THE SADDLE BREEDS OF HORSES 147 
foundation or improvement of modern breeds may be had 
from a review of the origin of some of them. The term 
oriental is used in this connection for the reason that 
earlier writers were not specific in their references to 
Barbs, Turks or Arabians. The Darley Arabian, Byerly 
Turk and Godolphin Barb, with the ‘“ Barb mares,’ have 
been called the real foundation of the Thoroughbred. The 
Percheron owes his origin to the mating of oriental horses, 
left by the Saracens or brought back by the Crusaders, 
with native French mares of the Flemish blood. Subse- 
quently, there were made at intervals systematic top crosses 
of blood from the Orient. Gallipoli and Godolphin were 
two of the most important of these, and the former is re- 
garded as the most influential sire in the history of the 
breed. The prototype of the Hackney, the Norfolk 
trotter, was the result of a Barb union with the Black 
trotter of Friesland. The Cleveland Bay was the product 
of a Barb-Yorkshire cart horse cross. The hot blood of the 
desert is mentioned in connection with the origin of the 
German coach horse. Bars Ist, progenitor of the 
Russian Orloff trotter, was three generations removed 
from Smetanka, a gray Arabian taken into Russia. The 
Prussian Trakehner is derived from an admixture of 
oriental and Thoroughbred blood with the native stock. 
176. Importance of the Barb. — The importance of the 
Barb is a matter of history, although it is only recently 
that there has been available much reliable data concern- 
ing him. Much of the early literature has been more or 
less obscured in mythology and superstition. 
A study of the origin of each of the breeds of horses 
shows that there were two original sources from which 
the foundation blood of each breed was drawn. These 
were the Wild Black horse of Flanders, thought to have 
