GENERAL GRANT S HORSES, 139 



and dams their blood-lines are distinctive. They 

 again prove the blood cause and for general worth 

 and utility have few rivals. " 



Have many Arabian horses come to us since the 

 close of the war? 



" You have heard of course, of Leopard and Linden 

 Tree presented to General Grant by Abdul Hamid, 

 the Sultan of Turkey? No American was more fully 

 alive to the fact of the sad reduction in numbers and 

 quality of American horses during the war; and no 

 man ever lived who more dearly loved a good horse 

 than General Grant. His acceptance of the Arabs 

 was in a great measure influenced by their special 

 worth in the stud, realizing that the race must be 

 rebuilt." 



Did you not say, there was some doubt, about 

 General Grant's horses, being the true-bred sons of 

 the desert? 



" There has often been such a doubt expressed." 



Possibly General Grant's letter to Mr. Huntington 

 on the subject may convince the unbelieving, and I 

 am glad to be able to show it to )^ou. 



Did he ever drive these horses? 



*' They were possibly not broken to harness, but 

 if so, he denied himself a great pleasure, and the 

 immediate disposal of Leopard to General Beale and 

 of Linden to his son, showed his interests and con- 

 fidence in the infusion of Arab blood. He hoped 

 that from them a new and better type of horse might 

 be created. They are the only Arab stallions now 

 in America, it is said, and their progeny are a most 

 distinctive and superior type." 



