shoulder-blade in- 

 clined backward, and so nicely adjusted, that in 

 descending a hiil the point or edge of the ham ne- 

 ver ruffles the sldn. He may n<»t be thought suf- 

 ficiently high; he seldom stands more than fourteen 

 hands two inches. 



Tiie fineness of his legs, and the obliciue posi- 

 tion of his pasterns, may be supposed to lessen his 

 apparent strength; but tlie leg, although small, is 

 flat and wiry; anatomists know that the bone has 

 no common densitv, and the starting muscles of 

 the fore- arm and the thigh indicate that he is fully 



*Bruce's Travels, vol. vi. p. 430. 



capable of accomplishing many of the feats which 

 are recorded of him. 



The Bar!) alone excels him in noble and spirited 

 action; and if there be defects about him, he is per- 

 fect for that for which he was designed. He pre- 

 sents the true combination of speed and bottom 

 — strength enough to carry more than a light 

 weighti'^and courage that would cause him to die 

 rather than to give up. 



We may not, perhaps, believe all that is told us 

 of the Arabian. It has been remarked, that there 

 are on the deserts which tliis horse traverses, no 

 mile-s!ones to mark the distance, or watches to 

 calculate the time; and the Bedouin is naturally 

 given to exaggeration, and, most of all, when re- 

 lating the prowess of the animal, which he loves 

 as dearly as his children: yet it cannot be denied 

 that, atthe introduction of the Arabian into the 

 European stables, there was no other horse com- 

 parable to him. 



The Arab horse is as celebrated for his docility 

 and good temper as for his speed and courage. In 

 that delightful book, 'Bishop Hcber's Narrative of 

 a Jonrne>- through the Upper Provinces of India,' 

 the following interesting character is given of him. 

 "My morning rides are very pleasant. My horse 

 is a nice, quiet, good-tempered little Arab, who is 

 so fearless, that he goes without starting close to 

 an elephant, and so gentle and docile that he eats 

 bread out of my hand, and has almost as much 

 attachment and coaxing ways as a dog. This 

 seems the ffeneral character of the Arab horses, 

 to judge from what I have seen in this country. It 

 is iiot the fiery dashing animal I had supposed, 

 but with more rationality about him, and niore ap-^ 

 parent confidence in his rider, than the majority of 

 Entrlish horses." 



The kindness with which he is treated from a 

 foal, gives him an affection for his master, a wish 

 to please, a pride in exerting every energj^ in obe- 

 dience to his commands, and, consequently, an 

 apparent sagacity which is seldom seen in other 

 breeds. The mare and lier foal inhabit the same 

 tent with the Bedouin and his children. The neck 

 of the mare is often the pillow of the rider, and, 

 more frequently, of the children, Avho are rolling 

 about upon her and the foal: yet no accident ever 

 occurs, and the animal acquires that fiiendship and 

 love for man which occasional ill-treatment will 

 not cause him for a moment to forget. 



When the Arab falls from his mare, and is una- 

 ble to rise, she will immediately stand still and 

 neigh until assistance arrives. If he lies down 

 to sleep, as fiiligue sometimes compels him, in the 

 midst of the delert, she stands watchful over him, 

 and neighs and rouses him if either man or beast 

 approaclies. An old Arab had a valuable mare 

 that had carried him for fifteen years in many a 

 hard-fought battle, and many a rapid weary march; 

 at length, eighty years old, and unable longer to 

 ride her, he "gave' her, and a scimitar that had 

 been his fiuher's, to his eldest son, and told hira 

 to appreciate their value, and never lie down to 

 rest until he had rubbed them both as bright as a 

 looking-glass. In the first skirmish in which the 

 youriff man was engaged he was killed, and the 

 mare fell into the hands of the enemy. When 

 the news reached the old man, he exclaimed that 

 "life was no longer worth preserving, for he had 

 lost both his son and his mare, and he grieved for 



