266 REMARKS ON VARIOUS BREEDS OF HORSES, 



in a two-mile match at Cairo, in 1886-7, the Arab Haddeed 

 in a common canter, when giving him 7 lbs. He was looked 

 upon in Egypt as an extraordinary good Arab. Mr. Kelly 

 Maitland's Australian 13.2 mare, Fleur de Lys, several 

 imes proved herself as fast as any Arab in India for 

 I mile. Taking the time test, which has been applied with 

 great precision to the running of Arabs, we find that their 

 performances in India have been much inferior to those 

 accomplished by the English ponies, Lord Clyde (formerly 

 belonging to Mr. John Watson), Predominant (Fig. 236), 

 and Labby (by Wisdom), and by the Australian pony mare 

 Achievement, none of whom exceeded fourteen hands in 

 height. Although Arabs are not race-horses, they are ex- 

 cellent hacks, and excel particularly as light cavalry troopers. 

 In these respects the small Arab, not exceeding 14.2, is, as a 

 rule, undoubtedly better than the bigger Arab. A son of the 

 Desert of the best type has a handsome and intelligent head, 

 with broad forehead, large, '' kind " eyes, straight or concave 

 line of the face, large nostrils, well carried ears, lean and wide 

 jaw. His neck, if somewhat coarse, is fairly long and 

 is well set on to his head, which is carried bravely. His 

 shoulders are well sloped, although they often err, from a 

 galloping or jumping point of view, on the side of thickness, 

 and his breast is not too broad. He has capital legs and 

 feet. His withers are often somewhat low and thick. His 

 loins are flat, broad, and powerful. For roundness of barrel 

 and length of back ribs, for levelness of croup, and for 

 beautiful carriage of the tail, he is certainly without equal 

 among horses. He is not unfrequently higher over the croup 

 than at the withers, which, in that case, will have a conse- 

 quent tendency to be unduly low and thick. I do not think 

 that his hocks and gaskins are as good as those of well-bred 

 English or Australian animals. In justice to the Arab, I 

 must point out that the heaviness of his fore hand, as com- 

 pared to that of the English thoroughbred, is due to the 

 large size of the muscles which attach his shoulders to his 

 chest, and which draw the fore limbs forward and backward. 



