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HEAD OF TYnCAL ARABIAN HORSE. 
 
My HORSE; My Love 
 
 " His neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance 
 enforces homage."— KING HENRY V. 
 
 BY 
 
 DINAH 'SHARPE 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE APPLE OF ARABIA'S EYE," AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 3 3 V7 ^^ 
 
 ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 
 
 1892 
 
%^ 
 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1897, 
 BY SARA BUCKMAN LINARD. 
 
To 
 MY DAUGHTERS 
 
 VIRNIE AND MARGUERITE, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS MOST LOVINGLY 
 
 IFnBcribeD. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACE 
 
 Introduction, i 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Veterinary Education, . . . , , . .12 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Facilities for Breeding in America 18 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 The Sense of Smell in the Horse, 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Nature's Vinaigrette, 25 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Arabia, . . , .32 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Famous Arabian Horses^— . 38 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Pedigree of Arabian Horses, 45 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 It IS the Blood that Tells, ....... 52 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Types of Arabian Horses , . .55 
 
Vin CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Arabian Horses in England, ...... 60 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 English and Russian Horses, 65 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 Cruelty of Docking, 71 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 Operation of Docking, 76 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Mexican Bit and Curb, 81 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Bearing- Rein, . . . . . . . .88 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Balking, 92 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Blinkers and Blindness, 96 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Teeth and Toothache, . . . . . . . 100 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Lockjaw, . , . . . . . . . . 102 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Arab Horses in South America, . . . , .107 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 Arab Horses in North America, in 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Secretary Seward's Arabs, nS 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Selim, . ... . 121 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Abdallah ^24 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 The American Horse, 127 
 
 ' CHAPTER XXVI. 
 ♦'Standard Bred" Horses, 132 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 General Grant's Horses, 136 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 Americo-Arab Stud, ........ 142 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 Conclusion, ^49 
 
MY HORSE; iMY LOVE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "Ah, this is delightful," exclaimed the Count, as 
 he held his hands toward the cheerful blaze of a 
 bright wood fire, on our broad old hearthstone. 
 
 The Count had come to make us a long-promised 
 visit in the early autumn ; arriving at the twilight 
 hour of a dreary day, chill and bleak, with a persis- 
 tent soaking rain, and a gusty, soughing wind. 
 For one long week the sun had hidden his face be- 
 hind the dull and sodden sky, depriving us of the 
 solace even of a brisk walk, or a game at tennis, in 
 these last days of our summer sojourn by the seaside. 
 So we heard the roar of the ocean, and the howling 
 wind outside, with a pleasing sense of comfort in the 
 contrast, as we watched the wide flames, now shoot- 
 ing up with a noisy crackling Energy, now dying 
 down to a hissing mysterious whisper. 
 
 Conversation was brisk, for the Count had such 
 an inexhaustible fund of romance, fact, story, and 
 adventure, that we gave him little chance of rest 
 when an adroit question, here and there, inspired 
 him to tell us of his past life. A Polish patriot — 
 
2 • MY horse; my love. 
 
 the last of the noble family of Kosciusko — his studied 
 English and quaint accent added greatly to the in- 
 terest of his narrations. 
 
 As he had promised to tell us the *' why and where- 
 fore " of his residence in America, with a final poke 
 at the fire the little war of question and reply began. 
 
 THE COUNT. 
 
 You have promised, Count, to give us some par- 
 ticulars of your life in Russia. Since you were born 
 in Poland, did you serve in the Russian army by 
 choice? 
 
 " Poland being subject to Russia, I had no choice 
 but to serve in the Russian army. It would be a 
 life-long reproach to his courage and patriotism, if a 
 nobleman, bom in Poland, without physical deformity, 
 and strong in limb and wind, should fail to devote 
 some years of his life to military service. He 
 would be stripped of his title of nobility, and could 
 arrive at no personal distinction of an honorable 
 character." 
 
 I have always heard that Poland is a nation of 
 soldiers. 
 
 *' It is true — the government being controlled by 
 old soldiers rathei^than by statesmen. Although 
 diplomacy in foreign countries is studied as are the 
 learned professions; in Poland it must be learned 
 through the use of the sword, by military rule and 
 suggestion. A man must at least prove himself a 
 brave soldier, before he can serve the government as 
 a diplomatist, or in any other capacity." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Being on the Emperor's staff you were, of 
 course, very near his person. 
 
