SADDLE HORSES. 155 



in his desert home. Addison gave him play at the 

 halter, and he showed movements no horse in the 

 world can equal but the pure-bred Arabian. He 

 needed no quarter-boots, shin-boots, ankle-boots, scalp- 

 ing-boots, or protections of any kind; and yet the 

 same movements this Arabian went through would 

 have blemished every leg and joint upon an American 

 trotting horse, even though he had been able to at- 

 tempt the impossible activity. 



" He was now brought to a stand-still that I might 

 examine him ; not cocked on one leg, pointed in an- 

 other, or straddled, as our horses would be after such 

 violent exercise, but bold and erect on all fours, as 

 when first led out. 



" I began at his head. The ear was very small and 

 fine, much as it was in old Henry Clay. The muzzle 

 was small and fine, the mouth handsome and lips very 

 thin, as were the nostrils. Between the eyes he was 

 full and broad, while the eyes themselves were large, 

 brilliant, and of the speaking kind. I lifted the lids, 

 and they too were thin and delicate, not coarse and 

 heavy, as in our big-mouthed, thick-lipped, long, 

 heavy-eared American horse. The jowls were very 

 deep, but wide between (the peculiarity so much con- 

 demned in Henry Clay). The windpipe was large 

 and free, running low into the breast. The neck was 

 beautifully arched, giving the impression of a thin 

 crest, which I expected to find from numerous writers' 

 reports. Imagine my surprise when, upon running 

 my hand from between the ears down, I found a 

 big, thick, hard crest, 1 as if a three or even four inch 

 new cable rope were inside. This was exactly such a 



1 This is a characteristic of the Barb, but not of the Arab. 



