The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1897-03-13
THE HORSES OF ARABIA
STRONGLY BUILT, LARGE BONED
ANIMALS OF THE DESERT.
They Eventually Beoome quiet and
oBedient to Their Masters
Hand, But Care Is Needed.

i
f. Talbot Kelly, an English artist who
has lived much among the Arabs, writes
and illustrates a paper entitled I'm the
Desert with the Bedouin'' for the Febru-
airy Century. Mr.. Kelly writes as follows
Of the famous Arabian horses: The Han
aardi and Nephaarta Arabs are famous
horse breeders. and take great pride In
their stud. These horses are, think, the
best Arabs" have seen; and far from
being the gazelle-like creatures usually
depicted, they are strongly built, large
boned animals of from Is to to 151A hands
nigh, ] have seen one of 161A hands, but
this is unusual. Their Immense neck and
shoulders make them appear perhaps a
little light behind; but they have plenty
Of staying power, and their length of
hook is an earnest of the speed they I'M
doubleday possess. Parties from these
tribes are constantly roaming the deserts
Of Syria and Mesopotamia in search of
good brood mares; and 1 have heard of
as much as a thousand guineas being
paid for one, and good mare is never
parted with or ridden.
remember seeing a bunch of Neph-
aarta horses brought in for the inspec-
ton of an emissary of the Khedive who
wished to purchase a pair for his high
ness. There were some 20 or Is Of the
most beautiful colts possible, with the
exception Of one rather weedy looking
beast. As soon as Sheik Mansour saw it
he shouted: Take 1t away, and give it
to the first man you meet will not own
that as Nephaarta horseP" The Khe-
dives agent eventually selected two, for
which I saw him pay 500 pounds Egyp-
tian.
Entire Arab horses are always rather
difficult to ride at first, though after a
few days, when horse and rider have be-
come reconciled, they are docile enough,
and easily, trained. Each man has vir-
tually to break his horse to his own hand,
and should another mount an apparent
ly quiet beast, he would have to do the
work all over again. 1t seems to be a
tacit understanding between horse and
rider that their joint career begins with
a struggle for the mastery. To a visitor
like myself, whose mounts must con-
stantly be changing, the prospect is suf-
hciently alarming. Ones early days in
an Arab camp are frequently days of
pain and tribulation, as one slowly re-
covers from a bout with a half-savage
stallion.
Though they eventually become quiet
and obedient to their masters hand, great
care must be observed, when riding in
company, not to allow ones horse to APP
proach within kicking distance of anoth-
er, or disastrous results follow. The
horses are always ready for a fight, and
deceitfuIly appear to be on their best be-
havior Immediately before an outbreak
was riding one day with a small party
Of SANTANA Arabs, when two men care
lessly approached too close. 1 called out
to them to sheer off a little but before
they could respond a general melee was
in progress, and almost instantly my
horse had its teeth in the neck of one of
theirs, while the other was killed by
kick which burst its stomach. Fortu-
nately we all escaped with a few bruises,
though the riders do not always get off
so easily. When riding at full gallop,
however, the attention of the horses is
concentrated upon the race and the men
may ride as close together as they like,
but care must be taken to wheel apart as
the pace slackens.
Nothing can exceed the intoxication of
a race in the desert. Choosing stretch
of level sand, you give your horse the sig
nal to go, and he is off with spring that
almost unseats you; and have seen an
instance where the sudden strain burst
the girths, and left man and saddle in the
dust, while the horse was a hundred
yards away before the discounted rider
realized what had happened. The speed
that these horses attain is very great,
and their reach forward is prodigious, as
I found on one occasion when my horses
hind hoof cut the heel clean off my boot!
After a gallop, instead of breaking into
canter and then into trot before stop
ping, thew simply put their fore feet to-
gether and stop dead, their impetus fire.
quently causing them to slide several
yards. understand that 1t is on this ac-
count that Arab horses are shod on The
fore feet only.