86 



DOMESTIC A TED ANIMALS 



The very great, if not the preeminent, success of the horse 

 in Arabia is the more remarkable from the fact that it has 

 been attained under conditions which, from an a prio^^i point 

 of view, must be deemed most unfavorable. This variety has 

 been bred in a land of scant herbage and deficient water- 

 supply, where the creature has had from time to time, indeed 

 we may say generally, to endure something of the dearth of 



food which stunts the Indian ponies and the other horses of 

 the Cordilleran district. The ancestors of the horse appear 

 to have attained their development in well-watered and fertile 

 regions. All the varieties bred Avithin the limits of civilization 

 do best on rich pasturages such as Arabia does not afford. 

 The success of the horse in that land shows how devoted 

 must have been the care which has been given to its nurture. 

 Fitting, as the Arabian horse does, exactly to the needs of 

 nomadic people engaged in almost constant v\'arfare, it has 



