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THE HORSE. 13 



He had a sinking behind his shoulders ahuost as peculiar, and a cor- 

 responding elevation of the spine toward the loins. His muzzle was 

 uncommonly fine, his head beautifully set on, his shoulders capacious, 

 and his quarters well spread out. He w^as picked up in France, where 

 he was actually employed in drawing a cart; and when he was after- 

 ward presented to Lord Godolphin, he was in that nobleman's stud a 

 considerable time before his value was discovered. It was not until the 

 birth of Lath, one of the first horses of that period, that his excellence 

 began to be appreciated. He was then styled an Arabian, and became, 

 in even a greater degree than the Darley, the founder of the modern 

 thorough-bred horses. He died in 1753, at the age of twenty-nine. 



An intimate friendship subsisted between him and a cat, which either 

 sat on his back when he was in the stable, or nestled as closely to him 

 as she could. At his death the cat refused her food and pined aw^ay, 

 and soon died. Mr. Holcroft gives a similar relation of the attachment 

 between a race-horse and a cat, which the courser would take in his 

 mouth and place in his manger and upon his back without hurting her. 

 Chillaby, called from his great ferocity the mad Arabian, whom one 

 only of the grooms dared to approach, and who savagely tore to pieces 

 the image of a man that was purposely placed in his way, had his pe- 

 culiar attachment to a lamb, who used to employ himself for many an 

 hour in butting away the flies from him. 



The Arabian Horse. — By far the most beautiful variety of the Arab 

 horse is the Barb, as he is called from his having been brought to this 

 country from Barbary, as vague a term as is Arabia, including the coun- 

 try between Tunis and Morocco. The Barb is, how^ever, small, rarely 

 exceeding fourteen hands, and is thus cotisiderably less than the Bedouin 

 horse of North and East Arabia. This breed of horses was introduced 

 long ago into England; the celebrated Godolphin Arabian, so called, was 

 suppost.'d to be a Barb. It is to this breed that Spanish horses owe their 

 fire and beauty, and most of the best English race-horses have the 

 blood of the Barb in their veins. It is, however, remarkable that, con- 

 sidering the lavish expenditure on improving the breed of English horses, 

 no attempts have been made to procure any of the mares of the highest 

 Arabian stock. We appear to have placed the chief dependence on 

 the Arab stallion, though it is well known to Oriental breeders that the 

 mare is of by far the greater importance. Whoever attempts further to 

 infuse Arab blood into the English horse should go to Muscat or its 

 vicinity for his stock ; and not, as is frequently done, to Egypt or the 

 Barbary coast, where the horses are, for the most part, small. 



The Arabian horse would not be acknowledged by every judge to ^ 

 possess a perfect form ; his head, however, is inimitable. The broad- . 

 ness and squareness of the forehead, the shortness and fineness of the 

 muzzle, the prominence and brilliancy of the eye, the smallness of the 

 ears, and the beautiful course of the veins, will always characterize the 

 head of the zVrabian horse. 



His body may be considered as too light, and his chest as too nar- 

 row ; but behind the arms the barrel generally swells out, and leaves 

 sufiicient room for the play of the lungs. 



In the formation of the shoulder, next to that of the head, the Arab 



