20 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



CHAPTER III. 



ENGLISH VERSUS AEAB THOROUGHBREDS. 



THE thoroughbred racer, as we know him in Eng- 

 land, is a different kind of animal from the Arab 

 thoroughbred, although a considerable amount of 

 Arab blood runs in his veins. We have no sandy 

 desert to try the endurance of our horses. In. no 

 part of England could a horse travel at the mildest 

 trot for a couple of hours without coming to a drink- 

 ing place; food in the shape of grass is found by 

 every roadside ; so that it would be difficult for the 

 horse to die of hunger or thirst if set at liberty. 



The question whether the English thoroughbred, 

 reared in our temperate climate, and brought up, so 

 to speak, in luxury, could hold his own with the 

 genuine horse of the desert, has been much discussed, 

 and more than one trial has taken place; but the 

 question even now is not to be considered as settled. 

 Ever since it- was proposed to make Egypt a halting- 

 place on the road to India, a sporting spirit has been 

 fostered in the land of the Pharaohs, and Egyptian 

 princes and pashas have been found willing to run 



