ARABIAN HORSES. 269 



long, swinging stride, the hind feet considerably over- 

 stepping the print left by the fore feet, — overstepping 

 from twelve to eighteen inches, — sometimes, if care- 

 ful observers may be trusted, even as much as two or 

 three feet. Above all, she swings her head from side 

 to side, and looks about with curiosity, as she goes. 

 This mark of alertness and vivacity' is among the 

 Bedouins a sine qua non of good breeding. The son 

 of a certain sheikh being about to purchase a horse, 

 asked advice of his father. The old man answered 

 simply, "Get one whose ears are ever in motion, 

 turning now forward and now backward, as if he 

 were listening to something." 



In truth, a well-bred horse, the world over, exhibits 

 similar indications of a lively spirit, and of an in- 

 quiring mind. There is no pleasure in the use of a 

 horse who fails to prick his ears, and to keep them in 

 motion; and it would be a short but not seriously 

 inadequate description of a good roadster to say that 

 you can drive him fifty or sixty miles in a day with- 

 out taking the prick out of his ears. The head of our 

 Gonmssa mare is the first and chief part of her to be 

 examined. 



Whyte-Melville wrote : — 



" A head like a snake, and a skin like a mouse, 



An eye like a woman's, bright, gentle, and brown, 

 With loins and a back that would carry a house, 

 And quarters to lift him smack over a town." 



This comparison of the head of a horse to that of 

 the snake has often been criticised, and yet I think 

 an Arab would perceive the force of the simile. The 

 head of an Arabian horse when he is excited, writes 

 one, "seems to be made up of forehead, eyes, and 



