148 HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 



any of the equine race. Small in size, he has a 

 beautiful, lean, bony head, with a very broad fore- 

 head, a tapering muzzle, and large, well-opened 

 nostrils ; his mane is very long, thin and silky. 

 It is from the Arabian horse, crossed with the 

 Barb, that the best stock of England and Amer- 

 ica has sprung. Although much of the superi- 

 ority of these horses is attributable to peculiarly 

 favorable conditions of the country where they 

 originated, yet many of their excellent qualities 

 may be traced to kindness and intelligent train- 

 ing by which those qualities were first developed, 

 and through which they have been transmitted 

 until they have become characteristics of the 

 race. 



The Arabian understands the value of his 

 horse, appreciates the nobility of his nature, and 

 treats him accordingly. They kiss and caress 

 them ; they adorn them with jewels, and amulets 

 formed out of sentences of the Koran, as a pre- 

 servative against evil and accidents. "In short," 

 says a modern author, " they treat them almost 

 like rational beings, which are ready to sacrifice 



