CHAPTER II 
THE ORIENTAL, ENGLISH THOROUGHBRED, AND 
OTHER BREEDS 
THE following is a brief survey of certain foreign 
breeds of horses that have influenced British breeds 
in the past, or might be advantageously used to 
improve certain classes of horses at home. 
The Arab and Barb 
The influence of the Arab in our country can 
never be calculated. Centuries ago he was intro- 
duced, with the result that most of our native breeds 
were entirely transformed. If any of the pedigrees. 
of the most noted sires of the past amongst our 
lighter breeds, such as the founders of the hackney 
or coach horse, are examined, we find, as far as 
pedigree is recorded, the undeniable existence of 
Arab or Oriental blood. Jt was this cross which 
remained recorded, the owners of such sires dwelling 
on the existence of the bloed cross as specially 
recommending the sires they owned. Take, for 
example, the breeding of the Origznal Shales or 
Marshland Shales in the hackney breed, and it will 
readily be seen how much Oriental blood there is in 
