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Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at
Tufts University
200 Westboro Road
North Grafton, MA 01536
NEWMARKET & ARABIA
AN EXAMINATION OF THE DESCENT OF
RACERS AND COURSERS
BY
ROGER D. UPTON
(captain late gTH ROVAL LANCERS)
Henry S. King & Co.
65 CoRNHiLL & 12 Paternoster Row, London
1873
(/^// ^-i^'7/^.J reserved)
PREFACE.
In offering the present volume to the pubhc, I will
briefly state, the object is to encourage a more general
knowledge of and a deeper insight into the history of the
horse in this country, more especially that relating to our
standard breed called thoroughbred ; to point out errors
that have been committed in the breeding of our horse
which have prevented, and ever will prevent, his attaining
to a complete and satisfactory degree of excellence.
I ask for a patient perusal of its pages, in the hope
that many may see the subject in the same light with
myself, and the necessity of action in the matter. Long
and constant study of the horse and his history, which
from early youth has been a labour of love, only in-
creasing with years, added to considerable practical
experience gained in many parts of the world, has con-
vinced me of existing faults, and also led me to see the
only way in which a true and useful breed of thorough-
bred horses can be established.
I more readily put forward the opinions I entertain,
A 2
IV Preface.
as I have been frequently urged by many, both at home
and abroad, to pubh'sh in one volume certain essays and
reviews on the subject of horses, which have appeared at
different times in various magazines and papers.
There have been also frequent demands for the re-
production, in a separate volume, of the ' Successional
and Historic Review of the English Racer from 1689 to
the Present Time,' to which, it was requested, tables of
pedigrees might be added ; but I was unwilling that
should appear unless accompanied by the history of
the Arabian horse, for ' as in geography we can have
no just idea of the situation of one country without
knowing that of others, so in history, it is in some
measure necessary to be acquainted with the whole to
comprehend a part.' So, rather than reproduce a number
of letters and papers, in which there would be to some
extent a want of connection, and necessarily a repetition,
I have chosen to write a fresh work giving a history of
the Arabian, a knowledge of which is indispensable to a
thorough appreciation of the history of the English horse,
and in which the whole subject has been enlarged and
more fully discussed.
It may perhaps surprise some to find the ' English
Uhlan ' to be one and the same with the author of the
* Successional and Historic Review of the English Racer,'
whose letters in support of Arabian blood appeared about
the same time, and although they were not recognised
Preface. v
as coming from the same pen it was sufficiently gratify-
ing to find that the views elucidated in the letters of
the former were publicly admitted to be confirmed by
the latter, and had led, at least in one instance, to a
positive indorsement of the opinions urged by the
* English Uhlan.'
For the completion of the First Part, ' The English
Horse,' the pedigrees of Herod, Eclipse, and Trumpator
have been given at full length, which it, is hoped, may
be of great assistance to the reader ; these, being traced
back to the furthest extent, will enable any one to form a
just appreciation of the breeding of the English racer,
and at the same tune will show conclusively how far short
he is of being of pure blood. Trumpator, through horses
of mixed and common blood (such as would now be
called half-bred), inherited not less than 207 strains of
impure blood — this is counting Turks and Barbs as of
equally pure blood with Arabians, but which in reality
cannot be allowed ; therefore the strains of inferior blood
are in excess of what is stated. Eclipse inherited at
least %6, and Herod a similar number.
The modern racer, being in every instance descended
from one or all of the above-named horses, not only
inherits these stains, but as often as these horses appear
in his pedigree (which they do over and over again) are
the original number of stains doubled or quadrupled,
as the case may be, and, it must be remembered, faults
vi Preface.
more readily appear than perfections. Pedigrees of
some, if not of all the horses and mares which, although
foaled in England, appear to have been entirely of
Arabian, Turkish, and Barb blood (these were racers,
stallions, and brood mares in the beginning of the last
century and the latter end of the preceding one), have
also been added, as well as a catalogue of most ; and I
believe, as nearly as possible, a complete list of the
Arabians, so-called Arabians, Barbs, and Turks, which
were employed in the formation of the English stud,
from the time of King James I. to the end of the last
century.
It will be seen the Arabians are in excess of either
Barbs or Turks. It would be wrong to encourage the
belief that Turks and Barbs were either Arabians or
even altogether of unmixed Arab blood ; and I think it
more than doubtful whether all those horses styled
Arabians were really so. Of the Darley Arabian we
are quite sure, and what a brilliant example we had of
his quality in his son Flying Childers !
It cannot fail to be noticed, there were but few
Eastern mares, and those were principally Barbs. With
one exception, the royal mares can only be considered
of uncertain origin.
The Second Part, ' The History of the Arabian,' may,
perhaps, be considered rather long, but it is a subject
that might well be enlarged. My only regret is that it
Preface. vii
should not have been in hands which could have done
it full justice. It was necessary to show the antiquity
and purity of the race, although the Arabian horse is a
living witness, and both outwardly and inwardly speaks
for himself. He is one by himself
I cannot refrain froni expressing admiration at the
zeal, patience and perseverance, skill and ability, dis-
played by the framers of the ' General Stud Book,'
and the first volume is marvellous.
It only remains for me to thank many friends and
authors for their kind assistance, and for the informa-
tion I have derived from them. I do not mention them
by name, knowing it would not be agreeable to some of
them ; but perhaps it may be interesting to learn that
much that has been stated about the Arabian horse —
especially of his habitat and oneness — has been fully
confirmed by an Arab gentleman of a Nejdean family,
who was gratified by the interest I took in Arabian
horses, and at the knowledge I had acquired of his
country, its tribes and horses.
October, 1872.
Roger D. Upton,
*
Capt. late 9th Royal Lancers.
CONTENTS.
PART 1.
THE ENGLISH HORSE.
CHAPTER I.
An enquiry as to the breeding of the English racer — Different opinions
entertained — The term 'thorough -bred,' in its usual acceptance, with
re—
Argument in support of the description — More minute description of
the Arabian horse — Described by different people — Some exceptions
against the Arabian — The horse defended — Proofs offered in de-
fence ^ 135
CHAPTER III.
The boundaries of the Arab people — The Aral)ian horse and his habitat
further discussed — Arab horses in Africa ; but horses called Barbs not
generally of pure Arabian blood — Confusion existing as to the Arabian
horse, owing to the use of improper terms — Egypt and Turkey not the
habitat of the Arabian — Different terms explained — One breed of
^Vrabians — The several families discussed, and llie tribes who possess
fhcni — Apjiarcnt iliscrcpancics in the accounts uf Iravelicrs ex-
plained . . . . . . . . . .152
Contents. xi
PART 3.
CHAPTER I .
The Arabian considered as a racer — Characteristics of Arab racing — His
speed considered — Account of various races contested by Arabs in
India — Racing sometimes slower in England — The normal speed of
Arabs increased by a better system of training — No effort made to
secure the importation of the best Arab horse — The European idea of
size detrimental to the importation of good Arabs — Ibraheem-bin-Alee
and Honeysuckle — The Arabs' King David and Antelope . PAGE 163
CHAPTER II.
The Arab as a hunter and charger — Considered as a hunter — Jurham and
the Forbes Cup — Considered as a war horse — Arab blood likely to give
better horses for cavalry and artillery — The French in Africa — Per-
formances of certain horses — Ninety-mile match across the Desert —
Match in Madras — Certain essential constitutional points more likely to
be transmitted to half-bred stock either as hunters or troop horses by the
Arabian than the English horse — Dissertation on the chest and its
functions —Proper fonn of chest : to be found in the Arabian horse —
Remarks by Youatt — The different formation in the modern thorough-
bred horse affects all other half-bred stock — The Arabian the founder of
the best breeds in India . ... . . . . . l8i
Conclusion 194
List of Arabians, Barbs, Turks, and Foreign Horses . 201
Pedigrees 207
HORSES:
uN' ZjL-_1II2CaTIOX Or THZ IZi-ZZXT OF
IJLCURS ANT) C^' "~ ^77->.
"rrrrimr of 'ie Jlr,
Ai T_-
br^sd. 15 ver
The Eno-lisk Horse.
•^
blood, ' the true son of Arabia Deserta, without a drop of
EngHsh blood in his veins.' If such can be proved to be
the case, our horse is entitled to be called thorough-bred.
Others hold the opinion that our horse's excellence is
to be attributed to the consummate skill in breeding ex-
hibited in this country, rather than to the procuration of
original stock of good description. And there are some
who have no knowledge of the history or antecedents
of our thorough-bred horse.
What is generally understood by the term ' thorough-
bred ' is any horse or mare which may have a place in
the Stud Book, and can be traced partly (certainly not
altogether) up to Arabians, Barbs, Turks, Persian, Egyp-
tian, and other horses of Eastern blood, which, to say
the least, is a very vague and incomplete definition or
explanation of the term.
Thorough-bred means bred from the best blood, com-
pletely bred ; or, it might be put, completely or entirely
bred from the best blood — not merely the best that may
be at hand, but the very best procurable — such which
has been kept pure, and has not suffered from degene-
racy ; bred completely from a pure and original race.
The state of the horse in this country at the time
immediately preceding the arrival of the Darley Arabian
appears to bear some resemblance to that of the inhabitants
of England during the Saxon period, before the Conquest.
Although nominally Saxon, for a long period Norse blood
had been dispersed throughout the land. Norsemen,
from Norway and Denmark, the same race, had overrun
many parts of England ; and at the time of the Con-
quest the country was ready to receive a further infusion
His early History. 3
of the same blood from the chivalrous Normans. So
was it with the horse. Arabian blood had been intro-
duced from time to time ; horses and mares described
as Barbs and Turks, more or less of Arabian descent,
had been freely used, and a great change had been
wrought in the native horse. Then came the Darley
Arabian, whose son, Flying Childers, is the best-bred
horse to be found in the Stud Book.
Although it may not be of much consequence to
speculate upon the type of horse Caesar found in Bri-
tain, it would still be deeply interesting to inquire
whether the earliest inhabitants of Northern and West-
ern Europe, the Kimmerians and the Kelts, were po.s-
sessed of horses ; whether the Kumry brought the horse
with them from the Bosphorus across the wilds of Europe
to the Kimbric Chersonese; whether the horse was brought
into Britain by one of the first three immigrations of the
Kumry, or by the later ones of the Belgae, offshoots from
the Germans, belonging to the second great tide of popu-
lation which overran Europe from Asia, and whom we
know were possessed of horses in immense numbers.
One thing we know : that the horse did not precede
man as an inhabitant of these isles, as, when Hu Cadarn,
' the strong or mighty,' led over the first migration of the
Kumry, before him there were no inhabitants in Britain,
and the country was occupied only by bears, wolves,
beavers, and oxen with large protuberances, similar or
identical with the denizens of the great Hyrcinian
Forest, After Caesar's time, and during the Roman
occupation, it has been suggested, and with much pro-
The Eno'lish Horse.
i>
bability, that the British horse would consist of a com-
pound of the native animal and those from Gaul, Italy,
Spain, and every province from which the Roman ca-
valry was supplied. Perhaps the first introduction of
Arabian blood took place at this time. Hannibal's
cavalry, principally Numidian, had overrun Spain, part
of Gaul, and Italy, whose horses were doubtless more or
less of Arabian descent. It would also be interesting to
learn whether our Saxon forefathers, in their exodus
from still further east, when they entered Europe with
the second great human wave of population, brought
horses with them from the banks of the Araxes ; whether,
when long settled in Jutland, Sleswig, and Holsatia, pre-
vious to their entrance into England under the banner of
the White Horse, they still retained those horses, and
what effect they had upon the compound breed of Roman
-Britain.
One thing is certain : during the Saxon period the
horses sent by Hugh Capet to Athelstan were highly
prized by him, as were also their descendants ; and it is
more than probable that these owed their excellence to
a direct infusion of Arabian blood, as Charlemagne, pre-
decessor to Hugh Capet, had received one or more Ara-
bian horses from his equally celebrated contemporar}^
the Caliph Haroun el Raschid. These infusions would,
of course, be slight.
The next importation came with William the Con-
queror, when the Spanish horse was introduced. Wil-
liam's charger ' was a Spaniard, and several of his barons
' He is also described as a Spanisli iJarb.
Various Horses introduced. 5
seem to have bred from Spanish stallions. But the
best horses in Spain were those which had been derived
from the cross with the horses of Arabian blood of the
Saracens, who had for so long a time held sway in Spain.
This was doubtless a more important cross, and would
change the character of the breed to some considerable
extent, although it must not be thought that the Spanish
horse introduced by the Normans much resembled the
Arabian, but he had derived certain good qualities.
The next opportunity of an introduction of Eastern
blood would be in the long period of the Crusades ;
but this opportunity was not made much of, although
the mail-clad champions found out the superiority of
the Arabian horse.
The first recorded instance of an Arabian horse in
this country was in the reign of Henry I., when Alexan-
der I. of Scotland introduced an Arab horse ; and it has
been stated (but with no certain records) that an improved
breed was derived from this horse.
But King John imported horses of a different stamp,
namely, stallions from Flanders, which, good as they may
have been for draught, must have done incalculable harm
to the progress of the English riding-horse. Then came
thirty war-horses from Lombardy, and twelve heavy
draught-horses imported by Edward II. ; and Edward
III. purchased fifty Spanish horses. With these con-
flicting elements the prosperity of the horse in this
country rose and fell.
It would appear, however, that even in the reign of
Henry VIII. the state of the English horse was by
TJie Eiio-lts/i Horse.
'<*>
no means very satisfactory, and that there were almost
as great a variety of kinds as in the present day ; and
which might, indeed, be expected, from the strange ad-
mixture. There were the Gentil horse, the palfrey, and
the ' grete doble or double trottynge horse,' from among
others ; the first doubtless bred with more care and more
exclusively from the importations from Southern Europe,
the last-named showing, no doubt, a large preponderance
of the Flemish blood.
The earlier races were contested by horses of all
kinds, but gradually a system of training was esta-
blished, and certain horses selected or bred as racers,
improved by the importations from the Levant. King
James I. resolved to try the Arab, and bought one for
500/. from Mr. Markham. I have no means of ascer-
taining the antecedents of this horse, and it is very
questionable if he were much used as a sire, the then
Master of the Horse having taken a great dislike to the
little bony horse. Charles I. established races at New-
market, but during his disturbed reign but little was
accomplished, except that it became apparent during
the civil war that the Eastern importations had rendered
essential service, by the increased activity of the cavalry.
Charles II. re-inaugurated the races at Newmarket, and
gave plates to be run for, and bought horses and mares
of Eastern blood, principally Barbs and Turks, and also
mares which were termed royal mares, as were also
their descendants, and were of no very certain origin.
Some, it has been stated, were purchased in Hungary.
Such is a very brief sketch of our horse up to the
Variotcs Horses intromiced. 7
end of the reign of James II. During the reigns of
WilHam III. and Queen Anne a fresh impulse was given
to racing and the improvement of horses for the Turt.
The horses imported during the reign of Charles II.
were principally Barbs and Turks ; indeed, I ex-
pect the Duke of Newcastle having so strong a preju-
dice against Markham's Arabian was one of the causes
why Arabian blood was not more diligently sought for ;
but in these latter reigns every variety of Eastern blood
would appear to have been introduced, and it showed
its superiority over the original stock. By this, I take
it, is meant the horse as improved by Eastern blood from
the time of James I. to William III., not the stock of
the country of an earlier date. This is easily accounted
for, as at this period there were some horses not of pure
Arab blood, but altogether of Eastern extraction, with-
out any admixture of common blood, and these horses
showed their superiority over those of mixed origin.
Among such were Basto, by the Byerly Turk ; Bay
Pigot, by Old Careless ; Blossom, Careless, Leedes, and
Sister to Leedes, and Charming Jenny, also sister to
Leedes by the Leedes Arabian ; Lord Lonsdale's Coun-
sellor, (Dyer's) Dimple, by the Leedes Arabian ; and the
two Childers, and Lord Lonsdale's Darley Arabian mare.
Those who have expressed the opinion that our horse
attained his highest perfection in Flying Childers I
believe were perfectly correct.
Strange to say, from the time of the Childers this
system of breeding was neglected ; and instead of pur-
suing the plan of carrying on the Eastern blood un-
The Eiiclish Horse.
v>
mixed, that of breeding from horses and mares of
maxed blood, or of putting mares of mixed blood to
horses of Eastern blood, was again pursued ; and our
present breed of horses traced through the three lines of
descent from the Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian, and
Godolphin Arabian, or Barb, have all come through
horses and mares of mixed blood, being more or less
of the old native stock, or from unknown mares. No
wonder, in the days of Hobgoblin and Shakespear,
although coming immediately after Flying Childers,
deterioration was discov^ered. The fact is, the horse had
gone back to the state before the importation of the
Leedes and Darley Arabian. Our modern racer has
been derived from three branches or lines, and every
individual has descended from either Eclipse, Herod, or
Trumpator, or a combination of all three, which horses
had many flaws in their pedigrees — they were only
half-bred.
The very fact that at this period many horses
(see table of pedigrees) were bred entirely of Eastern
blood, and especially that Arabian blood had been
more freely used, is sufficient to account for the supe-
riority shown by such over the horses of a preceding
period and also of their own time, which were only of
Eastern blood mixed with or engrafted upon the old
native stock, and shows that the horse in England had
attained at this time to a degree of excellence unknown
before in this country ; and taking into consideration
how imperfect and inferior the breeding of our horse
was immediately after the time of Childers — and which
Purer Bred than at present. 9
will be more apparent from the pedigrees in the next
chapter — it may be safely advanced that such a degree
of excellence has not been known since. This may be
considered bold language ; but that the racer was purer
bred then than at any later period, or even now, cannot
be denied.
I o The English Horse
CHAPTER II.
A successional and historic review of tlie English race horse, from the year
1689 to the present time.
It is purposed to give a sketch of the Enghsh race horse
from the year 1689 up to the present time, and to take
the three imported horses, known as the Darley Arabian,
the Byerly Turk, and the Godolphin Arabian, and trace
from them separately the various famihes that have
sprung from them in direct male descent. The other
imported horses are not brought in, as they have not
handed down their blood in direct male descent, although
they did their work by improving the blood of the former
running horse of this country ; among such are the
Helmsley Turk, Place's Turk, Lister's Turk, D'Arcey
White and Yellow Turks, Dods worth, the Belgrade
Turk, and perhaps prominently among these importa-
tions, Curwen's bay Barb, Sir J. Williams's Turk (or
Honeywood's Arabian), Bloody Buttocks, and the Leedes
Arabian. Nor has it been attempted to give here a full
list of the Eastern horses brought to this country. It is
more than likely Markham's Arabian was not used at
all, although King James I. gave 500 guineas for him, as
the prejudice was very strong against the Arabian, and
the Master of the Horse took a dislike to him. Although
The Bycrly Turk's Line. 1 1
small, it is quite possible he may have been a horse of
excellent blood. The imported horses were used among
the mares of the country ; a mixture, perhaps, of every
kind of horse under the sun, or nearly so. But besides
these were others : King Charles II. sent abroad
to procure a number of foreig7t horses and mares for
breeding ; the mares thus imported were called royal
mares, as were also many of their produce ; these also
enter into the composition of our race horse ; they were
probably partly of Eastern blood. Next it is proposed
to show how these various families are represented at the
present time at the stud, or by horses which may have
lately retired from the Turf, or may be about to leave,
and which may be likely to appear as sires. Some
horses may be mentioned at greater length, and other
matters brought forward to help deductions being drawn,
and which, it is hoped, may be rather interesting than
tedious. As the eldest, the line from the Byerly Turk
shall first come under consideration.
The Byerly Turk's Line.
Captain Byerly's charger, used by him in 1687 in
King William's wars in Ireland, does not seem to have
been much patronised at the stud, but he was the sire of
Sprite, thought to have been nearly as good as Leedes,
who was a son of the Leedes Arabian (Leedes was a horse
of entirely Eastern blood) ; but Sprite did not hand
down the Byerly Turk's line, and we must look to Jigg,
whose dam was by Spanker. Jigg begot Partner from
a sister to Mixbury, who was by Curwen's bay Barb.
12
The Eno-lish Horse.
<i>
The latter was a present to Louis XIV. from Muly
Ishmael, King of Morocco. Partner was the sire of
Tartar, whose dam, MeHora, was by Fox (Fox's sire,
Clumsy, was only half-bred, but Fox's dam was a finely-
bred mare, entirely of Eastern blood, and very similarly
bred to the dam of the two Childers). Tartar was foaled
1743, and was the sire of King Herod, commonly called
Herod, whose dam, Cypron, notwithstanding certain
flaws in her pedigree, was a highly-bred mare, having
two direct strains of the Darley Arabian in her veins
(her sire, Blaze, was a grandson of the Darley Arabian).
Herod had two sons — Woodpecker, foaled in 1773, and
Highflyer in 1774 — who handed down his blood through
two rival families. Woodpecker's dam, Miss Ramsden,
was by Cade, a son of the Godolphin Arabian. The dam
of Highflyer was Rachel, by Blank, also a son of the
Godolphin Arab, from a Bartlet Childers mare.
Although Woodpecker and Highflyer were similarly
bred, the former is a particularly well-bred horse, and
worthy of special notice. He traces back to the Darley
Arabian through a mare who played a very conspicuous
part in the English stud— Lord Lonsdale's Darley
Arabian mare. Miss Ramsden's dam was by the Lons-
dale bay Arabian, her granddam by Bay Bolton, her
great granddam the Darley Arabian mare, entirely of
Eastern blood. Pursuing the system of going by
seniority, the line from Herod through Woodpecker, the
elder son, will be first reviewed.
In 1787 Buzzard was accredited to him ; a chestnut
like his sire ; his dam. Misfortune, was by Dux, by Mat-
Woodpecker s Descendants. 13
chem, a son of Cade, of the Godolphin Arab line. Buz-
zard was the sire of three celebrated chestnut horses, to
wit, Castrel, Selim, and Rubens, foaled respectively in
the years 1801, 1802, and 1805. Their dam, the Alex-
ander mare, has often been styled the most remarkable
mare in the Stud Book. Without going quite so far, in
all justice it may be said there are few more celebrated ;
her sire, Alexander, was by Eclipse, from Grecian Prin-
cess. The dam of the Alexander mare was by Highflyer.
Castrel, the eldest of the three brothers, begot Merlin,
foaled in 18 15, and Pantaloon, a chestnut with dark spots,
in 1824. Pantaloon was the sire of Sleight of Hand,
foaled in 1836. The late Sir Tatton Sykes was very
partial to the blood, and had very many of his mares in
his stud. 1 84 1 was a great year for Pantaloon, as his
daughter, Ghuznee, won the Oaks, and his son, Satirist,
the Doncaster St. Leger, beating Coronation, the Derby
winner, for whom the St. Leger was looked upon as a
certainty. In the same year Satirist also astonished the
public by carrying off the Gold Vase at Ascot from
Lanercost. He was a bay-brown horse ; his dam Sar-
casm, a brown mare, by Teniers, a son of Rubens, from
Banter (Touchstone's dam), by Master Henry.
Ghuznee was a bright bay, and through her dam
Languish, also bay, traced back to Herod (the founder
of both the Woodpecker and Highflyer lines), through
Cain, Paulovitz, Sir Paul, Sir Peter Teazle (commonly
called Sir Peter), and Highflyer. She was a very fine
and strongly-formed mare, although only 1 5 hands and
half ail inch, and was pronounced by Mr. George Tatter-
14 The English Horse.
sail to be of a shape peculiarly calculated to make a
superior brood mare. Pantaloon was the sire of The Libel,
foaled in 1842, a brown horse from a Camel mare. He
was the sire of the following also : — Elthiron, a very-
neat horse, foaled in 1846 ; Windhound, foaled in 1847 ;
Hernandez, in 1848 (winner of the Two Thousand
Guineas) ; Hobbie Noble, in 1849, quite a sensational
horse; The Reiver, in 1850; and Miserrima, a brown
filly, foaled in 1848. Elthiron, Windhound, Miserrima,
Hobbie Noble, and The Reiver, were all from one mare.
Lord Westminster's Phryne, by Touchstone. The three
former were brown, the two latter bay ; their Touchstone
dam may have influenced their colour.
But to return to Windhound, in whom we are most
concerned, as the reputed and generally accepted sire of
Thormanby, winner of the Derby in i860, now at the
stud, with a chance of making himself a name, if he has
not already done so. The beautiful and celebrated
Alice Hawthorn, whose breeding will be commented
upon further on, was the dam of Thormanby.
Presuming Thormanby to be the bond fide son of
Windhound, he must certainly be put down as the best
representative of the line at the present day, and the
honour of the family would appear to be confided to his
keeping.
The blood of the Darley Arabian and of the Godol-
phin Arab was first introduced into the Turk's line in
Herod through the dam of Blaze, the latter the sire of
Cypron (Herod's dam). The dam of Blaze, the Con-
federate filly, was by Confederate, by Conductor, of the
Selhn and Sitltan. \ 5
Godolphin Arab's line, but Herod had three strains of
the Darley Arabian's blood through the same mare, and
two from Cypron, his own dam. Since then fresh strains
from both lines have been continually brought into the
Byerly Turk's line. Sometimes the blood of one has
predominated over the other, and it is very interesting
to consider whether the larger admixture of the Darley
Arabian blood in some horses may not have given greater
stoutness than is seen in others, who had less of that and
more of the Godolphin Arab's blood. That such has
been the case I trust will become apparent to those who
may have the patience to follow me, particularly those
interested in the welfare of our horse, and who may not
have time, patience, or opportunity to unravel the mazes
of the Stud Book.
We must now cast back to the year 1802, and trace
the Woodpecker line, through his grandson, Selim, the
second son of Buzzard.
Selim, grandson of Woodpecker, foaled in 1802, a
chestnut, and own brother to Castrel, was the sire of a
brown filly, dam by Cesario, winner of the One Thousand
Guineas in 181 5 ; of Medora, winner of the Oaks in 18 14 ;
of Azor, winner of the Derby in 1 8 1 7 ; of Turcoman, win-
ner of the Two Thousand Guineas in 1827, whose dam,
Pope Joan, was by Waxy ; and of Turquoise, winner of
the Oaks in 1828; of Sultan, foaled in 1816 ; and
Langar in 1817. These last two we shall take for our
consideration.
Sultan, a magnificent bay horse with a blaze and four
white feet, the off hind-leg white half way to the hock ;
1 6 The Enoiish Horse.
v>'
his dam was Bacchante, a brown mare, by Wilhamson's
Ditto (a son of Sir Peter, grandson of Herod, from
Arcthusa, by Dungannon, son of EcHpse). Bacchante's
dam was sister to Calomel, by Mercury, son of Eclipse
out of Folly, by Marske, great-grandson of the Darley
Arabian, tracing back to Herod and the Darley Arabian
through many sources. It has been asserted that Sultan
bore a strong resemblance to the Darley Arabian — it
will be seen he inherited much of his blood ; he has
been described to me by one who knew him well as
a splendid animal, but perhaps hardly deep enough in
the chest. Looking at his portrait by Herring which is
before me, I should say the deficiency was in appearance
only ; he seems to have been a very level-made horse,
with deep back ribs, which formation always takes off
from the appearance of a deep chest. This formation
(of deep back ribs) seems to have been general among
the racers of an elder period, and is characteristic of
Arabian blood. The modern racer is lighter in his ribs,
not so round, and less deep in the back ribs, which shows
the chest as more deep. He had a fine head, with much
of the Arabian character in it, small and finely-formed
ears, well pricked. I am not sure whether Sultan ought
not to be written down as the best representative of the
Woodpecker line, if not of the Herod, but of that opinions
can be formed hereafter. His career at the stud was
certainly most brilliant. Among others he was the sire
of the following horses : — Beiram, Ishmael, Jereed ; of
Grecnmantle, winner of the Oaks, 1829 (her dam Dul-
cinea, by Cervantes) ; of Augustus, winner of the Two
Langar. 1 7
Thousand Guineas in 1830 (his dam Augusta, by Woful) ;
of Galata, winner of the One Thousand Guineas and the
Oaks in 1832 (whose dam Advance was by Pioneer) ; of
the magnificent Glencoe, winner of the Two Thousand
Guineas in 1834 (whose dam, TrampoHne, was by Tramp
out of Web, by Waxy). Glencoe was the sire of Poca-
hontas (the dam of Stockwell) ; of Ibrahim, winner of
the Two Thousand Guineas in 1835, whose dam, a
Phantom mare, was sister to Cobweb (Bay Middleton's
dam) ; of Achmet (own brother to Bay Middleton),
winner of the Two Thousand Guineas in 1837 ; of Des-
tiny, winner of the One Thousand Guineas in 1836, and
of that splendid racehorse, Bay Middleton, winner of the
Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby in 1836. Before
proceeding further with the Sultan family, I purpose
taking up the history of Langar, the other son of Selim,
before mentioned, to enable us to review the career of
his son Elis, who was contemporary with Bay Middleton,
and to some extent his rival. Langar, a chestnut horse,
foaled in 18 17, from a Walton mare (whose dam. Young
Giantess, was by Diomed, out of Giantess, by Matchem,
son of Cade, son of Godolphin Arab or Barb), was the
sire of Elis and Epirus, both chestnuts, and own brothers ;
their dam was Olympia, by Sir Oliver. Elis, foaled in
1833, had a white face, and both hind legs white, was
the winner of the St. Leger in 1836, beating among
others the celebrated Beeswing. Epirus, foaled in 1834,
was the sire of Pyrrhus the First, a bright chestnut, with
two hind feet white, and a white reach down his face ;
his dam was Fortress, by Defence ; he won the Derby
C
1 8 The English Horse.
in 1846, beating Sir Tatton Sykes by a neck. Having
such stout blood as Defence's in his veins from his dam,
it was expected he would have been a success at the
stud — that, as is often the case with expectations, was not
realised (the blood on his dam's side was too good to allow
of his being a successful sire) — however, he was the sire
of the celebrated Virago, winner of the One Thousand
Guineas in 1854. But to return to Bay Middleton, his
dam Cobweb (herself winner of the One Thousand
Guineas, 1824) was by Phantom out of Filagree, by
Soothsayer out of Web, by Waxy, &c. He was a bay
colt, but in after years more nearly brown than bay, and
mottled on his quarters ; standing nearly 16 hands and
a half, without white, except on three of his coronets.
Although not what could- be called a symmetrically
made horse, yet he was a splendid animal, and full of
character. He ran first without a name, and in the
Newmarket Craven Meeting won the Riddlesworth
Stakes of 200 sovs. each, beating, among others, his half
sister. Destiny, the winner of the One Thousand Guineas.
He won as he liked. He had been considered a bad
tempered horse up to this time, but after winning his
race he was changed into a high-couraged one. For the
Two Thousand Guineas he met Elis and five others ; the
Cobweb colt beat Elis on the post by a neck ; ' the
others were beaten off an immense distance by the
extraordinary severity of the pace ;' he was then named
Bay Middleton. Elis was not in the Derby, 1836, which
was won by Bay Middleton by two lengths, with such
horses as Gladiator, Venison, and Slane, respectively
Bay Middleton and Elis. 1 9
second, third, and fourth to him. Bay Middleton was not
in the St. Leger, which was won by Elis very easily by two
lengths. In the same year Bay Middleton and Elis met
again in the Newmarket First October Meeting, for the
Grand Duke St. Michael Stakes ; twenty-one horses
were frightened out of the field by their appearance ;
the race was won by the former by a length. Mr.
George Tattersall has thus described it : ' After all, it
was a falsely run race, the pace being poor, and each
on the lurching order till they passed the Bushes, where
Bay Middleton went up ; at the top of the hill he was
leading, and in going down it his wonderful stride
enabled him to show his tail to his gallant opponent.
" Honest John " (the rider of Elis) tried what whipping
would do, but it was " no go," and the winner of the
St. Leger was beaten in pace, stride, and stoutness, by
the winner of the Derby.' Here, I think, is a case in
point : The greater number of crosses of the Darley
Arabian blood in Bay Middleton and his sire Sultan
than in Elis and his sire Langar — although Sultan and
Langar were half-brothers, both being sons of Selim —
will account for Bay Middleton being stouter than Elis.
His career was brilliant, but short. A foreleg already
looking suspicious prevented his training on, and he
retired to the stud in 1838. As a sire he cannot be
said to have equalled Sultan. He was the sire of Ellen
Middleton, the dam of Wild Dayrell (winner of the
Derby, 1855), of Cowl (1842), of The Flying Dutch-
man (winner of the Derby and St. Leger in 1849), of
Aphrodite (winner of the One Thousand Guineas, 185 1),
c 2
20 The English Horse.
of Andover (winner of the Derby in 1854), whose dam
was a Defence mare, of Hermit (winner of the Two
Thousand Guineas, 1854), from Jenny Lind, by Touch-
stone.
Andover was a very nice horse, but The Flying
Dutchman was the most distinguished of Bay Middle-
ton's sons, and won all his two-year-old engagements
without having been fairly extended — the Derby and
St. Leger, as before said, and the Emperor's Plate at
Ascot. The only time he was beaten was for the
Doncaster Cup, by Voltigeur, in 1850, when perhaps
he was not thoroughly prepared. Upon his defeat a
match of 1,000/. a side was made between him and
Voltigeur, by the Earls of Eglinton and Zetland, the
former giving the latter the choice of ground. It was
over two miles of ground, and run at York, 1 3th May,
185 1, the Dutchman defeating Voltigeur by a length.
The time was accurately'taken — 3 minutes 55 seconds.
He was a fine-looking horse, dark brown, without white,
with springy action, which he generally transmitted to
his stock, and inherited from his dam, Barbelle, by
Sandbeck, her dam Darioletta, by Amadts. He might
be distinguished among a crowd of horses by his grand
appearance, and was remarkable for the size of his
arms, as was also his sire. Bay Middleton, and this
point is also transmitted, as a rule, to his stock. He
was the sire of Ellington (winner of the Derby in 1856),
of Gildermire, who ran a dead heat for the Oaks of
1858, and of Brown Duchess (winner of the Oaks, 1861).
Brown Duchess ran a dead heat with Kettledrum for
Rubens. 2 1
the Doncaster Cup, but the latter walked over for it
afterwards. His son Ellington has not achieved any-
great stud success, and there is no worthy representative
of Bay Middleton and Sultan, The Bay Middleton
stock have been pronounced as invariably blood-like
in their appearance. I do not hold with this. Many
of them had a certain elegance about them, and some
were grand-looking, with fine points ; but to be blood-
like a horse ought to have the symmetry and beauty-
approaching to the Arabian, from which source the
blood was derived, and the term blood-like had its
origin. As an example of the Bay Middleton family,
I think Himalaya, in Her Majesty's stud, would convey
a very just idea, presenting all the grand points, with
some of the deficiencies.
We must now consider Rubens, the third son of
Buzzard, a chestnut, foaled in 1805, ^rid own brother to
Castrel and Selim, as stated before. He is more dis-
tinguished for his daughters. He was the sire of Land-
scape, winner of the Oaks, 18 16; of Pastille, winner of
the Two Thousand Guineas and the Oaks, 1822 (Pas-
tille's dam was Parasol, by PotSos, son of Eclipse) ; and
of Whizgig, winner of the One Thousand Guineas the
same year. The Two Thousand Guineas, the One
Thousand Guineas, and the Oaks having been won
by two of his fillies in one year, was certainly a feather
in the cap of Rubens. Whizgig was also the dam of
Oxygen, winner of the Oaks in 183 1. Rubens was also
the sire of the dam of Lord Berner's Phosphorus (winner
of the Derby, 1837) and of May Day, own sister of
2 2 The Ens'lish Horse.
is>
Phosphorus, whmer of the One Thousand Guineas, 1834 ;
of Defiance, the dam of Defence ; and of Ruby, the
dam of Coronation (winner of the Derby, 1841) ; and
of Sir Joshua, foaled in 1812, who defeated Filho da
Puta in a match at Newmarket, Sir Joshua's dam was
own sister to Filho da Puta's sire. Sir Joshua : a chestnut
horse, about fifteen hands, by Rubens out of a Sir
Peter mare (sister to Haphazard). Filho da Puta, a
bay horse, also foaled in 18 12, sixteen hands or over,
was by Haphazard (son of Sir Peter and Miss Hervey,
by Eclipse) ; his dam, Mrs. Barnet, by Waxy out of
a Woodpecker mare. There is great similarity in
the breeding of these two horses, and the strains of
Darley Arabian blood in each of them very evenly
balanced. This brings us to the end of the Woodpecker
branch of the Herod line, great-great-grandson of the
Byerly Turk ; but before we leave this portion of our
subject I wish to allude in a few words to Merlin, a son
of Castrel, a chestnut horse, foaled in 1801. He was the
sire of Lamplighter, who, in his turn, was the sire of
Phosphorus, winner of the Derby in 1837, and of May
Day, winner of the One Thousand Guineas in 1834.
Having made this amende to Castrel I will only say
that I think Sultan must be considered the chief of his
family, and his son, Bay Middleton, and his grandson.
The Flying Dutchman, the most distinguished racers.
It was stated that King Herod, great-great-grandson
of the Byerly Turk, had two sons. Woodpecker and
Highflyer, through whom the blood of the Byerly Turk
has been handed down in the male line to the present
Herod. 2 3
time ; but as King Herod, or, as we shall call him,
Herod, was not particularly described, before proceeding
to trace the Highflyer branch a slight sketch of this fine
horse shall be given. He was a bay horse without white,
saving a very small star, standing about 1 5 hands 3 inches"
high, of substance, length, and power, foaled in 1758,
with a level back and high quarter, and deep in the
back ribs. He ran five times for 1,000 guineas each
race, and won three out of the five, and won several
matches of 500 guineas. He usually, if not invariably,
ran over a course of four miles at Newmarket, Ascot,
and York ; stoutness and ability to carry weight were
his characteristics. His dam, Cypron, was by Blaze, a
son of Flying Childers, son of the Darley Arabian ;
Cypron's dam Selima, by Bethell's Arabian, from a
mare by Graham's Champion, who was by Harpur's
Arabian from a mare by the Darley Arabian. Looking
at his dam's pedigree, we may well believe him to have
been a stout, game horse ; and there are good grounds
for believing that the assertion made — viz., that his
great-great-grandson, Sultan, bore a strong resemblance
to the Darley Arabian — was a correct one.
