THE SADDLE BREEDS OF HORSES 143 
168. Feeding and care. — Unaccustomed to much feed, 
or regular feed, the Arab is likely to get very fat under our 
method of feeding, so that the horse, once the picture of 
all that is beautiful and graceful, with us may soon become 
a fat horse. He thrives best on half of what other horses 
require. Of all horses, the Arabian is least fit to stand idle 
in his stall. His life for centuries has been under the 
saddle, as a war horse, on the scantest rations any horse 
lives on; and to pen him up in a close stall and feed him 
three meals a day so completely changes his life, that it 
changes his form. 
169. Distribution. — The home of the Arab horse, 
speaking of the pure Arab, is the district that is covered by 
the Nomad Arabs, and is confined to Arabia proper and 
the Syrian desert. In its greatest perfection it is found 
among the Anazeh and Shamar Bedouins, occupying the 
territory east and west along the Euphrates river; the 
Shamar on the eastern shore and the Anazeh west of the 
river. The latter make a circuit of the desert annually, 
going from the summer pastures near Aleppo, in the north, 
to Nejd, in the south, in winter. They swing east past 
Bagdad and Deyr on their way north, and on their journey 
south, go west, brushing near Palmyra and Damascus. 
Within that circuit the home of the Arabian horse may 
be said to lie. The haunts of the pure Arabian are those 
of the desert Bedouins, who still carry the lance. Of 
course, specimens of pure blood can be found sometimes at 
Beyrout, and the coast towns, but such horses have been 
brought there by wealthy citizens. In like manner they 
have been carried into northern Africa, Persia, Turkey, 
Hungary, Germany, France, Russia, England and America. 
The adaptability of the Arab is noteworthy. Accus- 
tomed naturally to the most intense heat, yet he thrives 
