164 The Arabian Horse. 



fore incapable of either being a racer or of begetting 

 racing stock. This is a frequent assertion. Let us see if 

 it holds good. Our horse which we call thorough- bred, 

 ' our terribly high-bred racer,' is the Arab's half-bred 

 descendant ; the Arab has, in fact, made a breed of 

 racers by the infusion of his blood into a very inferior 

 breed. This part of the subject might be dismissed 

 after the following w^ords. Our racer, such as he is, is 

 a living witness of the Arabian's capability to found 

 and create a breed of racers. He has made a breed 

 of racers in spite of the many inferior strains of blood 

 that he has had to combat with ; it is only reasonable 

 to believe that had his blood been used alone, with the 

 same advantages in cultivation and selection that have 

 been bestowed upon his half-bred descendant, his pure- 

 bred descendants would have exhibited greater excel- 

 lence. 



As a racer himself the Arabian possesses every na- 

 tural gift and qualification — courage, docility, temper, 

 endurance, good and untiring action, great determina- 

 tion, nervous energy, and speed ; for a horse that can 

 run tv/o miles under Derby Course weights in 3 min. 

 48 sees, cannot truly be called a slow horse or devoid 

 of speed. The speed exhibited by Arabians on the 

 race-course may be termed their normal speed, in con- 

 tradistinction to the artificial speed of the English racer, 

 because he has not been bred generation after generation 

 as a racer or for the sole sake of speed ; but sitcJi Arab 

 horses as Jiavc come to hand have shown this rate of 

 speed and also ability to maintain a high rate of speed. 



