THE, ARABIAN HORSE. 



Aliabal bought him of the Arabs, of the tribe of al Mahommadat, and Sheikh 

 Saleh fold him to Sheikh Morad Ebn al Hajj Abdollah, Sheikh of Safad, 

 and Sheikh Morad fold him to the Conful aforefaid ; when thefe matters 

 appeared to us, and the contents were known, the faid gentleman defired a 

 certificate thereof, and teftimony of the witnefles, whereupon we wrote 

 him this certificate for him to keep as a proof thereof. Dated Friday 28th 

 of the latter Rabi in the year 1 135. 



Witnesses. 



" Sheikh Jumat al Faliban of the Arabs, &c. 

 " Ali Ebn Talab al Kaabi. 

 " Ibrahim, his Brother. 



f S Mahommadat al Adhra Sheikh Alfarifat. 

 " Khamis al Kaabi." 



The Arabs moe their Horfes with iron, but they make the fhoes fo 

 light and thin, that a nail may be driven through any part of them : they 

 always form the fhoes out of cold iron, never ufing a fire to forge them ; 

 confequently, they cannot be guilty of a grofs impropriety, too commonly 

 put in practice by thofe whofe province it is to moe the Horfes of this 

 country ; namely, that of applying the moe to the Horfe's foot red hot (a), 

 that it may burn a bed for itfelf in the hoof, and thereby, as they fay, fit it 

 for its reception. We fee fo much mifchief attendant on this practice, that 

 we cannot forbear offering a few remarks upon it, before we clofe this article. 



The hoofs or feet of a Horfe may be confidered as the foundation of the 

 fabric, upon the good condition of which the liability of the whole will 

 almofi: entirely depend ; furely then, it becomes an object of great importance 

 to preferve in them the properties with which nature has furnifhed them. 

 The hoof, in its natural fiate, is nourilhed and kept fupple by an oleaginous 

 kind of moifture, fecreted for that purpofe ; this is evident from the foft 



(a) Lord Pembroke with great juftice fays, " the utmoft feverity ought to be inflicted upon all thofe 

 who clap fhoes on hot. This unpardonable lazinefs of farriers in making feet thus fit fhoes, inftead of fhoes 

 fitting feet, dries up the hoofs, and utterly deftroys them." — Method of treating Horf a, p. 106, 107. 



