The Republican journal., 1870-03-24
Farm, Garden, and Household,
LECTURE ON THE HORSE.

MILDLY Morgan, the we'll informed Irish lady who
came to this country last year and installed as
stock Reporter for the n Y. Times-delivered the
following lecture on the horse. from her personal
observations in Europe and the East
The subject before Us is one of such vital impor-
tnco to the agricultural interests of this great
country, that believe Il few remarks on il ccr
t:in 10 be heard with attention. take for my
starting point the admitted fact that the horses of
The United States OF America require Improvement.
and from thence pass on Immediately to express
how | think this desired Improvement can most
easily he effected The importations of good blood
loto the country is undoubtedly the right way, but
rs there are many breeds of horses TO select from,
II becomes our duty to make wise choice. That
The Arab horse is the parent of the equine race,
sec little of any reason to doubt. Climate and feed
are quite sufficient to account for the varied lndi-
\iduatieS we see around Us here and elsewhere.
The lordly thoroughbred. the shaggy Galloway,
The active hunter, the stately carriage horse, the
ponderouS dray OF wagon horse and the diminu-
live Shetland, are one and all descended from the
GtuItless Arab. Lei Us Ior a moment consider the
desert horse.
There are now in Arabia five distinct families of
the clean bred Arab horse, directly bred from the
ave tavOrlte mares OF the Prophet. These horses
Are guarded with jealous care their pedigrees are
kept without an error, and to purchase a mare of
my one of those families is simply impossible. No
sum VIII tempt the Bedoun to part with his mare.
Intrigue powerful interest will at high figures
occasionally obtain a stallion of some one of those
une breeds; generally. when they leave the Ara
ban peninsula, they come presents from the
Sultan OF Turkey or from the Nceroy of Egypt to
some European sovereign; occasionally. but rarely
u Indian rajah presents one to the Viceroy of In
.iia OF to some British officer Under these crcum-
stances the animal is certain to be pure bred, but
under no other. during my WanderlngS L never
,aw but three pure-brcd Arabs. One of these is
chestnut horse called Bard, the property of the
Queen OF England, presented to her Majesty by the
sultan OF Turkey The second is black horse,
tAe property of the hereditary Prince of Piedmont,
presented to his ROYAL IIghness by the Niceroy of
Egypt, aud the third is the property of Col. Cal
vert. British cavalry officer, and was taken rs
lost in the last Indian campaign. He is also a
chestnut horse.
The bony structure of the Arab is small, he
rarely exceeds fourteen hands two inches; his
head is beautiful, his forehead is Grecan in profile,
the eye is large and fall of fire, the nostril is eX-
panded, and the lips are thin and mouth small; the
ears are fine, pointed and erect and always in mo-
ton; the gullet is remarkably deep cut. and the
head consequently we'll set on the chest is arched
the shoulder is oblique line, and invariably the
withers Pre- rounded; the spine is straight and the
tiil Is placed high and carried like plume; the
barrel is large and the ribs deep. The chest is also
wider in proportion than is generally in other
clean bred horses. The limbs are delicate to de-
gree, and appear almost too fine until we recollect
that the cannon bone of al Arab, is proportionate
~ heavier than that of any other race of horses;
lis texture is almost that of ivory so dense is it.
The Arab is of varied colors; hea-btten gray the
most common, next, chestnut; then black, and
sometimes dapple brown, and rarely, indeed, a
deep bay.
The temper of the Arab is generous and fiery;
reliable under the gentle rule of his nomadc own
or. but he becomes in unworthy hands a very fend
i'll ferocity.
His powers of endurance are almost incredible.
lie will galop on, hour after hour, etlock deep in
the burning sands OF the Sahara, without other
food than few dates, swallow or two of camel's
milk, and IL handful of parched corn. But then as
soon as he reaches his masters tent no is too
much for him.
He is the pet of the family; he sleeps under the
he M hn nbni.
and eats Of the best that loving hands could give
him; he is what the horse should ever be- the friend
and companion of man.
Now let US consider his descendants. As all
English authorities regard the English thorough
hreds as the direct descendants of the Godopha
and Derby Arabians, bred from with English
mares, [ will partcularize few of the changes
that food and climate have effected. The English
Thoroughbred is larger, sWiiter, less lovely, but
more beautiful than his progenitor. He stands
from l51 to l6 hands in height; he is capable of
immense things; At two years old he wins a Der
10y, and does it in less than no tme if he carries
OF the blue ribbon, he goes on for the Ascot with
increased weight and distance, where. if he wins
he goes IN for handlcaps, weighed again and again
on every fresh victory. until having proved his
worth. he retires from the turf TO transmit his
name to future ages.
Were | commissioned tomorrow to purchase
horses TO improve the blood in this country |
should not be careful to select Derby winners; on
the contrary, should secure young horses of un-
doubtful purity of descent, Of faultless shapes, of
import thoroughbred English stallions half-bred
and three-quarter bred Irish mares Clydestlale
stations and mares,- both are necessary-there is
AT the moment such pressing want of handsome
snowy. heavy team horses in this country; and
last, though not least, would at any cost secure
some clean bred Arabs although to effect this had
to penetrate, revolver in hand to the heart of
the Sahara. From these sons of the desert should
expect great things. mating them, as 1 would with
the most choice mares of this country Derby
winners sell at high prices, from $1,000 to E20 900
trst-ciass English stations, from fl 900 to f 600
Irish marcs.of the approved classes vary from Els
to f300: Clydesdales can be purchased from El00
up 10 $500
! entirely disapprove French blood. AT best, it
is but mongrel, and must want the staying power
Of the clean bred animal. | would warn nv
American friends of so-called Arabs imported di-
rect from Africa. These horses are Invariably
Barbs OF Syrians, or Gulf Arabs-alwavs more or
less impure in their blood, and rarely if ever worth
any thing except as pack hacks for timd ladies or
for young children to ride