CHAPTER II 



THE ARAB HORSE 



The native home of the Arab horse is Arabia. This is an ex- 

 tensive country lying just east of the Red Sea, extending some 

 fifteen hundred miles northwest to southeast, and varying in width 

 from about one thousand miles in its southern portion to five hun- 

 dred at its northern end. Wide expanses of deserts are found 

 in this country that are dry and unattractive from an agricultural 

 point of view. The Arab horse, more or less pure, is found in 

 great numbers in Turkey, Persia, and parts of northern Africa, 

 notably the Sahara region. The best Arabian horses are found 

 in the desert region, among the migratory Bedouin tribes, of which 

 there are several groups. The most powerful of these are the 

 Shammar race of Mesopotamia in the north and to the east of the 

 Euphrates, and the Anezah in the south. The latter have the best 

 horses, a fact generally recognized by the Bedouins. 



The origin of the pure Arabian has been the subject of wide 

 discussion. Undoubtedly much has been written based on nothing 

 more substantial than romance and tradition. Some writers — nota- 

 bly Professor William Ridgeway of Cambridge, England — have 

 assumed that the Arab horse originated in Africa ; others seriously 

 question the accuracy of this claim. The Arabians themselves 

 offer only traditional evidence. These people are descendants of 

 Ishmael, who, according to tradition, inherited a valuable horse 

 of the Kuhl race. The Anezah tribe descends in a direct line 

 from Ishmael, through Sheik Salaman, who lived about 1635 B.C. 

 and who owned five famous mares. These are known as the 

 Al Khamseh mares, and from this ancestry, it is claimed, has come 

 the purest and best Arab horse blood. This race was in exist- 

 ence many centuries before the time of Mohammed. Many people 

 have visited Arabia to study the Arabian horse and to import 

 it to other countries, and from these people there has been some 

 diversity of opinion. Major Upton and Lady Anne Blunt, however. 

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