 "Ah, madam, many a time have I put him in his 
 kibitka and sent him home more drunk than any 
 lord!" 
 
 Was Alexander II. an agreeable person to be on 
 such intimate terms with? 
 
 "When sober, no man could be kinder, gentler, 
 or more humane; but when drunk, he was worse 
 than a wild beast, and developed characteristics which 
 made him a terror to everybody near him. He 
 would order a man's head chopped off for the least 
 offence, or to suit his drunken whim, and did not 
 mind standing by to see the order executed, while 
 laughing in fiendish glee at the victim's terror." 
 
 Then you were not sorry to join the Polish insur- 
 rection against Russia? 
 
 " It was Poland that I loved, my own country, and 
 it was my duty to fight for her and my pleasure also. 
 We longed for liberty, and fought for it desper- 
 ately. But Russia is a powerful nation, and we were 
 outnumbered. I was thrown into an Austrian 
 prison, where I remained four months and was then 
 ordered to be sent to Russia. Knowing something 
 of what torture awaited me there, and finding friends 
 in the prison who were in communication with 
 friends outside, I determined to make my escape." 
 
 How did you manage that? 
 
 " The bars of my cell had been cut, and hearing 
 the signal agreed upon, I emerged from the window, 
 and found it not too difficult a matter to leap to the 
 parapet, then to the bastion, to another parapet, to a 
 
4 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 bastion below, and so on until I had descended low 
 enough to make the plunge into the river. Swim- 
 ming about 4,000 yards, I reached the opposite side 
 just as the signal gun gave voice that a prisoner had 
 escaped." 
 
 And you were not recaptured? 
 
 " As I reached the shore a friend seized my hand 
 and ran with me to a carriage in waiting. Dry 
 clothing, food, and brandy had been provided, but 
 we tarried not. The good horses flew over the 
 ground toward Bavaria, and once over its friendly 
 borders I was again a free man." 
 
 Did you remain long in Bavaria? 
 
 " Not long. As soon as I had rested I went to 
 vSwitzerland and thence to Rome." 
 
 In Rome you raust have felt quite safe. 
 
 " Eternal watchfulness is the price of liberty. 
 While walking there one evening, I had just turned 
 into a quiet street when I was attacked by three 
 lazzaroni. Being always armed, I quickly disabled 
 two of them with my sword, and seizing the third, 
 demanded of him the writing which gave him the 
 authority to pursue me. The beggarly scoundrel, 
 crying for mercy, handed it to me, when I knocked 
 him flat and unconscious with my fist; just then a 
 man came forward eagerly saying; 'Have you killed 
 him? then give me back the paper!' It was a Rus- 
 sian detective who spoke, whom I recognized, and I 
 determined not to spare him. Holding the paper 
 toward him, as he put out his hand to take it, I 
 stabbed him to the heart." 
 
 But were you not afraid of arrest? 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 " With my bloody sword in one hand, and the paper 
 in the other, containing a description of my person, 
 and an order to seize me dead or alive, I went to the 
 police authorities. I showed them the paper, told 
 them of the assault upon me, and where they could 
 find the dead body in the street, and possibly the 
 three lazzaroni. Instead of arresting me, they 
 applauded my deed, allowing me to go free. As I 
 was soon thereafter warned by Cardinal Franchi and 
 the Countess Odescalchi, n^e Pototska, of noble 
 Polish birth, of another conspiracy against me, I left 
 Rome for Paris, when my life was again attempted 
 by a Russian spy." 
 
 But why should they seek to kill you? 
 
 " The Russian detective has the privilege of kill- 
 ing his victim if he can catch him in no other way. 
 Finding Napoleon unfriendly, or at least indifferent, 
 I returned to Switzerland. Here I was waited on 
 by emissaries from Alexander, who offered to restore 
 to me my entire property — which he had confiscated 
 — and all my other rights, if I would swear to bend 
 the knee to him and become once more his body- 
 guard." 
 
 You liked the Emperor, did you not? 
 
