Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-11-11

bly, see me to the end in OrOomiah The
memory of the visit my brother and l
made to old Middlebury and to Bread
Loaf last summer, is still green with me,
and will long remain so.
Truly yours,
BENZ. LABAREE.
The stables of his majesty the shah
contain the very best blood in Asia, and
comprise the pick of the finest horses in
Arabia, Persia, Kurdistan, Karadagh,
Khorasan and the TurcOman country;
also the choicest home-breds from the
horse farms belonging to the late shah
and his sons, the present shah and the
Zil-es-Sultan, all Of them great horse
fanciers and breeders. There
is no part of the establishment of a
monarch of Persia to which more atten-
tion is paid than his horses. They are
always placed under the care of an of.
ficer of high rank, who is styled Mir
Akhor.
The Mir Akhor (Master of the HOrse)
Mohamed Hussim Khan, a prince of the
royal blood, shows by his intimate
knowledge of the history of each horse,
and everything under his care, that he
loves the charge we'll. We were first
shown the racing stud called mdl-i-ShdH
Grace horses). thirteen in number, all in
hard condition (the Persian expression
is as hard as marble), and showing good
bone and much muscle. They were all
Arabs, but not all imported from
Arabia, some being bred from pure
stock in the late shah's establishments.
The royal races are held at Doshan Tapa,
six miles from Teheran, where there is a
soft sandsOil course, said to be a two
mile one, but the correct measurement
is one and half miles. The Persians
breed and train for lOng-dis tance speed
and endurance, and the races at Doshan
Tapa are from three to nine miles. The
prince pointed out the last winner of the
nine-mile race, saying that he ran 1t in
twenty five minutes. This horse was a
well-shaped, warm gray Arab, with black
points. He, with a darker gray and a
chestnut, all Arabs of pure breed from
Nejd, none of which. it is said, can be
obtained except by free gift or rare cap
ture in war, took the eve most with their
make and shape.
After the racing stud came the riding
horses, siXty-two in all; deer-lke Arabs
of the best desert blood of Neid and
AniZah, and others of stOuter build
from the country of the Jaf Kurds Sc
lected cross-breeds from Persian and
Turkish Kurdlstan, and the bigger boned
animals from the Karadagh, the re suit of
a strong strain of good northern blood.
There were some long, low, powerful
Hamut and other breeds from the Tur-
conan country, and some good looking,
active small horses from Khorasan.
From the Kashkai breeding grounds
near Shiraz were shown some fine big
horses Of high quality, also neat, stout
mixed breeds from the hills and plains
of Luristan and Persian Arabistan, and
Arabs of the best type, bred from blood
stock.
Three gray Arabs, favOrites of the
late shah, were brought out, set of with
gold collars, and their points were gone
over to show how powerfully safe they
were as riding horses on the hillside and
the plain. The most powerful
and best shaped among these riding
horses, In my opinion, were a Jaf (Kurd)
uapplcu gray anu DlS gray luIcOuldns,
the latter very deep in the grth, and
distinguished by the long, fine neck so
common to their class, aud rather large
but lean heads, showing blood and
breeding. The TurcOmans say that the
superior size and strength of their horses
over others are due to the rich grass of
their pasture lands. All these
horses had their tails plated or tied up.
The Persians never cut horses tail, but
tie it up, which not only improves the
animals appearance but prevents the tail
trailing on the ground.
In speaking to two friends, competent
judges of such matters, about the breed
ing and training for long distance races
in Persia, and the time in which it Is
said the nine miles had been run, found
that while one thought the time might
be reasonably correct, the other was
more than doubtful. | have since then
seen in the journal of the United Service
Institution of India, 1886, paper or
"Horse breeding iD Central Asia, trans