1 8 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



of years to make ; it is unfair to expect, therefore, 

 that any great improvement of our old stock, or 

 the making of an entire new breed, can be 

 accompHshed off hand. The blood of the Darley 

 Arabian has had a long descent in its two lines 

 from his sons, and how it has become mixed 

 with the blood of the Godolphin horse and the 

 Byerly Turk in a line of splendid horses, any 

 pedigree-table will show. 



It has been argued that in the days of old 

 there was really good work to be done, as English 

 horses, previous to the advent of the illustrious 

 foreigners, were " nothing to speak of," and, con- 

 sequently, in need of the very elements which the 

 Arabian horses were formed to supply, and which, 

 having been got, now remain with us for all time. 

 As has been pointed out by competent authorities, 

 there are horses in the East, other than those of 

 Arabia, which deserve consideration ; the difficulty 

 is how to obtain good examples of them. It is 

 supposed that not one of the really fine Eastern 

 Barbs or other horses can be purchased for any 

 amount of money. As a matter of fact stallions 

 are rare, being owned chiefly by the heads of tribes, 

 who only can afford to keep them ; poorer persons 

 are quite contented to have a mare — " a mare," 

 they say, *'that produces a mare is the head of 

 riches," and all Arabs are strong believers in the 

 proverb of their country that "the foal follows the 

 stallion." 