 " Ah, madam, the^Russians are a nation of liars, 
 and I loved my freedom too well to put it again in 
 jeopardy. Knowing that even now these messengers 
 of the Emperor had secret power to enforce his com- 
 mands, I asked for a few hours in which to arrange 
 some affairs. Fancying that they had met with less 
 opposition than they expected, they readily and cour- 
 teously acceded to my request. I wasted no time, 
 
6 MY horse; my love. 
 
 but escaping from the house, reached the railroad 
 station just as the fast train toward Liverpool and 
 America came in sight. My securities had been 
 changed into gold which I carried on my person, 
 and so, with about sixty thousand dollars and my 
 profession, I began life in America with a glad 
 heart, rejoicing in the freedom which this brave land 
 gives to all who dwell within its boundaries." 
 
 Then here you were, of course, free from perse- 
 cution? 
 
 "Alas, no! Russian power and hostility are far- 
 reaching, and the secret spies of the Russian govern- 
 ment have long arms. They are ubiquitous, and to 
 the shame even of New York, be it said, that within 
 that city exists a secret agency for Russian spies." 
 
 Is it possible that anything so iniquitous can be 
 tolerated in our land? 
 
 " The fact can be easily proved. I had not been 
 here long before the amusing information was 
 brought me that I had been burned in effigy in 
 Russia. But when I learned that my mother and 
 sister had been imprisoned, and finally put to death 
 by strangulation because, not knowing, they could 
 not yield the secret of my hiding-place, the last link 
 that bound my respect and alliance to Russia was 
 broken, and my heart knew its first great sorrow." 
 
 PERSECUTION. 
 
 With such a cruel memory of Russia's wicked 
 revenge, in the slaughter of your mother and sister, 
 you must have been glad to adopt America as your 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 future home. Of course no further attempts were 
 made on your life here? 
 
 " On the contrary, three separate times my life has 
 been in danger from Russian spies, and twice my 
 good dog has warned and saved me." 
 
 Was it Beppo who saved your life? 
 
 "No, it was a noble English pointer, trained to 
 perfection, whose love for and devotion and obedi- 
 ence to me were priceless, and his death a positive 
 grief. Beppo, though a fine mastiff, is not his equal. " 
 
 How did the dog save your life? 
 
 "Shortly after my arrival in North America 
 eighteen years ago, the first attempt upon my life in 
 this country was made. I had been reading until a 
 late hour, but feeling weary, finally turned off the 
 gas and went to bed. The resting-place of my En- 
 glish pointer at night was at my bedside. Sud- 
 denly, through the deep slumber in which I lay, 
 sounded a low ominous growl, unusual enough to 
 startle me into partial wakefulness. At my command 
 the dog jumped on the bed, and feeling then secure, 
 I closed my eyes, only to open them again in a 
 moment, to see a man standing before me. In one 
 hand he held up a lighted match, and in the other a 
 poniard lifted high, and about to descend with unerr- 
 ing stroke upon me. With one bound my brave dog 
 was upon him, and bore him to the floor; while, I, 
 in striving to wrench the poniard from his hand, 
 broke his arm. " 
 
 The wretch! Then you were able to secure him? 
 
 " I bound him fast, and telling the dog to watch 
 him, dressed hastily, and securing a firm hold on my 
 
8 MY horse; mv love. 
 
 midnight assassin, marched him off to the police 
 station. There I told my story of his attempt upon 
 my life and saw my affidavit written down, while 
 in the bright light I recognized a certain Russian 
 spy from the third chamber of government detec- 
 tives." 
 
 You mean to say you recognized a spy from 
 Russia in a police station in America? 
 
 "Certainly, madam." 
 
 Then they were in collusion to take your life ! 
 
 " Doubtless. Leaving the poniard as a proof and 
 witness against the spy, I was told to come in the 
 morning. Incredible as it may seem, when I went 
 the next day, instead of the ready recognition I had 
 every right to expect, I was met by the stolid, in- 
 different question, 'Who are you?' I answered the 
 query by asking another: * Where is the man, the 
 murderer, I brought here last night with a broken 
 arm and the poniard he meant to slay me with?' 
 They vouchsafed me no other answer than 'We 
 know nothing about him. ' I asked for the book in 
 which I had seen the record written, but only a 
 frayed edge of paper indicated where it had been 
 torn out, and even the blotter was destroyed." 
 