The list of Herod mares is an extensive one. His
daughter Bridget won the first Oaks, in 1779 ; and his
daughter Faith won the Oaks in 1781. In 1783 his son
Phoenomenon won the St. Leger, and in the same year
his daughter Maid of the Oaks won the Oaks. The first
Derby (1780) was won by Diomed, grandson of Herod.
Tuberose was another of his daughters.
Unlike Woodpecker, Highflyer from Rachel, by Blank,
24 The English Horse.
was bay, like his sire Herod. He never paid forfeit, and
was never beaten. It is noteworthy that most of the
descendants of Woodpecker were chestnuts, and those of
Highflyer for the most part bay. Sultan was bay ; but
then his dam came from the Highflyer family, and
bays and browns were chiefly carried on through his son
Bay Middleton. Highflyer also left behind him a goodly
roll of mares. His sons Noble and Sir Peter Teazle
won the Derby in the years 1786 and 1787 ; and in
1789 his son Skyscraper won the Derby. In 1792 Via-
lante, a filly of his, won the Oaks, and his daughters
Omphale and Cowslip the St. Leger in 1784 and 1785 ;
his son Spadille in 1787, and his daughter Young Flora,
own sister to Spadille, in 1788.
This must suffice for Highflyer, and we select his son,
Sir Peter, who hands down his family, for consideration.
Sir Peter Teazle, a brown horse, foaled in 1784, his
dam Papillon, was by Snap ; Snap by Snip, Snip by
Flying Childers. Here we get another infusion of Dar-
ley Arabian blood. Besides being the sire of Sir Harry
and Archduke, winners of the Derby in 1798 and 1799 ;
of Ditto, who won the Derby in 1803, and who was the
sire of Sultan's dam ; of Paris, winner of the Derby,
1806, his daughters Hermione and Parasote won the
Oaks in 1794 and 1796; and Ambrosio, Fyldener, Pau-
lina, and Petronius were his St. Leger winners in 1796,
1806, 1807, and 1808, He was also the sire of Hap-
hazard, foaled in 1797 ; of Walton, foaled in 1799 ; of
Sir Oliver, 1800; of Sir Paul, foaled in 1802. Sir
Oliver, whose dam was by Diomed, was the sire of
Sir Peter s Sons. 25
Olympia, the dam of Elis and Epirus. Haphazard,
Walton, and Sir Paul have brought down the Sir Peter
blood in male descent, and these we shall consider in
succession. Haphazard's dam was Miss Hervey, by
Eclipse, and he was the sire of Filho da Puta, foaled in
1 81 2. The latter won the St. Leger in 181 5 ; but he
was beaten by Sir Joshua, by Rubens, in their cele-
brated match, run at Newmarket, by a head. He was
the first foal of Mrs. Barnet, by Waxy, and was a mag-
nificent horse. Sir Joshua, a chestnut, was a small horse ;
his dam was own sister to Haphazard, by Sir Peter out
of Mrs. Hervey. Filho da Puta was the sire of Bir-
mingham, who won the St. Leger in 1830, and of Col-
wick, foaled in 1828, whose dam, Stella, was by Sir
Oliver. Colwick was a bay horse, and sire of Attila,
winner of the Derby in 1 842. Attila's dam. Progress,
was by Langar. He was a small-sized but a strong-
made horse ; he had splendid action, and a very light
step. Few handsomer or truer-made horses, it has been
said, have appeared on the Turf But it was maintained
by some that he was wanting in ' heart.' There is noth-
ing more worthy of notice in this branch of the Sir Peter
line ; but it may be mentioned that Antar and Reginald,
sons of Haphazard, won the Two Thousand Guineas, and
his daughter Rowena the One Thousand Guineas.
As a sire Walton must be considered the most distin-
guished of Sir Peter's sons. He was a bay horse, foaled
in 1799, and own brother to Ditto. His dam, Arethusa,
by Dungannon, got another strain of the Darley Arabian
through her granddam, Virago, by Snap, grandson of Fly-
26 The English Horse.
ing Childers. Dungannon was by Eclipse, from Aspasia,
by Herod. His son Phantom won the Derby in 1811 ;
and St. Patrick, another son, the Leger in 1 820. Phan-
tom (foaled in 1808) was a bay horse ; his dam was Julia
(sister to Eleanor), got by Whiskey out of Sorcerer's
dam, by Diomed, who was a grandson of Herod.
Whiskey was by Saltram, from Calash, by Herod. Sal-
tram was by Eclipse, from Virago, by Snap, grandson of
Flying Childers. Phantom was the sire of Cedric and
Middleton (winners of the Derby in 1824 and 1825), but
he is more renowned as the sire of Cobweb (winner of the
Oaks in 1824), she being the dam of Bay Middleton. It
is quite worthy of note that Walton's own brother, Ditto
(whose dam came from the Darley Arabian's line), was
the sire of Sultan's dam, Bacchante, and that Walton's
son Phantom (whose dam also came from the Darley
Arabian's family) was the sire of Cobweb, Bay Middle-
ton's dam, which horse was the son of Sultan. Cobweb
was a bay mare ; her dam was Filagree, by Soothsayer,
from Web, by Waxy (more Darley Arabian blood, but
also with an infusion of the Godolphins). However, we
must now proceed to look at Partisan, the son of Wal-
ton, who handed down the line to the present time. He
was a bay horse, foaled in 181 1 ; his dam, Parasol, was
by PotSos (son of Eclipse, great-grandson of Bartlet
Childers, son of the Darley Arabian), her dam Prunella,
by Highflyer (son of Herod), whose dam was by Blaze
(son of Flying Childers, son of the Darley Arabian),
from Promise, by Snap (grandson of Flying Childers).
I will merely mention that his son Mameluke, whose
Partisan and Gladiator. 2 7
dam was by Stamford (another son of Sir Peter's), and
from an Eclipse mare, was the winner of the Derby
in 1827, and that his son Glaucus, whose dam was by
Selim, was the sire of Refraction, who won the Oaks in
1845. They were all bay. Glaucus missed the Derby
and St. Leger, but defeated Rockingham, the St. Leger
winner, the next year (1834) for the Gold Cup at Ascot,
about two miles and a half I will return to Partisan,
who handed down the Sir Peter line through two of his
sons. Gladiator and Venison, both foaled in 1833. They
were of kin to Bay Middleton, and finished second and
third to him for the Derby, 1836. Cyprian, his daughter,
won the Oaks in the same year ; Zeal the One Thousand
Guineas in 1821 ; and his son Patron the Two Thousand
Guineas in 1829,
Gladiator, a chestnut, and Venison, bay, were both
good-looking horses, with good blood-like heads and fine
eyes, which points are to be noticed as a rule in their
descendants.
Gladiator went to France, and has done that country
very great service ; and his daughter, Miss Gladiator,
was the dam of Gladiateur.
Pauline, the dam of Gladiator, was by Moses, the
winner of the Derby in 1822. Whether Moses was the
son of Seymour or of Whalebone I will not pretend to
say, but he is generally traced to Whalebone. Be this
as it may, Moses's dam was by Gohanna, a grandson of
Eclipse, her dam Grey Skin, by Woodpecker out of
Silver's dam by Herod ; and Gohanna's dam was by
Herod. Gladiator was thought to have been of a deli-
The Ens'lisli Horse.
•^
cate constitution, but he got good sons and daughters in
France. He was the sire of Sweetmeat, foaled in 1842.
Sweetmeat was a very neat horse, a dark brown in
colour, like his dam ; and among other winning horses
was the sire of Mincemeat and Mincepie, winners of the
Oaks in 1854 and 1856; of Macaroni, winner of the
Two Thousand Guineas and Derby in 1863 ; and of
Carnival. Sweetmeat's dam was Lollypop, got by
Starch or Voltaire ; her dam Belinda, by Blacklock.
Starch was by Waxy Pope by Waxy ; his dam, Miss
Stavely, was by Shuttle, by Young Marske, out of
Vauxhall Snap mare.
Macaroni, a brown horse, foaled in i860, is now at
the stud. His performances are fresh in our recollec-
tion ; and his stock, which have frequently been placed
first by the judge, are growing up before our eyes, and
we can form our own opinions. It would be premature
to say if he or some other son of Sweetmeat is to hand
down the Gladiator branch, which, although not likely
to be lost in France, if it had not been for Sweetmeat,
would have been a dead letter in this country.
Parmesan, a brown horse, by Sweetmeat, from a well-
bred mare, Gruyere, by Verulam, from Jennala, by
Touchstone, from Emma, by Whisker, was a very neat
horse, but he would be called small. He won the Me-
tropolitan Stakes in 1861, however. As the best public
performer Macaroni must be considered for the present,
at all events, as the representative of the Gladiator
blood in this country. Queen Mary, by Gladiator, out
of a mare by Plcnipo, out of Myrrha, by Whalebone, is
Venison. 29
celebrated as being the dam of Blink Bonny, also the
dam of Haricot, the dam of Caller Ou.
Venison was a bay horse with a white reach and both
hind fetlocks white. He was a very honest, game horse,
and although he had not the speed of Bay Middleton
he picked up a good many things for his owner between
Epsom and Doncaster, and always travelled on foot.
He defeated Miindig, the winner of the Derby, 1835, for
the King's Plate at Doncaster (four miles), winning in a
canter by three or four lengths. Venison's dam, Fawn,
had the reputation of being a great jade, and was by
Smolensko ; her dam. Jerboa, was by Gohanna (grandson
of Eclipse) out of Camilla, by Trentham. He was the
sire of many winners of more or less note. His son,
The Ugly Buck, won the Two Thousand Guineas in
1844. Clementina, his daughter, won the One Thousand
Guineas in 1847, and his daughter, Miami, the Oaks the
same year. Then there were Red Deer and Red Hart,
own brothers, and the handsome Vatican and Cruiser,
who was tamed by Rarey, Fallow Buck, Filius, and many
others, among which was Chamois, the winner of the
first Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom. Venison was the
sire of Alarm, foaled in 1842, whose dam. Southdown,
was by Defence, a grandson of Waxy. Alarm, a bay
horse with a blaze, won the Cambridgeshire in 1845, and
the Emperor's Plate at Ascot, 1846. I am afraid as a
stud horse, as in the case of Pyrrhus the First, those who
expected much were doomed to disappointment, and for
similar reasons, although his blood, through his daughters,
must be useful. It must not be forgotten that he was
30 The English Horse.
the sire of that fine mare, Torment, the dam of Tormen-
tor, winner of the Oaks, 1866. He was a good-looking
horse, but we pass on to Kingston (foaled in 1849).
His dam. Queen Anne, was by Slane ; her dam, Garcia,
by Octavian, from a mare by Shuttle, who was by Young
Marske from the Vauxhall Snap mare, a piece of breed-
ing very similar to that seen in Sweetmeat's pedigree.
He was a very handsome horse, and although he did not
win the Derby was a good racer, and pulled off many
races ; his son, Caractacus, won the Derby in 1862, and
his daughter. Queen Bertha, the Oaks in 1863. He was
also the sire of Ely, and of numerous mares, many of
which were in Mr. Blenkiron's stud.
Caractacus, foaled in 1859, a bay horse, with a blaze,
and near hind leg grey, was a good-looking horse ; his
dam. Defenceless, by Defence ; her dam by Cain. Here
we have a similarly bred horse to Alarm, and I should
say like him in appearance, but very docile and good-
tempered. He had beautiful action, and I never saw a
better mover on any racecourse — he showed his gamcness
when he ran for the Metropolitan. The Derby of 1862
must be still fresh in the memory of most. Caractacus
proved himself to be a racehorse, and although many
people thought it a mistake, my own opinion has always
been that he won very easily, and might have done so
by lengths. Although Caractacus possessed certain cha-
racteristics of his sire Kingston, and his grandsire Veni-
son, in shape and formation I should say he bore more
resemblance to his maternal grandsire. Defence.
Ely, a bay horse, with a few silver hairs, marks which
Sir Paul. 3 1
are to be seen in most, if not all, of the Venisons, fully
kept up the renown of the family for gameness. Al-
though he failed to carry off the great prizes of his year,
he met with frequent triumphs ; he is now at the stud.
King John, by Kingston, from Dinah by Clarion, her
dam Rebekah, by Sir Hercules, has many admirers, and
it is expected by some that he will be the horse of the
family, if not the one of the period. There is still plenty
of time for any one of them to make himself a stud
name, but neither Caractacus nor Ely appear to have
been patronised to the extent their performances might
justly warrant. I look upon mares of this family as
very valuable, as will also be fillies from the above-named
young sires. Ferina, by Venison, foaled in 1 844, was the
dam of Pretender, the winner of the Derby in 1 869.
Sir Paul, the last of the sons of Sir Peter which we
have to consider, foaled in 1802, was a bay horse, and
own brother to Paulina, winner of the St. Leger ; his
dam, Pewet, was by Tandem. He was the sire of
Paulowitz, a brown horse, foaled in 1813 ; his dam,
Evelina, was by Highflyer, also the dam of Cervantes,
by Don Quixote. He was the sire of Archibald, who
won the Two Thousand Guineas in 1832; and of
Cain, a bay horse foaled in 1822, whose dam was by
Paynator. Cain was the sire of Ion, a brown horse,
foaled 1835 ; his dam, Margaret, by Edmund (a son of
Orville), from Medora, by Selim. Ion showed in good
form as a two-year-old ; he ran second to Amato for the
Derby in 1838, and was second also for the St. Leger,
won by Don John. In a fortunate moment he was
32 The English Hor'se.
selected as the only horse good enoitgh for Ellen Middle-
ton, and became the sire of Wild Dayrell, or it is likely
nothing more might have been heard of him.
Wild Dayrell, a brown horse, foaled in 1852 (his dam,
Ellen Middleton, by Bay Middleton from Myrrha, by
Malek), winner of the Derby in 1855, was the sire of
Hurricane, winner of the One Thousand Guineas in
1862 ; but his stud fame is owing principally to his having
been the sire of Buccaneer, from a Little Red Rover
mare, the dam of Cruiser. Buccaneer is lost to this
country ; he was foaled in 1857. He has made himself
a name through his daughters Formosa and Brigantine.
With this exception, I know of no other worthy scion of
the line from Sir Peter.
We have now come to the end of the Byerly Turk's
line, having traced it through several branches to the
present day ; and we find the following to be the
principal representatives : — Buccaneer abroad ; Macaroni,
Parmesan, and Carnival ; Caractacus, Ely, and King
John ; Ellington, Dollar, and Thormanby.
Certain memoranda have been mentioned from time
to time to arrest the attention of the reader, and to serve
as data for him to form his own opinions and come to
his own conclusions. The similarity of breeding between
Woodpecker and Highflyer was noticed with a special
reference to some strains of blood in Woodpecker's
pedigree. As a rule the descendants from Herod,
through Highflyer and Sir Peter, have been distin-
guished more for stoutness ; those generally from Wood-
pecker, although with some notable exceptions, rather
The Byerly Tztrk's Line. 33
for great speed ; one line generally being distinguished
by bays, the other by chestnuts, and both of them
being celebrated for the excellences of their mares.
My own ideas, derived from studying the pedigrees of
the various horses of this line, I am tempted to give,
not that I would wish to thrust them upon others,
but to be taken for what they may be worth, and also
as a reply to any cui bono, which may be asked, for all
these particulars about horses dead and gone, and many
quite forgotten.
First, I must state my conviction is this : The real
worth of the family is owing to the blood of the Darley
Arabian, first brought into the line in Herod, and it is
owing to the frequent and very strong infusions of that
blood which have taken place that the line has been so
widely spread and so long handed down, and at times
had such splendid representatives. I cannot offer, of
course, actual proofs, but there are not wanting, to my
mind, certain indications, kind of sign posts to the
traveller through the mazes of breeding, of which I have
availed myself, and which may not have been noticed by
many. Partner, the paternal grandsire of Herod, was a
bright chestnut ; Herod a bay horse. He inherited
much of the Darley Arabian blood through his dam
Cypron, who was bay. Her sire, Blaze, was bay, as was
his sire, Flying Childers, as also was his sire, the Darley
Arabian, and ability to run long distances was his forte.
I think it will be observed by those who may have the
patience to read these papers that as a rule when the
Darley Arabian blood has been more prominent, and
D
34 The English Horse.
especially when derived from Flying Childers and his sons,
there have been more bays ; and the line through Sir Peter
evidently containing a stronger infusion of the Darley
Arabian blood than those generally through Woodpecker
has not only handed down bay horses, but they have
been more celebrated for their stoutness and gameness.
Sultan, of the Woodpecker line, said to be like the Dar-
ley Arabian in figure and appearance, was bay, and he
had derived advantage of more Darley Arabian blood
through his dam, by Williamson's Ditto, and Sir Peter.
Not only was the colour more confirmed in his son. Bay
Middleton, but stoutness as well, and through his dam.
Cobweb, he had still further infusions of the Darley
Arabian blood. It must not be supposed that it is argued
the increased stoutness was derived from the change of
colour from chestnut to bay, but it is a tolerably fair and
conclusive inference that as the bay colour came in and
was perpetuated or confirmed by the infusion of the Darley
Arabian blood, the increased stoutness and gameness is
also to be attributed to the same source,the one being the
sign, the other the result. It is true that Highflyer's dam,
like Woodpecker's, was from another family, namely, the
Godolphin Arabian ; but in the Woodpecker line it was
carried on still in Buzzard, whose dam was by a horse
of that family ; but in the case of Highflyer it was not
so, as his son's (Sir Peter) dam was by Snap, son of
Snip, grandson of the Darley Arabian, who seems to
have snapped and snipped off some of that blood brought
in by Highflyer's dam. I could proceed with tin's or a
similar train of reasoning, but I do not wish to be tedious.
The Byerly Turk's Line. 35
or to take up too much space, and I will only add, in
conclusion, that I think the blood of this line is more
valuable through the mares than through the horses. I
do not mean to say that individual great horses may
not appear as they have before, but that as the best
blood is on the female side, and was originally derived
from the female side, the horses may not be always
capable of handing down their own individual excellences.
On the other hand, the mares having so much of the
Darley Arabian blood in their veins put to his male
descendants may be most valuable.
One great feature in this line is that it has been bred
up to excellence. Herod was a great landmark, if the
expression may be allowed ; he may almost be said to
have been a grand starting point, for in him the nature
of the Eastern blood handed down to him was raised
and vivified by a strong infusion of true Arabian
blood ; thus the character of the breed was materially
changed. Whether it reached its zenith in him or in his
great-great-grandson, Sultan, I will not pretend to say,
for although I think the excellence was abated for two
generations, it was revived in the third, and more so in
the fourth, which was in Sultan, but I think the greatest
benefit that will be derived from this line at the present
time and in future will be from its daughters and the
daughters which may come from the young sires now at
the stud.
»2
36 The English Horse.
Tpie Darley Arabian Line,
The Darley Arabian was a bay horse who possessed,
so it has been stated, every point that could be desired
in a Turf horse.
He was a Koheilan-Ras-el-Fedawi. The Kaheilan is
one of the principal breeds of pure bred Arabians ; the
adjunct Ras-el-Fedawi specifies one of the numerous
varieties of this family. Mr. Darley, who was consul
at Aleppo, obtained this horse, I believe, during one of
the annual visits of the great Anezah of Nejed, which
tribe goes annually from thence to within a few miles
of Aleppo in the spring, and returns to Nejed in the
autumn or winter. He had a white snip down his face ;
his two hind feet and off fore foot were white.
The Stud Book informs us that he covered very
few mares except Mr. Darley's, who had very few well-
bred ones.
He was the sire of Childers, commonly called Flying
Childers, Almanzor, and his own brother, Cupid, Brisk,
Aleppo, and some few others.
Bartlet's Childers is generally supposed to have been
own brother to Flying Childers, and the Darley Arabian
line is traced from him through Eclipse, supposed to be
great-grandson of Bartlet's Childers, the blood of Flying
Childers being more generally represented in the line of
the Byerly Turk. It would have been, I think, more
satisfactory had Flying Childers handed down the line
in direct male descent; but the usually admitted succes-
sion is as follows : — Bartlet's Childers, Squirt, Marskc,
Flying Childers. t^j
Eclipse. Spiletta, the dam of Eclipse, was also covered
by Shakespear, and there are some who think he was
the sire of Eclipse; if they be right, the line of succession
would be — Flying Childers, Aleppo, Hobgoblin, Shake-
spear, Eclipse ; but as I have no convincing evidence to
bring forward in support of Shakespear having been the
sire of Eclipse, I must content myself with only alluding
to the doubt that has arisen, and pursue for considera-
tion the line from Bartlet's Childers.
Unfortunately, a doubt has been expressed about
Bartlet's Childers. The Stud Book says he was
for several years called Young Childers, it being gene-
rally supposed that he was own brother to the Devon-
shire Childers (Flying Childers), though some insisted
that Betty Leedes never produced any other foal than
Flying Childers, except one that was choked when very
young by eating chaff. Mr. Cheney says, ' he has
heard the contrary from so many gentlemen of worth
and honour, that he cannot but be of opinion that he
was own brother to him.' He was never trained, and
was the sire of Squirt, CEdipus, and the Little Hartley
mare, &c.
Flying Childers was a bay horse, about 15 hands
high, with a blaze and four white feet. He is usually
represented in woodcuts and engravings as a very well-
formed horse, but with a prominent and bony head
between the eyes and for some way down the face. I
have seen a large oil painting which represents him with
a very fine head of the Arabian type, with a wide fore-
head, and flat between the e}'es, tapering and slightly
38 The English Horse.
dished before coming to the muzzle, and with a fine full
eye, with a straight back and high quarters, long shoul-
ders, not very deep in chest, but deep in the back ribs,
so that the underneath line carried from the elbow
along the belly was very nearly straight, a similar for-
mation and appearance to those described in Sultan's
sketch. There is good reason for believing this repre-
sentation to be more correct than that shown by the
prints, which represent him with that formation of head
which tells of base blood, when it is remembered that
Flying Childers was a horse altogether of Eastern
blood, and very nearly Arabian. His sons Blaze and
Snip infused his blood very largely into the line of the
Byerly Turk. Supposing Bartlet's Childers to have been
his own brother, we shall find the line for some time
breeding down from a more excellent state to one of
less purity, unlike the Turk's line upwards, from an
inferior to a better. The Turk's line was improved by
frequent infusions of Arabian blood. In the Darley
Arabian's line the blood was departed from at once
with giant strides.
Squirt, a chestnut horse, foaled in 1732, by Bartlet's
Childers, was from a Snake mare without any certain
Arabian blood in her veins, and Snake cannot be con-
sidered as more than half bred, being by the Lister Turk,
his dam by Hautboy, but who was her dam } besides,
Hautboy was by a Turk out of a Royal mare, which
may have been of any breed.
Marske, by Squirt, foaled in 1750, was a brown horse.
Eclipse. 39
His dam was got by Mr. Hiittois Blacklegs (not the
Blacklegs by Flying Childers, but by a bay Turk), Her
dam was by Bay Bolton out of a mare, by Fox Cub.
He got a little more Arabian blood here, as the dam of
Fox Cub was by the Leedes Arabian, but there is no
other Arab strain, and the pedigree is full of flaws.
In these two horses we have no direct return to Arab
blood except in the case of the slight infusion of the
Leedes Arabian just mentioned, but no instance of
breeding back to the Darley Arabian through daughters
of Flying Childers, or through mares by any of his
sons ; and it can be well imagined that these two
horses, Squirt and Marske, who had common blood in
their veins, could not compare with Flying Childers,
who was very nearly of pure Arabian blood.
We have now come down to Eclipse, a chestnut horse,
quite sixteen hands, if not more, foaled in 1764. His
dam Spiletta, foaled in 1749, was by Regulus, her dam
Mother Western, by Smith's son of Snake from a mare
by Old Montague, from a mare by Hautboy from a
mare by Brimmer — no direct Arab blood, but Eastern
mixed with common blood, and many flaws in the
pedigree. But Regulus was the son of the Godolphin
Arab or Barb, and this is the first time his blood was
brought into the line from the Darley Arabian. The
Godolphin will be spoken of hereafter, when we come
to consider the line he established in direct male de-
scent. The dam of Regulus was Grey Robinson, by
the Bald Galloway. She was of the usual mixture of
40 The English Hoi'se.
Eastern and common blood, but without any direct
Arabian strain.
Now it must be mentioned how the Godolphin was
first brought forward. The Bald Galloway, the sire of
the dam of Regulus, was also the sire of Roxana.
Hobgoblin, son of Aleppo, son of Flying Childers, was
to have been her mate ; but he refusing to cover her
she was handed over to the Godolphin, who was used
as a teaser. This was in 1731. The produce was Lath,
1732. Seven years later Regulus was born to the Go-
dolphin, and his daughter Spiletta was covered by both
Marske (grandson of Bartlet's Childers) and by Shake-
spear (son of Hobgoblin), this latter horse being a
grandson of Flying Childers ; hence the doubt as to
which was the sire of Eclipse. Shakespear was a
cliestnut horse, foaled in 1745 ; his dam, the Little
Hartley mare, was by Bartlet's Childers from Flying
Whig, by Williams's Woodstock Arabian.
But to return to Eclipse, so named from the great
eclipse of the sun in 1764, the year of his birth. No
horse that he met was able to extend him. He is said
to have run the course at York in eight minutes. This
was the only race in which it is supposed he was
timed. The only contemporary who was thought to
have any pretensions to rival Eclipse was Goldfinder,
foaled the same year (1764). He has been described
as a beautiful and long-reached brown horse, and, like
Eclipse, was never beaten. Accident prevented the
two meeting, which is to be regretted. Goldfinder was
by Snap, grandson of Flying Childers. Though he, too.
Goldjindcr, Pottos, Waxy. 41
was not without flaws in his pedigree, I question if he
were not a better bred horse than the great EcHpse.
Before leaving Eclipse it is well to state that, as a
rule, 'the produce of Eclipse ran too generally and
exclusively to speed, and that in stoutness and con-
tinuance they were greatly surpassed by their compe-
titors on the course, the stock of King Herod and
Goldfinder.' ^
Eclipse was the sire of three Derby winners : Young
Eclipse, in 1781, Saltram, in 1783, and Serjeant, in
1784; of one winner of the Oaks, Annette, in 1787;
but no St. Leger winner is accredited to him. His
blood was handed down in male descent, principally
through PotSos, King Fergus, Joe Andrews, and Mer-
cury.
First was PotSos, a chestnut horse, foaled in 1773 ;
his dam Sportmistress was by Warren's Sportsman, who
was by Cade, a son of the Godolphin Arabian, from
Silvertail, by Whitenose, who was by the Hall Arabian,
and through Silvertail inherited one other strain of the
Darley Arabian blood. PotSos was the sire of three
Derby winners, one Oaks winner, and one winner of the
St. Leger — namely. Waxy, Champion, winner of the
Derby and St. Leger, and Tyrant, and Nightshade, win-
ner of the Oaks, 17SS.
Waxy was a bay horse, foaled in 1790, his dam Maria,
by Herod, her dam Lisette, by Snap out of Miss Wind-
sor, by the Godolphin Arab. He has been called, and I
think not inaptly, the ace of trumps of the Stud Book.
' Remarks on Eclipse's produce in Scott's ' Sportsman's Repository.'
42 The English Horse.
In him the Darley Arabian blood was returned to by
several strong infusions, as Maria had two strains of his
blood, and one of these by Blaze, son of Flying Childers,
and her dam Lisette, had two, one of them by Snap (her
sire), who was a grandson of Flying Childers, so that
Waxy had five fresh infusions through his dam, and two
of them through Flying Childers,
Waxy was the sire of Pope, Whalebone, Blucher, and
Whisker (all Derby winners), and of Music, Minuet, and
Corinne (winners of the Oaks). These were all bays
except Corinne and Whalebone, who were brown.
Whalebone and Whisker were own brothers. Music
and Minuet own sisters. Pope was foaled in 1806, his
dam Prunella, by Highflyer, from Promise, by Snap.
His career was principally in Ireland. Whalebone, foaled
in 1807, was the most distinguished of Waxy's sons. His
dam Penelope was by Trumpator, from Prunella, by
Highflyer, from Promise, by Snap. He was the sire of
Lapdog and Spaniel (both Derby winners), both bay,
and of Caroline (winner of the Oaks), also a bay, and
the line was handed down by three of his sons. Camel,
Defence, and Sir Hercules. His son Waverly was the
sire of The Saddler, and a reputed sire of Don John
(winner of the St. Leger in 1838), as Whalebone was of
Moses (the winner of the Derby in 1822).
Three distinguished branches have sprung from these
three horses, which we must consider in the order they
stand. First, Camel, a brown horse with a blaze and
hind feet white, was from a Selim mare, whose dam was
Maiden, by Sir Peter. He was the sire of Touchstone
Touchstone and Orlando. 43
and Launcelot, both winners of the St. Leger in 1834
and 1840.
Touchstone, foaled in 183 1, was a brown ; he did not
run for the Derby, but carried off the St. Leger; his dam
Banter was by Master Henry, who was by Orville,
grandson of King Fergus, son of Echpse, and Banter's
dam was by Alexander, son of Eclipse. Here we have
an instance of considerable in-breeding to Eclipse, the
direct male descendant from the Darley Arabian, through
Bartlet Childers. Touchstone was the sire of Cother-
stone and Orlando, winners of the Derby ; of Surplice,
winner of the Derby and St. Leger — the first time both
races were won by the same horse after a period of 48
years, when it had been won in 1 800 by Champion, son
of Pot8os ; and as Waxy's dam was by Herod, so was
Champion's dam by Highflyer, Herod's son ; of Mendi-
cant, winner of the Oaks in 1846; of Blue Bonnet and
Newminster, winners of the St. Leger in 1842 and 185 1 ;
besides of many other winners, too numerous to mention
here.
Leaving Cotherstone and Surplice, who have not
earned much of a reputation at the stud, but whose
mares may still be useful, we must consider Touch-
stone's sons, Orlando and Newminster.
Orlando, a bay horse, with hind legs white, with a
blaze and white nose, was very good-looking ; his dam,
Vulture, was by Langar out of Kite, by Bustard (son of
Castrel) out of Olympia, by Sir Oliver, from Scotilla, by
Anvil, who was by Herod. Scotilla's dam was Scota,
by Eclipse, from Harmony, by Herod out of Rutilia,
44 The English Horse.
sister to Highflyer's dam. I have given the pedigree at
some length, being very curious from the in-breeding of
Herod. Orlando is generally supposed to have had very
little of the Darley Arabian blood, which, however, is a
very erroneous opinion, when it is remembered that his
sire came from the Darley Arabian through sire and
dam in direct male descent, besides by various other
strains, and although his dam Vulture belonged to
another family, yet in looking through the names of her
progenitors we find animals tracing back to Flying
Childers.
From among others he was the sire of Fazzoletto,
Fitz-Roland, and Diophantus, winners of the Two Thou-
sand Guineas ; of Imperieuse, winner of the One Thou-
sand Guineas and St. Leger ; of Teddington, the winner
of the Derby, 185 1. Of all his sons Teddington was the
most distinguished. He was a chestnut with a blaze,
and a fore and hind leg white, both on the same side ;
he was fast, game, honest, and stout, and was one of the
best examples of modern days of speed and stoutness
combined ; he was an excellent racehorse, won the Derby
in 1 85 1, the Doncaster Cup in 1852, and the Emperor's
Plate at Ascot in 1853, beating Stockwell with great
gameness ; he has often been described as a short horse
on a high leg ; it is said he measured in girth. only 63in.
when he stripped for the Derby. The last time I saw
him was in 1854, when he stood at Theobald's Park,
Enfield. He appeared to me to be a very handsome
horse, not more than 15 hands i inch high, with a blood-
Marsyas and Nezvmmster. 45
like head and eye and blood-like appearance generally,
with a strong back, and very powerful quarters, which
reached well forward into his middle piece, nor did he
seem to me to be deficient in length ; he looked as if a
great stud career was before him, but his success was
not very great, and his fame will rest on his own Turf
performances only, I am afraid.
Orlando was also the sire of Marsyas, a finely-bred
horse, his dam was Malibran by Whisker, and of Cheva-
lier d'Industrie, whose dam was Industry (winner of the
Oaks), by Priam. Teddington's dam was Miss Twicken-
ham, by Rockingham, her dam Electress, by Election,
son of Gohanna.
Newminster, a son of Touchstone and the celebrated
Beeswing, being a delicate horse, was difficult to train,
and ran, I believe, quite big for the St. Leger, which he
won in 185 i. He was a dark bay horse, without white.
The young Newminsters have been chestnut, bay, brown,
and grey, some large and some small. His dam. Bees-
wing, was by the evergreen Doctor Syntax, son of Pay-
nator, grandson of Conductor ; Doctor Syntax's dam was
by Beningbrough, grandson of Eclipse ; Beeswing's dam
was by Ardrossan, by John Bull, son of Fortitude, who
was by Herod, from a Snap mare. His son Musjid won
the Derby in 1859, and Hermit in \%6y, whose dam is
Seclusion by Tadmor. His son. Lord Clifden, won the
St. Leger in 1863, his dam The Slave, by Melbourne,
her dam Volley, by Voltaire, from Martha Lynn, by
Mulatto. Then there are his sons, Newcastle, Strath-
46 The English Horse.
conan, Vespasian, and Adventurer, foaled in 1859, whose
dam, Palma, was by Emilius, from Francesca, by Par-
tizan out of a mare, by Orville (the sire of Emilius).
Adventurer has already made himself known, being
the sire of Pretender, winner of the Derby in 1869.
There are other descendants of both Orlando and New-
minster who may still make themselves names at the
stud. Before leaving the Touchstone line, although it
would occupy too much space to dilate upon all his
descendants, I think it only fit to mention his grand-
son, Dundee, who, after a very bad break down, ran
second to Kettledrum for the Derby in 1861 on three
legs. He was a very nice-looking horse, with fine quar-
ters, and is a good horse to look at from behind ; his
shoulders have a good slope, but a little heavy at the
points.
Defence, a brown horse, foaled in 1824, is the next
son of Whalebone who must come under our notice.
His dam was Defiance, by Rubens. His blood is as
scarce as it is good, and until lately was chiefly repre-
sented through his daughters. His daughter Deception
won the Oaks in 1839. ^^s mares seemed to have
mated well with horses of the Partisan line. He was
the sire, Southdown and Defenceless the dams, of
Alarm and Caractacus, also of Fortress, the dam of
Pyrrhus the First. He was also the sire of The Em-
peror, a chestnut horse, foaled in 1841, winner of the
Ascot Cup in 1844, and of the Emperor's Plate (Ascot)
in 1845 ; his dam was by Reveller, and her dam. De-
sign (own sister to Dangerous, winner of the Derby in
The Emperoi'. 47
1833), was by Tramp out of Defiance, by Rubens ;
here is breeding back to the same mare — Defiance was
the dam of Defence, sire of The Emperor. Tramp, the
sire of The Emperor's maternal granddam, Design, was
the great-grandson of EcHpse, as Defence was great-
great-grandson of EcHpse. Moreover, the dam of Ru-
bens (sire of Defiance), as has been shown before, was
by Alexander, a son of Eclipse ; so that there is much
in-breeding to the Darley Arabian through Eclipse ; but
the pedigree of Defiance, paternal grandmother and
maternal great-grandmother of The Emperor, goes back
to Magnolia, by Marske, great-grandson of the Darley
Arabian ; and her great-granddam was Ebony, a
daughter of Flying Childers, son of the Darley Ara-
bian. This pedigree may be a little tedious and intri-
cate, but it will show how that The Emperor, a great-
grandson in male descent of Waxy, traced' back to the
Darley Arabian through most, if not all, of the female
descents. Defence was the sire of Safeguard, foaled in
1841, of Grace Darling (the dam of Hero), and of Sister
to -^gis, the dam of Andover, winner of the Derby,
1854.
I presume The Emperor was but lightly esteemed in
this country, and therefore allowed to go to France,
where he, as many others have, turned out a trump-card.
He is the accepted grandsire of Gladiateur, whose dam
was Miss Gladiator, a daughter of Gladiator by Parti-
san, another of the expatriated horses. Miss Gladia-
tor's dam was Taffrail, by Sheet Anchor, Taffi'ail's dam
The Warwick mare, by Merman (son of Whalebone),
48 The English Horse.
from a mare by Ardrossan, her dam Shepherdess, by
Shuttle.
Gladiateur, a bay horse, standing about i6 hands i^
inch, with quite a French pedigree, but from some of
the best blood in England, was the first horse bred
abroad who won the Epsom Derby. That he was a
remarkable horse and a first-class racer few could be
found to deny ; but although possessing some splendid
points, that he has not that true and perfect symmetry
that would be desirable in a first-rate performer and
stud horse, is equally certain, I do not wish to cavil at
or even find fault with a really first-class horse because
he may not possess that symmetry which would be
thoroughly pleasing to the eye ; but at the same time,
had he been of truer shape, I have no doubt he would
have been equally good in a smaller compass, and that
with less of wear and tear and expenditure of power.
He might be classed with that fine specimen of a race-
horse. Bay Middleton. His head, eye, neck, and shoul-
ders are truly grand ; his legs are not first-rate, nor are
his quarters, to say the least, the handsomest. That he
will be a stud success I both hope and expect ; and to
make use of his blood to the fullest extent, and pre-
eminently that of his great-grandsire. Defence, I would
select for him certain mares whose dams were by De-
fence, or by horses whose dams were by Defence — such
as mares by Alarm and by Andovcr (if they could be
obtained), by Pyrrhus the First, and by Caractacus.
