RIDING HORSES. 129 



Arabs. 



I have no great liking for Arabs for Cavalry, at least for 

 British Cavalry in India. I am always reminded of the 

 occasion of casting about thirty of them for sprained tendons 

 and ligaments, at an annual veterinary inspection of the 15th 

 Hussars at Muttra, in 1907. They were mostly young animals. 

 The men were too heavy for them in training. It was rather 

 a surprise tome, for Arabs, though really ponies, are virtually 

 miniature horses, stunted by reason of the country of their 

 birth ; but their beautiful make and shape are altogether in 

 favour of carrying weight. And it is no uncommon sight to see 

 Arab polo ponies moving like clock-work under heavy owners 

 on the polo field. But as long as the Arab horse up to 14-2 

 commands the very high price as a racing animal, or even a 

 lesser price as a polo pony, he will not bulk very largely as a 

 military troop horse. His endurance, particularly in arid 

 regions, is phenomenal, and his prepotency as a sire remarkable. 

 Old history of war is full of his achievements, and he left more 

 than "foot-prints in the sands" wherever his incursions and 

 excursions took him. I specially use the masculine gender in 

 his description because Arab mares are not permitted to leave 

 the country of their origin, and " himself " for the most part 

 has to be " altered " in a little matter on joining His Majesty's 

 Forces, which makes him more amenable to discipline and 

 altogether a better soldier. 



Included in this breed is the Syrian horse or pony, which 

 has performed such marvellous work in Cavalry in Egypt in 

 days gone by. He has a wonderful constitution and is admir- 

 ably adapted to warfare in Eastern climes. An example of 

 endurance under trying conditions of paucity of rations and 

 lack of water is recorded in the annals of the Nile Expedition 

 of 1884-1885, for the Belief of Khartoum, in which Arab 

 stallions, average height 14 hands, average age 8 to 9 years, 

 purchased by the Egyptian Government in Syria and Lower 

 Egypt for Egyptian Cavalry and delivered over to the 19th 

 Hussars, performed one of the most remarkable feats possible 

 to relate. 



The following is a brief history of their achievement. In 

 June 1884 they were taken by barges from Cairo to Assouan, 



