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A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



a small space ; before, the muscles of his loin rose excessively high, broad, and 

 expanded, which were inserted into his quarters with greater strength and power 

 than any horse ever yet seen of his dimensions. It is not to be wondered at that the 

 excellence of this horse's shape was not in early times manifest to some men, con- 

 sidering the plainness of his head and ears, the position of his forelegs, and his 

 stunted growth, occasioned by want of food in the country where he was bred.' 1 

 This description seems to me as valuable for its faults of reasoning as for the evidence 

 it gives of one who saw the famous sire ; and it may be interesting to quote another 

 description, written only fifteen years later, of that English thoroughbred of 1771, 

 whom the Godolphin Arabian did so much to form. " The finer and better sort of 

 modern English horses," writes Richard Berenger, " are descended from Arabians 

 and Barbs, but differ from them in size and in mould, being more furnished, stout, and 

 lusty .... strong, nimble, and of good courage .... in perseverance and speed 

 they surpass all the horses in the world." 



