160 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



the East Indian horse and the Mongolian pony." In other 

 words, as the ' country-bred ' horses of India are almost mainly 

 of Arab blood, the Cabuli, Baluchi, and other horses referred 

 to, are cross-breds between the Mongolian pony and the Arab. 

 The horses of the Waziris of Afghanistan are said to be not 

 uncommonly decorated with stripes on the legs, but to this 

 point we shall return later on. 



Let us now briefly survey the chief breeds of western Asia, 

 south of the great mountain chain. The common horses of 

 Persia are, as already remarked, Turcomans mixed more or 

 less with older breeds, which in their turn were, as we shall 

 see, derived from the same stock as the Turcoman. But the 

 Turcoman horses have been, and are being, modified by Arab 

 blood, and the further west we advance the more is this the 

 case, for in the provinces which lie close to Arabia are found 

 pure-bred, or nearly pure-bred, Arabs. 



The Turk, or Turkish horse, is sprung from the old Turco- 

 man, identical with the Mongolian horse of upper Asia, but 

 the stock has for many centuries been so saturated with Arab 

 blood that it possesses the docility and the beauty of the latter, 

 yet without its vigour and endurance, whilst from the Turco- 

 man blood arises a tendency to Roman-nosed chaffrons and ewe 

 neck, but the head is well set on. The Turkish horse is chiefly 

 found in Anatolia, and only to a limited extent in Turkey 

 in Europe. 



The most typical indigenous horses in Turkey at the present 

 day are those bred on the plains near Sivas, and which are 

 termed Kurdistan ponies. The mares are crossed with Arab 

 stallions, and produce the ordinary horses used in Turkish 

 towns\ The ponies properly come from the province of 

 Kurdistan in western Persia, and are therefore from the same 

 upper Asiatic stock as the Turcoman. They are hardy little 

 animals, usually 14 to 14"2 hands high. They have, commonly, 

 coarse heads, thick necks, short bodies, and good bone, especially 

 below the knees, and are very hardy and enduring. They are 

 usually grey or bay^ but according to General Tweedie^ "sooty 



1 Hayes, Points of the Horse (ed. 3), p. 603. - Id. p. 608. 



^ The Arabian Horse, p. 261. 