Thus, as in former days, by breeding from mares whose
sires were from mares by sons of Flying Childers, such
Gladiateiir. 49
as Blaze, Snip, and his son Snap, the Darley Arabian
blood was brought back, and to a very great extent
confirmed in Waxy ; so would the Defence blood be
concentrated in horses so bred.
As in the days of Waxy, it was not the engrafting
the stock, or rather blood, of the Byerly Turk upon the
stem of the Darley Arabian through Bartlet's Childers,
but the getting back and concentrating that which had
made the Turk's line truly valuable — namely, the blood
of the Darley Arabian — which, as has been shown, was
so strongly infused into the Turk's family through
Flying Childers, which proved so great a success in
Waxy.
So in the case of mating the before-mentioned mares
with Gladiateur should we be confirming, perhaps, the
best family of the Darley Arabian line. Daughters of
Old Defenceless and any mares that there may be by
Old England, whose dam Fortress was by Defence,
would be well mated with him ; in short, I would bring
to bear as much Defence blood as could be procured to
strengthen the blood that has been so nearly lost to us,
but which has fortunately been restored to some extent
by Gladiateur.
Gladiateur shows much of the character of his maternal
grandsire. Gladiator ; he has the eye of the family, which
is also to be particularly noticed in the mares Vesuvienne
and Harriott. This feature has doubtless resulted from
the frequent infusion of the Darley Arabian's blood,
particularly through Waxy.
Before leaving the Defence family I think a few words
E
50 The English Horse.
may be devoted to Safeguard. His dam was by Selim
from Euryone, who was by Witchcraft from Fair Ellen
(the dam of Lilias, winner of the Oaks). Fair Ellen was
by a horse styled The Wellesley Grey Arab, out of Maria,
by Highflyer. Owing to his blindness, and perhaps also
to the prejudice against the infusion of Eastern blood
he had derived from his great-granddam, Fair Ellen,
daughter of The Wellesley Grey Arab, notwithstanding
she was the dam of an Oaks winner, Safeguard was not
much patronised by first-class mares, and from the same
source, the more recent infusion of Eastern blood, may
be attributed his other unexceptionable qualities, won-
derful constitution, and the extraordinary goodness of
his feet and legs. There may not be any of his mares
left now, but some of his granddaughters might make
a great hit with Gladiateur if any one would venture the
attempt
The Wellesley Arab was an Eastern horse, but the
Stud Book says evidently he was not an Arabian. It
would be interesting to know from whence he was ob-
tained and his antecedents before he was brought to
this country.
Sir Hercules was a handsome black horse, foaled in
1826 ; in the autumn of the year I have heard he might
have been called almost grey, from some grey hairs
either becoming more numerous or more visible. He
heads a very distinguished branch of the Whalebone
family. He ran third for the St. Leger in 1829, Rowton
and Voltaire having been first and second. His dam
was Peri, by Wanderer, her dam Thalestris, a black
Sir Hercules. 5 1
mare, by Alexander (son of Eclipse) ; and Goldfinder,
by Snap (grandson of Flying Childers), appears as one
of her ancestors. Wanderer was by Gohanna, a grand-
son of Eclipse.
The pedigree of Sir Hercules shows considerable in-
breeding to the Darley Arabian in direct male descent
through both sire and dam ; his sire and his dam's sire
were both great-grandsons of Eclipse.
Sir Hercules was the sire of Coronation, winner of the
Derby in 1841, a very fine horse ; of Faugh a Ballagh,
winner of the St. Leger in 1 844, a horse of high courage,
fine temper, and great power ; he also won the Cesare-
witch Stakes at Newmarket, beating a large field, carry-
ing as a three-year-old 8st, The Emperor, /st 131b, the
same age, running fourth to him, but was in his turn
beaten by The Emperor the next year at Ascot for the
Emperor's Plate. He was a dark brown in colour, was
sent to France, and became the sire of Fille de I'Air.
Sir Hercules is principally known through his son
Birdcatcher, commonly called Irish Birdcatcher, foaled
in 1833, and own brother to Faugh a Ballagh;
their dam Guiccoli was by Bob Booty, by Chanticleer,
from a daughter of Eclipse. Bob Booty's dam, lerne,
has a curious pedigree, but of too great a length to be
inserted here. It contains the names of such horses as
Traveller, Hartley's Blind Horse, Barley's Arabian, Go-
dolphin Arab, Partner, Bay Bolton, Justice, Ringtail
Galloway, Litton Arab, Curwen's Bay barb, Hip, and
sister to Piping Peg. Irish Birdcatcher was the sire
of one Derby winner, Daniel O'Rourke, in 1852, who
K 2
52 The English Horse.
defeated Stockwell, grandson of Birdcatcher; of one
Oaks winner, Songstress, in 1852 ; of three St. Leger
winners: The Baron in 1845, Knight of St. George in
1854, Warlock in 1856. He was the sire of Saunterer,
a black horse of great merit. For some time the latter
was abroad, but was purchased by Mr. Blenkiron, and
so restored to this country. He is the sire of Gamos,
winner of the Oaks, with a good chance of making
himself a stud reputation.
Birdcatcher was a chestnut horse ; his stock had
generally the reputation of being smart, light, and
active, a trifle small and short, but I have seen some
Birdcatchers of almost gigantic size. Nor should I say
they were all systematically blood-like in appearance.
Some show much quality ; in others I have seen points
of quite a different character. The pedigree of his dam
shows, I think, more than the usual amount of indifferent
breeding, although mixed with good strains, which may
account for the conflicting appearances seen in his stock.
His son. The Baron, winner of the St. Leger in 1845,
has chiefly made him famous ; he was a dark chestnut
horse, with a star, a white spot at the muzzle — I think
the off nostril — near hind foot white. He had a bony,
prominent head, very fine shoulders, short back, and his
quarters drooping a little to the setting-on of the tail,
but his thighs were well let down. He won the Cesare-
witch Stakes the same year, but he was defeated in the
Cambridgeshire by Alarm, a horse of the same age,
The Baron carrying 7st 81b, the latter /st 91b. The
next year The Baron did not win a single race, and was
Stockwell and Blair Athol. 53
again beaten by Alarm for the Emperor's Plate at
Ascot. In 1847 he went to the stud, and was located
at Stockwell. His dam, Echidna, was by Economist,
son of Whisker, son of Waxy ; her dam, Miss Pratt,
was by Blacklock, from Gadabout, by Orville, from
Minstrel, by Sir Peter. Here is in-breeding to some
extent to Waxy. Echidna and Birdcatcher were grand-
son and daughter of the own brothers. Whalebone and
Whisker, sons of Waxy. The Baron, through sire and
dam, was great-grandson of Waxy. The Baron was
the sire of Stockwell and Rataplan, both chestnuts.
Their dam, Pocahontas, was by Glencoe, son of Sultan ;
her dam, Marpessa, by Muley, son of Orville ; her dam,
Clare, by Marmion out of Harpalice, by Gohanna.
Stockwell, who has been termed the * Emperor of
Stallions,' was foaled in 1849. Won the Two Thousand
Guineas in 1852, was beaten by Daniel O'Rourke for
the Derby, but won the St. Leger, Daniel running
third. He is the sire of far too numerous a progeny
to mention here ; among them were two Derby winners,
and the winners of six St. Legers : Blair Athol, winner
of both events ; Lord Lyon, also a double winner ; St.
Albans, Caller Ou, The Marquis, and Achievement,
winners of the St. Leger.
Blair Athol, a chestnut with a white face. His dam
was the celebrated Blink Bonny, by Melbourne out of
the no less distinguished Queen Mary, by Gladiator.
Being now at the stud, and to be seen at any time, stock
can be taken of him, and his performances are too
recent to need to be recapitulated. The way in which
54 The English Horse.
he and General Peel came away from their horses in the
Derby of 1864 must be still fresh in the memory of
most. St. Albans' dam was Bribery, by The Libel.
Caller Ou's dam was Haricot, whose sire was Mango or
Lanercost, her dam Queen Mary, by Gladiator. The
Marquis was a bay horse out of Cinizelli, by Touch-
stone, from Brocade, by Pantaloon. Lord Lyon, a bay,
and Achievement brown (own brother and sister), their
dam Paradigm, by Paragone (a son of Touchstone), her
dam Ellen Home, by Redshank out of Delhi, by Pleni-
potentiary, are perhaps bred more directly back to Eclipse
than any of the others ; and though their dam may not
be so illustrious as Blair Athol's, the strains they in-
herit through her from Catton, Emilius, and Touchstone
cannot but be valuable ; and I am inclined to think if
Blair Athol may be generally considered the best repre-
sentative of his sire, the breeding of Lord Lyon is the
more perfect. The Stockwell and Touchstone cross, as
it is termed, has become almost a proverb, but Beads-
man would appear to be an appropriate sire for Stock-
well mares. Birdcatcher was also the sire of the grey
horse Chanticleer, the sire of Sunbeam (winner of the St.
Leger, 1858). This brings us to the end of the Sir Her-
cules family, and a few words about Whisker must close
the review of the Darley Arabian line through PotSos.
Whisker (own brother to Whalebone) was the sire of
Economist, the sire of Harkaway, who was the sire of
King Tom,' from Stock well's dam, Pocahontas, several
of whose mares have been good performers, although,
' Kingcraft, son of King Tom, won the Derby, 1S70.
Kmg Fergus and his Descendants, 5 5
with rare exceptions, his sons have not been so success-
ful. Whisker was also the sire of The Colonel, whose ■
son, Chatham, was the sire of the celebrated Governess.
King Fergus, a chestnut horse, foaled in 1775, is the
second son of Eclipse it was proposed to notice. His
two sons, Hambletonian and Beningbrough, are the
fathers of two families we shall consider. From the
former came the Blacklocks ; the latter was the ancestor
of Emilius, Priam, and Plenipotentiary. Three of his
sons were winners of the St. Leger — Young Traveller,
Beningbrough, and Hambletonian.
The dam of King Fergus was Tuting's Polly, by
Black-and-all-Black out of his Fanny, by Tartar, from a
mare by Old Starling, from a Flying Childers mare.
Black-and-all-Black was by Crab, son of Alcock Arabian,
from Miss Slammerkin.
Beningbrough, winner of the St. Leger in 1 794, was a
bay horse, from a Herod mare. He was the sire of two
Oaks winners, Briseis and Oriana, and his son, Orville,
won the St. Leger in 1802. Orville was a bay horse,
his dam was Evelina, by Highflyer. His sons, Octavius
and Emilius, were winners of the Derby, and Ebor of
the St. Leger in 1817. He was also the sire of Muley,
whose son. Little Wonder, carried off the Derby in
1840; his daughter, Vespa, the Oaks in 1833 ; and his
son. Margrave, the St. Leger, in 1832. His son, Muley
Moloch, was the sire of that beautiful and truly famous
mare, Alice Hawthorn, She was bred back to the
Darley Arabian to a very great extent ; her sire was a
direct male descendant through King Fergus and Eclipse,
56 The English Horse.
and Nancy, the dam of Muley Moloch, her sire was by
Dick Andrews, a grandson in male descent of Eclipse,
and her dam, Rebecca, was the offspring of collateral
lines from the Darley Arabian in both male and female
descents. The sire of Rebecca was Lottery, who was
by Tramp, great-grandson of Eclipse, from the cele-
brated Mandane, a daughter of PotSos, son of Eclipse.
Rebecca's dam was by Cervantes (son of Don Quixote,
who was a grandson of Eclipse), from Anticipation, by
Beningbrough, the head of the branch of the King Fer-
gus family we are now considering, and grandson of
Eclipse. The breeding of these two mares, mother and
daughter, is perhaps as perfect as anything that we may
find since the days of the Childers.
Little Wonder was a brilliant bay in colour, and
stood 14 hands 3 inches in height. He was a good and
game little horse, and is one of the examples that occa-
sionally occur which prove that speed, stride, and power
are not altogether consequent upon height, size, and
apparent length. The Derby of 1840 seems to have
been a very true run race. They got away at an excel-
lent pace, Little Wonder lying about seventh. After
going half a mile the running was taken up by the
Melody colt, Launcelot second. Little Wonder sixth.
In going round the turn Little Wonder took his place at
Launcelot's quarters, and these three were all that were
left in the race ; the others were beaten off. At the dis-
tance it was all up with the Melody colt, and Little
Wonder challenged the 'crack' Launcelot, headed him
in a few yards, was half a length ahead of him before
Emilhts and Priam. 5 7
they reached the Stand, and was a clever winner by a
length. It must be remembered that Launcelot, who
was the St. Leger winner of the year, was a horse of
great speed. Little Wonder was nicely bred, but not
nearly so perfect in that respect as Rebecca and Alice
Hawthorn.
We must now return to Emilius (son of Orville), win-
ner of the Derby in 1823. He was a bay horse; his
dam, Emily, was by Stamford, by Sir Peter ; her dam
has not a very excellent pedigree, but Stamford's dam,
Horatio, was by Eclipse — I think the only return to the
Darley Arabian blood, but it goes by to Rib, the Wynn
Arabian and Alcock Arabian — yet Sir Peter, Stamford's
sire, has several strains of that blood ; his dam, Papillon,
was by Snap, great-grandson of the Darley Arabian.
He was a very fine horse, stood about 15 hands 2 inches
in height, and was considered of almost faultless sym-
metry. I believe he was also conspicuous for the size
or depth of his back ribs, which point Mango also pos-
sessed. His sons, Priam and Plenipotentiary, were
Derby winners ; his daughter, Oxygen, a winner of the
Oaks ; and Mango, his son, won the St. Leger in 1837.
Priam, foaled in 1827, a bay horse from Cressida,
sister to Eleanor, by Whiskey, has been described as a
fine horse to stand up against, but narrow and light ;
however, he had fine action. His daughters, Miss Letty,
Industry, and Crucifix, were winners of the Oaks.
Perhaps he is more distinguished as the sire of Crucifix
than by anything else. She was the winner of both the
Two Thousand and One Thousand Guineas, and the
58 TJic English Ho7'se.
Oaks ; her dam Octaviana, by Octavian, her dam by
Shuttle out of Zara, by Delpini from Flora, by King
Fergus. Her pedigree goes back to the Darley Arabian,
through Shuttle, who was by Young Marske (son of
Marske, great-grandson of the Darley Arabian, and
through his dam the Vauxhall Snap mare). Vauxhall
Snap was by Snap, grandson of Flying Childers, and
again through King Fergus, the head of the line from
Eclipse we are now reviewing. Crucifix was the dam of
Cowl, by Bay Middleton, Crozier by Lanercost, and
Surplice by Touchstone.
Plenipotentiary, winner of the Derby in 1834, was a
rich chestnut horse, a little over 1 5 hands 2 inches ; he
was a large horse, of great muscular development, and
carried plenty of flesh ; he won the Derby without the
shadow of a struggle, and was considered one of the
most magnificent horses ever seen on a racecourse.
Poison, a filly of his, won the Oaks in 1843. As a sire
he does not appear to have answered the expectations
that his appearance might have warranted. In his pedi-
gree the blood of the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian,
and of the Godolphin Arab or Barb would appear to
have been pretty equally distributed.
We now return to Hambletonian, winner of the St.
Leger in 1795, a bay horse, his dam a Highfiyer mare,
her dam Monimia, by Matchem, &c. With the excep-
tion of the strains through Highflyer, we find no further
return to the Darley Arabian ; he was the sire of White-
lock, a bay horse from Rosalind, got by Phoenomenon,
her dam Atalanta, by Matchem, with no other strain
Coheiress. 59
of the Darley Arabian than those through Phoenomenon,
by Herod and his dam Frenzy, by Echpse, and one
through Blank, whose dam was the Little Hartley mare,
by Bartlet's Childers. He was the sire of Blacklock,
a bay horse, foaled in 1814 ; his dam was by Coriander,
a son of PotSos, her dam Wildgoose, by Highflyer out
of Coheiress, by PotSos. Coriander's dam was Lavender,
by Herod from a mare by Snap out of Miss Roan, by
Cade from Madam, by Bloody-Buttocks, who was a
grey Arabian, with a red mark on his hip ; but nothing
further is known of him.
Coheiress, who was also by PotSos, from Manilla, by
Goldfinder (son of Snap) out of an Old England' mare,
from a mare, by the Cullen Arabian, from a mare by
Cade, &c. The sire of Blacklock's dam and her granddam
were by the same horse, PotSos. This is a curious and
interesting pedigree, showing a considerable amount of
in-breeding to the Darley Arabian, but much mingled
with other inferior strains. Blacklock's most memorable
race was four miles, at York, when he defeated Magis-
trate by a short head, but it finished both of them ; he
was a plain, coarse horse, with bad fore legs. His son.
Velocipede, foaled in 1S25, was a chestnut horse, his
dam was by Juniper, son of Whiskey (grandson of
Eclipse), her dam by Sorcerer, son of Trumpator of the
Godolphin Arabian's line out of Virgin, by Sir Peter out
of a mare by PotSos out of Editha, by Herod from
Elfrida, by Snap. He was highly esteemed by John
Scott, and was the sire of Amato, winner of the Derby
in 1838, and also of the Queen of Trumps, a slashing
6o The English Horse.
brown mare, winner of the Oaks and St. Leger in 1835.
She had great speed, like her sire, and like him I should
say doubtful legs; her dam was Princess Royal, by
Castrel. Blacklock was also the sire of Brutandorf, sire
of Hetman Platofif, the sire of Cossack, winner of the
Derby in 1847. Brutandorfs dam was Mandane, by
Pot8os. Cossack, a chestnut horse, was from a Priam
mare. Voltaire, by Blacklock, was a brown horse, foaled
in 1826, and his descendants are mostly dark brown or
black ; his dam was a Phantom mare, and traces back to
Matchem ; he was the sire of Charles XII., who won the
St. Leger after a dead heat with Euclid, a son of Emilius,
and also the sire of Voltigeur, winner of the Derby and
St, Leger in 1850 ; the latter race was won after a dead
heat with Russborough ; he also won the Doncaster
Cup the same week, defeating the, up to that time,
unconquered Flying Dutchman, but he was subsequently
defeated by The Dutchman in a two-mile match at York.
His dam was Martha Lynn, by Mulatto, son of Catton
out of the Mercury line from Eclipse. Mulatto's dam
was by Orville ; there is considerable breeding back
to Eclipse in his pedigree. From among many others,
Voltigeur was the sire of Vedette, Skirmisher, and
Sabreur ; but, to my mind, Buckstone was his best son,
a bay or brown horse, foaled in France in 1859; his
dam was Burlesque by Touchstone, her dam. Maid of
Honour, by Champion out of Etiquette, by Orville,
which gives more breeding back to Eclipse. He ran
third to Caractacus for the Derby in 1862, and second
to The Marquis for The St. Leger. He was generally
Gohanna. 6 1
considered a horse with two good ends, but deficient in
middle piece ; but I thought him a fine horse when he
ran with Tim Whiftier for the Ascot Cup, which he won
after a dead heat. It was a sight worth seeing in these
days. He was sent out to China in 1863, and died
there.
Voltigeur's memory and Hkeness will probably be
preserved, as Sir Edwin Landseer has depicted him on
canvas with his cat almost, if not quite, as large as life.
This must suffice for the King Fergus family, and we
will get back to the year 1778, when the chestnut
horse. Mercury, son of Eclipse, was foaled ; his dam was
by Tartar, great-grandson of the Byerly Turk, her dam
by Mogul, son of the Godolphin Arab or Barb, without
any return to the Darley Arabian. He was the sire of
Gohanna, a bay horse, foaled in 1790; his dam was a
Herod mare, her dam, Maiden Sister to Pumpkin, by
Matchem, from a mare by Squirt, her dam by Mogul
out of Camilla, by Bay Bolton from Old Lady, by
Pulleine's chestnut Arabian from a mare by Rockwood
from a mare by Bustler, There are strains here of the
Darley Arabian, through his dam by Herod and through
Pumpkin's dam, but there are many strains containing
other than Eastern blood. He was the sire of Golumpus,
a bay horse, foaled in 1802 ; his dam, Catherine, by
Woodpecker, her dam, Camilla, by Trentham. This
latter horse was by Sweepstakes from Miss South, her
dam by Cartouch out of Ebony, by Flying Childers.
Woodpecker and Ebony gave him some of the Darley
Arabian blood, but there is much of the Godolphin
62 The English Horse.
Arab or Barb's, and many strains of inferior blood. He
was the sire of Catton, a^bay horse, foaled in 1809 ; he
was the first foal of Lucy Gray, whose sire was Timothy,
her dam Lucy, by Florizel out of Frenzy, by Eclipse.
Through Lucy and Florizel (son of Herod) he inherited
rather more of the Darley Arabian blood; Florizel's
dam was a daughter of Cygnet, by the Godolphin Arab
or Barb, from a daughter of Crab (son of Alcock's Arab),
from a daughter of Flying Childers ; Cygnet's dam was
by Cartouch, from Ebony, by Flying Childers out of
Old Ebony, by Basto, and Basto, one of the very few
horses altogether of Eastern blood ; but he was not like
the Childers of Arabian blood on the sire's side. Basto
was by the Byerly Turk out of Bay Peg, who was by
the Leedes Arabian out of Young Bald Peg, who was by
the Leedes Arabian out of Spanker's dam, which was
the old Morocco mare, by the Morocco Barb out of Old
Bald Peg, who was by an Arabian out of a Barb mare.
The Childers were by the Darley Arabian out of Betty
Leedes, who was by Careless out of Sister to Leedes,
who was by the Leedes Arabian, out of a mare by
Spanker, out of a Barb mare, which was Spanker's dam,
viz., the old Morocco mare, by the Morocco Barb out of
Bald Peg, who was by an Arabian out of a Barb mare.
Careless, the sire of Betty Leedes, was by Spanker out
of a Barb mare, and Spanker was by D'Arcy's Yellow
Turk out of the above old Morocco mare. Catton was
a stout horse, with capital legs. It will be seen besides
the strains of blood going back to the Darley Arabian,
there was very much in breeding on his dam's side
Cation, Sandbeck, and Barbelle. 63
through Basto, to the Childers through their dam, Betty
Leedes. Catton was the sire of Mulatto (the sire of
Voltigeur's dam), and Mulatto was the sire of Blooms-
bury (winner of the Derby in 1839). Catton was the
sire of Mundig, out of Emma, by Whisker, winner of the
Derby, 1835, a horse with splendid action, especially
when he got well into his stride ; of Tarrare, winner of
the St. Leger, 1826 ; of Royal Oak, who was the sire of
Slane, who was the sire of that fine-looking horse Merry
Monarch, winner of the Derby, 1845 ; and of Princess,
winner of the Oaks, 1 844. Slane himself ran fourth for
the Derby, 1836, won by Bay Middleton, Gladiator and
Venison being second and third. He was a rich bay in
colour, and was the sire of Queen Anne, the dam of
Kingston ; his dam was an Orville mare, and strained
back to King Fergus and Marske through Alexina,
the granddam of the Orville mare. Slane was sold
and went abroad. Catton was also the sire of Sand-
beck, a bay horse, foaled in 18 18, his dam was
OrviUina, sister to Orville. Sandbeck was the sire
of Barbelle, the dam of Van Tromp and The Flying
Dutchman. There is considerable breeding back to
Darley Arabian both in Sandbeck and in Barbelle, whose
dam, Darioletta, was by Amadis, son of Don Quixote
(brother to Alexander), by Eclipse ; and her dam Selima
was out of a mare by Pot8os (by Eclipse) from Editha,
by Herod out of Elfrida, by Snap, great-grandson of the
Darley Arabian. She had springy, elastic action, which
was bequeathed to her son. The Flying Dutchman, and
to several of his sons, certainly no small recommendation
64 The English Horse.
to racing stock. The line from the Darley Arabian will
be lastly traced through Joe Andrews.
The fourth and last son of Eclipse whose descendants
we shall trace is Joe Andrews (at first called Dennis O !),
a bay horse. His dam was Amaranda, by Omnium ;
her dam Cloudy, by Blank out of Fancy, a grey mare
by Crab (son of Alcock's Arab) ; her dam Spinster (the
Widdrington mare), who was by Partner out of bay
Bloody-Buttocks, by the Arab Bloody-Buttocks. Om-
nium, sire of Amaranda, was by Snap, great-grandson of
the Darley Arabian from Miss Cade ; her dam by Part-
ner out of a mare by Makeless (son of the Oglethorpe
Arabian and a mare by Brimmer, son of D'Arcy's Yellow
Turk and a Royal mare) out of a mare by Place's White
Turk, out of a mare by Dodsworth out of the Layton
Barb mare.
Besides being in direct male descent from the Darley
Arabian, Joe Andrews got two other strains of that
blood, one through Omnium, the other through Cloudy,
whose dam was the Little Hartley mare by Bartlet's
Childers. There are numerous other strains of Eastern
blood, with perhaps fewer flaws than is usually the case.
Dick Andrews, his son (foaled in 1794), was a bay
horse ; his dam a Highflyer mare ; her dam by Cardinal
Puff out of a mare by Tatler out of Bay Snip, by Snip
(son of Flying Childers), out of a mare by the Godol-
phin Arab or Barb, out of Frampton's Whiteneck, full
sister to the Mixbury Galloway. Cardinal Pufl", a grey
horse, was by Babraham out of a mare by Snip ; her
dam Lady Thigh, by Partner out of a mare by Bloody-
Tramp. 65
Buttocks (own sister to the dam of the Widdrington
mare). Tatler was by Blank out of a mare by Partner
out of Bonny Lass, by Bolton from a Darley Arabian
mare. This pedigree shows in-breeding to the Arab
Bloody-Buttocks, and some strains of the Darley Ara-
bian, with several of the Godolphin Arab's and Byerly
Turk's blood, but prior to the infusions of the Darley
Arabian blood into the Byerly Turk's line, which it is
believed so greatly enhanced its value.
Tramp, son of Dick Andrews, a bay horse, foaled in
1 8 10; his dam a Gohanna mare from Fraxinella, by
Trentham from a Woodpecker mare out of Everlasting,
who was by Eclipse out of Hyaena, by Snap (great-
grandson of the Darley Arabian), thus straining back to
Eclipse through Gohanna and Everlasting, and to the
Darley Arabian through Hyaena, with the additional
strains he would get from Woodpecker, through his sire's,
Herod, dam. Tramp was the sire of two winners of
the Derby, St. Giles in 1832, and Dangerous in 1833; of
one St. Leger winner. Barefoot, in 1823. He was also
the sire of Lottery and Liverpool ; the latter horse was
the sire of Lanercost. Tramp has been described as a
narrow horse, but with years he came very large of
bone.
The dam of Liverpool was by Whisker out of Man-
dane, by PotSos out of Young Camilla, by Woodpecker.
Lanercost's dam was Otis, by Bustard (son of Buzzard)
out of a mare by Election. He was a gross and slug-
gish horse ; won the Cambridgeshire in 1839, Newcastle
Cup in 1840, the Ascot Cup in 1841. He was the sire
F
66 The Eno-lisk Horse.
i>
of Van Tromp, the winner of the St. Leger 1847; of
Catharine Hayes, winner of the Oaks 1853 ; of Loup-
Garou, and Beauty the dam of Nutbush. His success
at the stud was hardly so great as was expected ; per-
haps he was at first too freely used — not an unfrequent
occurrence. As a racer I question if he could be con-
sidered first-rate, although he was a stout horse, which
may have been owing to his infirmity, for he was tender-
footed, and perhaps too ponderous for his legs. Laner-
cost was the sire of Ellerdale, who was the dam of
Ellington (son of The Flying Dutchman), winner of the
Derby 1856; and Ellermire, her daughter by Chanti-
cleer, was the dam of Elland by Rataplan ; and Liverpool
was the sire of Espoir, the dam of the Oaks winner,
Brown Duchess. Colsterdale, a son of Lanercost, who
was at one time thought very highly of, has left a good
horse to the credit of the Lanercost line, namely. Little
Lecturer, whose dam Algebra was by Mathematician.
Lotter}^, by Tramp, a brown horse, foaled in 1820,
was the winner of the Doncaster Cup in 1825, perhaps
his best race. His dam was Mandane by PotSos. He
was the sire of Sheet Anchor, a brown horse, foaled in
1832. His dam was Morgiana, by Muley (son of Orville)
from a mare by Sorcerer.
Weatherbit, his son, was a bay, or rather, I should
say, a brown horse, foaled in 1842. His dam was Miss
Letty, winner of the Oaks in 1837, a daughter of Priam;
her dam by Orville from a mare by Buzzard out of
Hornpipe, by Trumpator, out of Luna, by Herod ; her
dam, Proserpine, own sister to Eclipse. There is very
Beadsman. 67
considerable in-breeding to the Darley Arabian. The
sire and dam of Weatherbit's sire, and the sire and dam
of Miss Letty, his dam, are all descendants in male
descent of sons of Eclipse. The coarseness that existed
in many of his progenitors in the male line was npt seen
in him. Even when old and infirm he was a very good-
looking horse, with a level top and high quarters, good
hocks, and well-shaped and well-placed hind legs. He
has left several sons. From among them, Bel Demonio,
from a Birdcatcher mare ; Bismark, also from a Bird-
catcher mare ; Brown Bread, from a West Australian
mare ; Jupiter, from Athena Pallas ; Mandrake, from a
mare by Rataplan. And he was also the sire of Beads-
man, whose name would have been more properly writ-
ten Bedesman.
Beadsman,* winner of the Derby, 1858, is a brown
horse ; his dam Mendicant (winner of the Oaks, 1 846),
by Touchstone ; her dam Lady Moore Carew, by Tramp
out of Kite, by Bustard (son of Castrel), her dam
Olympia, by Sir Oliver (son of Sir Peter) out of Scotilla,
by Anvil, from Scota, a daughter of Eclipse. Through
his dam. Beadsman is in-bred to his paternal ancestor
Tramp, and there is very much breeding back to the
Darley Arabian on both sides of his pedigree, and
although there are several strains of the blood of the
Byerly Turk's line, yet they also contain much of the
Darley Arabian blood. Bustard's dam, Miss Hap, was
by Shuttle, by Young Marske (whose sire Marske was
great-grandson of the Darley Arabian), out of the
' Since dead.
F 2
68 The Ens'lish Horse.
'^>'
Vauxhall Snap mare, by Vauxhall Snap, whose sire
Snap was great-grandson of the Darley Arabian. The
dam of Miss Hap was sister to Haphazard, who was by
Sir Peter, from an Ech'pse mare, and Sir Peter's dam
was Papillon, by Snap. Anvil has two strains of the
Darley Arabian, besides those through the dam of his
sire Herod, and both through P'lying Childers. Again,
the dam of Castrel (sire of Bustard and grandsire of
Kite) was the Alexander mare, whose sire was by
Eclipse. On the whole, Beadsman is certainly a blood-
like looking horse, and had fine action. He is the sire
of Blue Gown and Pero Gomez.
Blue Gown (son of Beadsman and Bas Bleu), winner of
the Derby, 1868, is a bay horse. Perhaps not particularly
taking in his slower paces, but a fine mover when at
speed, he must be considered as a remarkably well-
bred horse. We have seen that his progenitors for
five generations were bred back to the Darley Arabian
by several collateral lines in male descent. Thus
Beadsman sprang from a union of the Joe Andrews
and Waxy lines ; his sire Weatherbit from a com-
bination of the blood from Joe Andrews and King
Fergus, his grandsire Sheet Anchor also from the Joe
Andrews and King Fergus lines ; his great-grandsire
Lottery from a union of the lines from Joe Andrews and
Waxy ; and in some instances the dams of several of
these horses were themselves bred on both sides of their
pedigree from collateral and identical lines from the
Darley Arabian. For instance, Miss Letty, the dam of
Weatherbit, was the offspring of a horse and mare in
Blue Gown. 69
direct male descent from King Fergus through Orv^ille ;
and Mendicant, Beadsman's dam, on her sire's side came
from the collateral line from Waxy, and on the side
of her dam from the identical line from which her son
was descended in male descent, which was that from
Joe Andrews ; Tramp being great-grandsire of Weather-
bit and maternal grandsire of Mendicant. The in-
breeding and breeding back were further prosecuted in
Blue Gown. From his sire he inherited strains of the
Darley Arabian blood through Joe Andrews, King Fer-
gus, PotSos, and Waxy, and through his dam he got a
double infusion of the same blood (the Darley Arabian's)
through two collateral branches of the Waxy family, she
being the offspring of a descendant of Sir Hercules on
her sire's side, and a descendant of Camel on the side of
her dam ; Sir Hercules and Camel being both grandsons
of Waxy. Bas Bleu, the dam of Blue Gown, was a bay
mare by Stockwell from Vexation, by Touchstone out
of Vat, by Langar out of Wire (sister to Whalebone), a
daughter of Waxy, and Touchstone's dam was by Master
Henry, son of Orville; which gives two other additional
strains from the Darley Arabian in direct male descent.
In addition to his being so finely bred a horse, I think
it will be generally allowed he was a good racer ; and
although neither his owner nor his trainer, so it has been
reported, thought very highly of him, and preferred his
half-brother, Rosicrucian, yet his jockey had formed
quite a different opinion, and stuck to him through good
and evil report ; for myself, I think Blue Gown had all
the appearance of a racehorse, and the other was only
a handsome coach horse in comparison.
■Q The Ens^lish Horse.
'i> '
Pero Gomez, by Beadsman, ran second to Pretender
for the Derby, 1869, and carried off the St. Leger ; his
dam Salamanca was by Student ; her dam Bravery, by
Gameboy out of Ennui, by Bay Middleton. This horse
is to a certain extent similarly bred to his half-brother
Blue Gown, but the breeding is not so perfect, the breed-
ing back not so continuous ; and although he pos-
sessed through his dam several strains of the Darley
Arabian blood, the pedigree is, as it were, more broken
up Student, the sire of Salamanca, is descended from
Waxy through Chatham and The Colonel, and Student's
dam, the Laurel mare, was from Plight by Velocipede
(son of Blacklock), and Laurel was by Blacklock out of
a mare by Prime Minister (son of Sancho, grandson of
Eclipse) out of an Orville mare. It must have been
most gratifying to the owner of Beadsm.an to have bred
and possessed in two successive years two such horses as
Blue Gown and Pero Gomez. I consider the former as
far superior, and likely to be the better horse at the
stud ; and, as is not unusual, the more valuable blood
has gone abroad, perhaps to be repurchased at some
future time for this country ; but such opportunities can-
not always be counted upon.
We have now considered the descendants of the four
sons of Eclipse, who have been principally concerned in
handing down the blood of the Darley Arabian. In the
earlier stages there was very little breeding back to the
founder of the line, and the horses would appear, in most
instances, to have possessed very considerable coarseness
in appearance ; but as soon as any amount of breeding
Breeding back to the Darley Arabian. 71
back to the Darley Arabian had taken place, improve-
ment in both forvi and appearance was discernible. In
the line through PotSos, the blood was returned to, and
confirmed to a great extent in Waxy. And we have
seen that the Joe Andrews line, for the last six genera-
tions, has been bred in and in to the Darley Arabian
blood ; we saw also the advantages derived from the
system by such results as Rebecca, Alice Hawthorn, and
Little Wonder ; and quite recently by the uniting of the
lines from Waxy by the breeding from Stockwell and
Touchstone mares, or mares of Touchstone blood. It is
not from the fact of the mares being daughters or grand-
daughters of Touchstone that so good a result was ob-
tained, but that by such a union the blood of the Darley
Arabian was being made more use of, was being concen-
trated, and through good lines and individuals.
Lord Lyon, so bred, running first in the Derby and
St. Leger to Savernake and Rustic, his half-brothers,
both being by Stockwell, but from mares who were not
bred from collateral lines from the Darley Arabian, is
an example of the good results of this system of breed-
ing, and it is seen to a still greater extent in Blue Gown
and Beadsman. Bribery, the dam of Savernake, was
by The Libel (son of Pantaloon) ; Village Lass, the dam
of Rustic, was by Pyrrhus the First, and although both
inherited strains of the Darley Arabian's blood on their
dams' side, they were not in-bred through collateral
lines.
The line from Mercury can hardly be said to be repre-
sented now ; that from King Fergus principally by Vol-
72 The E7iglish Horse.
tigeur and his sons ; the PotSos and Waxy Hne princi-
pally by the Birdcatchers, Stockwells, and Newminsters,
with still some Touchstones and Orlandos, and now
again through Defence, as the services of his grand re-
presentative Gladiateur have been available for breeders
in this country. I shall be surprised if Lord Lyon does
not leave his mark at the stud if he has a fair chance,
and perhaps his mares may hereafter be especially well
mated to the representatives of the Joe Andrews line.
The line through this fourth son of Eclipse from the
Darley Arabian has been splendidly bred up for some
generations ; and although the representatives are not
so numerous as those of the PotSos and Waxy line, the
excellence of the breeding of Beadsman and Blue Gown
is not to be surpassed by any of the Waxy lines. There
are also several of Weatherbit's sons at the stud ; and
Lecturer may also do some service for the line from
which he has sprung ; he is in good hands.
Some further remarks will be offered on the subject
of this grand source from which our racehorse has
sprung when the whole review shall have been com-
pleted. The Godolphin Arab or Barb and his descen-
dants will next be considered.
The Line from the Godolphin Arab or Barb.
The Godolphin Arab or Barb, the head of the third
line of our English racers, was a dark bay or brown bay
horse, said to hav^e been about 15 hands high. He is
supposed to date back to 1724, but was first used as a
stallion in this country in 173 1. In all probability
1 he Godolphin Aj'ab or Barb. "j^
nothing certain will now be known of his origin. I
understand the distinguished Turkish general, Omar
Pasha, who made enquiries about him, was informed in
Egypt that he was of the breed or family called Jelfan,
which would lead to the supposition that he had either
passed from Arabia through Egypt into Africa, or as
there was no distinctive name attached to the generic of
Jelfan, that he might have been foaled in Egypt, got by
a horse of the Jelfan family, from a mare of Egypt ; for
had he been pure Arabian of the Jelfan family, the dis-
tinguishing adjunct would in all probability have been
also known, and he may have been brought from thence
or some other part of Northern Africa into Europe.
