196 BREEDS OF POLO PONIES. [Chap. VIII. 



have been brought into Syria, as well as the horses, or 

 rather ponies (for they seldom exceed 14.2 in height) 

 which have been bred in that country. The true Arabs 

 which figure as Syrians, come from the same tribes as 

 do those w^hich are shipped to Bombay. In fact, an 

 Arab dealer, from whom I bought two ponies in 

 Bombay, in November, 1894, swore to me that they 

 had been marched from Syria to the Persian Gulf, from 

 whence they were shipped to Bombay. Representatives 

 of the Yenidji and Saklowi breeds are to be found, 

 though not very frequently, in Egypt, where we may 

 sometimes see as high-caste Arabs, particularly in the 

 possession of rich natives, as in India. The Syrian 

 proper is a coarser animal than the Desert Arab, upon 

 whose management and breeding more care is 

 expended. As far as polo is concerned, I put the 

 Syrians proper on a par with true Arabs ; as I have 

 found just as large a proportion of good players 

 among the former as among the latter. They are, as 

 a rule, easier to train than Arabs. Most Syrians show 

 the characteristic points of the Arab fairly well, except 

 that their heads are bigger, their ears longer, their tails 

 set on lower and not carried in such a flag-like manner, 

 and they lack quality. As far as looks go, they are 

 about half-way between Barbs and Arabs, though they 

 are longer from the hip to the hock than Barbs, which 

 are inclined to be goose-rumped. 



Sinbad (Fig. 83), having come from Syria to 

 Egypt, whence he was imported to England by Mr. 

 J. R. Walker, is classed as a Syrian, although it is more 

 than probable that he is a true high-caste Arab. 

 When the ground was hard, he was one of the best 

 light-weight ponies in England ; but, like most of his 



