ARAB MARES AND FOALS.
A pretty group of some of Lady Anne Blunt's famous Arabs.
The Arab Horse.
This magnificent and justly celebrated animal is chosen first for consideration because it is probably a direct descendant of an original wild breed—the Asiatic wild horse. How far back the domestication of this breed began will probably never be exactly known. Till the third century after Christ the Arabs were almost certainly camel-riders; but by the sixth century of our era we find them in possession of a breed of horses which they regarded with great reverence, and spoke of as an heritage from their forefathers. They were probably introduced from the Caucasus or Asia Minor. The Arab horse found its way into Europe, perhaps accompanied by an allied breed—the Barb—with the Arab invasion of Spain in the eighth and ninth centuries, leaving traces of its sojourn in the Andalusian and the French Limousin. But the great value of Arab blood was not appreciated till armour ceased to be used, the excessive weight of this demanding a horse of heavy build.
The Arab does not appear to have been introduced into England till the seventeenth century; but the result of that introduction, as we shall see presently, has been fraught with tremendous consequences. In its native land it appears to have been bred chiefly for the purposes of warfare. The success with which the breeders' judicious selection has been rewarded is plainly seen in the wonderful powers of endurance on long marches; so that, at the end of a raid, the animal is still fresh enough either for flight, if necessary, or for a final rush on a retreating enemy. Besides, Arabs possess great courage, and are frugal both in the matter of food and drink.
As a race-horse, one enthusiast assures us, the Arab is superior to every other natural breed; he is beaten only by his own half-breed offspring—the English Race-horse. But this seems to be rather an over-estimate.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford] [Woburn Abbey.
PERCHERON HORSE.
A Continental breed. This horse is believed to be the only one of its kind in England.