There is a story current in France that he had been sent
over as a present to the King of France, which would
have been Louis XV., but by whom is not mentioned ;
probably the story had its origin in, or was confounded
with, the history of the Curwen Bay Barb, presented to
Louis XIV. The original portrait of the Godolphin
Arab or Barb I have not seen. All of the prints of him
do not correspond ; but the expression of the counte-
nance, and the outline of the head as more generally
depicted, would lead to the supposition that he was a
horse of Northern Africa (commonly called a Barb), and
not of pure or unmixed Arabian blood, which surmise
would be further strengthened by the drawing of the
ears, which are shown as lopping outwards. The first of
his get was Lath, foaled in 1731, whose dam was Rox-
ana, by the Bald Galloway ; he was also the sire of
Regulus, foaled in 1739, whose dam. Grey Robinson,
74 The English Horse.
was by the Bald Galloway ; and Regulus was the sire of
Spiletta, dam of Eclipse. The Godolphin Arab or Barb
was also the sire of the Gower stallion, Babraham, and
Blank, but his line in male descent is handed down for
some time through a single string of horses — Cade,
Matchem, Conductor, and Trumpator; and then the line
divides. Paynator and Sorcerer, sons of the last-named
horse, formed two branches ; that from Paynator is
carried on in single line, while Sorcerer formed three
branches, headed by Smolensko, Soothsayer, and
Comus.
Cade, by the Godolphin Arab or Barb, was a bay
horse ; his dam Roxana, got by the Bald Galloway ; her
dam Sister to Chanter, by the Akaster Turk, from a
mare by the Leedes Arabian, whose dam was by
Spanker. The Bald Galloway was by St. Victor's Barb
out of a mare by Why Not, from a Royal mare.
Matchem, a bay horse, by Cade out of a mare by
Partner (grandson of the Byerly Turk) ; her dam by
Makeless out of a mare by Brimmer, from a mare by
Place's White Turk out of a mare by Dodsworth, out of
the Layton Barb mare. He was the sire of Teetotum
(winner of the Oaks, 1780), and of Hollandaise (winner
of the St. Leger, 1778). In Matchem there is the first
direct union of the Godolphin Arab or Barb's line with
that of the Byerly Turk.
Conductor, a chestnut horse, foaled 1767, by Matchem;
his dam by Snap (grandson of Flying Childers) ; her dam
by the Cullen Arabian out of Lady Thigh, by Partner.
Here we have the blood of the Darley Arabian intro-
Triimpato}^ and Paynator, 75
duced for the first time with another strain of the Byerly
Turk's blood.
Trumpator, by Conductor, foaled in 1782, was a black
horse, from whom are descended several horses of the
same colour ; his dam was Brunette, a mare combining
the blood of the Byerly Turk and of the Godolphin
Arab or Barb, with a distant strain or two of the Darley
Arabian's. Brunette was by Squirrel, a speedy horse (by
Old Traveller), son of Partner, out of a mare by Alman-
zor (a remarkably fine horse by the Darley Arabian) ;
Squirrel's dam was by the Arab Bloody-Buttocks.
Dove, the dam of Brunette, was by Matchless (son of
the Godolphin Arab or Barb, out of South's dam, by
Soreheels), son of Basto, a horse of Eastern blood, whose
breeding on his dam's side was very similar to that of
the Childers on the side of their dam. Dove's dam was
by the Ancaster Starling, granddam by Grasshopper,
great-granddam by Sir M. Newton's Arabian. The line
here branches into two descents. That through Paynator
will be taken first.
Paynator, by Trumpator, a brown colt, foaled in 1791 ;
his dam was by Mark Anthony, son of Spectator, son of
Crab, by the Alcock's Arab, out of Signora, by Snap
(great-grandson of the Darley Arabian), out of Miss
Windsor, by the Godolphin Arab or Barb, through
whom one other strain of the Darley Arabian was in-
herited from a mare by Bartlet's Childers.
From Paynator came the evergreen Doctor Syntax,
foaled in 181 1, the first foal of a mare by Beningbrough,
and being small was very nearly being devoted to other
76 The English Horse.
purposes than that of the sire of racehorses. The dam
of the Beningbrough mare, Jenny Mole, was by Car-
buncle, a son of Babraham Blank (grandson of the
Godolphin Arab or Barb), out of a mare by Prince
T'Quassaw (a son of Snip, grandson of the Darley Ara-
bian), out of Dairymaid, by the Arab Bloody-Buttocks
out of a mare by Regulus (son of the Godolphin Arab
or Barb), out of a mare by Partner, grandson of the
Byerly Turk. Babraham Blank was by Babraham out
of Sister to Blank, by the Godolphin Arab or Barb out
of the Little Hartley mare (a daughter of Bartlet's
Childers). This is an uncommon and curious pedigree,
containing a good amount of the Darley Arabian's blood,
some of the Byerly Turk's, but much in-breeding to the
Godolphin Arab.
The Doctor, a black horse, foaled in 1834, son of
Doctor Syntax, ran third to Mango for the St. Leger.
His dam was by Lottery from Elizabeth, by Walton out
of Trulla, by Sorcerer, granddam by Weathercock out
of Cade, by Matchem. He was the sire of The Black
Doctor, a black horse, foaled in 1848, whose dam, Betsy
Bird, was by Voltaire out of Zephyrina, by Middlethorpe
out of Pagoda, by Sir Peter. Middlethorpe, a chestnut
horse, was by Shuttle (by Young Marske, great-grand-
son of Bartlet's Childers out of the Vauxhall Snap
mare). He had a great many strains of the Darley
Arabian blood, and was also bred back by several strains
to the Godolphin Arab or Barb. He won the Man-
chester Trade Cup in 1S52, then four years old, canying^
8st. 31b. He was a good-looking horse, with much
Beeswing, 77
Arabian character in his head and ears, and in the swell
of the barrel behind the arms. He was, however, an
entire failure at the stud; although he covered his mares
with much apparent vigour and determination, very few
foals were accredited to him. Perhaps had he gone
abroad he might have done better. Sabreur's was a
very similar case, but he begets foals in Hungary.
Perhaps the Paynator family is most celebrated by
Beeswing, a bay mare, by Doctor Syntax, and dam of
Newminster. She was foaled in 1833. Her dam was
by Ardrossan out of Lady Eliza, by Whitworth out of a
mare by Spadille out of Sylvia, by Young Marske. Her
pedigree on the side of her dam contains many strains
of blood from the Byerly Turk's line, but also goes
back to the Darley Arabian. She was six times the
winner of the Newcastle Cup, and won the Ascot Cup
in 1842.
We must return to Trumpator, who was the sire of
Didelot, winner of the Derby 1796, from a mare by
Highflyer, and of Sorcerer, a black horse (foaled in
1796), whose dam was Young Giantess, got by Diomed
(the winner of the first Derby), son of Florizel. Ex-
cepting through the Cygnet mare, who was the dam
of Florizel — her granddam was Ebony, by Childers —
and through Herod (Florizel's sire), there is little or
no return to the Darley Arabian blood ; the dam of
Young Giantess being Giantess, by Matchem out of
Molly Longlegs, by Babraham (son of the Godolphin
Arab or Barb). Soothsayer, son of Sorcerer, was a
chestnut horse (foaled in 1808) ; he won the St Leger
78 The E7iglish Horse.
in 181 1 ; his dam Goldenlocks was by Dclpini (son of
Highflyer), from Violet, by Shark, a son of Marske
(great-grandson of the Darley Arabian), from a mare by
Snap, also his great-grandson, and the dam of Violet
was by Syphon, a son of Squirt, son of Bartlet's
Childers, and grandson of the Darley Arabian, out of
Charlotte, by Blank (son of the Godolphin Arab or
Barb, from the Little Hartley mare, by Bartlet's
Childers), from a mare by Crab (son of Alcock's Arab),
from a mare by Dyer's Dimple, who was by the
Leedes Arabian, from a mare by Spanker, which latter
horse was entirely of Eastern blood. Although there
are many flaws in this pedigree, and not unfrequent
returns to the Godolphin Arab or Barb's blood, yet
there are very many strains of the Darley Arabians with
some of the other Arab horses. His daughters, Morel
and Maid of Orleans, were winners of the Oaks in 1808
and 1809, and Sorcery in 181 1, Morel's dam was by
Buzzard ; the dam of Maid of Orleans (sister to Cham-
pion, the first winner of both Derby and St. Leger)
was by Pot8os ; PotSos was a son of Eclipse.
Soothsayer was the sire of Tiresias, winner of the
Derby in 18 19, a brown horse, whose dam Pledge was
by Waxy, of the Darley Arabian line, from Prunella, by
Highflyer out of Promise, by Snap, great-grandson o£
the Darley Arabian, from Julia, by Blank (son of the
Godolphin Arab or Barb and the Little Hartley mare,
by Bartlet's Childers).
Comus and Smolensko, the sons of Sorcerer, and
their descendants, will now be considered, and although
Comus and S^nolensko. 79
Comus is senior to the former by one year, the order of
precedence will be broken for the first time, and
Smolensko taken first, as the line from Comus will bring
us down to a later period.
Smolensko was a black horse, foaled in 18 10; winner
of the Derby in 1813 ; his dam was Wowski, by Mentor
out of Waxy's dam, by Herod out of Lisette, by Snap
(grandson of Flying Childers) out of Miss Windsor, by
the Godolphin Arab or Barb out of a mare by Young
Belgrade, from a mare by Bartlet's Childers. Smolensko
was the sire of Gulnare, winner of the Oaks in 1827,
and of Jerry, winner of the St. Leger in 1824.
Jerry was a black horse, foaled in 1821 ; his dam
Louisa by Orville, son of Beningbrough, of the King
Fergus line, from Eclipse ; her dam Tomasina, by
Timothy out of Violet, by Shark, &c., as in the pedigree
of Soothsayer. He was the sire of Tomboy, a bay
horse, foaled in 1829, who in his turn was the sire of
Nutwith, winner of the St. Leger in 1843. Nutwith's
dam was by Comus (son of Sorcerer). Jerry was also
the sire of Jericho, and Nutwith of Knight of Kars.
Comus, by Sorcerer, was a chestnut horse, foaled in
1809; his dam was Houghton Lass, by Sir Peter; her
dam Alexina, by King Fergus (son of Eclipse) out of
Lardella, by Young Marske out of a mare by Cade.
He was the sire of Reveller, winner of the St. Leger,
1 81 8; of Matilda, winner of the St. Leger, 1827; and
of Humphrey Clinker.
Reveller was a bay horse ; his dam Rosette was by
Beningbrough, of the King Fergus line.
8o The English Horse.
<b '
Humphrey Clinker, a bay horse, foaled in 1822; his
dam Clinkerina was by Clinker out of Pewet, by Tandem
out of Termagant, by Tantrum. Clinker was by Sir
Peter. Tantrum, the sire of Termagant, was by Cripple,
from a mare by the Hampton Court Childers (son of
Flying Childers) out of a mare by Whitefoot, from a
mare by Stanyoa's Arabian, from the Moonah Barb
mare. The dam of Termagant was Cantatrice, by
Sampson (son of Blaze, son of Flying Childers) out of
a mare by Regulus (son of the Godolphin Arab or
Barb). Cripple, the sire of Tantrum, was by the
Godolphin Arab or Barb out of Blossom, got by Crab
(son of Alcock's Arab) out of a mare by Flying
Childers. Humphrey Clinker was bred back to the
founder of his line, the Godolphin Arab or Barb, but he
had a great many strains of the Darley Arabian's blood.
He was the sire of Rockingham, winner of the St.
Leger, 1833, and of Melbourne, a brown horse foaled in
1834. Although of no reputation as a racer, Melbourne
was more successful at the stud, and by having been the
sire of more winners of great events than any of his
predecessors did much to establish the popularity of
his line.
His dam was by Cervantes, from a mare by Golumpus
(son of Gohanna, a direct male descendant of the
Darley Arabian through Eclipse), from a mare by Pay-
nator (son of Trumpator). Cervantes was by Don
Quixote (son or grandson of Eclipse) from Evelina, by
Highflyer out of Termagant, by Tantrum out of a mare
by Sampson (grandson of Flying Childers) — similai
Melbourne. 8 1
breeding to that seen in the pedigree of Clinkerina (the
dam of his sire Humphrey Chnker). Although he
traces back through his dam to some extent to the
Godolphin Arab or Barb, the strains of the Darley
Arabian's blood are considerably increased.
Melbourne was the sire of Sir Tatton Sykes, who
just missed the Derby, but won the St. Leger in 1846 ;
of Cymba, winner of the Oaks, 1848 ; of West Australian,
winner of the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, and St.
Leger in 1853 (the first time the three races had been
won by the same horse) ; of Marchioness, winner of the
Oaks, 1855 ; and of Blink Bonny, the winner of the
Derby and Oaks in 1857, ^i"^*^ afterwards the dam of
Blair Athol.
The dam of Sir Tatton Sykes was by Margrave (son
of Muley), tracing up to the Darley Arabian through
Beningbrough, Gohanna, Mercury, and Eclipse, in direct
male descent, besides through many other strains, but
she was also bred back to the Godolphin Arab or Barb,
through his descendants Sorcerer and Soothsayer.
The dam of Cymba was Skiff, by Sheet Anchor out
of Tertia, by Emilius out of Miss Wentworth, by Cer-
vantes ; all in direct male descent from the Darley
Arabian.
The dam of Marchioness was Cinizelli, by Touch-
stone, a horse through sire and dam a direct descendant
of the Darley Arabian.
The dam of Blink Bonny was Queen Mary (got by
Gladiator) ; her dam by Plenipotentiary out of Myrrha,
by Whalebone. The dam of Queen Mary was in direct
G
The Enoiish Horse.
'<i
descent from the Darley Arabian through sire and dam,
and Gladiator (son of Partisan) strained back to the
Darley Arabian in two separate lines through PotSos
and Waxy, besides through numerous other channels.
West Australian, a bay horse, with a white mark
down his face, foaled in 1850 ; his dam, Mowerina (sister
to Cotherstone, winner of the Derby, 1843), was by
Touchstone, a horse in-bred to the Darley Arabian
through sire and dam, out of Emma by Whisker (son of
Waxy out of Penelope, by Trumpator out of Prunella,
by Highflyer out of Promise), by Snap (grandson of
Flying Childers) ; and Emma's dam, Gibside Fair)-', was
by Hermes, son of Mercury, son of Eclipse, from Vicissi-
tude, granddaughter of Trumpator (descendant of the
Godolphin Arab or Barb), out of Beatrice by Sir Peter
Melbourne was also the sire of Oulston, whose dam was
Alice Hawthorn ; of The Prime Minister, whose dam
was by Pantaloon ; and of Young Melbourne, who,
again, is the sire of General Peel, whose dam was by
Orlando, from Brown Bess by Camel.
West Australian was bought by Count De Morny,
and went to France, and notwithstanding the many
strains of fine blood he inherited, and his brilliant
success as a racehorse, I do not consider his exporta-
tion to have been any loss to this country.
The line from the Godolphin Arab or Barb is princi-
pally represented by the following horses, and through
the branch from Humphrey Clinker and Melbourne —
The Prime Minister, Arthur Wellcslc}-, Cannobic, Oul-
ston, Mentmore, and Young Melbourne.
The Line from the Godolphin Ai^ad or Bard. 8
o
Melbourne's son, West Australian, has given Bonny-
field, Joskin, and Solon ; and Young Melbourne, Rapid
Rhone and General Peel. It is noteworthy how very
few winners, comparatively speaking, of great events
have been given by this third source from whence
our racehorse has sprung ; and, again, those horses,
with the exception of Soothsayer and Smolensko,
who have been winners themselves of one of the
great events, have not begotten winners of such races.
Jerry, Rockingham, Sir Tatton Sykes, and West Aus-
tralian, winners of the Derby or St. Leger, have not
produced winners of those events. In the cases of
Soothsayer and Smolensko, as has been shown, they
had several strains of the Darley Arabian blood, parti-
cularly the former horse, but none very direct ; for in-
stance, their dams were not themselves descendants, on
the male side, from the Darley Arabian, but most of the
winners have been bred on their dams' sides direct to
the Darley Arab. Thus the dam of Tiresias, winner of
the Derby, 1819, was a daughter of Waxy; her grand-
dam Promise by Snap, with another strain through the
Little Hartley mare. Jerry's dam was a daughter of
Orville, in direct descent to the Darley Arabian through
King Fergus, besides other strains. The dam of Revel-
ler, winner of the St. Leger, 18 19, was a daughter of
Beningbrough, also a direct descendant of the Darley
Arabian through King Fergus. The dam of Matilda
(winner of the St. Leger, 1827), Juliana, formerly Lady
Thigh, was a daughter of Gohanna ; and her dam,
Platina, was a daughter of Mercury (sire of Gohanna)
84 The English Horse.
thus going up by a double strain to the Darley Arabian
through Mercury. Sir Tatton Sykes's dam was a
daughter of Margrave (himself a St. Leger winner), a
descendant of the Darley Arabian through the two col-
lateral lines of King Fergus and Mercury. Cyniba and
Marchioness, winners of the Oaks, were almost altogether
of Darley Arabian blood on the side of their dams. The
granddam of Blink Bonny was also similarly bred, and
West Australian's dam was a Touchstone mare, and
almost entirely of Darley Arabian blood. General Peel,
who ran second to Blair Athol for the Derby and St.
Leger, was the son of a mare descended through sire
and dam in direct male descent from the Darley
Arabian.
In itself I cannot help considering the line from the
Godolphin Arab or Barb a very poor one, and, like that
from the Byerly Turk, it really owes what celebrity it
may have, and its continuance, to the infusions of blood it
has received from the descendants of the Darley Arabian.
It is worthy of remark, although not extraordinary, that
almost in proportion to the amount of Darley Arabian
blood has been the success of the individuals of this line.
This, I think, can hardly fail to strike those who may
have had the patience to go so far with us ; yet the
many strains of fine blood inherited by most of the great
winners of this line — although without doubt it was tJiat
blood, namely, the Darley Arabian's, which constituted
their goodness and insured their success — have not
enabled them to beget stock as good or successful as
themselves, and to hand down a continuous line of ^vin-
Remarks on Breeding. 85
ncrs. This would go very far to prove the theory cor-
rect, that should there be any difference of breeding
between the sires and dams the sire should be of the
purer blood. The breeding of West Australian on his
dam's side being so superior and overwhelming would
prevent his being a good sire, although the produce
from a mare so bred might have been a great success
if she had been mated to a good horse of the Darley
Arabian line. His breeding is very similar to the result
that might be anticipated from the mating a half-bred
horse with a thorough-bred mare ; or, to go further, the
putting a horse of any inferior blood to a pure Arabian
mare — the offspring in both cases might prove a great
success as far as the individual was concerned, either as
a racer or for other purposes, but, if a horse, would be of
little or no use for the stud.
Although many would say that our racehorse is
equally descended from all three lines, and the blood so
thoroughly mixed that it cannot be separated, and that
it does not matter from which family you select your
sire, I consider using a horse either from the Godolphin
Arab's or Barb's line, or from the Byerly Turk's, is almost
the same as if a Persian, Barb, Turkish, or any other
Eastern horse were used in preference to a pure Arabian,
which was continually being done in the early history
of our stud. There is no warranty for believing the
Byerly Turk to have been other than he is described ;
and of the breeding of the Godolphin Arab or Barb
doubts have always been entertained and expressed.
The surmise that he was a horse from Northern Africa,
86 The EuQ-lish Hoj^sc.
<i)
and not of pure Arabian blood — and, therefore, far in-
ferior to the Darley Arabian — is, I think, most probably-
correct, and the history of his line, and the character of
his descendants, would confirm this view. The improve-
ment shown in certain individuals of his line by the
infusion of other blood on the female side, and yet a
failure in these hidividuals to reproduce this improve-
ment, is quite the criterion of inferior blood on the male
side.
The line from the Byerly Turk, as we have seen, was
strengthened and supported by frequent and strong infu-
sions of the blood from the Darley Arabian, especially by
the sons and daughters of Flying Childers, the most dis-
tinguished son of the Darley Arabian ; and as the direct
line from the last-named horse was not bred back to him
for two or three generations by the union of the descen-
dants of his sons and daughters — which is, I think, much
to be deplored — had it not been for the Turk's line, the
line in direct descent from the Darley Arabian would
have been further weakened, but happily they were united
in Waxy, and subsequently in many instances. Had
daughters of Flying Childers been put to sons of Bart-
let's Childers, little or no use need have. been made of
the Turk's line. The great object ought to have been
the confirming of the Darley Arabian's blood. Now that
there are so many descendants of his in direct male
descent — both horses and mares — it is, I think, well
worthy of consideration whether they should not now be
almost entirely used for breeding — direct descendants
of the Darley Arabian bred among themselves. \\'cre
^ yudicioiis' Crossings. S'/
such a system carried out, the descendants of the Godol-
phin Arab and Barb bred from among themselves, those
from the Turk also among themselves, and the Darley
Arabian descendants kept to themselves, I believe the
Darley Arabian line would live and flourish, and in a
few generations the two other lines would become ex-
tinct ; for the excellence of the first would be found so
apparent that the two other lines would be left.
I have been amused from time to time by writings in
the papers on the mamifacture of our racehorse, if the
expression may be used. It being generally allowed that
although other countries have supplied the blood, not only
by the energy and perseverance of the British public, but
also by a wonderful amount of science in crossing, so
well understood in this country, the English racehorse
has arrived at his excellence. Some have endeavoured
to explain how this has been done by a judicious mix-
ture of Turk, Barb, and Arab. The speed and endurance
of the Arab being acknowledged, more size was obtained
hy judicious crossings with the Turk and Barb, inferior
blood ; and, again, whatever coarseness resulted from
this infusion from the Barb was dexterously kept in abey-
ance by another cross with the Arab. All this has ap-
peared to me very like the recipes for Christmas plum-
puddings — so much of one kind of fruit, so much of
another, with a spice of this, that, or the other, cemented
or bound together by flour or bread crumbs, which
might stand for the former blood of the country before
the Eastern importation ; but I feel convinced that these
' ingenious ' crossings originated from no well-considered
88 The En or lis k Horse.
<i>
system, that all horses of Eastern blood were found to
be superior to the old English breed, and little or no
distinction made between them, many or most being
called or considered as Arabs, although unworthy of the
name ; and although the immediate good result of the
Darley Arabian, as shown by his sons (the only true
Arabian so far as we can be certain), alone ought to
have convinced us, if other data were wanting (which
they are not), of his superiority, no efforts were made to
collect more of that pure blood.
At the present time, in spite of the numerous engraft-
ings of inferior strains upon the Darley Arabian line,
notwithstanding the loss of the blood in direct male line
from his best son. Flying Childers, and the advantage
the Turk's line derived from the blood of Flying Chil-
ders, the descendants in direct male descent from the
Darley Arabian may be unhesitatingly pronounced to
keep their heads in front. If any data I have given, or
any notes made, may tend to the support of a greater
cultivation of this blood, I shall be amply rewarded. It
may be said the blood of the three lines may be so in-
termingled, that even if we were to relinquish the two
inferior ones we should never get rid of the blood.
Granted, the mischief has been done ; we shall no more
quite get rid of it than we have of some particles or
some of the characteristics of the old native breed ; but
from breeding from descendants of the Darley Arabian
line alone, wc might to a very great extent hold tJic
inferior strains in abeyance.
Were this tried, and to a certain extent it has — and
Vauxhall Snap Mare. 89
many striking examples were shown and alluded to
when the line Darley Arabian was under consideration —
it would lead to a clearer view of what the results would
now have been at this time, if such blood as that of the
Darley Arabian had alone been used, and what they
would be in a very short time were such pure Arabian
blood only to be bred from.
There is one little incidence of breeding that will not
have escaped notice— at least I think not — and whenever
it has recurred, excellence in that individual, no matter
of what family, is noticeable. I allude to the Vauxhall
Snap mare and her son Shuttle, he being the produce of
a great-great-grandson of the Darley Arabian, through
Bartlet's Childers from a mare (the Vauxhall Snap mare),
the daughter of a great-great-grandson of the Darley
Arabian, through Flying Childers. This breeding, which
is nothing more nor less than a union of or breeding
back to the Darley Arabian through the two Childers,
is seen among others in the pedigree of Sweetmeat,
Kingston, Crucifix, Beadsman, Gladiateur, and The
Black Doctor. The last-named, although not a distin-
guished horse at the stud, showed great stoutness and
S'ameness as a racer.
90 The English Horse.
CHAPTER III.
General opinion that impure stock may become pure in eight descents — A
different opinion held by the Arabs — Not achieved in the case of the
English horse — The breeding of the Eastern horses imported into this
country discussed — Remarks on a review of ' Les Races chevalines de la
Russie, par J. Moerder' — Inferences dra^vn therefrom — Remarks on the
horses that followed Flying Childers — Not so purely bred — Great size
no proof that degeneracy has not occurred — The English thorough-bred
horse not of pure Arabian blood — The excellence of the English
horse attributable to Arabian blood — False system of breeding pursued
after the time of Cliilders discussed — Greater results would have been
gained if a different system had been pursued — The necessity of obtain-
ing pure stocl-c for the purpose of establishing a standard breed of horses.
In the first chapter it was shown that in the Darley
Arabian's time, and just previously to his importation,
there really were racers of entirely Eastern blood and
origin ; but that since the days of his son Flying Chil-
ders, no such horses have been bred, but all subsequently
have only been partially of Eastern blood, and have in-
herited many stains of base blood. Had only Eastern
blood (instead of pure Arabian) been sufficient to have
established a pure race, our horse might have been styled
thorough-bred with far more truth then than no\\'.
From the history of the English racer given in the
last chapter, it will be seen that the breeding of our
horse is very imperfect — that he is not entirely descended
from pure blood. It is very commonly considered that,
Pure and Impure Breeding. 9 1
in breeding, any stain that exists may be eradicated in
eight generations ; that in the eighth descent there is
not any difiference to be detected in form and appear-
ance between the newly formed breed and the pure
parent stock. In other words, the pure blood infused
into the impure or inferior stock will have washed away
and obliterated all stains and flaws in eight descents.
There are others, however, who hold a different opinion ;
among those the Arabs. ' It is impossible,' says the
Emir Abd-el-Kader, ' we think, to get a pure race out
of a stock the blood of which is impure.' On the other
hand, it is a well-authenticated fact, it is quite possible
to restore to its primitive nobleness a breed that has
become impoverished, but without any taint in its blood.
In a word, a race may be restored, the degeneracy of
which has not been occasioned by any admixture of
blood.
But allowing the opinion to be correct, that in eight
descents impure blood may be obliterated, to arrive at
the desired result it is necessary, in each and every
descent anterior to the ninth, to return on the male side
to the original pure blood. Now, certainly, as showai in
Chapter II., our horse, since the days of Flying Childers,
has not been so bred. I fail to trace any systematic
return to Arabian blood for the prescribed period of
eight generations ; or, indeed, a return to horses of only
Eastern blood. On the contrary, horses and mares
only partially descended from Eastern horses have been
bred from.
But, after all, this system of breeding — namely, that of
92 The English Horse.
trying to eradicate base blood and defects by the en-
grafting of pure blood on the male side for eight
descents, is a very unsafe one to rest upon. Its being
open to question is unsatisfactory; it is opposed in prin-
ciple to the experience of the Arabs, the most renowned
horse breeders in the world ; contrary to their practice,
and, so far as I see, has nothing to recommend it.
Should the desired result be attained even in the
eighth generation, and there should not be any appre-
ciable difference from the original pure stock, it is quite
possible that the eighth descent might not be capable of
handing down to posterity through succeeding genera-
tions the primal characteristics of its originator. It is
far more probable that in each succeeding generation,
after the infusion of the pure blood on the male side
had ceased, the attributes so derived would grow fainter
and fainter. The greatest test of pure breeding is
stoutness and endurance, combined with a high degree
of speed.
' Look in a horse' (says Abd-el-Kader) 'for speed and
bottom ; one that has speed alone, and no bottom, must
have a blemish in his descent ; and one that has bottom
alone, and no speed, must have some defect — open or
concealed.'
It is often asserted, and very generally allowed, that
our thoroughbred has deteriorated and become degene-
rate, and some have urged this degeneracy has taken
place from the system of early training which has been
pursued, rather than from any fault or deficiency in the
breedincr of our horses.
Early Education. 93
What is pvit forward in this country as a plea for the
deterioration, degeneracy, and want of endurance of our
thoro2igh-hrQd horse, is considered by the Arabs abso-
hitely necessary to the development of the inherent
good qualities of their horse. General Daumas was in-
formed by Abd-el-Kader that in the Sahara the pure-bred
descendant of the Arabian is taught to lead when a foal ;
when it has entered on its second year (a yearling, in
fact), it is ridden a mile or two, or even sixteen ; and
after it has completed eighteen months they do not fear
to fatigue it. The Emir also states that unless a horse
has been broken from a foal, he will never be able to
perform the great feats and long journeys for which the
Arabian is justly famed. Should his education be put
off until he is four years old, he is almost worthless ; Abd-
el-Kader would decline to buy such a horse. This is
his experience after having seen upwards of 10,000 colts
reared. He also affirms, when he has made long and
rapid marches at the head of 12,000 or 15,000 horsemen,
horses, however lean, if they had been early broken into
fatigue, never fell out of the ranks. The same system
is pursued by the Arabs in the East — early training and
hard work is the rule. M. Petiniaud, who wandered
among the Arab tribes from Diarbekir and, Aleppo in
the north, to the confines of Nejed in the south, thus
writes to General Daumas : ' I have witnessed in Asia
what you have written of in Africa.'
In an article (I think in 'The Times') some few years
ago, I noticed the following : ' Although the staying
qualities of our racehorses are certainly on the decrease,
94 The English Horse.
and although aged running horses and mares have dis-
appeared from our racecourses, it is certain that the
racing yearhngs annually offered under the hammer
are, on the average, growing larger and stronger.' May
it not be inferred from this — Firstly, that size is not the
great or ultimate desideratum ; and secondly, that the
strength this size would seem to indicate is fallacious,
and not real ? And is not the cause of the degeneracy
and deterioration to be accounted for by the fact that
our horse is not tJioroiigh-brcd — not bred completely
from a pure and original race ? And is not this the
secret of our horse being less enduring and less lasting
than the Arabian ? Stoutness and endurance, combined
with speed, contained in a beautiful form of perfect
symmetry, being the attributes, characteristics, and very
birth-right of a pure and noble race, are not to be in-
variably reproduced by a breed of less pure blood, nor
by a crossed and inferior breed.
It would be well to take a retrospect of the Arabian
and other Eastern horses w'hich have been brought over
to this country. They have been styled Arabians,
Turks, Barbs, Persians, Egyptian, Toorkoman, and
foreign horses.
The value of the blood of these imported horses would
be greater or less in proportion as they may be regarded
as being wholly, or only partially, of Arabian blood. In
looking at the Turks generally, it is to be considered,
were they merely horses of the Turkish dominions — the
descendants, doubtless, of breeds improved by the Ara-
bian — or were they really Arab horses imported into
Barbs and Turks. 95
Turkey? Now it is a well-known fact, that with the
exception of an occasional present, either to the Sultan
at Constantinople, or to the Pasha of Egypt, there are
no good Arabs either in Turkey or Egypt ; and the dis-
like Arabs have towards the Turks would prevent more
being sent than absolute policy might dictate, and they
would not willingly supply them with horses. Even at
a very recent period it is most probable that there was
but one real Arabian in the Sultan's possession, and that
had been obtained from an Englishman ; and the far
more reasonable supposition is that the horses brought
to this country from Turkey were only partly of Arabian
blood. And in many parts of Asia Minor are some
very useful breeds of horses which have been improved
by the Arabian, with excellent legs and feet — apparently
in that respect everything to be desired ; but they have
not the rare combination of qualities as in the Arabian,
nor his springiness and flexibility. Yet, without doubt,
many of these have been reckoned as Arabs in England.
With respect to the horses imported under the name
of Barbs, it must be remembered that, although the Emir
Abd-el-Kader says the ' horses of the Sahara^ are the pure
descendants of Arabians, he also says all Barbs are not
of unmixed blood, but that the breed has not been kept
pure, and has degenerated, and especially towards the
coast. And General Daumas, who has given the subject
the greatest attention, says : ' We may rest assured that,
for the most part, the animals sold to us' (he is referring
to Barbs) ' are of an inferior order.' Of the horses styled
Arabian little or nothing is now known of them or their
96 The English Horse.
antecedents, if they were ever ascertained (but Bloody-
Buttocks and the Leedes Arabian would appear to have
been excellent horses — especially the latter), with the
single exception of the Darley Arabian, whose history is
known, and his family was mentioned, in the account of
the line he founded, in a former chapter. And as further
reference will be made to that hereafter, I will only add,
his memory is still retained among the Arabs ; and I
have been informed, horses descended direct from him
are still to be met with in Arabia.
From a review which appeared in 'Bell's Life' a year
or two ago on a work entitled, ' Apercu historique sur
les Institutions hippiques et les Races chevalines de
la Russie, par J. Moerder,' St. Petersburg, 1868, in-
ferences may be drawn as to the types of horses past
and present, which support the often asserted opinion of
the deterioration of the English thorough-bred horse.
It was remarked : ' It will be flattering to our country-
men to read the following am.ongst other observations :
" Nous allons maintcnant passer a I'examen des types
de chevaux de haras. La premiere place est occupee
par le pur sang arabe et le cheval de course anglais.
Ces deux types servent a la formation de toutes nos
meilleures especes." ' And again, when speaking farther
on of the purity of the blood of English horses, M.
Mcerder states : ' Lc cheval anglais, dans sa forme pri-
mitive, etait remarquable par sa haute taille, sa belle
tete, qu'il tenait du cheval arabe; ses petites oreilles, son
cou long et gracieux, son dos court, sa croupe huutc ct
droitc, sa queue bicn adaptcc, ses jambcs fortes et bien
The Racer. 97
formees, son allure ferme.' These quotations appear
to be very significant.
It might be sufficiently flattering to the Arabs, if they
cared about other people's concerns, to know that the
Arabian horse had given such excellent points to ours,
as we find by the above description he formerly pos-
sessed ; but we can hardly have cause to congratulate
ourselves, when we compare our'cheval de course' of
the present day with the animal M, Moerder shows him
to have been ' dans sa forme primitive.' Formerly he
was distinguished by his fine carriage, by his beautiful
head, of the Arabian type, his small ears, his short back,
his long and elegant neck ('gracicux' well expresses it),
his high and straight croup, his well set-on tail, his
strong and well-formed limbs, and his good true action.
All these are eminently the attributes of the Arabian,
and, according to M. Moerder, were to be seen origi-
nally or formerly (in a modified degree, I think must be
understood) in the breed of horses derived from him,
which we call thorough-bred. Do we see all these points,
as a rule, in the modern racer ? Are they the invariable
or prevailing characteristics .'* The answer must be in the
negative. The grand carriage of the Arabian is not
seen ; the head is very often quite the reverse of the
Arabian's ; he has often long and large ears instead of
small ones ; his neck, though sometimes long, is as often
short, and very seldom ' gracieux ' ; his back has certainly
become elongated. Alas ! what shall we say when we
come to the high quarter, such as is seen among
Arabians. Ours is but very drooping. Instead of the
H
98 The English Horse.
well set-on tail, he has often one set on rather low, and
but seldom carried ; and instead of well-formed limbs,
do we not too often find badly-shaped and weak legs ?
His action is not always good all round, nor is his gait
always bold and steady.
There is certainly a considerable alteration in the
structure of our horse from his Arabian ancestor. He
may be classed as more like the Toorkoman or Persian
horse, or the Barb. It is my belief there has been some
change in the last thirty years. His shoulders are not
generally so well thrown back, nor so long, nor so powerful,
his quarters more drooping. This alteration of form gives
a longer back and barrel, and perhaps a greater appear-
ance of length, but it is not real : the structure is altered
for the worse ; the various parts are not so well placed to
act with the greatest advantage, and it is contrary to the
form of his Arabian ancestor. It is no unfrequent thing
to see short, jumped-up, long-legged horses stripped on
the course. Many are coarse, others are weedy, some
both coarse and weedy, and others positively ugly. If
you can notice a horse's back as being long, either his
shoulders or his quarters, or both, are faulty : too long a
back with good quarters is a sure sign of upright
shoulders ; if the shoulders are well placed, but accom-
panied by a long back, the quarters are short, or have a
wrong direction ; or it may be that a horse with too
long a back may have upright shoulders and short
quarters.
I think any one who has examined and docs study
attentively our blood stock will allow these changes and
The Modern Racer. 99
modifications do exist in our modern racer, and that no
unfaithful picture has been drawn. The modern racer
does not show the fine points and attributes which were
formerly seen in horses of an older date, imprinted upon
them by their Arabian ancestry. In other words, the
English thorough-bred horse has failed to hand down to
his descendants the primal characteristics of the pure
Arabian, or, indeed, retained the modified points which
were observable formerly. Can this be flattering to our
countrymen .'' Now the question will naturally arise,
Why have not these points been preserved and per-
petuated .'' Is it not owing to one grand cause, or — to
speak, perhaps, more correctly — accounted for by one
simple fact, he is not really thoroughbred ; he is not
of pure race .''
In going through the pedigrees of the modern horses
whose history has been sketched in the second chapter,
reference should be made to the three tables of pedigrees
which have been fully drawn out, and it will be seen
that every individual inherits the flaws which are shown
to have existed in Matchem, Eclipse, and Herod, and,
in addition, the multiplication of these deficiencies ; for,
although good blood is accumulated in certain horses,
by the in-breeding to certain families containing the
blood of the Darley Arabian, inasmuch as his blood has
only descended to modern horses (even in direct descent)
through half-bred horses, with the accumulation of good
strains, the number of stains which were in the pedigrees
of these half-bred ancestors has also increased. If this
be the case with the best and more carefully bred among
H 2
I oo The Eiiorlish Horse.
