The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1918-11-20
THE ARAB HORSE COMING BACK
Renewal of Interest Predicted in the
Once Famous Steed


Now that Arabia is going to be
country and q kingdom on it's own ac-
count, with king at Mecca and war
taxes and very likely controller of
dates, interest in the Arab horse is
likely to be revived: The Arab king
dom is a kind of holy thing, based on
Mohammed and the Kaabo and the
Koran, and to the Arab the horse is
holy. 1t was Mohammed himself who
said Cor at least so the Manchester
Guardian tells us), "The money that
one spends on horses is in the eyes
of God an aims that one makes at
ones own COST" There is something
rather mystical about this saying. At
first glance it seems to mean: "He
who buys horses is lending money to
the Lord" There may be, however, q
sort of joker in the phrase, implying
that he who buys horses impoverishes
himself, and therefore acquires the
merit of him who gives away all his
money. But there is clue to Moham-
rled's meaning in another utterance
CT his which is this: "Weal is in the
forelock Of horses until the Day of
Judgment"
The Eastern world and a great part
of Africa could never have been con-
verted to Islam if it had not been for
the Arab horse. On his back the Arab
Prophet, through Syria, Persia, Egypt,
all North Africa and most of Spain, so
that within a hundred years after the
Prophets death half the known world
was Mussulman. The Arab horse
n1ighe well be numbered among the
apostles of Islam and upon his main
tenance in swiftness and strength de-
pended, no doubt the future fate of
the Arab kingdom, and caliphate. 1t
was only when Europe had horses as
good as those of Arabia that Christi
anty began to make headway against
Mohammedanism
And yet it is funny-the Arab horse
was not an original Arabian product.
In the days before Christ the Arabs
travelled exclusively on camels. The
horse now called Arabian is supposed
TO have originated on the Libyan des-
crt in North Africa, from which it
passed to Egypt and eventually to
Arabia. Europe always had horses in
some shape, but they were very
stocky, logy, numbering creatures, fit
to draw iron chariots, which were the
tanks of the ancient, but not fit
for & gentleman or first-class bandit
to ride. 1t took the sandy deserts to
breed that kind Of horse, and some
how Libya manged to do it. 1t must
be confessed that the horse of that
! type, as we know him now, has got
| the hot, sandy desert out of his blood
very we'll. The Morgan horse of Ver-
mont is only slight modification of
the Arab horse-so slight that Homer
| Davenport's stallion, Haleb, brought
straight from the Syrian desert, took
the prize at the Vermont State fair at
! Rutland as the animal nearest in all
! lines to the typical Morgan. Fancy the
| difference in the climate and condi-
! tions between Vermont and the Libyan
DESERT! And yet the Morgan horse was
happy and healthy in Vermont; there
was never a creature that stood
temperature of 40 degrees below zero
more cheerfully than he, or ever
aprang more blithcly through five feet
of snow.
The explanation of this capacity for
acclimatization (Which the donkey
and mule do not possess), probably
lies in the wonderful and indomitable
spirit of the horse, an animal which,
though it pretends to be as tmid as
{, rabbit, is really daunted by moth
its head probably in hell if it had ever
done anything that would entitle it
to go there. The horse will run away
at the turning of leaf in the wind;
but it will leap to death at the com
mand of it's master. Though created
for play; and knowing that he is
created for play, the horse will accept
life of abject toll and will show an
unfagging spirit of zeal in that toll,
as though it wer all that he desired
in life. A man may aspire to possess
the various virtues, and will call in
religion to help him, and then he will
not acquire onc-half the virtues that
his horse has by inheritance and in
stinct A man may see his better self
in his horse as in a miro.
The Arab horse and his various off
spring, the descendants possess more
virtues, probably, than any other
breed of horses. The big, hulking
horses that we have developed for
heavy tasks, or to pull coaches, are
ften surly, tricky, and mcan-spirited.
They are the kickcrs, biters, halter
pullers and bakers. The Nomad new
er heard of any Of these vices in any
Of the Morgan horses among whom
he was brought up. The Nomad has
never been in Arabia, but he enjoyed
a thorough acquaintance with the stud
Of Arab horses that Homer Davenport
brought from Aleppo, and he has had
some contach with horses elsewhere,
and he never heard or saw one that
had vice. They are gentle, though
spirited, and though under the saddle
or the harness they will caracolc and
sometimes rear, they do this only for
show, and are easily controlled. They
have keen interest in the doings and