THE ARAB HORSE 9 



quoted. An Arab chief was endeavoring to escape from an 

 enemy while mounted on his favorite mare. The journey was a 

 long and hard one, and while resting at noon the mare gave 

 birth to a filly foal. The owner of the mare being hard pressed 

 mounted and rode away, leaving the newborn colt, and after much 

 difficulty reached his own people. To the utter surprise of all, 

 the colt followed and reached the camp shortly after the arrival 

 of her dam. She was given into the care of one of the old 

 women of the tribe, whence her name Keheilet Ajuz (" the mare 

 of the old woman "). This colt lived to become the most famous 

 mare ever seen on the desert, and from her are descended the 

 choicest of pure Arabian horses. The claim is made that nineteen 

 families are descended from her, five through mares and fourteen 

 through stallions. Some even believe that eight other families 

 also should be credited to her. 



The Seglawi is descended from four great mares owned by a 

 man of that name. Davenport, who classes this as one of the great 

 Arabian families, states that Seglawi at his death gave his favorite 

 mare to his brother Jedran, from which the name " Seglawi Jedran " 

 is given this, the most popular branch of the Keheilet Ajuz family. 

 Horses of this ancestry are said to be mostly bays in color, are 

 possessed of the greatest speed of any Arab family, and in con- 

 formation closely resemble the Thoroughbred. Davenport states 1 

 that the Darley Arabian, " perhaps the only Anezeh horse in our 

 studbooks, was a Keheilan of the subfamily called Ras-el-Fadawi." 



The characteristics of the Arab horse. The head represents 

 very superior character and intelligence, the forehead being broad 

 and prominent, and the head tapering toward the nose more 

 than with other breeds. The nostrils are prominent, the eyes 

 fairly so, the ears delicate and pointing inward, and the general 

 head expression lean and representing high spirit. The neck is 

 of medium length and sustains the head most gracefully. Captain 

 Hayes states that the shoulders of the Arab slope well, though 

 from the saddle point of view they are often too thick, while the 

 withers incline to be rather low and broad. The body is fairly 

 short and is usually deeply ribbed, the back is well sustained, 

 and the loins are broad and muscular. The croup tends to be 



1 My Quest of the Arab Horse (1909), p. 259. 