<b
our horses, what can be said of those of much mixed
pedigrees, where stains are as numerous, but derived,
perhaps, through inferior horses, and without the advan-
tage of the concentration of good blood ? In the case of
our breed called through-bred, besides the impure strains
which are still handed down, fresh stains may be said to
appear. Mares in the Stud Book have produced foals to
half-bred horses (I have known an instance where a cart-
horse was used). Some of these mares have since produced
animals which have been successful. These horses, used
at the stud, hand down the stain immediately derived
from their dam, in addition to former ones. Again, some
horses that have appeared on the Turf as half-breed are
now in the Stud Book.
Lath, the first son of the Godolphin Arab or Barb, own
brother to Cade, their dam being Roxana, was considered
the best horse that had been at Newmarket since Flying
Childers. It must be remembered he made his appear-
ance in the days of degeneracy that happened after the
time of Childers, and was therefore opposed to inferior
horses, the offspring of half-bred sires and dams ; but,
although he was considered a wonder, it is recorded that
Lath did not come up to the standard or the excellence
of Childers. Those who had seen Childers were able to
appreciate the difference, although the young sportsmen
may have been satisfied.
So, again. Eclipse, a descendant in male line from the
Darley Arabian, and on the side of his dam from the
Godolphin Arab, was deemed a phenomenon. Why was
this } A little reOection on the sketch of the history of
The Racei\ loi
our horse will explain it. From the time of Flying
Childers the horse was retrograding— by Eastern blood
having been set aside in favour of crossed-bred horses.
The result became apparent ; a deficiency in every
respect was discernible. It is clearly to be seen that
our horse then did not possess the high qualities of
Flying Childers and the horses of his time or imme-
diately before him, many of whom were entirely of
Eastern blood. But in Eclipse there was another fresh
infusion of Eastern blood — Spiletta, his dam, being the
grand-daughter of an Eastern horse. It was a happy
circumstance ; it answered. Her sire, Regulus, son of the
Godolphin Arab, distinguished himself among the de-
generated horses of that period ; but he himself was not
of Eastern blood alone ; and on both sides of Eclipse's
pedigree, although there was a re-union of Eastern and
Arab blood, there ivcre many stains. But because
Eclipse was superior to the two generations before him,
and to the horses of his time, it is no proof that he was
at all equal to the racers which were entirely of Eastern
blood at the period of the Darley Arabian. And at the
present time there is nothing to guide us to the belief
that the racer of our day has improved upon the form of
Flying Childers, but many things, and especially the fact
that he is not now of such pure breeding, to lead us to
the conviction that he is inferior. What have we to
guide us to the assumption that our present horse is
superior, even to Eclipse .'' Certainly not the distances
that are now run, nor the weights now carried, against
those under which former distances were accomplished.
I02 The English Horse.
^>
I am not one of those always lamenting over our horse's
degeneracy, although I may be quite willing to accept
the convictions which those who can look further back
are compelled to admit ; but I maintain our horse is not
so good as he might be if we had pursued a different
and more careful style of breeding. Those who argue
that the horse has not deteriorated point to certain
stallions of a large size, and, although they as a rule
ignore the time test, yet they refer you to the time in
which certain great races have been run, as being faster
during the last few years than a short period before.
This latter — if a correct test — could only show that
there had been an improvement in the last thirty years
or half-century. But even this is a delusion ; for I have
it on very good authority that hardly any races for
several years past have been truly timed, the horses
having started seconds before the time-keepers begin to
take time.
Time, if properly taken, and races be truly run, must
be a tolerably correct test, and be valuable as a guide
to those who come after us ; but if time be not taken,
fifty years hence people will imagine that we had
stayers, from the fact that there were some races of two
and three miles, and, having no time to guide them, will
presume they were run from end to end.
Does experience teach us that ' those fine-sized, big-
boned thorough-breds,' which are sometimes seen, and
brought forward as an emphatic proof that there is no
necessity, at any rate, for the breed of horses to deterio-
rate, are as a rule the stoutest, the truest, and most
' As thoroiLgh-bred as Eclipse.^ 103
enduring, or that as stallions they are the sires which
beget the stoutest stock ? Is not the contrary rather the
rule ? The history of the thoroughbred, and more espe-
cially the tables of pedigrees given at the end, most
conclusively prove our horse is neither altogether of
Arabian blood, nor yet even entirely of Eastern extrac-
tion, and therefore certainly not thorough-bred. More-
over, the three horses, Herod, Matchem, and Eclipse,
from which all modern horses are descended, were
nothing more than half-bred, got by half-bred sires
from half-bred dams ; which completely destroys the
theory that the English racer is entirely of Arabian
blood — ' the true son of Arabia Deserta.'
'As thorough-bred as Eclipse' is a common expression
in speaking of a horse's claim to pure breeding. If he
be not better bred than Eclipse, he is but a cocktail.
People are apt to talk of horses tracing back to Eclipse
and Herod, and in looking at pedigrees which are seldom
drawn out so far as either ; but by seeing a combination
of the blood of Herod and Eclipse, say, ' There's blood
for you ; good enough for anything ! ' Kind reader, look
carefully at the pedigrees of your favourite horses ; the
real interest and the very essence of which only begin
with those up to which you are content to trace. Look,
and find that the ' terribly high-bred cattle,' which yon
fondly imagine to be without peer, are the descendants
of a half-bred horse and a half-bred dam. Look a little
further back, to the days of Queen Anne, and trace the
pedigrees also given of some horses of her days, in which,
at all events, nothing but Eastern blood can be found ;
I04 TJie English Horse.
and what becomes of the thoroughbred of modern
days ?
Those who assert that our horse's excellence is owing to
our consummate skill in breeding rather than to procura-
tion of original stock of good description (the Eastern
stock), and which was supported by Mr. William Percivall
in his address at the University College in 1834, seem to
be forgetful of the fact that it was immediately after the
introduction of Eastern blood, not before, that the Eng-
lish became celebrated for their horses. Youatt, who
quotes Mr. Percivall, says, ' and although, perhaps on
the whole, the English were not far behind their conti-
nental neighbours, yet at no period until within the last
century and a half has Great Britian been at all distin-
guished on this account' — that is, the excellence of its
horses. Youatt made the remark in 1850 ; so the cen-
tury and a half from that date takes us back not only to
when Eastern blood had been acknowledged as superior,
and had wrought great changes in our native breed, but
to the very days of the Leedes and Darley Arabians,
when there were actually horses and mares of entirely
Eastern blood ; and only just before Flying Childers, in
whose days our horse arrived at the zenith of his excel-
lence. The fallacy of such an assertion can hardly fail
to be apparent. Common sense, let alone consummate
judgment and skill in breeding, ought to have dictated
the advisability of perpetuating such blood as Flying
Childers' and other horses also of entirely Eastern blood,
and principally of Arabian, instead of allowing it to
become degenerate b}' resorting to mares of common
Only half-bred. 105
blood, and afterwards breeding from half-bred horses
and mares. Consummate skill devoted to breeding-, if
it had been applied to drawing- out the excellences of the
best stock, must have achieved a higher success and
greater results than has resulted from the continued
system of breeding from a mixed and half-bred stock.
As Eastern blood had been found more than 200 years
ago necessary for horses of any degree of excellence,
and of all Eastern blood the Arabian is incomparable,
even if no more skill and no greater perception and
ability than have been displayed in breeding from half-
bred stock, had been devoted to the incomparable
Arabian blood, must not the results have been far greater
than at present ? Even if we allow the horse to have
improved upon the form of Eclipse, being now, as in the
days of Eclipse, but a half-bred animal, he cannot be
compared to Flying Childers, altogether of Eastern
blood, and two-thirds Arabian. I must crave indulgence
for using the plainest language, and for repeatedly urging
the fact of our horse being only half-bred since the days
of Childers, which is supported by proof from our Stud
Book. What would be thought of a proposal to breed
thoroug-h-bred horses (racers) from -what are called half-
bred horses and mares now-a-days } But it is the very
thing we have been doing for the last 1 50 years ; it is the
very thing we are doing now at this very time !
Those who may have no knowledge of the history of
our horse, may gather some information on the subject
by following me so far, and cannot fail to see he is not
1 06 The Enorlish Horse.
<i>
completely bred, nor entirely bred from the best blood,
nor completely bred from a pure and original race.
Nearly a century after the birth of Flying Childers,
Fair Ellen is born to an Eastern horse styled the Wel-
lesley Grey Arabian. She was the dam of Lilias, winner
of the Oaks, 1826, and of The Exquisite, who ran second
for the Derby, 1829 ; and of Euryone, granddam of Safe-
guard, a horse of very considerable merit. Unfortunately
his blindness (derived doubtless from his sire Defence)
always prevented his employment with valuable mares,
coupled also with the prejudice against modern Arabian
blood ; but his soundness in every other respect, the
extraordinary goodness of his feet and legs, and his
wonderful constitution, and his success as a sire, consi-
dering the inferior mares put to him, have been noticed
and recorded by ' Stonehenge.' Slight as was the infusion
of Eastern blood, it was not without beneficial results.
Perhaps, with the exception of the Darley Arabian, no
better Arabs have appeared in this country than the
black and bay Arabians presented by Imaun Seyeed,
of Muscat, to his Majesty William IV., but I believe
they were never used as sires with thorough-bred mares,
nor with an Arabian mare also sent with them ; and so
the opportunity of trying Arabian blood was again lost
or thrown away. These horses, doubtless, came from
Nejed. The Arabian horse is not indigenous to Oman.
Assuming that purity of blood is necessary for the
attainment of the full amount of excellence in the horse,
it is obvious, for the purpose of founding a standard breed
in this or any other country, in which the horse did not
Necessity of Ptcre Blood. 107
exist In a pure or perfect state, that stock of pure blood
should have been, and also should now be, obtained for
such a purpose, instead of having, in the first instance,
engrafted a few individuals of more or less pure blood,
and that chiefly on the male side, on to the former hetero-
geneous stock, as in this country, and then subsequently
breeding entirely from their half-bred descendants.
The horse of such a character, to found a race of true
thorough-bred horses, and in which alone such requisite
perfections can be found, will be discussed in the second
part.
PART 2
THE ARABIAN HORSE.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE ARABIAN.
Different opinions as to his origin — Probable early history discussed-
Views against his being originally located in Arabia — Objections
answered — No lack of horses in Arabia during the time of Mohammed
— Held in great estimation very shortly after his death — The horse
taken into Africa at an early date — Indication of the horse being in
Arabia before he is mentioned as being in Egypt — Times and country of
Job discussed — The horse always ridden in Arabia — The unchanging
character of the Arabs, the probable means of the horse having been
kept in a pure state — The horse created good : the original not im-
proved upon — The Persian horse probably owed his improvement to
Arab blood — Short dissertation on Jonadab : his occupation — The
Rechabites, Midianites, and Ishmaelites — The horse likely to become
degenerate in Egypt.
The silver Arab with his purple veins,
The true blood royal of his race. — Yule.
As to the origin and antiquity of the Arabian different
opinions exist. Some imagine the Arabian horse to
be an improved specimen of the species, bred up from
the original race, which has been presumed was of
a very poor and sorry description, and only of com-
His Early Histoiy. 109
paratively recent date a native of Arabia ; others believe
him to have been originally located and domesticated
in Arabia. I may say at once I entertain the latter
opinion, and believe him to be the sole pure representa-
tive of the species.
I will give a short sketch of his probable early history,
and then bring forward such matter as may bear upon the
subject, in proof and support.
When the horse made his exit from the Ark with
the other animals saved alive from the Flood, B.C.
2349-48, I do not mean to insist he immediately made
his way into Central Arabia, and was found there
by those who first inhabited that country, although
such a supposition is very far from improbable. The
same law of nature that dictates to him and every
animal what is best for them — the fine instinct which
he has received from his Creator, and which enables him
to find his nearest way home, or if cast adrift at sea, at
once to turn his head to the nearest land, might as
easily 'have directed him to Arabia, the soil and climate
of which are peculiarly adapted to him and the reten-
tion of his primal characteristics.
It may be supposed rather, that he would follow the
saved inhabitants of the world, or be taken by them
to the plains of Shinar ; and when, rather more than
a hundred years after the Flood — during which time
he would have increased and multiplied — the Tower of
Babel being in course of erection, the work was sud-
denly stopped by the confusion of tongues, and the
families of Noah dispersed to seek localities for them-
1 1 o The A 7^abian Hoi^sc.
selves, that he would be settled and domesticated with
some of these families.
When Nimrod was founding Babylon he may have
retained some for his future kingdom ; and Misraim
may have carried the horse into Egypt ; and why not
with equal probability that family which went into
Central Arabia, and first peopled it ? Why should the
horse be denied to that country, the most propitious to
him, and where, at the present time, he is found in the
purest form, to a people of the highest antiquity?
Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, had two sons,
Joktan (or Kahtan as spelt in Arabia) and Peleg ; the
latter, the founder of Abraham's family, and subse-
quently through Abraham's son Ishmael became joined
with the descendants of Joktan. ' In the days of Peleg
the earth was divided,' or, as I understand, the dispersion
took place at Babel. Joktan and his family went down
into Central Arabia, about the time Nimrod was
founding Babylon, or perhaps before. They must have
been, as their descendants are now, horse-fanciers.
The horse was ridden in Arabia ; he was not put to
degrading work ; he was a hunter and a war horse.
The horse was ridden only in Arabia, not used for
harness, as subsequently by other nations. Joktan and
his family were settled in that part of Arabia even now
called Kahtan, and to whose inhabitants the term
Ketanic is still applied, reaching from near Mecca in
the west to Jebel Toweek in the east.
It was from this district, in all probability, that the
descendants of Joktan, if not at war among themselves,
His History. 1 1 1
made frequent raids upon their northern neighbours ;
and among them the Sabseans, mounted upon their
matchless coursers, performed a true Arab feat, making
a swoop upon Job's peaceful possessions, carrying off
his cattle, and killing his servants with the edge of the
sword. When war was not -the order of the day, the
chase occupied their time, either for pastime or in quest of
food, and when the ostrich was the game, to try the speed
and endurance of their horses. Thus would pass many
generations ; but at an early period the horse was taken
from Arabia into Africa, and founded the breed known
as the horses of Sahara. Since, both before and after
the time of Mohammed, importations of Arabian horses
into Africa have taken place.
At a later period the Arabian horse became more
generally known, and played a very conspicuous part.
When, after the death of Mohammed, Arabia had
become the centre of an empire second to none in
extent, he was taken out into all lands, east, north, and
west — into Europe, Africa, and other parts of Asia,
and left his mark upon the degenerated and changed
breeds of other countries through which he passed ; and
at this day, according to the amount of Arab blood to
be found in the modern horse, in any part of the world,
is he valuable.
Scripture tells us that Joktan had thirteen sons, one
of whom was named Sheba, ' and their dwelling was
from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar, a mount of the
East.'
Mecca in the Hejaz, allowed to be one of the most
112 The Arabian Horse.
ancient cities, is supposed to be identical with the
Mesha of Scripture (of this there can be httle doubt),
but some have objected to Central Arabia as being the
territory occupied by Joktan, as they know of no
' mount ' in the East. A glance at the map appended
to Mr. Palgrave's book of travel through Central Arabia
will dispel such doubts at once.
It will be seen that between Mecca and Jebel Toweek —
which latter is, strictly speaking, Nejed Proper — lies the
district called Kahtan. Jebel Toweek literally means,
we are told, a little twist or garland of mountains, which
would answer to the description * a mount of the East'
At the foot of the collection of little mounts, at the
northern extremity, but still east from Mecca, is a town
now called Zulphar, which, I think, might well be the
Sephar of Scripture, the western boundary of Joktan's
dominion. From profane history we learn that Joktan,
the father of the ancient Arabs, had thirty-one sons, and
that he first wore the diadem in Yemen. He was suc-
ceeded by Yarab, Yarab by his son Yashab, and Yashab
by Abd-Shems, who was a great and successful monarch.
He built the city of Saba, and formed vast reservoirs
above the city to supply the inhabitants and surrounding
lands with water. Abd-Shems was succeeded by his son
Hamyar, so called from his wearing red clothes, and he
gave his name to a tribe. He was succeeded by a line
of seventeen kings, from one of whom, named Africus,
the continent of Africa derived its name. It is believed
the Ouccn of Sheba followed this line of seventeen
kings.
His History. 113
Another son of Joktan founded the kingdom of Hejaz.
Whether Joktan first settled in the district known as
Kahtan, and afterwards founded the kingdom of Yemen,
or whether the kingdoms of Yemen and Hejaz were first
estabhshed, and his descendants afterwards spread them-
selves over Kahtan, is not of much consequence ; but that
such was their territory, and identical with that as de-
scribed from Mesha to Sephar, a mount of the East,
there can be but little doubt. In this country, then, the
horse was established not later than about one hundred
years after the Deluge ; it may have been simultaneously
with other families, w'ho might have taken horses with
them. Here only the horse would appear to have been
kept in a pure and unmixed state, and to have been pre-
served from degeneration, as, after a lapse of four thousand
years, we find him still in the purest and noblest form,
unchanged and unchanging, in pristine beauty, and in the
hands of a people the most ancient and least affected by
the outward world ; if indeed he did not find his way there
immediately after the exodus from the Ark, which is by
no means improbable, and which will now be considered.
Although there are reasons for believing that the horse
was distributed over many parts of the world before the
Deluge, it is only consistent to believe that the most
perfect specimens of all things living were taken into the
Ark. Where this was built cannot be stated ; but we
know that when the waters subsided it rested upon the
mountains of Ararat, which, however, is no evidence
that it was constructed there — all probability would point
to a less elevated locality. The wisdom of the exit
I
114 ^^^^ Arabian Horse.
taking place from such a lofty position is at once appa-
rent when we consider for one moment in Avhat a state
the lowlands must have been after having been deluged
for so long a time. What situation could be more admi-
rably chosen, both with regard to its central position for
the replenishing of the earth, and also on account of the
health of the long-imprisoned inhabitants, than a moun-
tain land and its surrounding slopes ! Even if we knew
the exact spot where the Ark was constructed, it would
not necessarily indicate the original locality of the horse ;
nor is it necessary to believe that Noah, in compliance
with the Divine command, took unto him any animals
that might be immediately around him, or that the
selection was left to him. Taking into consideration the
antagonistic character and habits of many of the creatures,
both small and great, it is very easy to believe that those
intended for preservation, ' to keep seed alive upon the
face of all the earth,' would be drawn together by the
Divine Power and Infinite Wisdom — many specimens
perhaps from great distances ; and if that part of the
world now known as Arabia were then, as Gibbon says
it is now, the most propitious to the horse, that from
thence came the horses to the Ark. That they were
divinely directed, and not selected by Noah, is borne out
by Holy Scripture. In Genesis, ch. vi. verse 20, Noah is
told ' two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep
them alive.' In ch. vii. verse i, he is directed to enter
the Ark with his house. At verse 7 it is stated, * Noah
went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives
with him into the Ark '; verses 8 and 9 narrate how that
His History. 1 1 5
two and two of all flesh (the male and the female) went
unto Noah into the Ark. It is also repeated in verse 15
that they zvent in unto Noah into the Ark two and
two of all flesh ; and in verse 16 it is stated, 'and the
Lord shut him in.'
Noah, on the appointed day, went into the Ark with
his family. Then entered unto him two and two of all
creatures, and, when all were in, the door was shut.
Following this train of thought, it would not require any
great stretch of imagination to believe that the horses,
freed from their long confinement, upon leaving the Ark
would at once, or so soon as the state of the ground
would permit, seek the place from whence they had
come, and which was most congenial to them.
If this supposition be correct — and I confess I have a
decided opinion in its favour — the horse would be found
in Arabia by Joktan and his family after the dispersion
at Babel, who would hold him in their complete posses-
sion ; and from Arabia the horse would have gone forth
into other parts of the world (as he has subsequently
done at different periods of his history), and this would
allow ample time for the horse to be established in
Egypt by the time he is first mentioned in the days of
Joseph.
There is yet another view. Bishop Patrick, in his
Notes on Genesis, believes that all the posterity of Noah,
much less Noah himself, were not at the building of
Babel ; and therefore the language of Noah was not
changed. It is probable, also, although I would not
insist upon this view, that Shem and his descendants,
ii6 The Arabian Horse.
through one family of whom all nations are blessed,
were separate from those who were at Babel ; and as
Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, was the father of
two great families — the Hebrews and the ancient
Arabians — it is possible that, as to the former family
was confided the care of the knowledge of the true and
only God, so might the charge of man's most valued
servant be committed to the other family. I speak this
with all reverence. That the language of Shem's family,
or a considerable portion of it, was not changed or con-
founded, is probable, from the fact that the language of
his descendants, the Hebrews and Arabians, is very
similar, even at the present day. Of course the lan-
guage of Ishmael was identical with Abraham's, and,
being the same, or nearly so, with the descendants of
Joktan, which had probably become only slightly modi-
fied by time, was one of the reasons which rendered his
fusion with the ancient Arabians the more easy.
Against the views I hold, it has constantly been urged
as a proof that Egypt is the original country of the
horse, that the first direct mention of the horse in Scrip-
ture is of his being in that country. This cannot, I
think, be taken as a proof that Egypt was the original
country of the horse after the Flood, or that the horse was
not in Arabia before the time when he is first mentioned
in Scripture. If so, it would show that the horse was
not in any other part of the Avorld, and that he was first
known and heard of some time between Abraham's visit
to Egypt and Joseph's sojourn there. The Scriptures
do not give the history of animals, although much valua-
His History. 1 1 7
ble information on such a subject may be gained from
them. The horse is only mentioned when he performs
a part in any event in the country that may enter into
BibHcal history ; he is first mentioned when Joseph gave
the starving inhabitants of Egypt, during the seven years
of famine, bread in exchange for horses and for the flocks,
&c. This was centuries after the Flood. When Abram
went down into Egypt, no mention is made of the horse :
he is not among the gifts presented to the patriarch ;
and so, equally, it might be argued that at that time the
horse was unknown in Egypt, although probably it was
because such a gift would not have been acceptable.
When Joseph goes up into Canaan to buiy his father, as
the horse takes a part in the procession, he is again
mentioned. A writer in Blaine's ' Rural Sports ' says,
' It appears difficult to reconcile the plentitude of horses
in Arabia with the Scriptural account that when Saul,
who became king of Israel, B.C. 1095, made a successful
war against this very country, his plunder consisted of
camels, sheep, oxen, and asses only ; no mention being
made of horses.' And Youatt ' On the Horse' states
that so late as the seventh century the Arabs had few
horses, and those of little value ; for when Mohammed
attacked the Koreish near Mecca, he had but two horses
in his whole army. And at the close of his murderous
campaign, although he drove off 24,000 camels, 140,000
sheep, and carried away 24,000 oz. of silver, not one
horse appears in the list of plunder.
But another writer in Blaine's ' Rural Sports,' Mr.
Burchett, of Truro, says Arabia possessed horses in great
1 18 The Arabian Horse.
numbers at a very early period of the world, and has
stronger claims to be entitled the primal seat of these
animals than any other country. His opinion is partly
grounded upon the extreme antiquity of the Arabs,
whom he regards as the most ancient people in the
world. Gibbon also gives Arabia the credit of being the
genuine and original country of the horse. ' It is a
climate the most propitious, not indeed to size, but
to the spirit of that generous animal' Niebuhr says,
' Some animals appear to be originally natives of
Arabia, for they are not common through other regions
of the East ; they retain their primary instincts in a
higher perfection, and are more eminently distinguished
by strength and beauty here than elsewhere ; such are
the horse, the ass, and the camel.' And Mr. Gififord
Palgrave says the kingdom of Oman is as celebrated for
camels as Central Arabia for its horses.
One would not be far wrong in assigning the ass to
the more northern districts ; the camel to the south-
eastern, and the horses to Central Arabia.
With reference to the remark that horses were not
part of the plunder taken by King Saul from the Amale-
kites, it must be borne in mind that that people, the
descendants of one of the sons of Esau, of far less anti-
quity than the Ketanie Arabs or the Ishmaelites,
occupied a very small portion of Arabia, that small
peninsula between the gulfs of Akabah and Zuez, a
district not adapted to the rearing of horses, even if the
Amalekites were possessed of them. But because he
was not found among that people, is no proof he was
His History. 1 1 9
not in Arabia ; nor, again, the fact that afterwards
King Solomon got his horses from Egypt, and gold and
silver from Arabia ; the gold and silver would be brought,
no doubt, from the south of Yemen and Hadramaut by
ships up the Red Sea, manned by King Hiram's sailors,
and landed at Elath, King Solomon's seaport, on the
Gulf of Akabah.
His communication with Egypt was easy, the distance
not very great, and he had constant and intimate inter-
course with Egypt. Horses and chariots could be brought
up very easily from thence ; there would appear to have
been a regular trade ; the prices are fixed — a chariot at
six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse at one hundred
and fifty. And through King Solomon's interest, the
kings of the Hittites and of Syria also obtained them ;
so horses were not general at that time in Syria. These
horses reared in the fat lands of Rameses, Avhether they
were the descendants of the horses from Arabia, or of
those that Misraim may have taken, would by this time
have lost much of their pristine beauty and perfection,
and have become grosser, coarser, of a more bulky body,
and more suitable for dragging chariots.
But Solomon had other horses. In i Kings, chap, x.
verse 25, we read, after being told that all the earth
sought Solomon, ' and they brought every man his pre-
sent, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments,
and armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by
year.' It is quite: likely the Arabs deemed it expedient,
if not absolutely necessary, to present horses to King
Solomon from time to time as gifts, even if not as
I20 The Arabian Horse.
tribute, and they would do this far more readily than
they do now to the Sultan at Constantinople or the
Viceroy in Egypt, for they looked upon Solomon as a
kinsman, but they detest the Turks and despise them as
aliens.
The statement alluded to just before, that, so late as
the seventh century, the Arabs had few horses, and
those of little value, is not supported by history, and
would appear to be based upon the absence of the horses
among the things plundered. This is very easily ex-
plained. Mohammed had a very up-hill game to fight.
During his early career he was badly off for horses, and
he could not possibly capture them. When successful
in action, or plundering caravans, he took much plunder ;
but, without cavalry, how could he capture Arab Jiorsc-
mcn ? But some he had at command. It is commonly
reported, he and his five followers fied from Mecca to
Medina on horses. The Arabs say he had only one
follower, and he went on a camel. But in the second
year of the Hegira, we read that Mohammed sent out
on one occasion a body of thirty horse to attack a rich
caravan going to Mecca ; on another, in the same year,
a body of sixty or eighty horse.
It was at the battle of Ohod, in the third year of the
Hegira, that Mohammed is said to have had only two
horses with him. But that is no proof that there were
no horses in Arabia. For the Koreish met him with a
force of 800 men, 200 of whom were horsemen. Mo-
hammed suffered defeat by a charge of cavalry com-
manded by Calcd h2bn-el-Wallid. IMohammcd at this
His History. 121
time was continually employed in plundering caravans.
When he lost the battle of Ohod, what horse he had (a
considerable force, 500 horse) was away on a plundering
expedition under his follower Zeid, who came down
upon a very rich caravan at Al-Karda in Nejed. The
booty taken on this occasion was estimated at 25,000
dahrems or pieces of silver.
On another occasion, after having been compelled to
raise the siege of the castle of El-Tayef, into which
Malec the chief and his fighting-men had thrown them-
selves, Mohammed took the town of Waha, in which
Malec had caused to be deposited many of their most
valuable effects, which is said to have consisted of
24,000 camels, 40,000 .sheep, and 4,000 oz. of silver, in
addition to 6,000 captives. If Malec were possessed of
horses — which most probably he was — and they not away
from home on any expedition, they would be with his
fighting-men, and form part of the garrison of El-Tayef,
and which did not succumb to Mohammed.
Mohammed was not slow in learning the full value of
the horse, and during his early career doubtless often
deplored his own deficiency in cavalry. Having seen
how essential the horse was to rapid movement, either
in the advance to attack, or for security in case of defeat,
he was loud in the praise of that generous animal, and
left maxims regarding his care and treatment to his fol-
lowers.
It was in the ninth year of the Hegira — only one
year before the death of Mohammed — that the greater
number of Arabian tribes sent embassies to him, ten-
122 The Arabian Horse.
dering their submission, or, rather, making alHances, as
many of them did so to suit their own convenience, and
did not really believe in him as a prophet. They had
been watching with interest the results of his protracted
war and disputes with the Koreish.
Again, during the reign of Omar, the second Caliph,
Abu Obeidah, his commander-in-chief, after the battle
of Yermouk — which decided the fate of Syria — in the
division of the spoil, made a distinction between horse
and foot, and between those who were mounted on
Arabian horses and those who rode horses of a foreign
breed. All cavalry in general had three times the value
in spoils to what the infantry had ; but the owner of a
true Arabian horse had a double portion to what the
master of any other horse had. This was in the fifteenth
year of the Hegira, very shortly after the death of Mo-
hammed, and it proves that Arabian horses were neither
scarce nor of little value in the sixth and the beginning
of the seventh centuries. If there had been only a few
horses in Arabia, and those of no value, in Mohammed's
time, it would have been impossible, in so short a period
as fifteen years, to have established a breed of such
great value and well-acknowledged superiority as the
trne Arabian horse.
Moreover, Abd-el-Kader, the celebrated Emir in
Africa, has stated that the Arabian horse was taken
into Africa anterior to Islam by two Herimetic tribes,
that the horses of the Sahara are their pure descendants,
and that the first family or race among them is the
Hamyan. It has been shown that IIam}'ar, who gave
Collateral Events. 123
his name to a tribe, was the sixth only in descent from
Joktan, and that among the seventeen kings who suc-
ceeded him was one Africus, who called Africa after
himself Perhaps in the time of Hamyar the Arabian
horse was taken into Africa ; hardly later than that of
Africus.
Here it may not be out of place to draw attention to
collateral events. When Abram went down into Egypt,
no mention is made of the horse ; but he is mentioned
as being in that country in the time of Joseph, the great-
grandson of the patriarch. Abram was the fifth only
from Peleg, the founder of the family, brother to Joktan ;
and Hamyar, from whom, doubtless, the best race of
horses in Africa takes its name, was sixth in descent.
Supposing Abram and Hamyar to have been contem-
poraries, there would have been ample time for the horse
to have been introduced into Egypt from Arabia, and
to have been established, the period being rather over
two hundred years. Abram went into Egypt about
1920 B.C. ; and the horse is first mentioned in the Bible,
1702 B.C. But there is an indirect mention of the
horse. Anah discovered mules in the wilderness, while
feeding the asses of Zibeon. This, it must be remem-
bered, was in Arabia, although in the northern or north-
eastern part, and the date would either be 1840 B.C. or
1760 B.C. The former would be the more correct date
if I be right in the surmise that this Anah was the
daughter of Zibeon and mother of Esau's wife, Aholi-
bamah ; but in either case it would be a considerable
time prior to the first mention of the horse in Egypt.
124 The Arabian Horse.
A stray horse of the Sabaeans may have been the cause
of the phenomenon, which was evidently accidental, and
not, as now, by a perversion of man's ; or the accident
may have happened as horses were being sent from
Arabia into Egypt.
Besides, Scripture clearly indicates that the horse was
in Arabia at a very early period by the description of
him in the Book of Job, allowed by most to be a work
of the highest antiquity, considered by many the oldest
extant, believed to have been originally in Arabic, and
afterwards translated into Hebrew. When did Job live,
where, and of what race was he } One thing is certain : he
was a worshipper of the true God, and his acts of wor-
ship were according to those of the days of Noah. Job
is described as living in the land of Uz. Uz was the
name of one of the grandsons of Seir the Horite, who in-
habited the land before Esau's days, and probably
given to that part of the country to which Uz de-
parted, and not the district known as Mount Seir, some-
where in Arabia, and in the northern part, and was
equally accessible to the Chaldeans as to the Sabseans,
the southern Arabs ; which would indicate that portion
of Arabia occupied by Ishmael's children, ' from Havilah
unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest towards
Assyria,' reaching from just nortli of Mount Sinai to
the south of Babylonia, and just north of the Persian
Gulf May not Job have been a descendant of Ishmael,
and living even in the days of Abraham } The names
of Ishmael's sons are given, but not of his grandsons.
One of those sons was Tema ; one of Job's friends was a
A War- Horse and Hunter. 125
Tcmanite. He certainly was an inhabitant of Arabia,
It is probable he lived as early as the times of
Abraham, and, as his possessions were attacked by
both Arabs and Chaldeans, that he was living in the
land of the Ishmaelites, a considerable portion of which
would be desert. The Sabaean descendants of Joktan,
in going north from Kahtan, perhaps taking the very
same route that the Sabaean Arabs do now annually, fell
upon Job's asses and oxen simultaneously as the
Chaldeans took off his camels, although the events did
not perhaps take place quite in the same place. In the
thirty-ninth chapter of the Book of Job the occupation
of the horse in Arabia is shown : he is a war-horse and
hunter. In the eighteenth verse, in speaking of the
ostrich (a bird of Arabia), 'What time she lifteth up
herself on high, she scorneth the Jiorse and his rider, —
shows he is ridden, not driven, as among the Egyptians
and other nations ; his avocation then was the same as
at the present day. The grand description of the horse
recounted to Job, so universally admired, and essentially
descriptive of the Arabian horse, and so vividly pour-
traying him to the mind, does not admit of a doubt
that he was then a native of Arabia, and most probably
was not altogether unknown to Job.
The Arabs are a people who have existed from the
earliest times. Many ancient nations have passed away,
new ones risen and also disappeared, but the Arabs still
exist, and are the same as four thousand years ago.
May we not well believe that the wisdom and power
that have kept a people through so many centuries, and
126 The Arabian Horse.
preserved them unchanged, which ordahicd the plan
of the Ark and the scheme for replenishing the earthy
have ordered and directed the horse into Arabia, to a
climate and soil peculiarly adapted to him and to the
retention of his primal beauty, vigour, and attributes,
under charge of a people who have themselves with-
stood the changes of the world, to be preserved from all
the causes tending to deterioration and degeneracy ? Is
it not more reasonable to believe that by these means
the horse has been preserved very nearly in his original
perfection, than that he should have been bred up from
a poor miserable animal such as is seen in the highlands
of Central Asia, and showing very little of the true
character of the horse. ' Facilis descensus Averni ' is
a very true saying, but it is indeed a difficult thing
to ascend and to bring back qualities that have been
lost. Besides, we have the most sure warranty that
the horse, as all other things, was created perfect ;
and he, as others, Avas pronounced to be ' very good.'
This truth seems either to be forgotten or overlooked
when people talk about improving upon any original
species. Do they think man by his skill could breed
a better lion or tiger } Has the skill of man during four
thousand years succeeded in arriving at so perfect a
form or model as the Arabian horse 1 A most impor-
tant part has the Arabian horse -already played in im-
proving and invigorating the various degenerate breeds
of horses scattered over the whole earth, but none have
attained unto his perfection ; and there may be yet
work in store for him.
The Bi^eed Preserved. 1 2 7
There are numerous instances mentioned of the horse
leaving Arabia for other parts of the world, but no
account of his having been imported into that country
as an unknown animal, subsequently to the dispersion
from Babel. The original inhabitants of Arabia, the sons
of Joktan or Kahtan, founded kingdoms and built
cities. Yarab, one son, had the province of Yemen, and
another son, Jorham, became King of Hejaz. His pos-
terity continued to reign as kings until the time of
Ishmael, when either the Ketanic princes were expelled,
or the two peoples became one by intermarriage. At this
period the kingly rule was changed, in a great measure
at all events, for the patriarchal, as among the Bedouin
of the present day. Yet in the days of Moses the
Ishmaelites were possessed of castles and towns, and
towns of considerable extent with castles and palaces
are still numerous in Arabia. All Arabs are not Bedouin.'
Arabia, having been cut off from neighbouring countries
where not separated by sea, by a girdle of desert, and by
outposts of watchful Bedouin, has preserved its breed of
horses as well as its independence, and has never been
thoroughly subjugated by any.
It has been stated that celebrated as Persian horses
afterwards became, there were very few of them, and
those inferior until the time of Cyrus ; and he greatly
encouraged the breeding of horses. It is very probable
• A high state of civilisation was enjoyed by the early Arabians — perhaps
that of the antediluvian world ; for some of the works of Abd-Shems, the
great-grandson of Joktan, still remain, and are perhaps capable of resto-
ration
128 The Arabian Horse.
that Arabian blood was used by Cyrus for that pur-
pose, and that the Arabian then first became the means
of estabh'shing the reputation of the Persian horse, as
very many centuries later he made that of the Eng-
lish. In the reign of Neriglissar, King of Babylon, who
succeeded Evil-Merodach, and preceded Nabonadius
or Belshazzar, there was war between the Babylonians
and Persians ; Neriglissar was at the head of 20,000
cavalry, with infantry in proportion, and had numerous
contingents from other powers. Among these it is men-
tioned in history that Marogdas the Arabian conducted
10,000 horse. Neriglissar and his allies were totally
defeated by Cyrus. It is probable the conqueror was
struck with the horses of the Arab contingent, and
some, besides, may have fallen into his hands. Arabia
may have supplied Babylon also with horses, although
doubtless degeneracy had taken place, owing to the
use of chariots ; and about eighteen years later, when
Cyrus besieged and took Babylon, 'he would have the
opportunity of passing them over into Persia, besides,
perhaps, of opening some communication with the
Arabs.
