44 .i.i/A'A'/r.i.v MCSHCM criDi': leaflets 



will he seen that the dowiiwaid reach of the head and the slow, lax step 

 modify the j)()siti()ii of almost vwvy hone in tlic body. 



The vertebral column is consideral)ly aiclied in the dor.sal region, 

 thus assistinji in the downwaid curve of the neck and at the same time 

 tiltin*:; the an^le of the jx'lvis a few de<i;i-ees toward the perpendicular, 

 increasin«: the length of the hind lind)s and tilting the body toward the 

 iiead. The head beinji turned well to the right, there is a very slight 

 cur\'e toward the left in the anterioi" j)ortion of the dorsal x'ertebrae, and 

 a slight cuive to the right in the lumbar \-ertebia' owing to the back- 

 ward i)()sition of the right hind foot. 



'rh(> weight of the l)ody falls on the right front and the left hind foot, 

 bringing them both veiy near the median line, and also modifying tho 

 position of the scaj)ula and elevating the left side of the pelvis. A little 

 l)elow the knee a very small hairlike bone may be seen, which icpresents 

 the shaft of the almost extinct fibula, a bone which was well developed 

 in the anc(»stors of the horse. 



THE ARABIAN HORSE 



OF all the many types of horses probably the one most universally 

 admired and loved is the Arabian, with its marvelous grace and 

 beauty, great intelhgence, perfection of anatomical mechanism, 

 fleet ness and endurance. The question may well be asked, whence comes 

 this superiority? 



The great fondness and care with which the Arabs have bred their 

 horses for many hundreds of years have undoubtedly done nuich for the 

 elevation of the stock; but more than this it is shown almost conclusively 

 that the Arab was blessed with a wonderfully fine natural species on 

 which to (^xercise his care. On this point Professor William Ridgewa}' of 

 Cambridge Universit}', has given us an innnense mass of most convinc- 

 ing evidence.' 



There are many reasons, traditional and historical, as well as zoo- 

 logical, for believing that the Arabian horse, or as Professor Kidgeway has 

 called it, the Libyan horse, is in origin entirely separate from the very 

 nuich inferior northern or Norseman's horse, and that its native home 

 was not in Arabia but northern Africa, where it was domesticated by the 

 ancient Libyans, in all probability as early as 2000 b. c. 



The Egyptians also knew full well the value of domestic horses. 

 "Egypt was, in fact, famous for its breed of horses which were not less 

 excellent than numerous, and we find that they were even exported to 

 other countries. Judea, Syria, and to the Kings of the Hittites."- It is 



'RiDGEWAY, Wii.i.iwi OriKin and nifluonce of the ThoroiiKlihrod Horse. CainhridK*': I'niv 

 Press. 1905. 



^Wilkinson, I. (i. Ancient Egyptians 