 What did you do and say? 
 
 " In deepest indignation I realized that bribery 
 and lies had triumphed, and that the spy had been 
 allowed to escape. Turning to the officer I said, 
 'You see this pistol and these cartridges with which 
 I load it, and this knife? These arms I carry in 
 self-defence, and the next time I bring you, not 
 broken bones, but a dead man. ' " 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 Had you at that time been made an American 
 citizen? 
 
 " No, madam. And it was not until I realized that 
 twice again my life was in danger, that I recognized 
 the importance of placing myself under the protec- 
 tion of this great nation. " 
 
 Where else, and how were you in danger? 
 
 " For a short time I lived in New Haven, and 
 standing one day in my own grounds before my 
 door, I saw a man enter the gate. He approached 
 me and, with more politeness than one expects in a 
 beggar, he asked for alms. Although he spoke 
 Polish, it was with the Russian dialect, which be- 
 trayed him, and my suspicions were at once aroused. 
 Regarding him keenly I was convinced that his 
 errand was not one of mercy, and said to him: *You 
 beg, but your hands have never worked. Go to the 
 kitchen and get your dinner, and here is fifty cents. 
 You see this gun and this dog, and you understand 
 that I know how to protect myself. If you are still 
 here after the next train leaves, I will blow out your 
 brains!' " 
 
 And did this man again attempt your life? 
 
 " Not this one, but another. A few days later, as 
 I watched some stone-masons at work on a church, I 
 was struck by the exceeding awkwardness of one of 
 them. Looking closer I recognized another Russian 
 detective. Turning to the master-mason, I said: 
 'Do you know this man?' He replied: 'No, but the 
 late vStrike has made it so hard for me to get work- 
 men, that when this man applied I employed him. * 
 When I said to the man in his own language, 'Leave 
 
lO MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 this place immediately, or I will shoot you dead!' 
 he required no further permission, and got away in 
 a hurry. " 
 
 Had you no other clew to these wicked designs 
 than by such as you described? 
 
 *' No other was really necessary. One soon learns 
 the peculiar methods of nations in dealing with their 
 enemies, and Russia does not easily forgive. The 
 unlimited power of the Czar must be incomprehen- 
 sible to the inhabitants of a country, where freedom 
 of speech, and the liberty of the press, are the inborn 
 rights of every citizen ; where no secret fear of 
 unexpected and undeserved captivity or punishment 
 influences every action, every thought, almost every 
 breath one breathes, and every dream one dreams." 
 
 Has the banishment of the Jews from Russia been 
 in any way a matter of personal interest to you? 
 
 " None, except that I have learned that among 
 them is an old servant of mine, and that he is now 
 living in Wilkesbarre. The immense population 
 of Russia was composed largely of Jews, and their 
 power and influence, although a secret one, was 
 sufficiently felt to interfere with, and sometimes inter- 
 rupt, the designs of the government. The lower 
 classes, it is well known, served the most immoral 
 purposes in the hope of getting wealth." 
 
 In what way specially? 
 
 " Many drinking dens of the vilest sort were in the 
 hands and under the control of the Jews, while every- 
 where they were the acknowledged receivers of 
 stolen goods. Famous as successful horse-thieves, 
 their different depots for the reception of stolen 
 
INTRODUCTION. II 
 
 horses were long distances apart, but in every hamlet 
 and village through which they passed they were 
 sure of protection and non-j3etrayal. Faithful to 
 , each other, they were at secret enmity to the rest, 
 and their great and ever- increasing numbers made 
 their adverse influence one to be dreaded, in so 
 haughty and arrogant a nation as Russia," 
 
 Then you are not surprised at this terrible up- 
 heaval in Russia, and the persecution of the Jews? 
 
 " Ah, no ! It cannot be to me a matter of astonish- 
 ment that the Jews are finally expelled and forever 
 banished from Russia and Poland." 
 
 But there must be some good men among this 
 great army of sufferers? 
 
