ARABIAN HORSES. 2738 
than is usually the case with our horses, and conse- 
quently he swells out behind the shoulders in a grace- 
ful curve, whereas both the running horse and the 
trotter are very apt to be what is called slab-sided. 
Another peculiarity of the Arabian is the great 
length of his pastern joints, to which is chiefly due 
the remarkable springiness and elasticity of his gait. 
“He is so light that he could dance upon the bosom 
of a woman without bruising it.” And a quaint 
writer thus describes a mare of the desert: “ All 
shining, beautiful, and gentle of herself, she seemed 
a darling life upon that savage soil, not worthy of 
her gracious pasterns.” Nor, despite its length, 
does this joint ever break down with the Arabian 
horse, as happens so frequently with the English 
racer, Grogginess and knuckling over are unknown 
in the desert. 
As to the legs of the Arabian, they are as hard as 
flint; spavin, curb, and ringbone are very infrequent. 
In speaking of a certain Anazeh mare, a bay with 
black points, Major Upton declares that her legs ap- 
peared to have been cut out of black marble, and 
then highly polished. The knees and hocks of the 
Arabian are large, as they are in all good horses. 
« A Bedawee, whose mare had a foal running by her 
side, being pursued, feared that his steed would not 
do her best, out of consideration for the foal; there- 
fore he struck at the foal with his lance, and it fell 
back disabled. But when the Arab stopped his mare, 
the foal shortly made its appearance; and although 
it had been wounded in the hocks, it had made such 
good play that it was called the father or possessor 
of good hocks. It is a strain most highly esteemed.” 
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