21 The Book of the Horse. 



The matter was placed in the hands of Mr. Salt, the British consul in Egypt. After a 

 delay of some years, and an e.xpense of several thousand pounds, eleven Dongolas — five stallions 

 and six mares — arrived in England. Mr. Knight purchased Lord Headley's share, and became 

 possessed of two stallions and three mares. They fully answered Bruce's description ; were l6 

 hands high, with the quality of skin of a blood-horse ; had rather long legs, with white 

 stockings, and the action of a " school-horse " right up to the curb-chain. The Nubian groom 

 who accompanied them used to perform a trick common amongst Oriental horsemen ; gallop 

 them at a wall in the riding-school, and stop them dead with the cruel Turkish curb. 



Some of the produce of these Dongolas, out of well-bred English mares, turned out hunters 

 of remarkable endurance and speed. General the Marquis of Anglesey admired them very much, 

 but he was a fanatic on the subject of manege riding, which may account for his taste. 



Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Winn Knight has permitted me to copy, for one of the coloured 

 illustrations of this work, a portrait of the Dongola stallion, executed for his father by the celebrated 

 animal painter, James Ward, R.A., in 1828. He writes, on sending the picture, " With the black 

 •Dongola horse, Mahmoud, came a bay, which, like the black, stood over a good deal at the 

 knees. He was castrated, and I hunted him for several years on Exmoor with the wild stag 

 hounds. He went well, and never tired. The black was in Scotland with Lord Moreton before 

 he came to us, and was an old horse then." 



The picture of Mahmoud is, in Mr. Knight's opinion, very faithful — certainly it is not a 

 flattering portrait ; ai)d such a stamp offers no temptation for a repetition of the experiment. 

 Probably this horse, with his bright eye, burnished black coat, and fiery action, produced an effect 

 which could not be translated on canvas. But the portrait is a curiosity, because it suggests the 

 origin of a peculiar breed of horses which are still carefully preserved by several families of the 

 Spanish nobility. 



A friend who has recently travelled in Nubia states that the tall black-and-white prancing 

 horses are by no means rare there, and might easily be procured if required. 



ARAB SIRES TO CROSS TIIOROUGH-BRED MARES. 



The ques*^ion of making use of Arab sires or Arab mares to improve the British blood- 

 horse has been repeatedly discussed for more than fifty years. It is an idea that seems to 

 crop up vigorously from time to time, and then die out. In 1864 a Scotch correspondent 

 of the defunct Sporting Magazine, who had recently imported two Arab mares by way of 

 experiment, sent the following letter from Aleppo : — 



" I have made five experiments in horses here (Aleppo). 1st. Out of thorough-bred English 

 mares by Arabian stallions. 2nd. Out of the best Arab mares by thorough-bred English 

 horses. 3rd. Rearing the best Arab blood on succulent forage, as in England. 4th. Rearing 

 thorough-bred English stock in the desert on dry food. 5th. Buying colts and fillies superior 

 to those usually sold by the Arabs. 



" The first experiment has led to no great results ; the produce being merely handsomer 

 than I'jiglish horses, without being faster than Arabs. 



" The second experiment has succeeded occasionally ; but out of four, three are leggy, 

 weak, and unfit for racing. 



" The third experiment is a complete failure, except in increasing the size. The produce 

 has the defects of the English horse without having the merits of the Arab. 



"The fourth e.xperiment is perfectly successful; the stock, though smaller than their 

 parents, being better able to stay a distance. The heat of the desert ; the dryness ; the 



