PROUD SHEIKS 289 



hough is extra long ; the neck rises just as it should from the 

 withers ; the head is put on just right ; the legs and feet 

 cannot be criticised. The superlatives are purposely em- 

 ployed. Moreover, there is a certain ease and grace of 

 movement that is essentially Arabian, which comes of a 

 skeleton put together on good principles, and then well 

 clad with muscle and sinew. On the other hand, while 

 our long, lanky, bony, often somewhat ungainly performer 

 lacks the Arabian's symmetry of looks and movement, he 

 impresses you with the ability to run and repeat, to carry 

 you through to the death, which even the best horse in the 

 Orient does not convey. The fine Arabian is singularly 

 handsome ; there is no form of words which will explain 

 the effect he has on the horse-lover who is attracted by 

 the artistic as well as the " horsy " points. He unques- 

 tionably possesses grit and endurance, but I believe that 

 in losing some of his grace we have gained in stamina in 

 stock of equal grades, while our every-day teamster, coach- 

 er, and business horse can readily discount him by his supe- 

 rior weight ; and this weight, while it may, coupled to our 

 hard roads, be more trying to legs and feet, does not ap- 

 pear to have deteriorated the useful qualities of our animal. 



The illustration shows the size of no end of colts in 

 daily use in the East. This was a two-year old we should 

 call it a yearling from its looks, and weedy at that. Still 

 the colt was able to do a good day's work ; and though 

 such a little creature may be much abused, his legs and 

 feet will stand up under it in a marvellous manner, ex- 

 plicable only by the fact that his ancestors, for a thousand 

 generations, have stood on the ground out - of - doors in- 

 stead of in ammonia-soaked stalls. The rider appears tall ; 

 in truth, he was but about five feet eight. The colt was 

 little above thirteen hands. 



The term sheik in the Orient is about as universal as 



19 



