AEABIA.N uMiSEs.] MODERN VETEEINAET PRACTICE. [eace-hoeses. 



that the painter had drawn on his imagina- 

 tion, in order to adorn a horse with such a 

 lofty and swelling forehand. But, be this as 

 it may, the Godolphia Arabian has been of the 

 greatest importance in the improvement of 

 the breed of the racing stud. At the present 

 dar, we have artists who seize with avidity the 

 occasion of taking the portraits of celebrated 

 horses, and it is not to be expected tl.at any 

 doubt of a likeness will take place in future, 

 however great may be the winning horse of 

 his time. 



The fate of the Grodolphin Arabian seems to 

 have been as chequered as that of many other 

 public characters ; and he was as much in- 

 debted to accident for the development of his 

 powers, as some of the higher breeds of the 

 " lords of the Creation" have been. So little 

 was he valued in France, that he was actually 

 employed in the drudgery of drawing a cart 

 in the streets of Paris. What an ignoble oc- 

 cupation for the blood of an Arab ! A Mr. 

 Coke brought him to England, and gave him 

 to Williams, master of the St. James's Coffee- 

 house, who made a present of him to the Earl 

 of Godolphin. Though now elevated from the 

 cart in the streets of Paris, to the stud of a 

 British nobleman — whose name the Arabian 

 afterwards bore — his merit was still unappre- 

 ciated to the fulness of its extent; and it was 

 not until he had produced a colt foal, the famous 

 Lath, the most elegant and beautiful as well 

 as the best racer of his time, that he was now 

 treated " according to his deserts." He then 

 became, even in a higher degree than the 

 Darley, one of the progenitors of our 

 thoi'ough-bred horses. 



The Godolphin was fifteen hands in heiglit, 

 of great substance, of the truest conformation 

 for strength and action, beai*ing every indica- 

 tion of a real courser. His colour was entire 

 brown bay, with mottles on the buttocks and 

 crest, excepting a small streak of white upon 

 the hinder heels. He was imported into 

 Prance from some capital or royal stud in Bar- 

 bary, whence it was suspected he was stolen. 

 He was foaled in 1724 and died in 1753. 



THE WELLESLEY ARABIAN. 



We introduce this horse because he has 



been considered, although erroneously, the 



finest specimen of a superior Arabian. He 



bore a considerable resemblance to the larf^er 

 war-horse of Europe, possessing the delicate 

 skin, and various other attributes of the 

 south-eastern courser. But it is with reason 

 supposed that he was the produce rather ot 

 some country bordering on the land of deserts, 

 than in Arabia itself. In England, the Arabian 

 or Barbary horse, in process of time, acquires 

 an increase of size, and fulness of form, 

 together with a considerable expansion of tlie 

 hoofs. This is, no doubt, the effect of lower 

 and more moist grounds, and more succulent 

 food than can be found in the deserts. There 

 the dryness and purity of the air and soil com- 

 press the animal body, impart a superior firm- 

 ness and elasticity to the tendinous and 

 fibrous system, allowing greater powers in a 

 smaller compass of substance, and exalting the 

 tone and vigour of the animal spirits. Eor 

 these reasons horses are chosen from the 

 deserts for their fleetness and courage, and 

 from the mountainous regions for coursers. 

 A few of the offspring of the Wellesley 

 Arabian were trained, but not with sufficient 

 success to raise his reputation as a covering 

 animal. This is the last Arabian, or foreign 

 horse trained from, in this country. 



THE DEVONSHIRE, OR FLYING CHILDERS. 

 Childers, a bay horse, somewhat upwards of 

 fifteen hands in height, was foaled in 1715, 

 and was the property of Leonard Childers, 

 Esq., of Carr House, near Doncaster, and sold, 

 when young, to the Duke of Devonshire. He 

 was the immediate descendant of the Darley 

 Arabian ; and his history, as a racer, is so well 

 known, and has been so often repeated, that a 

 few items of it will here suflice. It is said 

 that he was first used as a hunter, and that in 

 the field, both his high qualities and his head- 

 strong, if not vicious disposition, were dis- 

 covered. He was, however, void of any taint 

 of restiveness. It is probable that, like 

 Eclipse, he did not start on the course until 

 five, perhaps not until six years old, when he 

 beat all the horses of his time, at whatever 

 distance. He was never tried in running a 

 single mile ; but since his time, the measured 

 and attested performances of far inferior horses, 

 leave not the shadow of a doubt of his ability 

 to run a mile witiiin one minute of time! 

 A horse called Eiretail, ran, in 1772, a mile in 



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