40 THE HORSE. 



reach. The thighs and hocks are good; the latter very rarely 

 know either kind of spavin or curbs. The points and processes 

 are pre-eminently well adapted for the attachment of the muscles ; 

 while the flexor tendons of the hind legs generally correspond with 

 those of the fore. The hocks are not so much let down, nor the 

 hind legs so greyhound-like, as in the thorough-bred English horse. 

 In stride, too, he is somewhat different, inasmuch as it is a rounder 

 way of going, and is not so extended or so near the ground, but is 

 more like a bound. However, there are exceptions ; and I have 

 bred pure Arabs whose stride, for their size, was very extended, 

 and quite like that of English racehorses." 



The Mare is commonly supposed to be more highly prized by 

 the Arabs than the stallion ; but this idea is said to be unfounded 

 by the celebrated Abd el Kader, in a highly interesting letter to 

 General Daumas, which is published in the fifth number of Baili/'s 

 Magazine of Sports. He remarks : 



"It is true that the foal proceeds from the sire and from the 

 dam, but the experience of ages has proved that the essential parts 

 of the body — such as the bones, the tendons, the nerves, and the 

 veins — proceed always from the sire. This is beyond all doubt. 

 The meanest Arab knows now that any malady specially belonging 

 to the bones, under which the sire may be suffering at the time of 

 covering, will be perpetuated in his produce, such as splints, bone 

 and blood spavins, the shape of the bones, and all diseases of the 

 vertebral column. The dam may give to her produce color, and a 

 certain amount of resemblance in form, the foal naturally partak- 

 ing of some of the qualities of the animal which had so long 

 borne it; but it is an incontestable fact, that it is the sire who gives 

 strength to the bones, substance to the tendons, vigor to the nerves, 

 rapidity of pace, in short, all the principal qualities. He also 

 communicates what may be called moral qualities, and if he be 

 unquestionably of high blood the foal is preserved from vice. Our 

 fathers have said, El aond por ma, audouche Mela — 'A horse of 

 noble race has no vices.' An Arab will lend his stud horse gra- 

 tuitously ; he never accepts payment for his services. To hire out 

 a stud horse for money is, in the eyes of an Arab, an unworthy 

 action, and is contrary to the generosity for which he is renowned, 

 and although the law allows it, I have never known an instance of 

 it. But though the Arab lends his stud horse gratuitously, he 

 does not do so to the first comer, nor for any mare. No; the sup- 

 pliant is often obliged to make use of the intercession of persons 

 of great interest, or even of his wives, if he would not see his re- 

 quest refused. On the other hand, the Arabs are very difficult in 

 their choice of a stud horse, and if they cannot find one of pure 

 blood, they prefer leaving their mares unproductive rather than 

 put them to a common horse. To procure a good sire they do not 



