THE HORSE HISTORY. 469 



proportions," says Stonehenge. The best horses of Persia are 

 found on the border of the gulf, and their ancestors were 

 brought from the opposite shore of Arabia. 



The unique character of the Arabian excites our admira- 

 tion. Its ability to impress its rare qualities on every other 

 breed on which it has been crossed, we conclude, comes from 

 the fact that for centuries it has been bred with greater care 

 than any other animal that blesses the earth. Its feed and 

 surroundings and use have given stamina and quality. The 

 centuries of kind treatment, which has been a peculiarity of the 

 Arab, have developed a docility without a parallel. 



The Thorough-bred. The excellence of the English and 

 American thorough-bred horses trace directly to Oriental ances- 

 try. The countries which have races most nearly related, and 

 possessing peculiarly valuable characteristics, are Arabia, Syria, 

 Persia, Turkestan, and the Barbary States. We have shown be- 

 fore that, in all these, the Arab and barb have given character 

 to the horses of the East. As England became a power in civ- 

 ilization, and her commerce extended to these Eastern countries, 

 we' find her looking to them for blood to improve the En- 

 glish horses, just as did Greece, when she rose to a high civiliza- 

 tion, look to the older country, Egypt, for horses to improve the 

 Grecian horse. In the English and American thorough-bred we 

 have the accumulated excellences that have, by centuries of 

 selection and development, arising from improved methods of 

 systematic breeding, centered in the best of the race. 



The marvelous tales of travelers, colored by all the imagery 

 peculiar to Eastern and mythical stories, together with the 

 charm of the past and distance, have led many to believe that the 

 Arab has never been equaled. We believe that the close student 

 of the development of the species will find that the evolution of 

 the thorough-bred must go back in history to the Egyptian, 

 thence to the days of Solomon in all his wisdom and glory, 

 thence to the Grecian and the regions whore its highest civiliza- 

 tion had influence, and thence to the countries bordering on the 

 Mediterranean Sea. Under the wonderful influence of Moham- 

 med the people of the desert country collected and developed 



