ARABIAN HORSES. 271 



is an old description of the Arabian cast of counte- 

 nance. 



But the profile of the Arabian horse terminates, not 

 " with the nostril, as in the English race horse, but 

 with the tip of the lip." " The nostrils," Mr. Blunt 

 states, "when in repose, should lie flat with the face 

 appearing in it little more than a slit, and pinched 

 and puckered up, as also should the mouth, which 

 should have the under lip longer than the upper, 

 ' like the camel's,' the Bedouins say." * 



"Fine his nose, his nostrils thin, 

 But blown abroad by the pride within." 



The ears, especially in the mare, should be long 

 but fine and delicately cut, like the ears of a gazelle. 

 This agrees with our Western notion on the subject, 

 for small " mouse-ears," as they call them, are not 

 liked by our horsemen. As to the carriage of the 

 ears, Major Upton well describes it as follows : " The 

 ears, to be perfect, should be so placed that they point 

 inwards, so that the tips may almost touch. The out- 

 line of the inner side of the ear should be much 

 curved, and, as it were, notched about half-way down." 



Xext to the head and ears, the Arabs value the 

 manner in which the head is set on the neck. This 

 point, or rather form of juncture, they call the mitbeh. 

 It especially refers to the shape of the windpipe, and 



1 " The nostril, which is peculiarly long, not round, runs up- 

 ward toward the face, and is also set up outward from the nose, 

 like the mouth of a pouch or sack which has been tied. This is 

 a very beautiful feature, and can hardly be appreciated except by 

 sight. When it expands, it opens both upwards and outwards, and 

 in profile is seen to extend beyond the outline of the nose."- — 

 Major Upton. 



