28 THE HORSE 



Going back a good deal farther, there was a time 

 when the same thing could be said of the English 

 race-horse. In the main, his breeders were trying 

 to develop him by simply selecting the best and 

 fastest stock. The introduction of certain ani- 

 mals of Eastern breeding — the Byerley Turk and, 

 later, the Curwen Barb and the now famous Dar- 

 ley Arabian — made an impress so marked that 

 their value could not be ignored, but it was not 

 till the days of the Godolphin Arabian, some 

 twenty years later, that the value of oriental blood, 

 as the true source of speed and endurance, was 

 fully recognized and understood by horsemen. 



The story of the Godolphin Arabian is one of 

 the most fascinating in equine history. In com- 

 mon with the accounts of much that occurred in 

 that long-ago time some of its details are doubt- 

 less open to question and its missing pages filled 

 in by matter that is not well attested. So I give 

 the story for whatever it may be worth, but to 

 those who prefer to doubt it I would point out 

 two things, — first, that any doubt that may be 

 felt of the more romantic incidents with which his 

 story is credited can take nothing away from the 

 honor which is his proven right ; and furthermore 

 that the obscurity which would make possible the 

 introduction of fictitious incidents attended only 

 the first part of the horse's career; later, as the 



