12 



like. To those I would quote the Arab maxim " The 

 head and tail should be so beautifully carried that the 

 rider may be hidden between them." Most certainly, 

 if I was asked to describe what constituted the most 

 striking distinction between a thorough-bred Arab 

 and a thorough-bred English horse I should answer, 

 the Arab carries his head and tail up when in action, 

 and has clean Hmbs with open heels. The English 

 carries his head and tail down and has puffy fetlocks 

 with contracted heels. Of course there are exceptions 

 to both. You who are unprejudiced can award the 

 palm according to your fancy; but if you give it to the 

 latter, all I can say is, that I cannot pin my faith to 

 your ideas of what constitutes beauty or handsome 

 thorough-bred ; not even though you should have pur- 

 chased the last three golden three-year-olds with the 

 puffed up coronet^ from the mahogany stables of the 

 Marquis of Badsticks. The horse clothing, howbeit, 

 that covered those unfortunate creatures, was really 

 well worth bidding for, but that in consequence was 

 not put up for sale. 



If the racing of two, and three, and four-year-olds 

 is beneficial for strengthening and improving the 

 breed of horses ; the same process might, perhaps, be 

 beneficial for children for the same purpose at the 

 corresponding ages of eight, twelve, and sixteen. 



