THE HORSE, DIFFERENT BREEDS, ETC. 7 1 



fine neck, to which a thm mane lies close. His withers are uncommonly 

 thin and high ; his back is low at the withers, then straight to the haunches. 

 Measured from the haunches to the turn of the rump, he is long ; from 

 the turn of the rump to the tip of the hock he is long and thin. He has 

 great power of springing, to force himself forward, by reason of his leg* 

 standing rather under the body than erect. His buttocks rarely touch 

 each other ; his legs below the knee and hock are small, and the cords 

 stand out conspicuously. His tail is slight and thin-haired, sometime* 

 Blightly waved ; the hair of his legs is very fine ; he has no fetlock tufts, 

 and his hoof is small and cupped. His color is generally bay, brown, or 

 chestnut ; his height varies from fifteen to seventeen hands. His coat is 

 tliinner and the hair more silky than in common breeds. 



The soundness of feet and legs, and the poAvers of endurance, which 

 characterize the Arab, have been transmitted to the thorough-bred ; and 

 while the latter is not himself well suited to heavy harness work, or indeed 

 to any of vbe general purposes of the farmer, animals are often obtained 

 by judicious crosses with him which are admirably adapted to various 

 uses. He is valued solely for the turf, and for light single draft, 

 except, as we have before remarked, for the improvement of the general 

 stock of horses by admixture ; and for this latter purpose we are largely 

 dependent upon him in America as well as in Great Britain. 



V. The Barb. 



The horse of the Barbary States has long been known for his excellent 

 qualities ; and he is especially remarkable for fine and graceful action. 

 His powers of transmission are great, so that his marked traits are found 

 in his descendants at remote periods and after commixture of various and 

 inferior breeds. 



He has impressed himself particularly upon the Spanish horse and the 

 English racing stock. It is thought that the horses of Spain owe all 

 their excellences to Barb blood, which was brought into that country by 

 the Moors, at the time of the conquest. 



The Barb is found chiefly in Morocco, Fez, and Tripoli, and with the 

 exception of an excellent species found in the kingdom of BournoU; he 

 U the only African horse deserving of special mention. The horse of 

 Boumon is represented by some as being superior to both the Arabian 

 and the Barb. 



In addition to what has been said in those sections in which we have 

 treated of the Arabian and the thorough-bred, the following description, 

 of the Barb will be sufficient to convey to the mind of the reader wh.i. 

 a true horse of this breed really is : 



