THE MODERN ARAB 25 



CHINESE PONIES 



THESE ARE MOSTLY bred in Manchuria, and are strong useful animals 

 about 13 hands in height. They have good feet and legs, are sure-footed, 

 and with fair shoulders ; are not bad mounts for steady work. Racing is 

 much appreciated by the populace, but Europeans consider them too slow. 



COREAN PONIES 



IN THIS COUNTRY of the comfortless, a very pretty pony is to be found, 

 built as it were on Arab lines, but as diminutive as those of Iceland, 9 

 or 10 hands being a common size. He is said to be a good little worker, 

 and for pluck and endurance much admired by those who have had the 

 opportunity of putting him to the test. 



JAPANESE HORSES 



IN THE MATTER of horseflesh, Japan has not gone ahead as she has in 

 nearly everything else, and her native horse is still a wretched slab-sided, 

 weak, long-legged pony. The stout cobby ponies of Manchuria are imported 

 and used to a considerable extent in the treaty ports. With the establish- 

 ment of a race club 1 there is a prospect of early improvement. 



THE MODERN ARAB 



THE CONTROVERSY relating to the value of this breed in the stud has 

 raged with such vehemence that it is difficult to obtain an unprejudiced 

 opinion upon it. One thing, however, is quite clear, namely, that to 

 it in great measure we owe the pre-eminence of our English thoroughbred. 

 But how long it would take to bring a modern Arab, even of the highest 

 caste, to the state of perfection in which we find our own Ormes and 

 Persimmons it would be difficult to say. This subject, however, will be 

 better discussed in treating of the English breed itself. 



The answer given to the above question by the late eminent veterinary 

 surgeon, Mr. Mannington of Brighton, was " two hundred years." The 

 editor, meeting him at a sale of Mr. Wilfrid Blunt's at Crabbet Park, 

 asked Mr. M. if he were a buyer, and he replied that he would breed 

 out roaring from English thoroughbreds if he had two hundred years to 

 live. His opinion, like that of many other breeders and trainers of 

 thoroughbreds, was that the Arab was no good in competition with the 

 greater size of his English rival, but that for wind and endurance he 

 could not be surpassed. It was formerly claimed for the Arab that his 

 failure to meet English horses on equal terms was due to adverse climatic 

 conditions, but the position has been frequently reversed and with the 



1 The "Nippon." 



