26 PECULIARITIES OF THE ARABIAN HORSE. 



prevent the possibility of fraud, so far as the written pedigree 

 extends. 



The Kochlani are principally reared by the Bedouin Arabs, 

 in the remoter deserts. A stallion may be procured without 

 much difficulty, although at a great price. A mare is rarely to 

 be obtained, except by fraud and excessive bribery. The Arabs 

 have found out that which the English breeder should never 

 forget, that the female is more concerned than the male in the 

 excellence and value of the produce ; and the genealogies of 

 their horses are always reckoned from the mothers. 



The Arabian horse would not be acknowledged by every 

 judge to possess a perfect form : his head, however, is inimitable. 

 The broadness and squareness of the forehead, the shortness and 

 fineness of the muzzle, the prominence and brilliancy of the eye, 

 the smallness of the ears, and the beautiful course of the veins, 

 will always characterize the head of the Arabian horse. 



His body may be considered as too light, and his chest as too 

 narrow ; but behind the arras the barrel generally swells out, 

 and leaves sufficient room for the play of the lungs. 



In the formation of the shoulder, next to that of the head, the 

 Arab is superior to any other breed. The withers are high, and 

 the shoulder-blade inclined backward, and so nicely adjusted, 

 that in descending a hill the point or edge of the ham never 

 ruffles the skin. He may not be thought sufficiently high ; he 

 seldom stands more than fourteen hands two inches. 



The fineness of his legs, and the oblique position of his 

 pasterns, may be supposed to lessen his apparent strength ; but 

 the leg, although small, is flat and wiry ; anatomists know that 

 the bone has no common density, and the startling muscles of 

 the fore-arm and the thigh indicate that he is fidly capable of 

 accomplishing many of the feats which are recorded of him. 



The Barb alone excels him in noble and spirited action ; and 

 if there be defects about him, he is perfect for that for which he 

 was designed. He presents the true combination of speed and 

 bottom — strength enough to carry more than a Hght weight, and 

 courage that would cause him to die rather than to give up. 



We may not, perhaps, believe all that is told us of the 

 Arabian. It has been remarked, that there are on the deserts 

 which this horse traverses no mile-stones to mark the distance, 

 or watches to calculate the time ; and the Bedouin is naturally 

 given to exaggeration, and, most of all, when relating the 

 prowess of the animal, which he loves as dearly as his children : 

 yet it camiot be denied that, at the introduction of the Arabian 

 into the European stables, there was no other horse comparable 

 Vo him. 



The ^'"'\i h"T" is as celebrated for his docility and good 



