50 MY HORSE ; MY LOVE 



What a royal present ! But was not this neglected 

 opportunity much to be deplored? 



' It was a national mistake, for the three famous 

 English racers, Herod, Eclipse and Matchem, from 

 whom all modern horses are descended, were only half- 

 bred — got by Arabian sires from half-bred dams, which 

 proves only too conclusively that the English racer is not 

 the " true son of Arabia Deserta." Subsequently the arrival 

 in England of Betty Leedes and Darley Arabian, the sire 

 and dam of Flying Childers, caused such a furore that the 

 nobility and landed gentry vied with each other for their 

 possession, and for years after the Yorkshire horses were 

 considered invincible. 



' In France, the famous Percheron is the national horse, 

 and it is one of the novel sights of Paris to see three 

 of these magnificent white horses abreast, pulling the great 

 "busses," loaded with human freight, their clattering hoofs 

 upon the pavement yielding the sound of rolling thunder. 



' The Trakener is the national horse of Poland, boasting 

 its descent from the Arab, and distinguished as fine saddle- 

 horses. 



' Germany has no national horse, but the military use the 

 best from other countries, and there are some fine private 

 studs in the neighbourhoods of Berlin and Dresden.' 



