A thoroughbred horse (hôor)[[22]] may be known by yet other signs. For instance, he cannot be prevailed upon to eat barley out of any other nosebag than his own. He so loves trees, verdure, shade, and running water, that he will neigh for joy on seeing them. Seldom does he drink until he has troubled the water, and if the conformation of the ground prevents him from doing so with his feet, he will kneel down and do it with his mouth. He is continually shrivelling his lips; his eyes are in constant motion; alternately he pricks up and lowers his ears, and turns his neck to the right or left as if he wished to speak, or to ask for something. If to all these signs a horse adds sobriety of disposition, his owner may deem himself the possessor of a pair of wings.
It has been remarked that a horse that is a fast galopper has the head firmly set on, and the transverse apophysis of the atloïd very protuberant. "He has horns," say the Arabs.
The races most esteemed in the western part of the Algerian Sahara are three in number: that of Hâymour, that of Bou-Ghareb, and that of Merizigue. Their offspring are dispersed among a great many tribes, such as the Hamyân, the Oulad-Sidi-Shikh, the Leghrouât-Kuesal, the Oulad-Yagoub, the Makena, the Aâmour, the Oulad-Sidi-Nasseur, and even the Harar. Every one, according to his fancy, or according to his occupation, offers his mare to the descendants of one of these three types. The Hâymour usually produce bay horses, the Bou-Ghareb white ones, and the Merizigue those of a gray colour. The Hâymour are most sought after. They are of a beautiful shape, with a good carcass, and yet very active. They pass for the swiftest coursers of the Sahara, and preserve their strength to a very advanced age. They bring good luck, and their owners belong to the richest and noblest families.
Next come the race of Bou-Ghareb, the produce of which are taller, and are also very patient of fatigue, but less fleet than the Hâymour. Like the latter, however, they remain sound until a great age.
Lastly the Merizigue who are shorter and have less bottom than the preceding, but are solid, clean-limbed, and sober. They are chiefly sought after by common horsemen who have long journeys to make and great hardships to undergo.
The Hâymour breed is superior to all others; nor has the imagination of the Arabs failed to trace it to a marvellous source. The legend runs as follows:—A chief owned a magnificent mare, which happened to receive a serious hurt in hunting the ostrich. It was feared that she would be lame for life. Her master though he could see no improvement in her condition and was annoyed at the trouble of dragging her after him in all his removals from place to place, was still unable to bring himself to put her to death, and therefore turned her out to graze at large. On returning from a long journey he remembered his mare and inquired what had become of her. She proved to be in excellent health, and on the point of foaling. He at once brought her in, took the greatest care of her, and soon afterwards found himself possessed of a foal that was unrivalled throughout the desert. As no tribe had passed for a very long time near the place where he left the animal, the Arabs were willing to believe that she had been covered by a wild ass, hamar el ouâhhch, and they gave to the foal the name of Hâymour, which is that of the foal of the onager.
In the central part of the Algerian Sahara, the Arbâa[[23]] affect the offspring of Rakeby. This breed has both height and bottom, and is found among the Aghrazelias, the Oulad-Shayb, the Oulad-Mokhtar, and even among the Oulad-Khrelif.[[24]] For the most part they are gray or dark bay. They endure hunger and thirst with ease, and without being knocked up will cover for several consecutive days distances of twenty-five to thirty leagues.[[25]] At the present day the finest animals are in the family of the Seuffrân. Rakeby, it seems, was formerly brought from Morocco by the ancestors of Sidi-Hamed-Oulad-Tedjini, the famous Marabout of Aain-Mady.
The Oulad-Nayl[[26]] make use of the offspring of a celebrated stallion named El-Biod, "the White," formerly the property of the Oulad-Si-Mahmed, one of their divisions. This stock is renowned for its sobriety and speed.
In the Hodna and the Medjana, among the Oulad-Makrane and the Ghiras, the most highly esteemed are the descendants of a well-known stallion belonging to the Oulad-Mahdi. It was named Bey-el-Hissen, and was the property of the family of El-Amri-ben-Abi-Meramer.
A good horse in the desert ought to accomplish for five or six days, one after the other, distances of twenty- five to thirty leagues. After a couple of day's rest, if well fed, he will be quite fresh enough to repeat the feat. "With a horse that on arriving at a resting place shakes himself, paws the ground with his foot, and neighs at the approach of the barley, then pushing his head into the nosebag begins to munch eagerly three or four mouthfuls of the grain, there is no occasion to pull up in a journey." The distances to be traversed in the Sahara are not always of such great length, but at the same time it is no very rare occurrence to hear of horses doing fifty to sixty leagues in four and twenty hours.