14 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



broad, his shoulders flat and sloping backwards, his 

 loins broad and strong, his tail full and bushy, his 

 legs straight and even, his knees broad and well knit, 

 his hoofs hard and tough, arid his veins large and 

 swelling over all his body." 



The English thoroughbred horse, perhaps the 

 finest animal of his kind in the world, derives his 

 descent almost wholly from the Arab and the Barb. 

 Instead of giving a prosaic description of his points, 

 which those who desire it may find in books of a 

 more technical character than ours : we will put him 

 bodily before the reader in Barry Cornwall's vigorous 

 lines : 



THE BLOOD HORSE. 



" Gamarra is a noble steed ; 

 Strong, black, and of the desert breed ; 

 Full of fire, and full of bone ; 

 All his line of fathers known ; 

 Fine his nose, his nostrils thin, 

 But blown abroad by the pride within ! 

 His mane, a stormy river flowing ; 

 And his eyes like embers glowing 

 In the darkness of the night ; 

 And his pace as swift as light. 



Look, around his straining throat 



Grace and shifting beauty float ! 



Sinewy strength is on his reins, 



And the red blood gallops through his veins ; 



