HORSES. 
497 
Australia. 
the part of the reins next to the hand against that side of the neck from which 
the horse is required to turn is sufficient, without making him feel the bit at all. 
Feral horses are as abundant in Australia, where they are known 
as brumbies, as in Southern America. Indeed, so numerous are they 
in certain districts as to become a positive nuisance to the settlers, by whom they 
are sometimes shot down in large numbers. 
Barbs and Arabs Proceeding to the consideration of some of the leading breeds of 
domesticated horses, we may commence with those known as Barbs 
and Arabs, which have had such an important share in the production of the 
modern race-horse. With regard to the Barbs, which take their name from their 
native region, Barbary, it may be premised that the generality of African horses 
are distinguished from those of Asia by their long limbs and small girth at the 
loins, thus resembling the foals of other breeds. They display great powers of 
enduring hunger and thirst; and are fleet, with a high and graceful action. The 
Barb comes nearest to this general African type, but displays some variation 
owing to a crossing with other breeds. Low says that these horses “ are about 
14J hands high. They are sufficiently deep at the girth, but tucked up in the 
belly, giving that peculiar greyhound-aspect which is characteristic of this race. 
Their necks are long and well-formed, their heads moderately fine, the chafron 
tending to the convex; their shoulders are oblique, and the withers thin and 
well raised. Their limbs, though thin and delicate, are sinewy; their pasterns 
are oblique, and the feet well formed. They are gentle and full of spirit; they are 
somewhat careless in their paces, but distinguished by their graceful action. As 
compared with the Arabians, they are more swift, but less enduring.” 
The Arab horse is strictly a product of the country from which 
it takes its name; and the breed appears to have been derived from 
horses introduced into Arabia from the Caucasus or Asia Minor somewhere about 
the Christian era. They resemble in many respects the horses of these regions, 
“ but,” writes Low, “ inhabiting a very dry and arid region, their characters 
have become adapted to these conditions of climate and food. They are more 
compact than the horses of Barbary, having a rounder body, shorter limbs, with 
more of sinew, or what is termed bone. Yet they are of the smaller class of horses, 
very little exceeding, on a medium, 14 hands, or 56 inches in height. As compared 
with the horses of countries abounding in the grasses, their aspect is lean, their 
form slender, and their chest narrow. But the slimness of figure of these horses 
is not inconsistent with muscular force; and their movements are agile, their 
natural paces swift, and their spirit is unmatched. The power of their delicate 
limbs is indicated by the well-marked muscles of the fore-arm, and the starting 
sinews of the leg. The shoulder is sufficiently oblique ; the withers are elevated ; 
the back is moderately short; and the quarters are good. The head is well formed ; 
the forehead is broad; the ears are somewhat long, but alert; the eyes full and 
clear; the veins prominent—the whole rather indicating a happy union of gentle¬ 
ness and spirit, than the fiery temper which is commonly associated with the desert 
horse.” Although not remarkable for great speed, the Arab is pre-eminent for its 
endurance, hardy constitution, and the scanty fare on which it can exist. On a 
cold morning in Northern India, when the horses have been picketed round the 
vol. ii . — 32 
Arab. 
