Morning journal and courier., 1890-05-06
ROAD HORSES.
only From the Arabian and English
 Thoroughbred Are she Best to be

only From the Arabian and English
 Thoroughbred Are she Best to be
 Reared.
 When we come to inquire how good road- | sters are bred the answer can be given with | more confidence, for the source of their en- durance and courage is always found either | in Arabian or in thoroughbred blood. These l two terms were at one time more nearly syn- l bnymous than they are now. A thorough | bred is one whose pedigree is registered in | the English stud book, the first volume of which was published in 1908, says H. 0. Nerwin in the Atlantic Monthly; and the EnQlish race horse is founded upon the courser of the desert. Arabs were imported to England at Q very early period, but not in such numbers as to effect any decided im- provement in the native breed until the reign of James I. This monarch established a racing stable and installed therein some fine Arabian stallions. Charles continued the same policy, and the royal stud which he left at Tutbury consisted chiefly of Arab bred horses. Soon after his execution 1t was seized by order of parliament; but, happily, the change in dynasty did not interfere with the conduct of the stud.
 Cromwell, as is well known, had . sharp eye for horse and the best of the kings lot were coon "chosen" for the Lord Protector. Charles II again had no less Q passion for horses, and almost the first order that he is- sued after landing in England was one to the effect that the Tutbury nags should be-re- turned to the royal stables. He and many private breeders beside added to the Arabian stock in England; but it was not until the l first half of the eighteenth century that the three horses were imported who have exer- cissd the greatest influence upon the race of English thoroughbreds. These wore the Bly, l erly Turk, the Darley Arabian and more es- l pscially the Godolphin Arabian. The last l named was 8 dark bay horse about fifteen hands high (Arab horses ssldem exceed four- teen and three fourth hands). with a white 1 off heel behind. He is said to have bsen stolen from his owner in Paris, and his pedi- gree was never asoertained. It is the fash- ion of English writers to decry the Arabian blood; and 1t is true that the present thor oughbred, owing to many years of good food and severe training, is bigger, stronger, swiftsr animal than the Arab; but the latest subject, William Day, makes the significant admission that all the best thoroughbred now on the English turf trace back to one or more of the three Arab horses whose names have just been mentioned.
 The chief reason why good roadster must have thoroughbred or Arab blood in his veins is that from no other source can he derive the necessary nervous energy. This is even raore important than the superior |
 bian. Exactly what nervous energy is no
 body, presume, can tell; but it is some.
 thing that, in horses at least, develops the
 physical system early; makes it capable oi
 great exertion, and enables 1t to recover
 quickly from fatigue. The same, or, more
 correctly, a similar capacity is continually
 remarked in mankind. Readers of Arctic
 travels, for example, must have been struel
 by the fact that it is invariably the men, ani
 never the officers, who suecumb to the labo
 and exposure of a sledge journey. Loosely
 speaking, it may be that in tho educated
 man, especially in the man whoae ancestor
 also have been educated, the mind has ac
 quired degree of control over the bod!
 which cannot otherwise be attained. S'
 also with horses. thoroughbred is on
 whose progenitors for many generation
 have been called upon to exert themselves t
 the utmost; they have run hard and long and struggled to beat their competitors.