A Racer. 173 



attempt to use him as a sire unless he can show superior 

 speed. Nor would the public submit to the spectacle 

 of Arabians racing when they could witness an exhibition 

 of greater speed by our own English horses. 



Well, be that as it may ; for my own part — and I trust 

 I may not be alone — I would prefer seeing a field of 

 honest, pure-bred, handsome horses like Honeysuckle 

 and Selim running hardly-contested races of 2 and 

 3 miles than scurries over a T.Y.C. After having bred 

 racers, and exclusively for speed, for many generations, 

 have we arrived at a very great difference in speed .'' 

 Does it compensate for the bottom, determination, and 

 honesty which are wanting } Has it never struck breed- 

 ers that the natural speed of the pure Arabian might 

 have been increased to even a greater degree than that 

 now exhibited by his half-bred descendant, the English 

 thorough-bred horse, if Arabian blood had been bred 

 from alone for only a few generations, and that his other 

 good qualities and characteristics might have been re- 

 tained.'' Besides, is not the public often treated to the 

 spectacle of witnessing races run in worse time than 

 that made by Arabs .'' The pleasure of seeing a field of 

 really beautiful horses honestly contesting for a prize is 

 worth looking at. 



But has it been proved yet that Arabians have not as 

 high a rate of speed } Have we gone to Arabia and 

 procured young stock, and by careful training ascer- 

 tained their capabilities in that respect .'' Have we 

 taken the pains to procure choice mares in foal, so that 

 their produce might be born and reared in this country, 