What was the occupation or calling of Jonadab, the
son of Rcchab (the son of the rider), who was not of the
children of Israel, and how came he to be the friend of
Jehu .'' It is possible and quite consistent to presume he
was the medium in those days of horses being passed
from Arabia into Palestine, as they are at the present day
into India. In other words, it is very likely Jonadab
was the merchant of the day who provided Arab horses
I
Midianites and Ishmaelites. 129
for Joram's Court and the officers of his army. And
who more likely than such an one to be the friend and
welcomed companion of the fierce and impetuous Jehu,
who rode after Ahab, and was well known for his
furious driving ? The father of Rechab may have per-
formed like services for King Solomon. The Recha-
bites were Midianites, descended from Abraham and
Keturah, and some imagine from that family of Midia-
nites whose forefather was Hohab, brother-in-law to
Moses, and dwelt among the Israelites ; but in the time
of Jeremiah, as the house of the Rechabites went up to
Jerusalem only from fear of the army of the Chaldeans,
and as they were forbidden to live in houses, to plant,
or sow, they evidently were to some extent nomads.
Be that as it may, they were Midianites, and these were
very early associated and fused with the Ishmaelites,
also descended from Abraham, who were intermingled
with the ancient Arabians of Ketanic race. That the
Midianites were mingled with the Ishmaelites is gathered
from the facts mentioned in Genesis. The merchants
trading with Egypt in the days of Jacob, and to whom
his brethren sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver, are
sometimes described as Midianites, and at others Ish-
maelites ; although in those days associated, and to
some extent one people, it is possible the Ishmaelites
were more addicted to wandering and predatory habits,
and the Midianites to trading. The former being the
first to be associated with the Arabs might have oppor-
tunities of acquiring Arab horses ; and their kinsmen,
the Midianites, being traders, passed them off into
K
130 The Arabian Horse.
Egypt ; which is not at all an improbable means of the
horse being taken into Egypt. If the Ishmaelites, in
any of the predatory raids, captured horses, they might
be glad of such a ready market for them as Egypt. I
don't want to insist upon this view, but the Midianite
merchants evidently were in the habit of trading with
Egypt before the horse is first mentioned. Whether
the horse was taken from Arabia into Egypt or originally
taken there by Mizraim, it is a country in which the
horse would degenerate, and become of larger and
heavier build ; thus more adapted for harness and chariot
work, and another reason why King Solomon should
obtain horses from Egypt besides the easy access and
his peculiar affinity for that country. The Hebrews
had two different words for the horse, one to denote
the chariot, the other the riding horse; the former
horse was much heavier and larsfer.
APPENDIX TO THE FIRST CHAPTER.
The causes of degeneracy ainong horses in otlier countries than Arabia —
The external clianges which would ensue — The Arabian still a distinct
breed — Additional reason why Arabia was the habitat of the horse.
Whether it be supposed or admitted that there were
other breeds, or, rather, that the horse was domesticated
by several families of mankind about the same time, or
whether the horse immediately found his way into
Arabia after the Flood, and from thence the race was
distributed over the earth, it may be well to show causes
that may have produced degeneracy.
The following appear to be some of the most pro-
bable : —
Cattses of Degeneracy among other Breeds. 131
Making the horse an animal for draught, using liim as
a beast of burthen ; neglect and the effect of neglect, more
especially in cold, damp, and uncongenial climates ; and by
intermixture of alien species such as the ass and quagga.
' Of all nations, the Arabs alone seem to have kept the
horse for the purpose for which he was doubtless in-
tended — for riding, not as a beast of draught ; other
ancient nations used him for harness as well as for
saddle. The use of chariots was very general. If we
now consider a horse used for draught as spoiled for the
saddle, what would be the consequence in a few genera-
tions if he were exclusively used for harness work }
Would there not be naturally a gradual alteration of
structure } Would not his action become materially
changed 1 Undoubtedly great modification would take
place ; he would become heavier and more upright in
the shoulders, would lose his natural easy and graceful
carriage, his active and light step, his springiness and
elasticity. Again, taken into districts and countries un-
congenial to him, uncared for and neglected, a change
would very soon take place. If in low, damp, but fat
lands, where there was no lack of food, he would soon
assume a large, heavy, and bulky frame ; but with a loss
of vigour, courage, fibre, muscle, density of bone, and
compactness of frame, assuming more the characteristic
of the fatted ox. If uncared for and starved in damp
and cold climates, he would assume a small, wasted, and
ill-shaped form. In a cold, but dry climate — such as
the highlands of Central Asia and steppes of Russia —
allowed to run wild and uncared for, he would become
small and often ill-formed, but would retain much of his
132 The Arabian Horse.
original spirit and endurance, with density of bone, and
much wire and soundness of constitution.
But chief among the causes of decay would be the
intermixture of species, as in breeding mules : ' TJioii
shalt 7iot let thy cattle gender ivith a diverse kind ' (Levi-
ticus, 19th chapter, 19th verse). For a mare which has
once produced a mule cannot again produce a horse —
the offspring would invariably partake more or less of
the strange breeds. An instance is cited in ' Blaine's
Rural Sports.' A thorough-bred mare that had bred to
a quagga, subsequently breeding to a horse, the off-
spring took after the quagga. Experience has taught
me that if a mare which has produced a mule has pro-
duce afterwards by a horse, the stock always possesses
asinine properties, in form, by elongated ears, a heavy
head, stripes about the legs and body, contracted feet,
and is more or less asinine in temper and character.
What else but destruction to the race would be the
result if mares who had bred mules, and their after-
progeny by horses, were allowed to breed to horses .-'
The striped animals we even now sometimes see are
thus easily accounted for.
But the Arabian horse is still a distinct breed, without
any sign of degeneracy or of admixture ; he is certainly
one by himself, nor have any been able to breed up to
such a state of perfection or to attain to so perfect a
model. I defy any one to point out any feature in the
Arabian horse that may have been derived from other
breeds, whereas you can trace Arabian blood almost in
every breed of horses, and detect his features in a greater
or less degree in every kind of horse of breeding, and
The Antiquity of this Race. 133
more or less as it is good and valuable. This appears
to me to be a striking instance of the pure and unmixed
character of the Arabian horse ; and, if pure and un-
mixed, of the antiquity of his race. Surely it is more
reasonable to believe that the horse went southwards
from Ararat to a congenial climate, than that he should
go north-easterly to Central Asia, and was there first
domesticated, as supposed by Colonel Hamilton Smith
— to an uncongenial climate ; on the other hand, if the
horse first multiplied, and his offspring became dis-
persed and was domesticated in Bactria, the higher val-
leys of the Oxus, in Cashmere, or in Central Asia, and
perhaps simultaneously in several regions, why exclude
Arabia } Again, if the horse were not taken'into Egypt
by Mizraim, or domesticated there simultaneously with
other countries, it is more easy to believe he should
have been taken from Arabia into Egypt than that herds
or troops of wild horses should find their way across so
vast an extent of country as from Central Asia to
Egypt, many parts of which would be inhabited, for we
have no indication or record of any exodus from Cen-
tral Asia to Egypt between the dispersion at Babel and
1702 B.C. to account for the horse having been taken
thence by Man. Moreover, during so long a period
(there were 589 years between the Deluge and when the
horse is first mentioned in Egypt, according to the
chronology in our authorised version of the Scriptures,
which gives the lowest calculation), the horse coming
from the wilds of Central Asia would have, in all pro-
bability, undergone considerable changes, but in Job's
time the horse in Arabia was in his grandest form.
134 ^-^^ Arabian Horse
Noah found grace in the sight of God, and was saved
with his house to perpetuate the race of man. He was
not only a just man, but was found ' perfect in his
generations ' (Genesis, chap. vi. verse 9). This I read
simply as it is put, not as it is very generally supposed
to mean, that Noah was a godly and an upright man.
It is written before that he Avas a just man. I think
it implies that Noah and all his ancestry had kept
themselves perfect, had not formed alliances with ' the
daughters of men,' nor taken ' them wives of all which
they chose,' but his generations were to be found
entirely in Seth. The whole of Noah's house was
saved, which consisted of eight souls, for it is not re-
corded that he had sons and daughters besides Shem,
Ham, and Japhet, which is mentioned in the case of
former patriarchs. The race of man was to be carried
on after the Deluge by a family which had no an-
cestral imperfections beyond that inherited from Adam.
Surely it may be believed that the animals which the
Almighty caused to come unto Noah, ' to keep them
alive' for the purpose of replenishing the earth, were
also perfect in their generations, and for like reasons.
The horse being created good, the most perfect speci-
mens being preserved at the general destruction by the
Deluge, it is not inconsistent to suppose the same care
might further provide that some portion of the race
should be kept perfect and from the things tending to
degeneracy. Now, four thousand years after the Flood,
we find the horse in Central Asia in a degenerate form ;
in Arabia in primeval beauty.
Described.
135
CHAPTER 11.
Description of the Arabian horse — Objection taken to the description —
Argument in support of the description — More minute description of
the Arabian horse — Described by different people — Some exceptions
against tlie Arabian — The horse defended — Proofs offered in defence.
' Hast tlrou given the horse strength ? hast thou clotlied his neck witli
thunder ?
Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper ? the glory of his nostrils
is terrible.
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in Jiis strength : he goeth on to
meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ; neither turnetli he back from
th^ sword.
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
He swallovveth the ground with fierceness and rage : neither believeth
he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha ; and he smelleth the battle afar
off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.' — yol>, chap, xxxix.
Notwithstanding the appearance of the Arabian is
generally supposed to be well known, this history would
not be complete unless his features and characteristics
were set forth. And there may still be some who do
not know him, and therefore may be unable to recognise
him in the above sublime description.
It must be remembered it is not Job who speaks, nor
are the words those of man ; Job is standing dumb before
his Maker, and the words are those of the Almighty,
spoken from out of the whirlwind. I find objection has
136 The Arabian Horse
been taken to the passage in the description of the horse
of Arabia, ' Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder ? '
and that it should be his beautiful mane, as no meaning
can be attached to clothing the neck with thunder. I
beg to differ entirely from this ; great force is given, and,
I think, the exact idea intended to be conveyed is ex-
pressed by the word thunder, which ' the beautiful mane '
would not at all express, and which would quite alter the
grandeur of the whole description.
Thunder conveys the idea of great force, awe, and
majesty ; it is lightning, and is emitted with terror.
What term could more aptly express the force, strength,
and beauty of the Arabian horse's neck, especially when
under excitement, and the whole description is of him in
an excited state .'* A neck of a perfect arch, with im-
mense swelling muscles, a splendid large throat, and
windpipe of extraordinary capacity, and all set off by
his beautiful flowing but light and fine mane, darting
out, as the writer has sometimes seen it, like flashes of
electricity, and covering the horse, as it were, with a
glory ; his eyes glowing and emitting flashes of fire and
light ; his nostrils curled up and almost turned inside
out ; the whole head seemingly expressed by eyes and
nostrils, and that set on, or, as it were, darting forth
from his neck of thunder. The description conveys to
my mind and senses a true and vivid picture of that
which my own eyes have seen.
The Arabian is a horse of the highest courage, in
stature about 14 hands 2 inches,^ a horse of length,
' More oRcn a liltlc under than over.
Described. 137
power, and substance, combined with the elastic and
the sinuous-Hke movement of the serpent. He is a very-
perfect animal ; he is not exaggerated — in some parts
large ; meagre and diminished in others. There is a
balance and harmony throughout his frame not seen in
any other horse ; the quintessence of all good qualities
in a compact form.
The beauty of head, ears, eyes, jaw, mouth, and
nostrils, should be seen to be appreciated ; the ears small,
but sufficiently open, pricked, and altogether well-formed;
the head short from the eye to the muzzle, broad and
well-developed above ; the eye peculiarly soft and intel-
ligent when quiescent, emitting light and fire when
roused or excited, but very different to the strained wild
look, and pained, staring expression often seen in Euro-
pean horses ; the nostril long and well chiselled, and
crisp in appearance and to the touch, and capable of
great distension ; the neck is a model of strength and
grandeur, of which he can make a perfect arch. One
feature, the throat, is particularly large and well deve-
loped ; it is loose and pliant when at rest, and much
detached from the rest of the neck. This feature is not
often noticed — indicative not only of good wind, but of
the capability of prolonged exertion without distress ;
great width between the jaws ; shoulders of a slope rarely
seen in English horses, but more powerful, longer,
deeper, and stronger at the base by the withers ; lighter
at the points. He is deep in the chest, the appearance
of which is diminished by his big and deep ribs ; back
short, loins of immense power, and quarters long and
o
8 The Arabian Horse
strong, the whole beautifully turned ; tail set on high
and grandly carried in an arch, powerful in the gaskins ;
hocks and knees very good and large ; these points much
larger than seen in the European horse, not only in pro-
portion to height, but often really so. Arms long, legs
short, hard, and clean ; large tendons and ligaments ;
pasterns sufficiently long, large, powerful, and springy ;
fetlock joints well developed, affiarding room for the ad-
vantageous attachment of ligaments ; feet tough, sound,
and good, and rather deep. An honest heart, a skin as
soft as silk, and a coat like satin.
There is no weediness in the Arab ; his splendid
barrel will at once convince a judge of his wonderful
constitution, and gives the expanse necessary for the play
of heart and lungs ; great power and ability to carry
weight. Stand in front of him ; you will see the swell
and barrel of chest expanding far beyond his shoulders
and width of breast. Look at him from behind ; his
great back ribs extend far beyond his haunches on either
side, whereas in the generality of English horses their
flat sides are contained within the width of the breast,
and are hidden from view when you stand directly in
front ; and so, when you stand behind, are the back ribs
hidden by the quarters. This was not formerly the case.
In examining a sketch of Eclipse, drawn from measure-
ments taken by M. St. Bel, the swell of the barrel is
seen to extend be}'ond the breast and shoulders, showing
at once how correct is the opinion that the modern horse
has deteriorated in outward form.
There is nothing more beautiful to contemplate than
Different to the English Horse. 139
the Arabian horse ; not only does he exhibit perfect
symmetry, but he is a fit emblem of nobility, generosity,
and courage.
The formation of the Arabian is so perfect, there is
nothifig to spare, no waste ; his form is one essentially
of utility : the space for the seat of the rider is suffi-
cient, and at once fixes his true position ; the weight
is therefore carried on that part most adapted for
it. The rest of his frame is taken up with the powers of
progression. Nature, the unerring artist, has not made
a mistake, and man with his improvements has not had
the opportunity of spoiling him. If he be carefully
examined, it will be found that all the limbs of progres-
sion are longer and better placed than in any other
horse ; the scapulae, haunches, thighs, and arms are all
longer, which, added to the power of great flexion, give
great extension, and will explain how the stride of the
Arabian, although under 15 hands, is, at all events,
greater in proportion to his size than that of any other
horse.
Whether we look at the Arabian as a whole, or
analyse his points one by one, you can arrive at no other
conclusion than that he is an animal of perfect form.
It has been truly remarked, the longer he is looked at,
and the more minutely he is examined, the more en-
raptured one becomes, and convinced one is looking at
something genuine. Can this be said of any other
horse .■'
It has been said our thorough-bred horse resem-
bles most the Arabian in the form of his figure, his
1 40 The A radian Horse
limbs, his head, and his countenance. It would be
strange if he did not to a very considerable extent, con-
sidering the important part the Arabian has had in his
origin, but our horse certainly bears the marks of a
mixed race. Let us look at some of the points in which
a difference may be seen between the Arabian and his
descendant, the English horse, where a departure from the
pure model has taken place. In the Arabian, the head,
countenance, ears, eyes, mouth, jaws, are inimitable, and
are not at all approached in beauty by any other breed ;
his neck is more beautiful and grander, and far more
powerful. The shoulders of the Arabian are stronger
than those of the English horse ; the scapulae are broader
at the base, and have a greater inclination backwards ;
are of a better shape. Englishmen think the Arabian's
a heavier shoulder ; it is really, although a more power-
ful, a lighter shoulder than that of the English horse.
English horses are very thin, narrow, and undeveloped
about the withers ; the latter are often high to a fault,
but the bases of the scapulse almost meet ; whereas the
Arabian horse shows some thickness there, and can
better support weight ; but the English horse is heavier
at the shoulder points, and is much wider across the
breast than the Arabian — a formation similar to the
bull-dog ; it is a weak and heavy shoulder compared with
the Arabian's. This broad and heavy breast is a fault
I have frequently seen animadverted upon by a warm
supporter of our English horse. The Arabian will be
seen to barrel and swell out immediately behind the
arms — the English horse is flat there. Here is a direct
Described. 141
departure from the advantageous form of the original
pure blood.
There has also been considerable alteration in the
direction and form of the haunch, which, besides being
a loss of power, is also a sign of want of breeding. The
loins and quarters of the Arabian are more beautiful and
far more powerful ; they can hardly be called his greatest
characteristics, but yet an Arabian might be known by
his hind quarters. Another point, the pasterns, which
in the Arabian are oblique and yielding, are strong
and large in comparison with those of an English
thorough-bred horse, as are all other joints. Youatt
says : 'In the formation of the shoulder, next to
that of the head, the Arab is superior to any other
breed.' Again : ' The shoulder-blade has its proper
inclination backwards. It is thickly clothed with
muscle, but without the slightest appearance of heavi-
ness.' The same author says : ' The chest of the Arab
may, pcrJiaps, be considered too narrow, that being
the opinion of the uninitiated, or of those who have
studied an imperfect and inferior model, whose judgment
has been thereby perverted. But^ says the same writer,
' behind the arms the barrel generally swells out, and
leaves sufficient room for the play of the lungs.' Youatt
is still more emphatic when stating the advantages of
this formation, which gives a broad deep chest : ' It is to
the mixture of Arabian blood that we principally owe
this peculiar and advantageous formation of the chest of
the horse. The Arab is light, some would say too much
so before, but immediately behind the arms the barrel
142 The Arabian Horse
almost invariably swells out, and leaves plenty of room
where it is most zvanted for the play of the lungs, and at
the same time where the weight does not press so exclu-
sively on the fore legs, and expose the feet to concussion
and injury.' This confirms what has been stated of the
perfect symmetry in the Arabian ; everything is in its
proper place.
To fully appreciate the perfection of the Arabian
horse, to the knowledge of a horseman that of an ana-
tomist and painter should be added. By making studies
of him with the pencil it is found with surprise how large
a horse he is, and the difficulty there is of keeping him
within the canvas or paper, and you become assured of
the trueness of his proportions.
Mr. Gififord Palgrave thus describes the Arab horses
in the Imaun's stables at Riad : ' Their stature was in-
deed somewhat low. I do not think that any came fully
up to fifteen hands — fourteen appeared to me about
their average ; but they were so exquisitely well shaped,
that want of greater size seemed hardly, if at all, a
defect. Remarkably full in the haunches, with a
shoulder of a slope so elegant as to make one, in the
words of an Arab poet, " go raving mad about it." A
little, a very little, saddle-backed, just the curve which
indicates springiness without any weakness ; a head
broad above, and tapering down to a nose fine enough
to verify the phrase of " drinking from a pint pot," did
pint pots exist in Nejcd ; a most intelligent and yet a
singularly gentle look ; full c}'e ; sharp, thorn-like little car ;
legs, fore and hind, that seemed as if made of hammered
Described. 143
iron, so clean, and yet so well twisted with sinew ; a
neat round hoof, just the requisite for hard ground ; the
tail set-on, or rather thrown out, at a perfect arch ; coat
smooth, shining, and light ; the mane long, but not over-
grown nor heavy. Their appearance justified all reputa-
tion, all value, all poetry.
' But if asked what are, after all, the specially distinc-
tive points of the Nejdee horse, I should reply, the slope
of the shoulder, the extreme cleanness of the shank, and
the full rounded haunch ; though every other part, too,
has a perfection and a harmony unwitnessed (at least by
my eyes) anywhere else.
' The peculiar obliquity of the shoulder-blade gave
them an easy^ springy movement, which, combined
with their splendid barrel, immense haunches, superbly
set tail, delicate muzzle, and magnificent crest, made
them the beau ideal of a horse.'
The following is the description of Major Gwatkin's
Arab horse. Barefoot, considered by Mr, Elliott as the
best specimen of the Arabian he had met with in India.
It is very characteristic, and is almost identical with the
preceding more general description : ' Barefoot is of the
Nejdee caste, eight years old, 14 hands -2 inches ; is a
silvery grey, with a dark skin, blood head, full eye, large
throttle, light neck ; the shoulders are flat, with the
muscular lines very distinct ; withers well raised ; a
good arm, leg flat, and the sinews large and well de-
tached from the bone ; pastern of a moderate length.
His back and loins are particularly beautiful, and convey
the idea of great strength. His quarters are finely
144 The Arabian Horse
turned and very muscular. His temper is exceedingly-
good. When led out to start, he appears to great ad-
vantage, full of fire, yet very temperate ; and when at
work no horse could evince more vigour and determined
courage. Other similar examples might be shown of
the Arabian as known in India, and among them the
beautiful and equally good Little Honeysuckle.'
A gentleman to whom I am much indebted, and who
has for many years been in constant intercourse with
the Bedouin Sheiks from Nejed, thus speaks of the
Arabian : ' The Arab, although less swift for a short dis-
tance, is certainly stouter than the English thorough-bred
horse ; his stride is greater in proportion to their size.'
The English thorough-breds are certainly flatter,
more lathy, and of less swelling development than the
best Arabians. The Arabians have longer shoulder-
blades in proportion to height, and it is only the first
blood of England that comes near the Arabian in obli-
quity. Muscle starts out of the Arabian in a way I
never saw in the best trained English racer. Bone is of
a closer texture, more heavy when a cubic inch of each
is weighed. First-class Arabians have as large hocks as
English horses ; their feet as a rule larger. All good
Arabians have the same high, full, and long quarters,
and tail set-on high and carried well. Nejed is a coun-
try where the best horses are to be found.
Abd-el-Kader thus describes the Arabian : ' Every
horse of noble race fascinates the eyes and rivets the gaze
of the enthusiastic spectator. In a pure bred Arabian
the moral and physical qualities are inseparable one
Described. 145
from the other.' The truth and faithfuhiess of this can-
not fail to be recognised by any who know the Ara-
bian horse.
I give an account of an Arabian sent as a present to
the late Emperor of the French from Abd-el-Kader, after
his residence had been fixed at Damascus : it was written,
no doubt, by one more conversant with European horses
than Arabians. ' The horse Emir is eight years old, colour
brown, with a very silky skin, three white fetlocks ; some
white, but not too much, about his face. He has some
white spots about the size of a small pea on his neck
and shoulders. He stands fourteen hands one inch
high, has a good, long, lean head, well set-on ; ears
slender, his eye mild and intelligent, his mane and tail
light and the hair fine; a handsome straight, strong neck-
longer than one generally sees with other Arabs ; his
shoulders are long and well laid-in, each of those points
showing much quality. He has great legs and quarters,
ribs and back wide to a degree ; hoofs black, strong,
wide at the heels, and deep ; joints large ; knees and
hocks very good. He is all over a remarkably strong,
thick-made horse ; but to my taste too thick to be
speedy, and sinks a little too much upon his fetlocks, but
we cannot have perfection ; his action is more elastic
than might be expected from a horse of his build and
strength. He is as gentle as a sheep, without being
dull ; he looks like what we would call a craving but
very aristocratic animal.' ^
' This horse has been described as of the race Kohel-Obaion ; probably
his sire was Keheilan and his dam Abeyan, or vice versa. See account
of various families, Chap. III., Part 3.
L
146 The Arabian Horse
I venture to offer a few remarks. The writer is at a
loss to understand how so strong and powerful a horse
can have speed, although he sees and admits his action
to be elastic. If he had been more conversant with
Arabians, he would have known that the rare combina-
tion of points to be found only in the Arabian, permits
of a horse being strong, powerful, enabled to carry-
weight, and with good speed, and all done with light
and elastic action. And why object to his springy
and elastic pasterns, — the means provided by nature to
secure his good action, and preserve him from accidents }
Has not rather the European eye been perverted by
studying a false and imperfect model .'' I think, too, he
must have been mistaken in the long head. The Flying
Dutchman, who was more distinguished for elastic action
and for springy pasterns than "perhaps any other English
race horse, was a sound horse ; and I have seen it no-
ticed that upon one occasion, when trainers were only
allowing their horses to take gentle canters, and for
short distances, Fobert was sending the Dutchman over
the hard ground four-mile gallops ; but, as was remarked,
lie was one of the very fezv sound ones.
But the Arab is so small ! is the remark made by
many of his detractors. He is low in stature, but is no
weed. He is not a small, but really a large horse.
Those who do not know the Arab cannot understand
this ; they say, if a horse 14^ hands has as much power
as one 15^ or 16 hands, he must be out of proportion ;
they are ever guided by the English standard. They see
the pretty galloways or ponies in London or Paris about
Described. 147
14 hands or a little over, perhaps capable of carrying
eight or nine stone; and therefore argue, the Arab being
about the same height, it is the same with him ; but
Arabs are master of more than a light weight, and have
done some wonderful things under very heavy weights.
A member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
thus speaks of an Arab 14 hands i inch, he had the
opportunity of seeing a few years ago ; he might not
have seen many Arabs, yet his knowledge of anatomy
enabled him at once to appreciate the horse : * I con-
sider him better able to carry fourteen stone than many
horses that measure fifteen hands, and more elastic and
easy to ride ; his hind quarters are longer and bigger
than some horses at sixteen hands. I believe him to be
the most perfect Jiorsc I have ever seen! Here we have
the acknowledgment from a professional man — who,
after some thirty years' experience, during which period
he must have seen some of the elite of England — that the
one little Arab stranger, not a selected horse, was
the most perfect specimen of the equine race he had
met with ; and further, a declaration that in an animal
of 14 hands i inch actual greater size was found than in
many of 16 hands, yet with a perfect form. A small
horse is not necessarily a weed ; and one apparently
very large may be in reality a small horse, may be light
and weedy ; another may be big, coarse, and weedy.
An overgrown horse, although he may have powerful
shoulders and quarters, big limbs and large bone, if he
fails in his middle piece and loins — which is very often
the case— is weedy. He is not in harmony ; he lacks
148 The Arabian Horse.
the constitutional powers to work his large frame. A
small light horse, with light and sloping shoulders, with
powerful quarters and thighs, and even with great depth
of chest, may also be a weed, from being deficient in
barrel, flat and narrow instead of a swelling develop-
ment, and faulty in the loins. These horses may have
speed, they may be prepared and win a race, but they
are not the horses that would have won races a hundred
years ago.
It may be called heresy, but it is nevertheless true,
that very many of our celebrated modern racers are
and have been nothing more nor less than weeds.
Others have said, the Arab's weak points are his
shoulders, and his paces are bad ; nothing less than
execrable. The paces of a horse (except the gallop)
are very much what the rider makes them.
Arabs have little or no trouble taken with their educa-
tion. In India they are taught to walk badly, to step
at a short contracted pace, by their being constantly,
and sometimes for weeks together, led by their syces
(grooms) at the rate of about two miles an hour. It is
hardly fair to blame a horse for the very faults man has
taught him. I suppose one would not be far wrong in
saying that ninety out of every hundred men who ride
are carried as their horses choose to go — not as their
riders like. If a horse trots, his rider is content to go at
a trot ; if he canters, the rider concludes he cannot trot.
So it is with the Arab ; he has been taught a cramped
action before at a walk. When his owner gets up, instead
of correcting the errors that have been forced upon his
His Action. 149
horse, he contents himself by saying no Arab can walk.
The horse has probably never been tried at a trot ; there-
fore it is said he cannot trot. I affirm that the Arabian
can walk, trot, and gallop. I have possessed some that
would walk five miles an hour, and certainly one that
could do that pace at the rate of six or more miles in
the hour. The fastest trotter I ever rode, or perhaps
have ever seen, unless among trained trotters, was an
Arab.
Even the detractors of the Arab allow that he will
gallop at speed with ease and in safety over broken and
rough ground. This is certain proof that his shoulders
are not faulty, and a most incontestable proof that they
are very perfect. Besides this, I will give two illustra-
tions which will, I think, convince any liorscman that
the Arab must have good and perfect shoulders. Most
must have noticed when riding on the grass by the side
of roads, how constantly their horses are putting their
feet into the grips, or on the edge of them, which have
been cut to carry off the water, and which, it would
appear, they were incapable of avoiding, jerking and
shaking their own limbs, and making it unpleasant for
their riders. I have known Arabs, on the contrary,
either at a canter or a trot, avoid these grips and
obstacles by a most nimble management of their legs
either extending one shoulder and leg beyond the grip
or putting one foot neatly down before concluding the
usual length of pace. The other is the ability Arabs
have of playing with their forefeet, even when at a
tolerably smart gallop. If a bird or insect, no matter
150 The Arabian Horse.
how small, suddenly flies across their path, without
stopping they will make a pat at it, like a kitten playing
with a ball. Such feats, I hold, cannot possibly be
performed except by a horse with good shoulders and a
free use of them ; bad shoulders and galloping bring
the legs to grief See the amount of galloping the
Arab's legs can stand.
Galloping one of my own Arabs at more than three-
quarter speed on the race-course at Amballah, the horse
put his near fore foot into a fox's or rat's hole — such
holes were very numerous ; this let him down in depth
to his knee, but did not bring him down — it scarcely
made a difference in his stride — good shoulders or bad.
I will give another instance, which, I think, displays
not only the high courage of the Arabian, but his
wonderful power and activity. The Arab I was riding,
jackal-hunting, would have been considered an old
horse in England. He could not have seen less than
twenty summers, had been a racer, had gone through two
campaigns as a charger, but his legs were as straight
and clean as a foal's. After a kill, when riding slowly
homewards, we came to the bank of a nullah. Some
thought the bottom looked suspicious. I pushed my
horse down, and was immediately up to the hips of my
horse in quicksands. I would have got off if I could,
but the horse never gave me a chance ; his bounds and
springs can only be described as astonishing ; he lifted
himself straight up out of the treacherous soil over and
over again, only to be again engulfed ; still he did not
give up, nor fall over, or succumb, and finally landed
His Action. 151
on a sounder bit. We escaped. I could not have
believed any animal could have displayed such strength ;
formerly on several occasions I had been bogged on
Dartmoor, and • have subsequently on forest lands in
England, but I never found a horse behave under me
like the old Arab. Five minutes afterwards there was
a whimper, an indication of a find ; the gallant old
horse's head was up, his beautiful little ears pricked ;
he was dancing on his legs, anticipating another gallop.
As to the action of the Arabian, it is very well de-
scribed by the writer of an able article who signed
himself ' Picador.' ' Sit easily and flexibly on him, put
your hands down, and set him going, and then you will
experience a sensation delightful to the man who
really can ride : he will bound along with you with
a stride and movement that gives you the idea of riding
over india-rubber.'
1 5 2 The A rabian Horse.
CHAPTER III.
The boundaries of the Arab people — Tlie Arabian horse and his habitat
further discussed — Arab horses in Africa ; but horses called Barbs not
generally of pure Arabian blood — Confusion existing as to the Arabian
horse, owing to the use of improper terms — Egypt and Turkey not the
habitat of the Arabian — Different terms explained — One breed of
Arabians — The several families discussed, and the tribes who jDossess
them — Apparent discrepancies in the accounts of travellers explained.
'Who can tell Avhere the Arab dwelleth, or who has marked out the
boundaries of his people ? ' — IVarbtirtoii.
From Diarbekr in the north, to Hadramaut in the
south, from the Euphrates and even the Tigris, to
the western coast of Africa, is Arabic spoken, more or
less ; and every part of this vast district is traversed
by the Arabs or their descendants.' But our present
business is with the Arabian horse and his habitat. Mr.
Layard mentions the horses of tlie Shammar tribe who
were frequently about him during his excavations at
Nineveh, and speaks with the greatest admiration of
some of their mares. Sofuk, then their sheikh, was
possessed of a mare of matchless beauty, and Kubleh,
her dam, was still more celebrated for her speed and
powers of endurance, and was known from the sources
of Khabour to the end of the Arabian promontory.
' It must not be thought that Arabian horses arc common, or to be
found throughout this district, or wherever Arabic may be spoken.
His Habitat. 153
The Shammar migrated from Central Arabia about
two hundred years ago. Being pushed by subsequent
emigrations, they crossed the Euphrates, and are to be
found principally between that river and the Tigris,
known as Mesopotamia. Here we have the Arab and
his horse in the most north-eastern district. Mr. Gififord
Palgrave speaks of him in Nejed, which is the central
highland of Arabia proper ; Abd-el-Kader and General
Daumas speak of him in Africa, or the most westerly
part of the Arab's possessions. But all horses from
the north of Africa are not Arabs. Barbs, properly
speaking, are common horses on the coasts or northern
parts of Africa, of Arabian origin, but of mixed
blood, and very inferior, yet are often, although falsely,
called Arabs. There is no reason to doubt that the
horses of the Sahara are the pure and unmixed de-
scendants of the importation from the parent country ;
and when in Africa some years ago the writer saw one
or two horses, evidently pure Arabian, and entirely
different from common Barbs. So, again, on the borders
of Syria, in Irak, Khuzistan, and Kurdistan, are to be
found horses of mixed blood, generally called Arabs,
often sold and bought as such ; and being sometimes of
taller grozvtJi, but always less beautiful and far inferior
to the Arabian, are often even preferred by the Euro-
pean; and from the eastern side of the Persian Gulf,
horses of mixed blood are often passed as Arabs.
Could a stranger form a correct idea of the English
thorough-bred horse, if he had only seen the hacks let
out for hire at our sea-side places of resort }
154 '^^^^ Arabian Horse.
Much confusion exists with regard to Arab horses.
This has arisen partly from the vast districts occupied
and traversed by the Arabs, partly from the misapplica-
tion of terms and words. A man possessing an Arab
horse says he is of such and such a breed, instead of
saying, of such a family of the Arabian breed ; and
therefore it has got about that there are upwards of
a hundred different breeds of Arabian horses. It is not
unfrequent to hear people speak of horses as Egyptian,
Syrian, or Turkish Arabs. If it were intended to convey
the idea that such horses were of pure Arab blood,
only foaled or bought in those countries, they might be
simply styled Arabs ; but as it really infers that they
are not of pure Arabian blood they should simply be
called Egyptian, &c. With the exception of horses
sent as gifts very occasionally to the Sultan at Con-
stantinople, or the Viceroy in Egypt, let it be most
distinctly understood there are no Arabians in Egypt or
Turkey. The Arabian is not the horse of either country.
The Egyptian is the degenerated horse of Egypt crossed
with the horse of Dongola, the English horse, and also
the Arab, and is as mixed as most European breeds.
The terms Nejed or Nejdee, and Anezah, as applied
to Arabian horses, have led to much confusion and pro-
duced many doubts. It has been generally supposed
they implied two separate breeds of horses, rival breeds
by some, a superior and inferior by others, or that they
were the horses of two great rival tribes. Some will
tell you the Nejdee is the onl}' pure Arabian, others that
the Anezah is the best.
His Habitat. 1 5'5
These doubts and conflicting statements have arisen,
I do not doubt, from a want of knowledge of the country
of Arabia, and correct information of its people and its
horses. Nejed is the name of a country or district in
Arabia ; but is neither the name of a breed of horses,
nor of any particular tribe ; and probably that district
discussed at the commencement of the first chapter, in
which the horse was kept free from the causes of de-
generacy which has befallen the horse in other parts
of the world ; or, as Mr. Palgrave has aptly put it, ' In
Nejed is the true birthplace of the Arab steed — the
primal type, the authentic model.'
Every horse bred in Nejed, or bred by any of the
tribes of Nejed, may be called correctly a Nejdee, or a
horse of Nejed ; not, I think, implying any difference in
race and blood from an Anezah horse, but solely as a
distinction from the horses of other tribes than those
of Nejed, such as the Shammar, although they possess
horses of the same blood as those in Nejed ; and most
distinctly in opposition to all horses of mixed blood on
the borders or outskirts of Arabia.
The horses of the Great Anezah and other Bedouin
tribes of Nejed, of which there are several (Mr. Pal-
grave enumerates twelve), are essentially Nejdee horses.
The Great Anezah is sub-divided into many families ;
and from among them the Gomassa have, perhaps, the
best horses in the known world. In describing a horse
as an Anezah, or, still further, as a Gomassa, it is not
implied that he is not Nejdean, but he is particularised
as a Nejdean horse of the Great Anezah tribe, of the
156 The Arabiaji Horse.
S'bah division of the Gomassa family ; in the same
way as the English horse, Saunterer, for instance, in
male descent, might be described of the Darley Arabian
line, of the Waxy family, of the Birdcatcher branch. I
am assured that many horses in the stables of the
Imaun of the Wahabees have been obtained from the
Bedouin, especially the Anezah, either purchased, or by
tribute, or as gifts.' The blood in Nejed and among
other Bedouin is the same.
I believe there is really but one breed of Arabian
horses, although many families. There are five principal
families, not breeds, derived from five celebrated mares.
They are usually styled Seglawi, Keheilan, Abeyan,
Hadban, and Hamdami. No allusion is intended to
the tale of five mares ridden by Mohammed and his
followers ; which I believe to be a European invention.
The Arabian horse existed thousands of years before
Mohammed's time ; besides, the Arabs say, as was
before mentioned, that his one follower rode on a camel.
The Bedouin would scorn any horse or mare that
could not be traced back to these five families. Certain
specific adjuncts to these names indicate first-class
animals, or the best specimens of the five families or
varieties ; other specific names denote second-class
animals ; and an absence of a distinguishing name to
the generic, implies the animals are of the third class.
The numerous divisions that have sprung from these
' As the Ibn Sawood, the ruling family of the Wahabees at Riad, is of
Anezah origin, the first being a Sheik of the Sebaa, this may be the
more readily received.
