AN Arab for his own use trains his horse to rack or 

 amble, canter or gallop. He abhors the trot which^to 

 him is the mark of the slavery of wheels. If a colt shows 

 an inclination to trot, he hobbles him with a rope from 

 his fore to his hind fetlock on either side, to force him to 

 pace. But the Arab does not know the fast rack, or 

 single-foot. The only people I am acquainted with who 

 have developed the so-called artificial paces of the horse 

 in a scientific way are our Southerners, though the Cretans 

 have the gait beyond any other Orientals. In Kentucky 

 a horse will often running-walk, rack, and trot perfectly, 

 and of course canter and gallop, with a crisp performance 

 of each gait. The Arabian has but an amble or a slow 

 rack never more than one of these gaits. When taught 

 to trot, in which he never excels, his other gaits appear to 

 be lost. I once examined a number of horses for sale in 

 Cairo, averaging thirty to fifty pounds sterling each in 

 value, which price would be the equivalent of four to six 

 hundred dollars here. I was looked on as a bona fide 

 purchaser, and the traders were very eager to sell me an 

 animal. The horses were all led out, mounted, and, to my 

 surprise, shown me on the trot. When I asked for a 

 canter, or a rack, they stared at me as a rara avis. Here 

 was a white man a Frank who did not want a trotter 

 for the saddle ! Allah be praised ! But I also found that 

 the training of each beast to trot had utterly ruined his 

 other gaits. He was all mixed up. Even his trot was not 



