28 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
December. 1, 1909 
Pure-Bred Arab’s Speed 
At the recent sale of pedigree Arab 
stock at Crabbet Park, England, Mr. W 
S Blunt made a speech in which he re- 
lated some interesting experiences on the 
breeding of Arab stock. He recalled that 
twenty-seven years ago the idea of pro- 
ducing a racehorse out of pure Arab stock 
was taken up by the Jockey Club, and 
that Lord Calthorpe, Mr. Chaplin, and 
Prince Batthyany had agreed to give 
prizes at Newmarket for Arabs. The idea 
was soon abondoned, for the English 
horse, which was three parts Arab, had 
been bred for speed for over 200 years, 
and the Arab could not catch him up 
during a man’s lifetime. In trying to 
improve the Arab in the way of speed 
they risked losing the qualities for which 
he was prized—namely, his short strong 
back, his wiry sinews, his iron feet, and 
that nice balance of all his machinery 
which makes him the perfect horse he is, 
Mr, Blunt was convinced that the Arab 
had in him the potentiality of high racing 
speed. The late Lord Bradford, he re- 
lated, had proved that in conjunction with 
English his stock could win against 
English thoroughbreds. The best instance 
of this was when, in 1882, the late Duke of 
Westminster bought one of the Crabbet 
mares—Basilisk—and put her to his 
Derby winner Bend Or. By him he had 
a filly which he sold to Lord Bradford, 
who put her to his Chippendale, the pro- 
duce of this second cross being a colt, 
‘who in 1894°won the Dee Stakes. Lord 
Bradford also won many hurdle races 
with another half-Arab colt by Chippen- 
“dale out of another of the Crabbet-mares _ 
—Purple Iris—the produce in this case 
of a first cross. What was especially 
remarkable about both these cases was 
that the original Arab mare Basilisk was 
quite a small one, hardly over fourteen 
hands, while neither of the mares had 
individually the least turn of speed. 
Asto the Arab market. Mr. Blunt 
stated that he had heard from the largest 
Arab breeder in Continental Europe that 
that the Arab stallion for half-bred stock 
was never so popular. He was selling 
freely to Germany, Austria, Italy, and 
Spain, all of which countries understood 
the Arab’s merits, and employed him in 
their Goverment studs. 
It has always been a matter of regret 
to him that so few first-class stallions had 
remained in England, where these would 
prove the best possible sires for hunter, 
no less than for polo stock. As it was, 
nearly all went abroad. 
—‘ Pastoralist’s Review.’ 
Ill-Fitting Harness. 
“ 
Now that harvest work has begun 
farmers should show consideration for 
their working horses by seeing that 
each animal is a 
Tl- 
fitting harness is a source of misery to 
the harness for 
proper fit and in thorough order. 
horses, and it must be a monetary loss to 
the farmer, because if the horse is in pain it 
cannot do its best work or derive proper 
benefit from its feed. On many farms it 
would appear to be the usual practice to 
moke the horse fit the harness, instead of 
having the harness to fit the horse. It 
does not seem to be realised that a badly 
fitting collar, even if it is only an inch too 
long or too'short, or if it is too wide or too 
narrow, will gall shoulders just as surely 
as ibis used. It isa barbarous practice 
to work a horse with galled or raw should- 
ers, and the mau who does it deserves 
punisnment. Not only is the poor 
animal in pain while working but he is 
tortured by flies when the harness is 
removed, and thus gets no rest, If the 
farmer is not sure of his own ability to 
decide when a collar fits aright, he should 
invoke the aid. of a competent harness 
maker. A perfectly fitting collar, and 
washing the shoulders at noon and night 
in strong lime water and then in clear, 
tepid water, will keep the shoulders of 
even young, newly-broken horses in good 
The collar itself should be 
sponged clean daily if 1t is leather faced 
The ideal fis of harness is decribed 
condition. 
n the old expression, “Neither too free 
nor too bind,’? which means that harness 
should be buckled just tight enough te 
give a sense of support and prevent shif- 
ting, but not so tight as'‘to cause undue 
pressure. Straps that are too long oF 
too short mean misery to the horse 
The exerciso of care and proper judgment 
in connection with harness-fitting ought 
to be the rule of every farm, 
ed 
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