His Habitat. 157
five families have derived their names from their owners,
from the events that made them famous, or from some
personal quality: as Seglawi Jedran, from the name
of the owner ; Keheilan-Abu-Argub (Father of Hocks),
Abu-Jenub (Father of Flanks), and Keheilan-ras-el-
Fedawi (The Headstrong). This was the family from
whence came the renowned Darley Arabian. There
is no crossing implied by breeding indiscriminately
among the five famihes, the blood is identical, and the
foal takes the name of the variety of the dam ; thus
a colt or filly whose dam was a Seglawi, and whose
sire was Keheilan, would be Seglawi. Animals of the
first class are those only which are the produce of both
horses and mares of the first class, nor will this alone
suffice ; for if the colt or filly were possessed of any
unlucky marks, or should they fail to come up to a
certain standard, they are not considered first-class, are
not allowed the specific adjunct of their dam, but drop
into the third class, and retain their generic name only.
None but first-class horses are allowed for first-class
mares, and when an inferior horse (not one of less pure
blood) has through inadvertence or by accident covered
a mare of the first class, such a mare is herself lost to
her class, and becomes of the second, as does her
ofispring. This is how a second cla^s has been esta-
blished.
The most esteemed from the five families are Seglawi-
Jedran, Keheilan-Adjuz, Abeyan - Sherrak, Hadban -
Enzehi, and Hamdami-Simri. The varieties of the
Keheilan are the most numerous, and many of them
158 The Arabiau Horse.
are first-class besides Keheilan-Adjuz, as, for instance,
Maneghi-Hedrudj, Keheilan-Abu-Argub, Keheilan-Abu-
Jenub, and Keheilan-ras-el-Fedawi.
The second-class Seglawi are Seglawi-Obeiran and
Seglawi-Arjibi, formed, as before-mentioned, by ac-
cident. So there is one breed of Arabian horses, five
distinguished families ; most of these divided into three
classes. Many of the third class have their own specific
adjuncts, and I have no doubt they would amount
to over one hundred, but these are not separate breeds ;
and although the blood is the same, one would naturally
prefer animals of the select Arab class.
Arabian horses are to be found among most, if not
all, of the Bedouin tribes, in greater or less numbers,
and also among the resident population in Nejed, but
would hardly be so numerous among the latter, as the
nobles or wealthy only would possess them. The
Imaun of the Wahabees, his sons and officers, have
their separate studs.
The five different families of horses are also possessed
indiscriminately by different Bedouin tribes, but all do
not necessarily possess horses of each variety. The
Shammar are principally located in Mesopotamia. The
Mawali, a small tribe, are generally to be found between
Aleppo, Palmyra, and Damascus ; the Wcldi on the
borders of Mesopotamia ; the Weldi Ali always east of
Damascus ; the Beni-Sachar and Salhaan east of Jeru-
salem, and on the banks of the Jordan ; some few
smaller tribes have settled and taken to agriculture.
The Great Anezah, or Anezah proper, describe an
The Great Anezah. 159
annual circuit. Coming up from Nejed to near Aleppo
in the spring they cross the desert to the Euphrates, and
return into Nejed for the winter. They are the largest
and most powerful of all tribes, and have by far the
greatest number of horses. They are divided into
several tribes, and these again into sections or sub-
divisions. The Fedan-Anezah has nine divisions : Me-
hed, the people of Jedaan (a well-known chief), Tooenis,
Ajajara, Roas, Shmeilat, Griebat, Roaba, and Hrisa ;
this last is, I believe, subdivided. Then there are Jelas,
Roala, Seloot, Erfuddi, Shumlan, Hayaza, and Ibu-
Haddal ; the Amarat, Magin, Serdyeh, Tiar, and He-
senneh. Last, but not the least important among the
Anezah, is the Sebaa, with its seven divisions — Duam,
Abideh, Ishhoieh, Mooeneh, Gomassa, Mooajeh, and
Beaieh. If not the most numerous, they have the re-
putation of being the wealthiest of all tribes, possessing
enormous herds and flocks, and they can muster 12,000
horsemen.
The apparent discrepancy between this account and
that which has been frequently asserted and generally
accepted, is not difficult of explanation. Some writers
have mentioned that there are upwards of one hundred
breeds of Arabian horses, but it is generally sup-
posed there are three distinct breeds ; the first pure, the
second of mixed blood, and the third with no claim
to gentle breeding, although, rather contradictorily, it is
admitted a good deal of the choice blood is distributed
among animals of that breed ; and, lastly, that the
Nejdean horse is the best or of the highest type.
i6o The Arabian Horse.
First, the numerous subdivisions which have been
derived from the classes formed from the before-men-
tioned five celebrated families, and most of them with
specific names, would account for the broad assertion
that there are numerous breeds.
Secondly, the three classes, according to the nice
discrimination of the Bedouin (although of the same
blood), would explain the statement that there are
three distinct breeds ; which statement, made in good
faith, has nevertheless misled many, and caused much
confusion; but only required a little further investiga-
tion to get at the bottom of it. The first, stated as pure,
from the fact that, except through inadvertence, mares
of the first class are never covered by any but accepted
stallions of the first class. The second breed, mentioned
as being of mixed blood, from the fact that mares of
the second class are continually being put to horses of
the first ; the mares often being sent long distances.
Thirdly, the rather contradictory description that the
horses of the third breed have no claim to gentle breed-
ing, although they have a good deal of choice blood
distributed among them, is quite explained by the fact
that the third class is made up from horses and mares
of the first, which have failed in some requirements,
and perhaps sometimes from no authentic notice having
been taken of their birth, although of the same identical
blood.
And fourthly, that the horses of Nejed are best, and
reared in the remoter parts of the desert, from the very
evident circumstance that the Anezah possess the
His Habitat. 1 6 1
greatest number, and the best horses in Arabia, and
that they do come from Nejed, and that they are indeed
a part of the population of Nejed, and when wandering,
as a rule keep within the more remote parts of the
desert, avoiding as far as possible all intercourse with
the Turks, whom they dislike and despise.
Although representatives of the five families are dis-
tributed indiscriminately among the different tribes, it
is necessary to know where to go for the best of each
kind. Keheilans are to be found in all tribes. The
Shammar in Mesopotamia have principally Hellawis,
which are a third class of Keheilan. Of course there
are some horses of the first class in their possession ;
and these have not been overdrawn by Mr. Layard, for
the celebrated Anezah sheik Jedaan rode a mare con-
stantly, which had been given him by the Shammar
sheik, because she was unsurpassed in speed and
bottom, so that he might not fall into the hands of the
Shammar — the two sheiks having been playmates in
their boyhood's days. But the Shammar have a bad
name. They have Kurds and Persians in their close
proximity, who would always be ready to pass off an
animal of mixed breed as an Arab.
The number of first-class animals among small tribes,
such as the Mowali, must necessarily be small. For-
merly at feud with the Anezah, but latterly often on
friendly terms with them, they might have an oppor-
tunity of acquiring horses, or of breeding from their
first-class horses.
The Fedan Anezah is a great fighting tribe, and use
M
1 62 The Arabian Horse.
and consume a great number of horses. They have
very fine horses, and some of these must sometimes fall
into other hands ; their consumption in horseflesh is
so great that they often have to buy from other tribes.
The Roala and Ibu Haddal Anezah are well-horsed
tribes ; but of all, the Sebaa Anezah is the tribe for
horses, and of their seven subdivisions the Gomassa
have the reputation of possessing the finest horses in
the world. The Seglawi Jedran is found in its greatest
perfection among the Gomassa. The Fedan Anezah
possess also two families. The Gomassa have also
the best Abeyans and the best Maneghi : this latter
a first-class subdivision of the Keheilan.
Although horses of equal beauty and perfection are
to be found in all five families, the Seglawi Jedran may
be the favourite among Bedouin, and, perhaps, the most
famous.
i63
PART 3.
CHAPTER I.
The Arabian considered as a racer — Characteristics of Arab racing — His
speed considered — Account of various races contested by Arabs in
India — Racing sometimes slower in England — The normal speed of
Arabs increased by a better system of training — No effort made to
secure the importation of the best Arab horse — The European idea' of
size detrimental to the importation of good Arabs — Ibraheen-bin-Alee
and Honeysuckle — The Arabs King David and Antelope.
Having discussed both the Enghsh horse of the Stud
Book and the Arabian — the former having been clearly-
shown to be nothing more than a registered half-bred,
while the latter is the real aristocrat and the true noble,
always bearing in mind the necessity of pure breeding
for the attainment of great excellence — we will proceed
to consider how advantageous it would be to employ
the Arabian : first, to establish a pure breed in this
country ; secondly, how admirably he is adapted to
raise the character of half-bred stock for the purpose
of field sports and for the army, even supposing that
horses of such pure blood might not become available
for both such purposes.
First, as a racer. It is said, and will be said again,
the Arab is a small animal, and without speed, there-
164 The Arabian Horse.
fore incapable of either being a racer or of begetting
racing stock. This is a frequent assertion. Let us see if
it holds good. Our horse which we call thorough- bred,
' our terribly high-bred racer,' is the Arab's half-bred
descendant ; the Arab has, in fact, made a breed of
racers by the infusion of his blood into a very inferior
breed. This part of the subject might be dismissed
after the following w^ords. Our racer, such as he is, is
a living witness of the Arabian's capability to found
and create a breed of racers. He has made a breed
of racers in spite of the many inferior strains of blood
that he has had to combat with ; it is only reasonable
to believe that had his blood been used alone, with the
same advantages in cultivation and selection that have
been bestowed upon his half-bred descendant, his pure-
bred descendants would have exhibited greater excel-
lence.
As a racer himself the Arabian possesses every na-
tural gift and qualification — courage, docility, temper,
endurance, good and untiring action, great determina-
tion, nervous energy, and speed ; for a horse that can
run tv/o miles under Derby Course weights in 3 min.
48 sees, cannot truly be called a slow horse or devoid
of speed. The speed exhibited by Arabians on the
race-course may be termed their normal speed, in con-
tradistinction to the artificial speed of the English racer,
because he has not been bred generation after generation
as a racer or for the sole sake of speed ; but sitcJi Arab
horses as Jiavc come to hand have shown this rate of
speed and also ability to maintain a high rate of speed.
A Racer. 165
The Arab will run an honest and true horse from end to
end ; he stands training for years ; his temper' is so good,
a large field can be sent from the post without difficulty
the first time. Close finishes, severe struggles, dead
heats, and not unfrequently dead heats after dead
heats, are the characteristics of Arab racing. Open the
pages of the ' Oriental Sporting Magazine,' and almost
every start of Arabs is described as being got off in
capital order the first time of asking — in the usual way,
in fact. Then he is so kind and so generous ! In his
compact form is also contained every requisite for com-
bined speed and strength — the broad, deep, and swelling
chest (the most desirable for rapid progression), length in
the right place, length of shoulders, length of quarters,
length in his arms, immense power to work the parts of
motion, and great nervous energy to excite the power ;
and, owing to his true symmetry, he has nothing super-
fluous to carry. All these points are more conspicuous
and more developed in the Arabian than in any other
horse. He has more length in proportion to size, and
more power, is a bigger, larger, and far more powerful
animal than our thorough-bred, in proportion to size.
He does not open his mouth and drop his bit when you
ask him to do his best, (It is worthy of consideration
whether this trait has not been on the increase the last
decade or two.) His heart is all right, and in the right
place, which, with his sound constitution and his perfect
formation, enables him not only to struggle to the end
of his race, but to come out day after day.
The best criterion we have of the speed of the Arabian
1 66 The Arabian Horse.
is from his performances on the Indian turf There he
has met Enghsh racers and his descendants from Aus-
traha (thorough-bred as our horse) ; and although his
speed has been inferior as a rule, instances are not
wanting in which he has been the victor over English
horses of racing blood ; and even when beaten, has
proved his superiority as a horse ; for after having
struggled with unflinching gameness to the end against
greater speed, the vanquished has been none the worse,
and has come out the next day, and day after day, and
won ; whereas the victor or victress has been unable to
put in an appearance. But it is argued only second or
third-class racers have found their way to India ! Will
any man be bold enough to say that the best Arabians
have ever appeared on an Indian racecourse either ?
Even there he is under as many disadvantages as the
English horse ; and his performances, good as they are,
can hardly be considered as fair tests of what the speed
and running of some Arabians may be ; certainly does
not limit what it might be brought to, if they were care-
full)^ bred for racers for a generation or two. First of
all, in India one is dependent for Arabs upon mer-
chants, who import them often without a guarantee as
to their antecedents or ancestry ; and although some
Arabians do go to India, there are many that are called
Arabs which are not Arabs. Besides, many of the best
that do get there are never seen on a race-course, or do
not appear until well in years and accustomed to other
work (and it is well known in England bringing an aged
horse out, cv^en if he had previously been a racer, proves
A Racer. 167
a failure), their owners keeping them for their own
use as hog-hunters, riding-horses, or chargers. Then
only Jiorses are imported ; and as it has been found that
EngHsh mares run much better than horses in India, it
is just possible that Arabian mares might also run better
than horses in that country. This is no doubt owing to
climate, especially in Bengal, and perhaps Madras, for
the often humid climate of Bengal is as great a change
for the Arab as to the English horse, or greater ; for
in Arabia, although under a burning sun, he has been
accustomed to a dry, bracing, exhilarating, and pecu-
liarly pure air, unknown in our island. But from among
such Arabs as go to India, when running among them-
selves, can anyone say that they do not possess the
highest merits as race-horses .'' Possessed of speed only
inferior, as a rule, to the carefully-bred racers of Eng-
land, but combined with stoutness, which enables them
to run continuously races of any distance in as good
time as is often seen in England.
The race-courses in India are measured to a yard, and
I believe at the distance of one foot only from the inner
circle, thus giving the shortest possible amount of
ground a horse can go over. The following instances
of time and distance (taken from the ' Oriental Sporting
Magazine '), will prove the claim of the Arabian to be
considered a race-horse :— At Calcutta, January 1 847,
the gray Arab horse. The Baron, aged, ran \ mile, at
8 St. 7 lb., in 54 sees., which is considered the average
rate for a \ mile, the \ mile being continually accom-
plished in 26 sees. But it is recorded that at Soone-
1 68 The Arabian Horse.
poore in 1844, the gray Arab, Sir Hugh, did the first
\ mile for the Soonepoore Cup in 51 sees. ; and at the
same place and following year the bay Arab Oranmore
beat Sir Hugh, doing the \ mile in 52 sees. At Cal-
cutta, 1847, the bay Arab horse. The Child of the
Islands, 6 years, did | mile, carrying 8 st. 7 lb., in i min.
21 sees., beating among others the English horse Ignis
Fatuus (by Slane out of Deception), the English mare
Morgiana, and the New South Wales mare Greenmantle,
carrying 9 st, 7 lbs. each. The three quarters were run
in 26 sees., 28 sees., 27 sees. At Calcutta, 1847, the bay
Arab horse Minuet, 5 years, ran i mile in i min. 50 sees.,
carrying 8 st. 3 lbs. ; this being the last mile of the race,
for the Civilian Cup 2\ miles : Minuet beating among
others the English mare Morgiana, and the New South
Wales mare Greenmantle without difficulty — the weights
are not given. The gray Arab Brag carrying 9 stone,
ran a mile at Allyghur in 1845 in i min. 51 sees. The
Child, carrying 8 st. 13 lbs., also ran a mile in that
time at Calcutta, 1847; the same year he ran the same
distance in the same time, beating the English mare
Cossack Maid, carrying 8 st. 11 lbs., the Arab carrying
8 st. 10 lbs. At Calcutta, 1847, the bay Arab horse
Glaucus, aged, ran i^ mile, cariying 9 st. 7 lbs., in
2 min. 22 sees. At Calcutta, in 1S47, the bay Arab horse.
The Child of the Islands, 5 years old, ran i-^ mile, carrying
7 st. 8 lbs., in 2 min. 48 sees., coming home too in a hand
gallop. At Calcutta, 1847, the gray Arab horse Elepoo,
aged, ran i| mile, carrying 8 st. 4 lbs., in 3 min. 20 sees.,
beating Morgiana, 9 st. 2 lbs. At Calcutta, in 1848,
Honeysuckle, Minttet, and Seliin. 1 69
the grey Arab horse Honeysuckle, about 14 hands
I inch, ran 2 miles, carrying 8 st, in 3 min. 48 sees.,
beating the English mare Morgiana, New South Wales
mare Greenmantle, and The Child of the Islands, carry-
ing 9 St. This race was the fastest for the distance
hitherto run by an Arab. The next month Honeysuckle,
carrying 8 st. 11 lbs., ran also 2 miles in 3 min. 50 sees,
(several persons making the time 3 min. 48 sees again),
beating Minuet, 8 st. 13 lbs., and Elepoo, 7 st. 13 lbs.
At Calcutta, the bay Arab horse Minuet, in 1848,
ran 2\ miles, carrying 8 st. 7 lbs. in 4 min. 19 sees.,
winning without difficulty, beating The Child of the
Islands, the New South Wales mare Greenmantle, and
the English mares Morgiana and Cossack Maid at 8 st.
7 lbs., 9 St. 9 lbs., 9 St. 4 lbs., and 8 st. 5 lbs. respectively.
At Calcutta, 1841, the grey Arab horse Glendower ran
2\ miles, carrying 8 st. 8 lbs., in 4 min. ^'^ sees.
At Calcutta January 3, 1846, the bay Arab horse
Selim, aged, ran 3 miles, carrying 9 st. 5 lbs., in 5 min,
54 sees. This was the quickest three miles run by an
Arab. These instances, showing that the Arabian can
maintain nearly his highest rate of speed from end to end
in 3 miles, surely prove him to possess the highest
qualities of a racer, and show that his natural speed is
by no means contemptible. It is remarked, Selim
would have proved a first-rate racer, had he been
entered young on the Turf; but he was used as a hog-
hunter until aged.
The performances of the Arab Gray-leg will give
some idea of the continuous runninfj of Arabians. He
1 70 The Arabian Horse.
was 14 hands if inch in height; he was never out
of training for 7 years, from 1861 to 1868 ; he ran
80 times and won 5 i races at all distances, and under
all weights. At Bombay, 1864, he won the Forbes
Stakes, 2 miles, beating the English mare Shah Rook
and the Australian Van Diemen ; he also won a handi-
cap i-^ mile, beating the English mare Mary Glen, 9 st.
each.
The gray Arab Hermit is another example of speed,
weight, carrying power, and continuance. He won dur-
ing his career 32 races, besides 2 disputed ones, which he
had won with ease. At Calcutta, 1862, won the Trades
Plate, \\ mile, carrying 10 st. 4 lbs., beating five others, in
2 min. 56 sees. Next day a cup, with 9 st. 3 lb. up. Then
came his celebrated race Avith the English mare Voltige
and three others, two of which, the Walers Sampson
and Ellerton, were horses of note ; he was beaten by
Voltige, it is true, but the Arab was fresh and well
the next day, and came out and won his race in style ;
whereas the English mare declined a fresh encounter.
The race for the Trades Cup is thus described : — ' They
came by the stand, Voltige leading, Sampson second,
and Hermit (the Arab) third ; having done the first
quarter in 26 sees. Almost immediately after, Hermit
ran up to the mare, and remained with her, doing the
mile in i min. 52 sees. Soon after this the others were
out of the race, for the two were keeping up the pace
and gradually dropping them, passing the mile and lialf
in 2 min. 49 sees. Sampson was quite told out half a
mile from home. As they turned the Calcutta corner,
Hermit. 171
Hermit went up and collared the mare, but under
persuasion she drew away again slightly, and finished
a couple of lengths in advance of the Arab.' The
2 miles were accomplished in 3 min. 46 sees.
The day following he won the Calcutta Stakes, 2
miles. Hermit, Ellerton, Voltige, and Sampson were
entered. Both Voltige and Sampson were drawn. Her-
mit gave the good Waler Ellerton 7 lbs. The Arab
came out full of running, and won hands down, doing
the 2 miles in 3 min. 51 sees.
Hermit received weight from Voltige, but it is possible
he might have given her weight the following day ;
indeed, had different tactics been employed in the
Trades Cup, had Hermit made the running instead
of lying third, and running up to her twice, the results
might have been different. At Burdwan, i860, Hermit
defeated the English horse Cockscomb (possibly by
Chanticleer out of Yorkshire Lass). Many of these
performances will show the capability of the Arab to
carry weight and race. 3 miles, under 9 st. 5 lbs., in
5 min. 54 sees., is no mean performance.
The gray Arab Exile, carrying 11 st. 7 lbs., ran half
a mile in 57 sees., and came home the next half-mile in
a hand-gallop in i min. 3 sees., thus performing the mile
in 2 min. with the greatest ease.
The gray Arab Salonica, carrying 10 st. 5 lbs., won a
mile race easily in i min. 56 sees.
The Arab Elepoo, carrying 1 1 st. 7 lbs., ran the mile
home for the Great Welter under i min. 58 sees., per-
forming the whole distance, if mile and 15 yards, in
172 The Arabian Horse.
3 min. 34 sees. ; and, carrying 10 st. 7 lbs., ran i-^ mile
in 2 min. 55 sees., winning in hand.
The bay Arab Glenmore, carrying 1 1 st., won the
Winners' Handicap at Madras, in two heats ; distance,
i| mile ; the first heat in 3 min. 28^ sees., the second
in 3 min. 28 sees.
The true running and determination of the Arab are
shown by the following account of the running of the gray
Arab Crab, and the bay Arab Oranmore, at Calcutta,
1845. They met for the Bengal Cup (heats), 2 miles;
they had previously run three or four well-contested
races, winning alternately. For the Bengal Cup they
ran five heats. The first won by Oranmore, second a
dead heat, third won by Crab, fourth a dead heat, fifth
heat won by Crab ; weight 8 st. 7 lbs. each. These two
horses met again the following month for a sweepstakes,
round the course, i| mile and 15 yards. A splendid rush
on the part of each ended in a dead heat ; time 3 min.
27 sees. Deciding heat won by a head by Oranmore ; time
3 min. 25 sees. Crab carried 9 st., Oranmore 8 st.
1 2 lbs. Surely this is something like the stuff of which
race horses should be made ! The above-mentioned
statistics establish the following facts : — That the Arab,
even as known in India, has speed. Secondly, that he
can maintain his speed over a distance of ground.
Thirdly, that size (or height rather) has really nothing
to do with speed or stride. Some may be willing to
admit the merits of the Arabian, but will say, we cannot
allow the Arabian to be a racer if he docs not possess
so great a flash of speed as our present breed ; nor
A Racer. 173
attempt to use him as a sire unless he can show superior
speed. Nor would the public submit to the spectacle
of Arabians racing when they could witness an exhibition
of greater speed by our own English horses.
Well, be that as it may ; for my own part — and I trust
I may not be alone — I would prefer seeing a field of
honest, pure-bred, handsome horses like Honeysuckle
and Selim running hardly-contested races of 2 and
3 miles than scurries over a T.Y.C. After having bred
racers, and exclusively for speed, for many generations,
have we arrived at a very great difference in speed .''
Does it compensate for the bottom, determination, and
honesty which are wanting } Has it never struck breed-
ers that the natural speed of the pure Arabian might
have been increased to even a greater degree than that
now exhibited by his half-bred descendant, the English
thorough-bred horse, if Arabian blood had been bred
from alone for only a few generations, and that his other
good qualities and characteristics might have been re-
tained.'' Besides, is not the public often treated to the
spectacle of witnessing races run in worse time than
that made by Arabs .'' The pleasure of seeing a field of
really beautiful horses honestly contesting for a prize is
worth looking at.
But has it been proved yet that Arabians have not as
high a rate of speed } Have we gone to Arabia and
procured young stock, and by careful training ascer-
tained their capabilities in that respect .'' Have we
taken the pains to procure choice mares in foal, so that
their produce might be born and reared in this country,
1 74 The Arabian Horse.
developed, trained, and tried ? Have we tried the
plan of breeding horses of pure Arabian blood, and
trying the young stock in the first, second, and third
generation ? Until all this has been tried and proved,
who can say that the Arabian is inferior in speed to the
English racer ? It is only an unfounded assertion. Has
any trouble been taken at all about the matter ? The
answers are simply in the negative.
Formerly the training of Arabs consisted in galloping
a good honest game horse so many times round a race
course. A somewhat improved system, since 1838, has
shown that from such Arabs as go to India the time
has improved from 2 miles in 4 min. to 2 miles in 3 min.
48 sees., and from 3 miles in 6 min. or 6 min. 7 sees, to
3 miles in 5 min. 54 sees., but the improvement is not
necessarily limited to this ; but with such natural speed
to start upon, if these horses were bred from exclusively,
in a few generations what might we not hope for !
Much as the Arab has been appreciated in India,
little or no trouble has been taken to secure the impor-
tation of first-class Arabs ; and even there, comparatively
few really know an Arab horse.
The love of size which Englishmen have, has been for
a long period detrimental to the importation of good
Arabians into India. Size was demanded. The Arab
merchant would plead in vain that it was no real cri-
terion. Eventually the gentleman from England with
European taste would find some one less scrupulous
to accommodate him, and horses not of quite pure blood
on the dams' side would be imported to please him,
King David. 175
and, except to the fastidious or initiated, as taking or
even more so to the European eye. This, I feel sure,
has been one of the reasons why more horses hke Bare-
foot and Honeysuckle have not found their way there.
The latter horse was disliked on his first appearance on
account of his want of size, and called an impostor and a
brute. But Sheik Ibraheen-bin-Alee, of Calcutta cele-
brity, quietly remarked, ' Very well, gentlemen, you will
see what a horse he will prove ! ' and when, in the
following season, ' the denounced ' did prove a distin-
guished winner, added, * Gentlemen, I told you so ! You
will never meet his like again ! ' His end was a sad
one ; he was burnt to death going up the Ganges in
the steamer ' Benares.'
It is related that about the close of the last century,
an Arab horse was taken to Madras, and 6,000/. de-
manded for him. 1,000/. was eventually offered ; the
offer was indignantly refused, and the horse taken back.
I find, also, that in 1797 a horse of extraordinary merit
was sent to Bombay, evidently in very poor condition,
and out of all form, from neglect and bad usage, an
Arab called King David, 14 hands i^ inch high. He
was entered to make up one for the Aged Plate of 800
rupees, at Bombay, with little hope of his saving his
distance. He started with three others ; he won the
first' heat with great ease, distancing two of his three
competitors, and won the second very easily. The
next month being February, 1798, he ran a match for
10,000 rupees (1,000/.), with a famous Arab horse called
Antelope, which was brought down from Surat, it was
I "j^ The Arabian Horse.
supposed, on purpose to beat King David. Antelope
was acknowledged to be the fleetest horse that was
ever remembered at Surat by the oldest natives, and
the gentlemen of that station positively asserted that
on trial he ran a mile within the minute} The race
was run at score all round. King David took the lead
at starting, and kept it, winning by about three lengths.
It is stated. King David, changing hands at this time,
improved very much in appearance. At the second
Bombay Races, December, 1798, he again started for
the Aged Plate against his former competitor Ante-
lope and three others. Antelope was made favourite,
his former defeat being attributed to his having been
landed out of a boat, on his passage from Surat, the
day before he ran. To the astonishment of all. King
David won with the greatest ease, and it was generally
supposed, had he been pushed, could have distanced
the whole the first heat.
On January 14, 1799, at Madras, he won 100/. with
great ease, and on the 19th another race. In 1800, at
Bombay, he won three several matches, beating Brown
Bess, Dragon, and the famous mare Arabella. He
never carried less than 10 st. 3 lbs., and no horse would
after that appear against him.^
' The author does not pretend to endorse this assertion ; it is similar to
the tradition of the English wonder, Flying Childers ; but we may be well
assured that, in both instances, such assertions were not made, nor could
the tradition have originated, without the display of some extraordinary
power and speed.
- It is probable, Arabella was the chestnut marc foaled in 1792 by
Rockingham, her dam Rachel by Highflyer.
A Racer-. 177
Here we have a horse worthy to be put in the same
roll or category as Flying Childers, and the accounts
of their performances are very similar.
Although numerous instances could be brought for-
ward, sufficient have been given to prove that the
Arabian is worthy to be considered as a race horse
himself, and is pre-eminently suited to found a breed of
thorough-bred racers.
It is often urged that Mr. Attwood ' and General
Angerstein tried the Arab cross, and it failed. I
answer, they never tried breeding from Arabs on both
sides and cultivating the pure breed.
The fact of the occasional produce of an Arab horse
and an English thorough-bred mare being unsuccessful,
by not showing the average speed of a racer, proves
nothing. Have such mares produced racers to other
sires .'' Some of those of the Angerstein cross have
run respectably ; some have been winners ; and Fair
Ellen, daughter of the Eastern horse called * The
Wellesley Grey Arabian,' was the dam of Lilias, winner
of the Oaks in 1826, and of The Exquisite, who ran
second for the Derby in 1872.
It has been suggested that, although the horse bred
for racing in England may possess a higher rate of
speed than the Arabian, yet that the public may ofteti
witness races run by English horses in worse time than
that made by Arab horses in runnijig over like or similar
distances. The account of the running of some Arabs
' Several of Mr. Attwood's, which were never trained, turned out
excellent hunters.
N
178
The Arabian Horse,
in India, which is given in a former part of this
chapter, proves the suggestion to be fact ; but to
make it more apparent, and to save the trouble of re-
ference, I give two tables, one showing the time occupied
in running for the ' Epsom Derby,' during a period of
fifteen years taken in succession, with the single ex-
ception of the race in 1861, Kettledrum's year, in
which instance the horses were started some 50 yards
in advance of the post (the time was the same in Blair
Athol's year) ; the other giving the performances of
certain Arabs before mentioned, in which account the
accuracy of the distances, weights, and timing may be
depended upon. I selected the Epsom Derby because
the distance was exactly i^ mile. It is the race of the
year, contested by the ' crack ' horses of the year, and
perhaps the best criterion we have in England. The
period includes the Flying Dutchman's and Blair Athol's
years, the latter the fastest Derby on record.
Horses.
Distance.
Time.
The Flying Dutchman . i \ mile . 3 min.
Voltigeur
))
2 ,, 50 sec
Teddington .
,,
2 „ 51 „
Daniel O'Roiirke
11
3 „ 2 „
West Australian
,,
2 „ 55!,,
Andover
,,
2 „ 52 ,,
Wild Dayrell .
M
2 ,, 54 „
Ellington
))
3 M 4 ,,
Blink Bonny .
"*
„
2 „ 45 „
Beadsman
,,
2 „ 45 „
Musjid
,,
2 ,, 59 ,,
Thormanby .
J>
2 „ 55 >,
Caractacus
.
5)
2 „ 45i „
Macaroni
,,
2 ,, lo\ „
Blair Athol .
))
2 ,, 43 „
A Racer.
179
The Arab Horse
Distance.
Time.
The Child of the Isles .
I^ mile
2
min. 48 sec.
(won in a canter)
The Arab horse Elepoo .
. If „
3
,, 20 ,,
Elepoo, carrying lo st. 7 lbs
. I^ „
2
„ 55 »
(winning easily)
The Arab Glenmore, }
carrying li st. )
• If „
3
„ 28 ,,
The Arab Oranmore, / .^ ., , ,
'I li mile 15 yds.
2nd heat )
3
,, 25 ,,
Or compare the Flying Dutchman, 5 years old,
standing 15 hands 3 inches, carrying 8 st. Z\ lbs.,
winning the 2-mile match at York in 3 min. 55 sec,
with the performance of the Arab Honeysuckle, 5 years
old, standing 14 hands i inch, carrying 8 St., winning
his 2-mile race in 3 min. 48 sec. ; and the old Arab
hunter Selim, carrying 9 st. 5 lbs., winning his 3-mile
race in 5 min. 54 sec. It is noteworthy that heavy
weights seem to have very little influence upon the
running of these Arabs.
These examples are not offered to prove the Arab
as known in India a speedier racer than the best in
England, but I maintain they do show him to be pos-
sessed of speed, courage, endurance, and to be essentially
a weight-carrier, and worthy the name of a courser or
racer. You cannot call a horse that can do his 2 miles
in 3 min. 48 sec. or 3 miles in 5 min. 54 sec. a slow
horse.
The Arab may not be so speedy as the racer bred
exclusively for speed for the last half-century, yet it
cannot be denied, the performances of Arabs compare
very favourably with those of English racers.
An Arab has been brought from India, and very
occasionally trained, most likely when he has lost his
1 80 TJie A radian Horse.
speed, and because such a horse has failed to be suc-
cessful against a field of English racers, it is said the
Arab is not a racer. A likely colt was bought a few
years ago at the annual sale of yearlings at Middle
Park, and taken to Australia — by Gladiateur — his dam
a Stockwell mare. Every care was taken of him, he
was trained and raced, and although I am assured he
ran gamely on several occasions, he had not the speed
to contend successfully with the Australians ; he was
invariably beaten : ergo, the English thorough-bred of
the best blood is not a racer.
On the other hand, in March 1872, the Australian
Cup, a sweepstakes of 20 sovs. with 300 sovs. added, 2\
miles, was won after three heats by Saladin, a son of Pe-
gasus, an imported Arab, beating a field of seven horses.
Saladin, the half Arab, aged, carried 7 st. 8 lbs., and
Flying Dutchman, 6 years, 7 st. 5 lbs., made a dead
heat after a splendid finish. Time, 4 min. 12 sees.
The dead heat was run off at 5 o'clock, and after a close
run race, resulted in another dead heat. Time 4 min.
1 5 sees. At 6 o'clock they started again, when the
half Arab Saladin proved the winner by a good neck.
Time, 4 min. 15 secs.^
' Dagworth, at Sydney, won the Great Metropolitan Stakes, 2 miles.
The hero of the meeting was the great-grandson of an Arab. Dagworth
is by Yattendon, his dam Nutcut by Pitsford, grandam by Glaucus (an
Arab).
]Sr
CHAPTER II.
The Arab as a hunter and charger — Considered as a hunter — Jurham and
the Forbes Cup — Considered as a war horse — Arab blood likely to give
better horses for cavalry and artillery — The French in Africa — Per-
formances of certain horses — Ninety-mile match across the Desert — -
Match in Madras — Certain essential constitutional points more likely to
be transmitted to half-bred stock either as hunters or troop horses by the
Arabian than the English horse — Dissertation on the chest and its
functions — Proper form of chest : to be found in the Arabian horse —
Remarks by Youatt — The different formation in the modem thorough-
bred horse affects all other half-bred stock — The Arabian the founder of
the best breeds in India.
We will next proceed to consider how admirably the
Arabian is adapted to improve the character of half-
bred stock for purposes of field sports and for the
army.
As a hunter and war-horse the Arabian has been
celebrated from all timxC. As a hunter, from when, in
early time, he was employed to ride down the ostrich
and the wild ass in his native country, to the present
day, when he carries the expatriated Englishman over
the plains of Hindostan up to the haunches of the wild
pig, faces the tiger, or, single-handed, gallops down the
wild deer and antelope ; and, complying with the man-
ners and customs of the age, becomes a steeplechaser
and wins the Forbes Kadur Cup over a four-mile course,
stated by an experienced steeplechase-rider to have been
i82 1 he Arabian Horse,
more difficult and severe than any country or course in
England, which, in 1871, Jurham, the only Arab in the
race, among a good field of horses, wins with ease, the
Arabian has ever proved himself a horse of unmatched
courage and endurance. The tall and heavy grass, said
to be so difficult and exhausting for so small and light a
horse to force his way through, and other difficulties in
the course, proved to be rather destructive to the Arab's
opponents, as Jurham had speed and bottom left in him,
in the last half-mile of tolerably open ground, when
called upon to shoot away from his horses and win
easily.
The high courage, the suppleness, the spring and
elasticity, the compact but developed form, and great
muscular development of the Arabian must cause him
to be the horse best adapted for a hunter.
These qualities render him also more desirable than
any other horse as a sire for begetting half-bred stock,
either for hunting or for the military service. A horse of
pure blood is more likely to implant and stamp his own
good points and qualities upon properly selected stock,
and in a greater degree, than a horse of less pure blood,
such as the so-called English thorough-bred horse; more
especially, too, when the latter horse does not possess
the combination of excellences of the former. In the
hunting-field, whenever a horse has possessed any direct
Arab blood, he has always shown himself an excellent
and superior hunter. This was the opinion of no less a
udge than Davis, the late Royal Huntsman.
As a war-horse, from the days when he carried his
A Hitnter and War Ho7'se. 183
relentless rider, as on a whirlwind, upon Job's possessions,
when he carried conquests from his birthplace to the
confines of China in the east and the Atlantic on the
west, to the present time, when, in the East, he leads
the charge of England's chivalry, he has ever shone
pre-eminent.
In India, certainly the best field for our cavalry, as a
charger the Arab has always maintained the highest
position. The Arabian horse has done his share in the
conquests of that country.
I am fully persuaded if horses for both cavalry and
artillery were bred from suitable mares from Arab
horses, a marked difference and superiority would be
the result, and we might then truly boast of having the
best cavalry in the world. The French had to discard
the European horse when in Africa, and re-mount their
cavalry on such horses of Arab blood as they could
procure, and these carried a weight of twenty-five stone.
General Daumas may well exclaim, * Now, a horse that,
in a country often rough and difficult, marches and gal-
lops, ascends and descends, endures unparalleled priva-
tions, and goes through a campaign with spirit, with
such a weight on his back, is he or is he not a war-
horse ? '
Are our cavalry so mounted .-' What is the opinion
of the War Office } Is not the Arabian horse worthy of
their consideration .''
Abd-el-Kader has stated that an Arab horse can travel
a distance of fifty English miles day after day, and this
without fatigue, for three or four months ; and if re-
184 The Arabian Horse,
quired could accomplish 150 miles in one day, but
should be carefully ridden the next, and only go a
much shorter distance. Two instances recorded by
General Daumas are worthy of consideration. On one
occasion a young Arab, Si-Ben-Zyon, rode his father's
mare eighty French leagues within twenty-four hours.