 "Among them are many good and honorable men, 
 and as such they will be recognized here and every- 
 where. But the edict had to include all or none, 
 and while the means employed to banish them were 
 cruel and severe, Russia can shrug her shoulders 
 and show to the world, in her disdainful attitude, 
 her indifference to the opinion of all other nations." 
 
 Well, dear Count, we are not only glad to wel- 
 come you to America, and to adopt you as one of her 
 sons, but, even at^his late day, congratulate you 
 upon your escape from all those wicked designs, and 
 that you still live to tell about them. 
 
 " Ah, my friends, there is no country in all the 
 world like America; and I thank God every day of 
 my life that my steps were directed hither, and that 
 now in my old age I can enjoy the inestimable bless- 
 . ings of perfect liberty of thought, and freedom of 
 action, which she bestows." 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 -,; VETERINARY EDUCATION^ 
 
 I SEE you have prepared a lecture for us this even- 
 ing, Count, and intend to tell us what these figures 
 in plaster-of-paris mean. 
 
 "They represent the anatomy of a horse. I have 
 modelled them, for the better understanding of breed- 
 ers, owning valuable animals. One outlines the mus- 
 cular formation, with all the tendons and ligaments; 
 while the other is a complete skeleton, showing 
 nature's marvellous arrangement of bones, and the 
 working of the intestinal functions. " 
 
 How very cleverly done they are ! 
 
 " Well you see that when a horse is ill from acci- 
 dent or disease, his condition is better explained by 
 a reference to the models. For instance, when I was 
 called lately as a witness in regard to the soundness 
 of a horse, I could prove by a drawing submitted to 
 the court the condition of the horse's hoofs, which 
 were separated from the lamina. The judge, com- 
 paring the drawing with the model, saw easily where 
 the difficulty lay, and gave a decision in accordance 
 with my statements." 
 
 Where did you study, Count? 
 
 " I have my diploma from the Maramonte College 
 
 12 
 
VETERINARY EDUCATION. I3 
 
 in Warsaw, and, with the title of colonel, was in the 
 Pietro Pavosky stud staff of Alexander II. of Russia 
 for many years." 
 
 Veterinary surgery is considered an important 
 science? 
 
 " In all countries under military rule it ranks with 
 the highest of the learned professions. " 
 
 Indeed! you know we rather look down upon a 
 man here, who can find nothing better to do than to 
 doctor animals. One can hardly insult a physician 
 more, than to ask him to set a dog's broken leg or 
 otherwise prescribe for him. 
 
 "Yes, but it is very different in Europe. There 
 the veterinary students are taken from the best of 
 the nobility, from the cleverest and best educated 
 sons of gentlemen. In Russia, Germany, Austria, 
 and other countries under militar}^ government, 
 horses are not sacrificed, if by any amount of care and 
 attention, they can be saved. A Russian general 
 argues that ignorance is inexcusable, where the ill- 
 ness or wounds of a horse are concerned ; and as fine 
 horses are scarcer than common soldiers they are well 
 taken care of." 
 
 Then the soldiers are not of so much account as 
 the horses they ride?^ 
 
 " It is even so. If a soldier or groOm should lose 
 a valuable horse through any neglect or oversight, 
 he is likely to pay the forfeit with his life!" 
 
 Then the course in veterinary science must be a 
 very difficult one? 
 
 "It is, indeed, madam. The rules are strict, the 
 examinations very rigid, and it is only after a long 
 
J 4 MY horse; my love. 
 
 course of hard study that a student receives his 
 diploma." 
 
 And in Europe a diploma is really a necessary 
 equipment? 
 
 " Certainly, it is there, as here in classical colleges, 
 the proof and reward of close and serious study. 
 There are seven primary classes which prepare the 
 student for practical work, which is at first dis- 
 heartening, for with all his book knowledge he seems 
 to have nothing to start with. An animal cannot tell 
 his ailments, or where the pain is, and the doctor 
 must find out for himself. Now, if the student can 
 pass an examination he may be assigned to a place in 
 the imperial studs ; but at every advancement on the 
 military staff, he must pass a new examination, until 
 at the end of five years, he becomes a graduate with 
 the title of veterinary surgeon and animal doctor." 
 
