32 THE HORSE 



endurance and his great constitutional points. This also prevents him from 

 getting knocked up in severe training or under short allowance of food, and 

 in long marches. His chest is quite broad enough and deep enough for 

 either strength or bottom. The scapula, or shoulder-blade, is both in length 

 and backward inclination, compared to the humerus, or upper bone of the 

 arm, quite as fine in the high-caste Arab as in the English horse ; while 

 both bones are generally better furnished with muscles, better developed, and 

 feel firmer to the hand. But some of the very fastest Arabs have their fore- 

 legs very much under them ; indeed, so much that no judge would buy an 

 English horse so made. Yet, whether it be that this form admits of the 

 joints between these bones becoming more opened, when the horse extends 

 himself, or whatever be the cause, it is a fact that blood-horses thus made 

 are almost always fast horses. The upper part of their shoulder-blade seems 

 to run back under the front part of the saddle, when they are going their 

 best. This formation is most common in the lower-sized Arab, and appar- 

 ently makes up to him for his deficiency in height. The very finest-actioned 

 Arabs have had this peculiarity of form. They are rather apt to become 

 chafed at the elbow-points by the girths, and almost require to have saddles 

 made on purpose for them. The elbow-point, that essential bone, which for 

 the sake of leverage should be prominent, is fine in the Arab, and generally 

 plays clear of the body. The fore-arm is strong and muscular, and is pretty 

 long ; the knee square, with a good speedy cut for the size of the animal, 

 equal to the English horse ; while below the knee the Arab shines very 

 conspicuously, having a degree of power there, both in the suspensory 

 ligaments and flexor tendons, far superior, in proportion to his size, to the 

 English horse. These are distinct and away from the shank-bone; they 

 give a very deep leg, and act mechanically to great advantage. The bone 

 looks small, but then it is very dense, the hollow which contains the 

 marrow being very small, and the material solid, more like ivory than bone, 

 heavy, and close-grained. The flexor tendons are nearly as large and as 

 thick as the cannon-bone. The pasterns and their joints are quite in keeping 

 with the bones above them, and are not so long, straight, and weak as those 

 of the English horse. The feet are generally in the same proportion : but 

 the Arabs themselves appear to be very careless in their treatment of them. 

 The body or centre-piece of the Arab horse has rarely too great length. 

 This is a very uncommon fault in the pure breed ; and there is no breed of 

 horses that are more even in this respect than the Arab. Behind this, 

 we come to a great peculiarity in the breed his croup. I might say 

 an Arab horse is known by it : he is so much more beautifully made in his 

 hind-quarters, and in the way his tail is put on, than most other breeds. 

 His loins are good ; he is well coupled ; his quarters are powerful, and his 

 tail carried high ; and this even in castes that have very little more than a 

 high-bred stallion to recommend them. The straight-dropped hind-leg is 

 always a recommendation, and almost all racing Arabs have it ; and this, 

 when extended, brings the hind-foot under the stirrup, and the propellers 

 being of this shape give a vast stride, without fear of over-reach. The 

 thighs and hocks are good ; the latter very rarely know either kind of 

 spavin or curbs. The points and processes are pre-eminently well adapted for 

 the attachment of the muscles ; while the flexor tendons of the hind-legs 

 generally correspond with those of the fore. The hocks are not so much 