She was watered only once, and had but eaten some
leaves from the dwarf-palm while her rider had lain
down by her side to sleep ; }^et she was not done up,
and, as Si-Ben Zyon said, was capable of still per-
forming a further journey. The next : ' All the old
ofificers ' (says General Daumas) ' of the Oran Division
can state how, in 1837, a general, attaching the greatest
importance to the receipt of intelligence from Tlemcem,
gave his own charger (an Arab horse) to an Arab to go
to procure the news. The latter set out from Chateau
Neuf at 4 a.m., and returned at the same hour on the
following day, having travelled seventy leagues (French)
over ground very different from the comparatively level
desert.' This latter confirms the former, and is a very
valuable instance, as the distance had been measured,
and was well known, and is sufficient warranty to in-
duce belief in the reported great capabilities of the
Arabian, which are but too often, in this country, re-
garded as only tales of the East and Oriental exagge-
rations. Moreover, the Arabs are just and true in their
accounts and descriptions, although couched in lan-
guage full of imagery. But are not we ourselves a
very boastful people, and very reluctant to admit
excellence in others ?
A Hitnter and War Horse. 185
In the ninety-mile match between an English tho-
rough-bred horse and an Arab across the desert to Cairo,
a few years ago, the former broke down badly ; the Arab
came in alone, having accomplished the whole distance
in 7 hours 52 minutes. There was but little difference
in the weights at starting ; they appear to have carried
10 St. 81bs. and 10 st. respectively. On returning to weigh
the rider of the Arab was some 5 lbs. under weight, and
it is quite possible, had the rider of the English horse
also weighed, it might have been found he had lost as
much weight.
At Madras a match was made by an officer of Horse
Artillery and some officers of the 15th Hussars (then
disbelievers in the Arabian) ; the former was to ride his
Arab horse, about 14 hands i inch, 400 miles in five
days. The Arab won the match with ease, without
distress, and was none the worse after the performance,
and his owner offered to do it again after resting one
day.
The peculiar and perfect development of the Arabian
(I say peculiar, as the same is not found in any other
breed) — I now allude more especially to the chest, which
has been noticed in a former part of this work, and
which is one of the great secrets of the Arabian's endu-
rance — is more likely to be transmitted to half-bred stock,
either as hunters or for troopers — for both equally essen-
tial — by a horse who has this formation as a distinguishing
point of his race or breed, than by a horse who may fail in
this respect, or whose class or breed only possesses it in
a modified degree, and which has been derived in the
1 86 The Arabian Horse,
first place from the Arabian. Too round and too heavy
a chest, however good it may be for heavy draught and
slow work, is not adapted to rapid and continuous pro-
gression. Horses possessing narrow chests and flat
sides are often spirited, very fast, but are incapable of
continued work. Neither of this kind are suitable to
the hunter or trooper, nor fit to be the sire of horses for
such purposes. Although the latter, being often a horse
of high speed, may be successful in half-mile races, he
ought not to be considered a race horse. To fully ex-
plain the advantages of the Arabian as a sire, the use
of the chest should be considered. Youatt says, ' The
contents of the chest are the lungs and the heart : the
first to render the blood nutrient and stimulating, and to
give or restore to it that vitality which will enable it to
support every part of the frame in the discharge of its
function, and devoid of which the complicated and
beautiful machine is inert and dead ; and the second, to
convey this purified arterialized blood to every part of
the frame.'
Tn order to produce and to convey to the various
parts a sufficient quantity of blood, these organs must
be large. If it amounts not to hypertrophy, the larger
the heart and lungs the more rapid the process of
nutrition, and the more perfect the discharge of every
animal function.' He then explains the circular chest is
clearly not ' advantageous, for it cannot expand, but
every change of form would be a diminution of capacity,
whereas the contents of the chest are ' alternately ex-
panding and contracting.'
A Hunter and War Horse. 1 8 7
After instancing the description of cliest found in
cobs and some of our saddle-horses as being round
enough, and therefore valued, as they seldom lose their
condition, or tire if allowed to go their own pace — and
that not altogether a slow one — Youatt observes very
truly, if examined the chest will be found to be between
the circle and ellipse, thus allowing of expansion, while
retaining capacity. He next proceeds to describe the
chest more particularly adapted to rapid progression
combined with strength. The broad deep chest possess-
ing ' considerable capacity in a quiescent state, and the
power of increasing that capacity when the animal
requires it ' — this is the chest required by the race-
horse, the hunter, and the cavalry horse.
* There must be,' says Youatt, ' the broad chest for
the production of muscles and sinews, and the deep
chest, to give capacity or power of furnishing arterial
blood equal to the most rapid exhaustion of vitality.'
'This form of chest,' he further states, 'is consistent
with lightness, or at least with all the lightness that can
be rationally required. The broad-chested horse, or
he that, with moderate depth at the girth, swells and
barrels out immediately behind the elbow, may have as
light a fore-hand and as elevated a wither as the horse
with the narrowest chest ; but the animal with the
barrel approaching too near to rotundity is invariably
heavy about the shoulders, and low in the shoulders.'
Although this is sufficiently plain to all who thoroughly
know the horse, it may require a little explanation to
others who may not be so well initiated. The round
1 88 The Arabian Horse,
chest is accompanied with a heavy shoulder, and fe only
applicable to draught ; that it is not sufficient for a
horse to have a very deep chest at the girth — seen some-
times to an exaggerated extent or to a fault — if that
chest is narrow and flat. A horse of such formation
might have great speed, but would not be capable of
prolonged or continued exertion. A chest ' of moderate
depth at the girth ' (often looking not so deep as it really
is), but which * swells and barrels oat immediately behind
the arms^ is the one for insuring combined speed and
bottom. Youatt next states how such a formation has
been obtained, and may be obtained — namely, from the
Arabian horse. ' It is to the mixture of Arabian blood
that we principally owe this peculiar and advantageous
formation of the chest of the horse.' Such a chest is
compatible with the lightest shoulders. For the Arabian
has the lightest shoulders — lighter than, but not so thin
as is seen in any other breed or kind of horse. ' The Arab
is light, some would say too much so before, but im-
mediately behind the arms the barrel almost invariably
swells out, and leaves plenty of room, and ivhere it is
most wanted for the play of the lungs, and at the same
time zvhere the zveight does not press so excbisively on the
fore legs, and expose the legs to injury.'
A contrary kind of chest being the type generally
seen in the modern thorough-bred horse, a deep but
narrow chest, reveals the secret of half-mile or short
races having become so general, and marks him as not
so fitting or capable of begetting weight-carrying and
enduring hunters and hardy, serviceable troop-horses,
A Hunter and Wa7^ Horse. 1 89
capable of long-continued exertion, and occasionally-
great speed, as the Arabian horse, who possesses this
form of chest in the highest perfection. This most
important point in the form of a horse is further com-
mented upon by the same author : ' An elevated wither
or oblique shoulder, or powerful quarter, are great ad-
vantages ; but that which is most of all connected
with the general health of the animal, and with com-
bined fleetness or bottom, is a deep and broad and
swelling chest.'
If artificial breeds of horses are required for hunting
and the army in this country, why refuse to use the
Arabian as a sire, seeing that this essential conformation
is one of his attributes, and only possessed by other
breeds formerly improved by him in a modified degree .''
Of all horses in the world the Arabian possesses the
deepest chest ; but this is often overlooked or unob-
served, for it is not so apparent at a casual glance,
owing to the swelling barrel and long back ribs, which
of course take off from the appearance of depth.
Now, in a flat-sided horse, what depth there may be
is at once seen, and appears often exaggerated, from
the lightness of the hinder ribs. Deterioration is said
to have taken place, and short races are in vogue. In
conformation the modern horse appears deep enough
in chest, but flat-sided. From the portraits of old
racers (mostly badly executed) we see less apparent
depth at the girth, but a more swelling barrel and
deeper back ribs, the line of belly being far straighten
These horses ran over long courses ; it was the fashion
I go The Arabian Horse,
in those days. Perhaps the fashion was guided by the
constitution and capabilities of the horse.
This formation in the so-called thorough-bred horse
does and must necessarily affect all other breeds in the
country ; the standard or chief breed gives the tone to
all others — to our hunters and troop-horses.
Colonel Shakespeare states, the horses in the Hydera-
bad Deccan are superior to any other native breed in
India. They owe their superiority to the pure stock
from which they were derived, the Arabian. So many
as 500 Arab horses were imported into the Deccan at
the commencement of this century. The best troop-
horses bred in the late Company's studs had Arab
horses for their sires. The most successful Government
stud was one in the Madras Presidency, and that was
because the high-caste Arab was almost entirely used
as a sire.
The horses of the Hyderabad Deccan possess many
of the fine points and qualities of their progenitors, the
Arabians. Their temper, endurance, freedom from dis-
ease, longevity, capability of work and keeping con-
dition on small quantities of food, their high courage
and natural aptitude for being broken in, together with
their attachment to their riders, come direct from the
desert blood. Such qualities are admirable for all
descriptions of riding-horses, and especially for cavalry
horses, and, it would appear, can only be obtained by
direct Arab blood.
During the late war it was constantly reported from
many sources that horses derived partly from Arabian
A Htmtcr and War Horse. 191
blood stood the hardships of a European campaign
much better than all others ; and in a letter which
appeared in 'The Times,' February 24, 1871, giving an
account of the entrance of Bourbaki's army into Berne,
and the distressing appearance of the men, it was
stated : ' The horses present a still worse appearance,
seeming more fitted for the knacker's yard than to
bear their burdens, although ti7idotibtedly the Arabs
justify the established reputation of their breed for
endurance by the very tolerable condition they present,
and the comparative elasticity of their paces.'
Although other Governments may be drawing large
supplies from this country, and may be well-advised in
so doing, it is no proof that they would not do better
in procuring purer blood, which they may be doing also ;
and certainly no excuse for us to remain satisfied with
an imperfect breed, when we might easily obtain a
better.
The head of a horse is the index to his character,
moral and physical. A breeder who was lamenting
some coarseness or deficiency in the head of a colt of
which he had expected great things, in reply to the
consolation a friend was offering by pointing out the
colt's otherwise almost perfect form, remarked : ' Never
mind the rest of his body, if the head had only been
all right, the body would have grown to it, but now
his body can never get beyond his head.' This is too
often overlooked in this country ; indeed, it would
appear, the head, the index, is little thought of; but it
will, perhaps, explain why so many animals, apparently
192 The Arabian Horse,
of early promise, never improv^e or show to advantage
at maturity. A small head is not necessarily a beautiful
or good head, although smallness is very often among
horses of even racing blood the only recommendation,
for the head may still be vulgar in appearance and very
deficient.
Now, certainly, there is no head like the Arabian's.
It is the true index to his character and form. Thus
writes a member of the Veterinary profession. ' Fire
and sagacity, blood and action, speed and bottom, are
all the natural attributes of a horse having such a head.'
But the Arabian horse alone possesses it. The Arabian's
is not altogether a small head, it is, on the contrary,
large in all parts containing the working and essential
organs, it is small in those parts only which connect
these essential organs. The same professional man
says 'that which is set down as the handsomest of
heads, turns out to be, on examination, the most service-
able.' Such being the case with the head of the
Arabian, the index, so is it also with the rest of his
body, every part is in harmony and proportion ; he is a
large horse in every essential point and part of action
and motion ; as no other horse has such a head, so no
other horse possesses so fine and perfect a form. The
Arabian is identical with utility. In this is his rare
beauty.
What we call the thorough-bred horse, in spite of the
great esteem in which he is held, cannot be called the
saddle horse of the country. How icw ever ride one.
Look through a stud of hunters, how rarely a thorough-
A Hunter and War Horse. 193
bred horse is seen. Is an entire stud of thorough-bred
hunters to be met with ? Comparatively speaking, how
seldom he is found as a hack or riding horse. He is
seldom seen as a cavalry charger, and he has not been
successful in producing good troopers for our cavalry in
India.
Yet the racer ought to be essentially a saddle horse.
We ought not to have to raise a class of horses for the
saddle, exclusive of the thorough-bred horse. The
Arabian is a racer, a war horse, and hunter, a riding
horse par excellence.
194
CONCLUSION.
It is evident the original framers of the Stud Book
looked upon the Eastern horse, and par excellence the
Arabian, as the pure-bred or thorough-bred horse, and
among our horses those alone who are descended from
Eastern horses, and are registered in the Book, are
now considered thorough-bred, an acknowledgment of
the superiority of Arabian blood. But another great
boon is conferred by the Stud Book. It shows us most
conclusively that our horse is not entirely of Eastern,
still less of Arabian blood, and, in fact, is not really
thorough or true bred. The character of our horse ebbs
and flows, rises to comparative excellence, or sinks into
mediocrity, as choice, or fashion, or the taste of the
breeder may hit upon a selection in sire or dam possess-
ing a larger or less amount of Arabian blood ; but it
cannot get beyond a certain point of excellence ; it is
impossible of permanent improvement. The mixed
blood from which our horse has sprung will ever prevent
him from attaining a permanent standard of excellence.
The same cause must always have a tendency to de-
generation, even if that should not have taken place —
which many good authorities pronounce to be the case —
and his altered form and want of stoutness would war-
rant that assertion. Seeing, then, that pure blood is
Conclusion. 195
essential for the establishment of a thorough good breed
of horses, that our own is imperfect and deficient in blood,
the only true way of meeting the difficulty, the only
effectual one, the least expensive, and the quickest, is
to start afresh with pure Arabian blood. Starting from
a sure foundation (purity of blood), we have only to
educate and develope excellences. There is no doubt
horses of pure Arabian blood, bred in this country,
would attain to a larger size ; and there is every reason
to believe the increase would be in due proportion,
thereby insuring with the size increase of speed and
strength. The increase of size or height obtained by
our present thorough-bred horse has not been in pro-
portion ; it has led to many exaggerations. The increase
of height from 14^ hands to 16 hands has been accom-
plished by greater length of limb. This, again, as a
rule, has been owing to a greater length of cannon bone,
without a corresponding length of radius or arm.
Here is a great mechanical disadvantage. We will
suppose two horses of equal height and power ; the
moral qualities, such as temper, courage, and nervous
energy, also equal ; but one shall be an inch longer in
the cannon bone than the other, although the relative
length of the fore legs shall be the same. The horse
with the shorter cannon bone, and therefore longer
radius, must, of necessity, be a speedier horse, and not
only speedier, but, because the one has a great mechani-
cal advantage, he would be a more lasting horse. In-
crease of height thus obtained may have been one of
the causes of an increase of speed in the English racer
o 2
196 The Ai^abian Horse.
over the Arab, but it tells against him over long courses
and constant work, which brings him back again below
the level of the Arabian. But if we establish a breed of
pure Arabians, in which we have increased the size to
15 hands 2 inches, we have every reason to believe, with
only proper care and treatment, the perfect form of the
original will be retained ; we may reasonably expect equal
speed to the modern racer, if not greater, but accompanied
with lasting qualities and endurance. The course to pur-
sue is the attainment of a certain number of pure-bred
Arabian horses and mares : the latter would most likely
be in foal. It would be better if the Government would
undertake this, and, indeed, engage to form such a
national stud, as it could then be carried on in its in-
tegrity, without let or hindrance from the whims or
fancies of private individuals.
A few well-selected persons, with knowledge of the
/Arabian horse and where to seek for him, would be the
first thing needful. Should the Government not feel
able to undertake it as a national scheme, there
is a grand opening for private enterprise, or for a
combination of gentlemen who have the welfare of the
horse at heart. (It does not seem more unreasonable
that there should be a stud for the production of horses
entirely of pure or Arabian blood, than that companies
should be formed for the breeding of racing stock of
inferior and mixed blood.) In this the Government might
help by granting certain plates or purses to be run for
by Arabians and by their pure descendants. While the
Middle Park Stud was intact, I abstained from giving
Conclusion. 197
the opinion of the late lamented proprietor, when this
Arab scheme was brought to his notice, a few years ago.
Mr. Blenkiron acknowledged the correctness of the
theory. He said, ' It certainly would have been the
only true plan upon which to have started ; I can see
that plainly, I tell you what ; if it had been brought
to my notice when I first commenced breeding, I would
have done it ; notwithstanding I have established my
stud and have so- much invested in it, were I only a few
years younger, I would take it up myself now, and
begin breeding again.' To be done at all it must be
done well and thoroughly. It would be a great national
benefit, for the pro.sperity of the horse is intimately
connected with the welfare of a country :
Effodere loco signum, quod regia Juno
Monstrarat, caput acris equi : sic nam fore bello
Egregiam et facilem victu per srecula gentem.
/Eneidos, lib. 1.
' Afterwards Queen of cities, mistress of the seas, Car-
thage forgot the sign of what was to be her strength,
became enslaved by commerce, and fell'
The English horse is a compound of those found in
Britain in Caesar's time (whether introduced by the
Kelt or Belgae) the Roman horse — also a compound
animal, or rather, many compound animals ; then the
Saxon horse, not unlikely of Persian extraction — even,
perhaps, after the Persian had been improved by Arabian
blood, but, in all probability, much modified and consider-
ably changed during the progress of the Saxons from the
Araxis to Jutland, and their long residence between the
198 The Arabian Horse.
Elbe and the Eider ; then the Spanish horse, followed
by that of Flanders ; and upon this heterogeneous mass
was engrafted Eastern and Arabian blood.
Can we wonder, then, at the want of harmony of parts
and proportion in the animal, and the great diversity of
types to be seen in that select class called thorough-bred
(the present standard breed of the country) ? I do not
deny great merit in individual animals of mixed blood,
but it is not possessed collectively, nor can animals of
mixed blood keep up excellences.
But the advantages of pure blood are the mainte-
nance and continuance of certain original good qualities
and attributes, both moral and physical ; and by es-
tablishing pure Arab blood in this country, with proper
care we may expect to attain a degree of excellence
hitherto unknown.
Many think the English horse is more nearly allied
to the Barb than to the Arabian, and is more like the
former in appearance and character, and argue that for
any improvement the Barb should be selected. Beware
of doing this. Seek always the pure and parent breed.
That the English horse should have a closer resemblance
to the Barb and to other Eastern horses, does not show
that he has been derived more from such sources ; but it
is the natural consequence of his being of mixed blood,
and only partly Arabian, and therefore very similarly
bred to the Barb, Persian, and Toorkoman horse. The
English horse being of a mixed breed cannot have
the perfect form and character of the Arabian, therefore
has gradually assumed the appearance of those breeds
Conchision. 199
which have also been derived or improved by the
Arabian, but whatever advantage it may be supposed
he has drawn from the Barb and other horses of Eastern
blood, has really been derived from the Arabian, who
gave the excellence to those breeds.
' The Toorkomans trace their breed of horses to
Arabian sires,' and procure Arab blood to invigorate
their breed as often as opportunity may occur. The
Persian is certainly a breed improved by the Arabian.
It is stated that those horses bred in Kurdistan are ac-
counted the best in beauty and strength — very likely
they have received a further infusion of Arabian blood
since the Shammar have occupied Mesopotamia. The
Barb is a descendant of the Arabian, but certainly not
always of pure blood.
A national stud is wanted. There is a cry for a
system that shall supply good and useful horses. But
some will say it must be for the production of good,
sound, weight-carrying hunters ; others want good riding
horses for general purposes ; the Government, horses
for the army ; the sportsman a racer. When, after the
lapse of more than a century, our thorough-bred horse
has failed to become our saddle horse, our hunter, does
not supply our cavalry with hardy and useful horses,
now is the time no longer to postpone the selection of
the Arabian, The horse who in himself answers all
these requirements, whose natural attributes are fire and
sagacity, blood and action, speed and bottom.
The sportsman who loves racing for the sport itself
may yet carry off the Blue Riband of the Turf with a
200 The Arabian Horse.
horse of pure Arabian blood, and know he is conferring
a lasting benefit on his country. The Welter weight
might find himself carried in the first flight by a real
weight-carrier of pure blood. The cavalry officer would
have a charger worthy to carry him in front of his
squadrons. All who are interested in riding would be
benefited, for we should have a pure breed of saddle-
horses.
Remarks on the future treatment of the Arabian horse
in this country, to ensure the successful establishment of
a new and pure breed, come not within the province of
this work — the chief object of which is to point out that
our thorough-bred horse is not pure ; that a pure breed
of horses does exist, and where it is to be found.
First let us obtain the pure bred and perfect horse,
then let us take care to keep his future generations
pure.
LIST
OF
ARABIANS, BARBS, TURKS, AND FOREIGN HORSES,
WHICH WERE EMPLOYED, MOKE OR LESS,
IN THE FORMATION OF THE ENGLISH STUD,
FROM THE TIME OF KING JAMES I. UNTIL ABOUT THE END OF
THE LAST CENTURY.
ARABIANS.
Markham's Arabian. A bay horse,
bought by King James I.
Wilkinson's Bay Arabian, about
1680. King Charles II. 's reign.
An Arabian (sire of Bald Peg,
Spanker's gi-andam).
Curwen's Chestnut Arabian, about
1 700-1 709.
The Leedes Arabian.
The Darley Arabian. A Bedouin
Horse, of the family called
Keheilan-Ras-el-Fedawi, im-
ported by Mr. Darley the latter
end of Queen Anne's reign.
The Basset Ai^abian, about 1700.
Harpur's Arabian, about 1700.
Pulleine's Chestnut Arabian, about
1700.
D'Arcy's Chestnut Arabian, about
1700-1710.
Hutton's Arabian, about 1700.
Cyprus Arabian, about 171 5-1 720.
Bloody Buttocks, a grey Arabian
of Mr. Croft's, with a red mark
on his hip.
Lord Lonsdale's Bay and Grey
Arabians, about 1720.
Bethell's Arabian, about 1710-40
(sire of Salome, dam of Cypron,
and grandam of King Herod).
Alcock's Arabian, about 1 720.
Sir M. Newton's Arabian, about
1 720-1 745.
The Oglethorpe Arabian.
Lord Northumberland's Golden
Arabian, about 1 740-1 760.
Duke of Northumberland's Chest-
nut, Bay, and Grey Arabians,
about 1 760-1 780.
The Northumberland Brown Ara-
bian (aftenvards called Leedes
Arabian), about 1760.
The Cullen Arabian, about 1740-
1755-
The Coomb Arabian, about 1755-
1780 (sometimes called the Pigot
Arabian, and sometimes the Bo-
lingbroke Grey Arabian).
His Majesty's one-eyed Grey Ara-
bian (George I. or II.), about
1 720-30.
Hampton Court Arabian, 1720.
Chestnut Litton Arabian, 1720
0.\ford Bloody-shouldered Arabian,
1700-22.
Oxford Arabian.
202
Arabs — Bards.
Oxford Dun Arabian (?).
Duke of Beaufort's White and Grey
Arabians, 1720-40.
Conyers' Arabian, about 1730-40
Grosvenor Arabian, about 1750-70.
Saanah Arabian, 1760-80.
Stanyan's Arabian, about 1720-30.
De'-'onshire Arabian, Chestnut,
about 1740-60.
Bell's Arabian, about 1760-72.
Blair's Arabian.
Bunbury Arabian, about 1760.
Widdrington Arabian, about 1710-
1730.
Wynn Arabian, about 1 7 10-30.
Ossory Arabian, about 1760-74.
Bright's Arabian, about 1730-46.
Newcomb's Ai-abian, about 1745-
1758.
Lord Brook's Arabian, about 1720.
Mr. Fletcher's Arabian, about
1730-45-
Somerset Arabian, about 1725-40.
Panton's Arabian, 1750-62.
Milward's Arabian, about 1755-75-
Mr. Parker's Arabian, about
1770-80.
Damascus Arabian, about 1750-75.
Witham Grey Arabian, about
1760-76.
Wilson's Arabian, about 1740-60.
Ward's Arabian, about 1760-70.
Blackett's Arabian, about 1710-30.
Mr. Gibson's Arabian, about 1750-
1770.
Clifton Arabian, about 1730-40.
Lord Rockingham's Arabian.
Sir John Sebright's Arabian.
Thompson's Grey Arabian.
Philippe's Arabian, about 1770-90.
General Evans's Arabian, about
1730.
General Smith's Arabian, 1760-77.
Woburn Arabian, 1 780- 1 800.
Sir J. Jenkins' Arabian, about
1 700-20.
Sir T. Gresley's Arabian, about
1700.
Sir R. Sutton's Grey Arabian,
about 1730.
Sir W. Morgan's Arabian, about
1720.
Arcot Arabian, 1790.
Jilfy Arabian, 1760-70.
Bistern Arabian.
Pembroke Arabian.
Portland Arabian, about 1 720.
Chesterfield Arabian.
Lord Cassilis' Arabian, about
1760-70.
Lord Heathfield's Arabian.
Lord Mansfield's Arabian.
Lord Winchilsea's Arabian.
Gregory's Arabian, about 1760-80.
Hall's Arabian, about 1710-20.
Ferrers' Arabian, 1760-76.
Ratcliff Arabian, about 1760.
Khalan Arabian, about 1750-70.
Clements' Arabian, 1770.
Richards' Arabian, about 1710-20.
Johnson's Arabian.
Storey's Arabian.
Morton Arabian.
Patnull Arabian.
Rumbold Arabian, 1787.
Barington Arabian.
Lexington Arabian, 1720.
Mr. Burlston's Arabian, 1750-70.
Williams' W^oodstock Arabian.
Sir John Sebright's Arabian, 1740.
Thompson's Arabian, 1760-72.
Vernon Arabian, 1760.
Lord Finch's Arabian (afterwards
Duke of Devonshire's, sire of
Fair Wanderer), about 1 730.
Lord Algernon Percy's Grey Ara-
bian, about 1770-85.
I^ord Bolingbroke's Arabian, 1760-
80.
Ancaster Arabian, 1 760.
Pembroke Arabian, 1780.
BARBS.
Dodsworth, foaled in England, was
a natural Barb; his dam, a Barb
mare, was imported in the time
of King Charles IL
Greyhound, foaled in England in
King William IIL's reign, was a
natural Barb; his sire the White
]>arh Chillaby, his dam Slugey, a
natural Barb mare.
Barbs — Turks.
203
Curwen's Bay Barb, was a present
from the Emperor of Morocco to
Lewis XIV. of France, brought
into England by Mr. Curwen.
The Thoulouse Barb. Brought
from France by Mr. Curwen;
afterwards the property of Sir J.
Parsons.
Croft's Bay Barb, was a son of
Chillaby and the Moonah Barb
Mare.
The Godolphin Barb, sometimes
called an Arabian.
The Compton Barb, often called
the Sedley Arabian.
Lord Fairfax's Morocco Barb, sire
of Spanker's dam.
Tafifolet Barb
Chillaby Barb, white.
Chillaby Barb, black.
Wolseley Barb.
Hutton's Grey Barb.
,, Bay Barb.
Black Barb, without a tongue (King
William IIL's)
Layton Barb.
Burton Barb.
White-legged Lowther Barb.
Panton's Grey Barb.
Sir H. Harpur's Barb,
Cole's Barb.
Lowther's Bay Barb.
Fenwick's Barb.
Vernon Barb.
Dun Barb.
Sir W. Morgan's Grey Barb,
,, ,, Black Barb.
Shafto's Barb.
Curzon's Grey Barb.
Lord Marsh's Barb.
Pelham's Barb.
Duke of Marlborough's little Moun-
tain Barb.
Orford Barb.
Lord Townshend's Brown Barb.
Meadows' Barb.
Godolphm Grey Barb.
Massey's Grey Barb.
Wilkinson's Barb.
Lord Townshend's Barb,
St. Victor's Barb.
Cripple Barb,
Sir R. Mostyn's Bay Barb.
Sir J. Pennington's Barb.
Duke of Rutland's Black Barb.
Rider's Chestnut Barb.
TURKS.
The Hemsley Turk (Duke of Buck-
ingham's).
Place's White Turk. (Mr. Place
was Stud-master to Oliver Crom-
well).
The Stradling, or Lister Turk.
Brought into England from the
siege of Buda, in the reign of
James II.
The Byerly Turk. Capt. Byerly's
charger, in King William's reign,
1689.
The D'Arcy White Turk.
The D'Arcy Yellow Turk.
The Selaby Turk. The property
of Mr. Marshall, Stud-master to
King William, Queen Anne, and
King George I.
Sir J. Williams' Turk. (Also called
the Honeywood Arabian.)
The Belgrade Turk. Taken at the
siege of Belgrade by General
Merci; afterwards purchased by
Sir Marmaduke Wyvill; he died
about 1740.
Phillips' Brown Turk, about 1740.
Orford Turk.
Stamford Turk.
Captain Rouksby's Turk.
Akaster Turk.
Westall Turk.
Mulso Turk.
Wilkinson's Turk.
Holderness Turk.
Ely Turk.
Bay Pigot Turk.
Lambert Turk.
Shaftesbury Turk.
Sir E. Hale's Turk.
Lord Hillsborough's Turk.
Sutton Turk.
Lord Carlisle's Turk,
Rutland Turk.
Paget Turk.
204
Eastern Horses mid Arab Alares.
PERSIAN HORSES.
A Persian Stallion, the sire of the
Duke of Rutland's Bonny Black's
dam, foaled 1765.
Thompson's Persian, 1769.
Lord Burlington's Persian, 1752.
Commodore Mathews' Persian,
1729.
Mr. Howe's Persian, 1729
EGYPTIAN.
Mr. Croft's Egyptian.
FOREIGN HORSES.
Sir T. Gascoigne's.
A Foreign Horse in Diamond's
pedigree.
Sir W. Goring's Foreign Horse.
ARABIAN MARES,
Which tuere employed in the forma-
tion of the Efiglish stud during the
last century.
I. A Natural Arabian Mare, great-
grandamofMr. Bertie's Trifle, by
Fox.
This mare in another place, p. 183,
vol. i., 'General Stud-book' is
called a Natural Barb Mare, an
instance showing how horses of
Eastern blood were not always
accurately described, and that
there was formerly, as there is
now, a propensity to call any
horse of Eastern blood an Arab.
An inborn acknowledgment of
the superiority and antiquity of
the Arabian breed : no one pos-
sessing a pure Arabian would
call him a Turk or Barb, or care
to have him so described.
2. A Natural Arabian Mare, gran-
dam of Lord Portman's Tiney, by
Skim.
3. An Arabian Mare, great-gran-
dam of Lord Lonsdale's Monkey,
by his Bay Arabian.
4. An Arabian Mare, great-great-
grandam of Sir C. Sedley's
Cadena, by Cade.
5. An Arabian Mare of Lord
Lonsdale's, great -great -grandam
of Sir J. Pennyman's Bumper, by
Partner.
6. An Arabian Mare, the dam of
Sir C. Bunbury's Humdrum, by
Matchem.
7. An Arabian Mare, the dam of
Lord Clermont's Hunston.
There are two other Arabian Mares
mentioned between the years
1760-80, but I am not sure if
these were imported mares, or
whether they were foaled in this
country, and styled Arabian mares
after their sires, as in the cases of
the Beaufort, Cullen, the-Cyprus,
and the Darley Arabian Mares,
which were daughters of those
Arabians, and of mares more or
less purely bred. The same may
be the case with those mares
numbered 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. I do
not say it is so ; they were in this
country at an early date, but their
description is certainly rather
in opposition to those marked i
and 2, which, being called Natu-
ral Arabian Mares, would imply
they were imported, or, if foaled
in this country, that their sires
and dams were both Arabian.
BARB MARES.
1. A Barb Mare, grandam of
Achilles, 1737.
2. A Natural Barb Mare, dam of
Blossom.
3. The Moonah Barb Mare.
4. Laytoii Barb Mare.
5. A Barb Mare (the dam of Care-
less).
6. The Violet Layton Barb Mare.
Barb Mares.
205
7. Sir Hugh Cholmondeley's Barb
Mare.
8. Barb Mare, great -grandam of
Dyer's Dimple.
9. ' A Natural Barb Mare, great-
grandam of Dismal, 1733.
10. The Burton Barb Mare.
loa. Mr. Burton's Natural Barb
Mare.
11. Barb Mare, great-grandam of
Grasshopper, 1731.
12. Barb Mare, dam of Grey Legs,
1725-
13. Barb Mare, dam of Look-about-
you, 1734.
14. Natural Barb Mare, grandam
of Old Smales.
15. The Barb Mare, great-gran-
dam of Spanker.
16. A Barb Mare, dam of Dods-
worth, imported in Charles II. 's
reign, and called, a Royal Mare.
18
19
17. Slugey, a Natural Barb Mare,
Greyhound's dam.
A Natural Barb Mare, great-
great-grandam of The Darley
Arabian Mare.
A Barb Mare, imported in 1 750
by Admiral Keppel.
A Natural Barb Mare, great-
grandam of a Childers' Mare.
Queen Anne's Moonah Barb
Mare.
A Natural Barb Mare, great-
great-grandam of Miss Layton
(Lodge's Roan Mare). This
Barb Mare was a present to Lord
Arlington (Secretary of State to
King Charles II.), from the Em-
peror of Morocco.
A Natural Barb Mare, great-
grandam of Pintoes.
A Natural Barb Mare, great-
grandam of a Whitefoot Mare.
PEDIGREES.
HORSES AND MARES OF EASTERN BLOOD.
Byerly Turk
f Leedes Arabian
, Leedes Arabian
O
CD ^ Bay Peg
Younfr
Bald Peg i Qj^j ]\iorocco Mare
Lord Fail-fax's Morocco Barb
Old IMorocco Mare 1
I (Spanker's Dam) qj^ g^j^ p / An Arabian
V '^ *> \^a Barb Mare
Cur wen's Bay Barb
s ° s ^ ,
O 1) HJ o
^ O ,rt _Q I
m "^ A Natural Barb Mare
W
/ f Yellow Turk
Spanker \
Careless i [ Daughter of
^Barb Mare
Morocco Barb
T> , , Ti fAn Arabian
Bald Peg I ^ g^^j^ ^j^^^
Leedes Arabian
Charming Jenny \
(Sister to Leedes) i Daughter of
S panker
Yellow Turk
Daughter of
(Morocco Barb
Bald (An Arabian
Peg \ a Barb Mare
IMorocco Barb
P;,ld Ppp-/^" Arabian
■^^^^^^S^ a Barb Mare
2o8 Horses entirely of Eastern Descent.
r
, Yellow Turk (D'Arcy's)
^ >.'ri
hJ 2i^
fLord Fairfax's Morocco Barb
,• '-n 42
1
Spanker
■> Daufrhter of i r \ \ -u-
T> ij T> (An Arabian
Bald Pes < t^ u ht
I, =• l^a Barb Mare
arele
a ho
Ea
V A Barb Mare
U
Bartlet's Childers
Supposed and generally acknowledged as own Brother to
Flying Childers
son of Darley Arabian and Betty Leedes
See Flying Childers' Pedigree
JJ c (V The Shaftesbury Turk
^"^ S-c (U ^
u o o
rt "^ (U 1—1
C tH C W
o ^ S ^ Full Sister to Spanker
W
o n
^ U o
^ D'Arcy's Yellow Turk
i Lord Fairfax's Morocco Barb
Daughter of J^j^p^g I An ^
Arabian
Barb Mare
o ^ ^
Leedes Arabian
S Daughter of
( D'Arcy's Yellow Turk
Spanker
Dau:
aughter of]
f Morocco Barb
r, , ] r> fAn Arabian
Bald Peg s -r? u at
'^ \a Barb Mare
{Dodsworth a Natural Barb foaled in
England
a Barb Mare
Pedigrees.
209
C5 >-
r; S =^
fGoclolphin Arab or Barb
I Daughter of
Alcock's Arabian
Daughter of |<=™"'^, ^^^A^J^
" \ a Natural Barb Mare
(U o
•^•^'^
13 " o
>^ C
-a o n
c H IJ
rt •< ■&;
►t5 'd ■*;
HH g O
Leedes Arabian
Daughter of h
Spanker (see his Pedigree)
(Morocco Barb
Bald Peg P
An Arabian
Barb Mare
Leedes Arabian
j / Spanker (see his Pedigree)
Daughter of
Dauijhter of
' Lord Fairfax's Morocco Barb
^(Spanker's Dam) I g^, J p^g/
An Arabian
a Barb Mare
o g
■^ o ^
o 2
H-1 O
(
o
Lord Lonsdale's Bay Arabian
1 Curwen's Bay Barb
Daughter of L^^^^ „f TByerly Turk
j =• \ an Arabian Marc
2IO
Horses entirely of Eastertt Descent.
VI O
>-. o
rC
8 H
3 Pi
c <
^ (-:
\
Spanker (a horse of Eastern blood)
(See his Pedigree)
Mr. Burton's Natural Barb Mare.
g w
D'Arcy's Yellow Turk
(Lord Fairfax's Morocco Barb
p I , p /An Arabian
i.aia leg ,^a Barb Mare
Thoulouse Barb
p I Sister to Leedes (a Mare of Eastern blood)
(See Leedes' Pedigree)
/ Conycrs' Arabian
, Dyer's Dimple (see his Pedigree)
Daughter ..f
Dau-lilcr of
King William's lilack Barl
Cliillaby
•Moonali Bail) Marc
Mares entirely of Eastc7'n* Descent.
211
ui =* rt *
<
Q
Darley Arabian
IByerly Turk
Taffolet Barb
Daughter of • rpj^ce's White Turk
Daughter of | ^ j^^^^^^j j^^^.^^ ^^^^
* This mare was not put to an Arabian, nor to horses of Eastern blood,
but only to Bay Bolton. She was the great-great-grandam of Wood-
pecker.
<5 0),
y to
O Wlj
.s^ 8
J:; «*
Mr. Wilkinson's Bay Arabian
A Natural Barb Mare.
* This mare was the dam of the Duke of Wharton's Old Smales,
Her dam, the Barb Mare, was bought by Mr. Wilkinson of Lord Arling-
ton (Secretary of State to King Charles II.), to whom she was a present
from the Emperor of Morocco.
<
W
Q
W
w
Leedes, a hor.se of Eastern descent. (See his Pedigree)
Moonah Barb Mare
LONDON : I'RINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAME.VT STREET
Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at
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200 Westboro Road
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