 Is it possible the course includes five years of 
 hard study? 
 
 "No less is sufficient. In nearly all European 
 countries the animal doctor advances through mili- 
 tary service, aided by the close and practical observa- 
 tion of and association with his own horses ; attend- 
 ing personally to their needs, even to the blacking 
 of their hoofs, albeit his servant may blacken his 
 boots. The course includes all that medical science 
 teaches whether of biped or quadruped, with feathers 
 or without. He must be practical in everything, 
 even to the forging and fitting of his horses' shoes, 
 a most important thing to know." 
 
 Are there many such colleges in Europe, -and 
 which is considered the best?" 
 
VETERINARY EDUCATION. 15 
 
 "The highest veterinary college for cattle is in 
 Switzerland, and that in England ranks next. But 
 in Endand the college is not tinder government con- 
 trol, a^ it is in Russia, Austria, Germany, France, 
 and indeed all European countries under the regime 
 of military law. " 
 
 Are they not very strict in those countries regard- 
 ing meats and their healthy condition? 
 
 "Indeed, yes, and it is most important every- 
 where. In these countries there is a veterinary sur- 
 geon on every Board of Health to determine the 
 sanitary condition of suspected animals, before they 
 are butchered. In Bavaria every hog is examined 
 by an animal doctor before it can be sold, to avoid 
 trichinosis, and since the horse has been declared 
 good for food the fact proves that veterinary science 
 has made great strides." 
 
 Then science has proved that horse-flesh is good 
 
 to eat? 
 
 " It has, emphatically so. Horses were formerly 
 too expensive to buy for post-mortem examinations. 
 Now, if a horse break his leg, and so being useless 
 is killed; if, after examination by a veterinary, he 
 is pronounced healthy, he can be cut up and eaten. 
 The custom has become too common to convey an 
 idea of horror as it once did. In some cities there 
 are restaurants, where horse-flesh is the only meat 
 provided. Then our daily accounts during the siege of 
 Paris, and the high esteem in which horse-meat was 
 there'held, have helped also to cure us of this idea." 
 
 We might then have saved our shudders, and our 
 sympathy for the horse-devouring community. 
 
1 6 MY horse; my love, 
 
 " They could not starve while having sound horse- 
 flesh to live on. Three fourths of the support of al- 
 most every country is supplied from the animal king- 
 dom, which statement although it may offer a wide 
 field for argument, is not difficult of proof. To cite 
 an exception : in the tropical parts of Africa there is 
 a fly so destructive to animal life that only the goat 
 can exist there. The men and women, perforce, are 
 beasts of burden, and travellers must walk and carry 
 their own luggage. In China, because of the enor- 
 mous population, only the very rich can keep cattle 
 and horses. Where the population is not so dense 
 the animal is freer, healthier, and tougher, not 
 stronger nor more speedy, for a wild beast can 
 always outrun a domesticated animal. In the 
 Orient all animals that sweat only from the tongue 
 are considered unclean, while those that sweat from 
 the pores, including horse and man, are good for 
 daily food." 
 
 Is not that a rather heathenish distinction? 
 
 " The Bible speaks of ' JVi'se men from the East, * 
 and in all that pertains to mankind and animals, the 
 Orientals have strict laws, founded on the closest 
 practical observation, which have become an essen- 
 tial part of their religion." 
 
 Then the fact that men sweat from their pores as 
 do horses, makes the excuse in the cannibal's mind, 
 when he regales himself on a particularly fat and 
 toothsome missionary? 
 
 '* Ah, madam, I fear religion plays a small part in 
 the cannibal's peculiar appetite. He eats his enemies 
 with relish, his neighbors with the blackest hides! 
 
VETERINARY EDUCATION. I? 
 
 Has not the missionary with his dainty white skin, 
 a high courage to put his tempting self withm 
 reach of their long arms, much as he may wish to 
 convert them to more civilized dishes and ways?'' 
 
 He has indeed. But to return, do you find a 
 creditable amount of knowledge among the veter- 
 inarians here? . 
 
