THOROUGHBRED VS. KENTUCKY HORSE 45 



the effect is less pleasing when we bestride the Arab, 

 clad in more modern, and less colorful, attire. 



Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore A. Dodge, who has 

 travelled the world over and seen horses in all coun- 

 tries, says in " Riders in Many Lands" in regard to 

 the Arab's gaits: "He has but two which may be 

 called perfect — the walk and the gallop. His flat- 

 footed walk is undeniably good. His amble or rack 

 is good, but neither rapid nor even and reliable in 

 individuals. He has rarely a canter proper; he always 

 gallops." 



On the whole, the Arab of to-day is merely what 

 he was four or five centuries ago. He has remained 

 stationary, while his descendant, the thoroughbred, 

 has advanced in conformation, speed, and stature, so 

 that one would scarcely believe that they were of the 

 same ancestry. In fact, to breed to an Arab is con- 

 sidered by some English and American breeders to be 

 "breeding back" and throwing away all that has been 

 gained by the centuries. In any case, the breeding 

 of pure-bred Arabs in America is not likely ever to 

 become very extensive, owing to the fact that it is 

 well-nigh next to impossible to obtain pure Arab 

 mares from their source, and that the inherent lack of 

 fertility in the breed when imported makes the breed- 

 ing of Arabs over here more or less of an economic 

 failure. Though Arabs have been imported and bred 

 in America since 1856, there are, at the time this 

 volume goes to press, only 283 living registered Ara- 

 bians in this country.* 



We now come to the main body of the controversy, 



* Three hundred and sixty-three Arabians are registered, but of this 

 number eighty are known to be dead. The 1920 foals have not been 

 registered as yet. 



