31 



ago" to be able to tell whether a horse has "boulets" 

 about his ancles, or bent legs and bad feet ; ladies 

 and boys and girls of fifteen years of age point them 

 out in a minute. 



Arab horses of 14 hands 2 inches high (which is 

 about the height of the best blood) will of course 

 stand no chance for speed against English of 15 to 16 

 hands. You have got the speed here in England in 

 the English horse. You have got the crooked legs 

 and the right well contracted heels into the bargain. 

 Carry your training on for the next hundred years in 

 the same manner as you have for the last hundred, and 

 what queer looking stumps blood horses from five to 

 six years old would have ! The legs and feet then of five- 

 year-old Enghsh thorough-breds will stand no compari- 

 son for beauty, straightness, and wide frogs with those 

 of the Arab ; the Arabs will take the prize in that 

 respect at all events unless they should be kept under 

 English training management in this country for a few 

 years, and then they may become as crooked as their 

 neighbours : but when I was in India (some time ago, 

 certainly) it was about as difficult to find a five-year- 

 old blood Arab with the double fault of crooked legs 

 and contracted heels as it now is difficult to find an 

 Engligh thorough-bred of five years old with the double 

 virtue of straight legs and perfectly open heels. 



