ARAB HOESES.] 



THE HOESE, AND 



[RACE-nOItSES. 



adamant; the pasterns flexible; the hoofa singu- 

 larly hard, but healthy ; and the feet open and 

 roomy. Tou read his temper in his eye ; he 

 is a light-hearted animal, without the slightest 

 taint of vice." 



The other stallion, a bright bay, is described 

 almost in the same words. His head is less 

 perfect, and the bone smaller; but his quarters 

 are fuller, and more softened down by the 

 swell of the muscles. His back, whicli, like 

 the other, is rather inclined to be hollow, is 

 xiot more than eight or ten inches from hip to 

 shoulder. " I never saw a pony's so short. 

 His height is, as nearly as possible, the same 

 as the black; in middle piece he has the 

 advantage. They were both brought out for 

 me, and I saw them in all their paces. In 

 their action, as in their lean, spare forms, you 

 detect nothing superfluous; it is quiet and 

 graceful, and entirely without any expression 

 of exuberant exertion. Utility is the charac- 

 teristic of the Arab horse. I can imagine 

 liim going for days together without fatigue: 

 nature intended him for this, and she has fitted 

 him for endurance. The impression of his 

 extraordinary speed was long o vulgar error, 

 which is now fast exploding. No Arab that 

 ever trod the sand, could live in company with 

 an English race-horse, weight him for inches, 

 or after any fashion you will : with the size of a 

 G-alloway, you cannot have the stride essential 

 to great velocity. Speed, regular and long 

 sustained, no doubt he possesses : our blight of 

 degeneracy is yet unknown to the desert-bred. 

 Before I part with these horses, I cannot 

 but regret that one or two of the mares at 

 Hampton Court were not put to them. Surely 

 nowhere could the experiment have been so 

 properly made. That their stock in the first, 

 or tenth generation, could compete with 

 Emilius or Sultan, no one supposes ; still 

 they are crystal streams, fresh drawn from 

 the spring, whence it is acknowledged we 

 derived the fertilisation of our own turf. If 

 only to trace its progress, it might be a 

 useful lesson, probably a guide of great impor- 

 tance." 



In giving the description of these two very 

 extraordinary high-bred Arabians, selected by 

 a prince who spared no expense, and brought 

 from his own dominions, which is a country 

 also renowned for the breed of horse?, we can- 

 62 



not but suppose that these specimens were of 

 the very highest caste, and the perfect repre- 

 sentations of their kind. 



The gentleman to whom we are indebted 

 for the description of these two beautiful 

 small Arabs, says that there is no resem- 

 blance whatever between them and the por- 

 traits of the Godolphin and the Darley Ara- 

 bians. This, no doubt, is very true ; for these 

 were horses of considerable size and power, and 

 their immediate descendants became racers. 

 To them, however, the English breed is so 

 much indebted, that, under the head of tlie 

 English Eacer, we shall have something to say 

 of both the last-named horses. 



AVe shall now return to the stud at Eiddles- 

 worth — an establishment which, although only 

 in the hands of a private English gentleman, 

 is sufficient to show to what sort of personages 

 we are indebted for the superiority of the 

 English horse, and for the beauty and speed 

 with which wealth and art have united to in- 

 vest him. 



Our first duty is to introduce our readers to 

 the sires of the three yearling colts, of which 

 we have already spoken, and which averaged 

 fifteen hands two inches high. The following 

 is the description of an accomplished sports- 

 man who visited them. 



" I now followed my obliging conductor (the 

 stud-groom) for a visit to the stallions. Their 

 boxes, each with a large walled yard attached 

 to it, are close to his dwelling-house, around 

 which, also, lie various commodious houses for 

 the young stock when it is first taken up, 

 previous to being taken away by tlie pur- 

 chasers, or sent for training to Newmarket. 

 The stallions all lie out— that is to say, their 

 boxes are left open ; and unclothed, and un- 

 touched, they have the run of the yards, 

 night and day, till generally the second week 

 in December. They are then shut up, 

 groomed, and put into condition preparatory 

 to the approaching season. The first I saw 

 was Merchant, by Merlin, out of Quail, by 

 Gohanna. He is a powerful, short- backed 

 chesnut horse, and his stock have shown well. 

 He is a favourite at Eiddlesworth, probably 

 on his sire's account, Merlin having ever been 

 high in Mr. Thornhill's estimation. 



" Next to him came St. Patrick, by Walton, 

 his dam by Dick Andrews. This is a very 



