EAST INDIAN HORSES, 267 



The comparatively large development of the muscles of his 

 fore hand and loins makes him a good weight carrier for 

 his size. The common statement, that Arabs have bad 

 shoulders, has evidently been made by persons who do not 

 know that the kind of shoulders which might be very good in 

 one class of riding horse, might be equally bad in another 

 kind of saddle animal. The grandly shaped barrel of the 

 Arab plainly indicates that he has clear wind, strong consti- 

 tution, and that he is a good *'doer.'' Fig. 370 shows us 

 Blitz, the best 13. i Arab pony that has ever run in India; 

 but he was not as good as the English pony Mike, who was 

 about half an inch the smaller of the two. 



The more an Arab exceeds, say, 14. 2 in height, the more 

 inclined is he to be long in the leg, light in the loins and 

 flanks, and flat-sided. 



The term Gulf Arab (Figs, 263 and 361) is applied to 

 horses, which, though not desert born, have a dash of 

 Arab blood, and which have been imported to Bombay 

 from the Persian Gulf. They stand about midway between 

 the true Arab (Fig. 370), and the Cabuli (Fig. 264). I 

 believe that, as a rule, they are either Persians, or have 

 been bred in the Euphrates valley. 



East Indian Horses. — The native horses of India are 

 of the smart, wiry sort. As a rule, they are best when they 

 do not exceed 14.1 or 14.2; for the more they overtop 

 this height, the '* weedier" do they become. Having light 

 fore hands and well-sloped shoulders, they are clever and 

 jump well. They haveLcel.en. feet. Their legs, though 

 capable of standing a great deal of work on hard ground, are 

 often, from errors of breeding and bringing up, misshapen ; so 

 that turned-out toes, calf-knees, cow-hocks, and sickle-hocks 

 are of frequent occurrence among them. Generally, they are 

 flat-sided and light in the loin. Consequently, they are poor 

 weight carriers, and bad stayers at fast paces ; but are 

 marvellously good at enduring fatigue and privation. The 

 best of them make capital light cavalry horses up to, say, 



