16 THE HOKSE IN AMERICA 



oughbred, or to out-trot in harness or under sad- 

 dle an Orlof or an American. I maintain no such 

 absurdity. But I do maintain that all these types, 

 so that they may preserve their reproductive ca- 

 pacities, must get from time to time fresh infu- 

 sions of this blood. That is why the purely bred 

 Arabian — and the Nejdee is the purest of all — 

 is as valuable to-day as when the Godolphin 

 Barb and the Darley Arabian began the regener- 

 ation of the English horse into that wonderful 

 Thoroughbred, which is one of England's proud- 

 est achievements and most constant sources of 

 wealth. 



Historical records dating back to the fifth cen- 

 tury show that the best quality and the greatest 

 number of Arabian horses were to be found in 

 Nejd. They are also to be found there to-day, 

 and the number has not, so far as the records 

 speak, increased. They have never been numer- 

 ous, as it has never been the policy of the chiefs to 

 breed for numbers, but for quality. It is not true, 

 however, that a lack of forage was the restraining 

 cause of this comparative scarcity of horses in the 

 very section where they have been kept in their 