 - Until within a comparatively recent period very 
 few have ever been out of America, unless imported 
 from Europe. They did not possess stables of their 
 own and were mostly interested only as hired physi- 
 cians-not as owners of valuable horses. The finest 
 racers in this country come from the least pretentious 
 stables, as a stricter, closer personal attention is ex- 
 ercised by the proprietor, and important needs are 
 not left to the grooms." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FACILITIES FOR BREEDING IN AMERICA. 
 
 Where do our best horses come from ? 
 
 "They are imported principally from England. 
 From English thoroughbreds we get our hunters, 
 runners, trotters, hackneys, post and cart horses, etc. 
 Books have been written upon the subject which 
 tell about selecting good horses for breeding pur- 
 poses, but they have not yet learned how to get a 
 good horse from poor parents." 
 
 But is that possible? 
 
 " Certainly it is. They understand the result of 
 certain combinations, but with all the wonderful 
 facilities in America, men have yet to learn how to 
 mate horses, so as to be sure of securing one.thatwill 
 trot in two minutes, all the way to one that will trot 
 in 1 :5o. They do not understand how to combine 
 the breeds, so that the inbred, so far, is only occasion- 
 ally good. To mate extremes, such as the Arabian 
 with the Shetland pony, is not to produce good 
 results. In mating, the mechanical proportions of a 
 horse, together with lungs of great volume and capa- 
 bility, are of the highest importance to consider. 
 From endurance you get the greatest speed, but from 
 
 the speediest horses never endurance. Physiological 
 
 i8 
 
FACILITIES FOR BREEDING IN AMERICA. I9 
 
 laws in mating should be well understood. So, 
 instead of one phenomenally good, once in a while, 
 it would be the rule to secure always the finest 
 animals. In America there is everything to favor 
 the highest development to which the horse can 
 attain." 
 
 What are the special facilities in America? 
 
 " First, there is immense wealth and a generous 
 inclination to spend it ; second, the great diversity 
 of climate agrees with the horse, if not always with 
 man ; and, third, food is never lacking, there being 
 also a great diversity in hay, certain herbs growing 
 among the grass, which are exceedingly nutritious and 
 delicious to the palate of a horse. Then the country 
 is wide, the air is pure and invigorating." 
 
 You think horses prefer the country? 
 
 "They delight in the open freedom of air and 
 space. If living in confined places, too close to man- 
 kind, they will contract similar diseases, and men will 
 also be affected more or less through contagion." 
 
 Is it possible that human beings have the same 
 diseases as horses? 
 
 " The illnesses of both bear a close resemblance, 
 though producing different phenomena, as in per- 
 sons. Colic in horses is very alarming and distress- 
 ing, and extremely dangerous to life, if not taken in 
 time. It is far more severe than in man, and if not 
 speedily cured may make an invalid for life of the 
 animal." 
 
 What medicines are used for colic? 
 
 " Strong opiates are the surest remedy. Sun- 
 stroke is easily managed, if understood, is not at all 
 
20 MY horse; mv love. 
 
 ■uncommon, being frequently taken for blind stag- 
 gers, although the symptoms differ somewhat. " 
 
 What diseases are incurable? 
 
 " Physical malformation and glanders. A horse 
 afflicted with glanders should be shot more quickly 
 than you would shoot a mad dog. He should be 
 buried deep with plenty of quicklime to cover him. 
 The disease is so infectious that the flies carry it, 
 and with it infection to human beings as well as to 
 other animals. La grippe bears a close resemblance 
 to glanders though in a much milder form, but if a 
 man takes glanders from a horse there is no cure for 
 him." 
 
 Are the symptoms easily recognized? 
 
 *' The symptoms of other diseases not dangerous, 
 are sometimes similar to, and mistaken for, glanders. 
 Only the other day, I was called in great haste, to see 
 seven valuable horses, condemned to be shot by the 
 attending veterinary. As I could not discover the 
 leading signs of glanders, I examined them carefully, 
 and could assure the owner that they had been un- 
 justly condemned." 
 
 He must have been delighted to hear it. 
 
 " The expression of relief on his unhappy face, 
 showed that Hope had entered into his heart. One 
 of the horses had already suffered the sentence of 
 death, so in order to be sure he requested me to make 
 a post-mortem examination. I did so, at once, and 
 finding no yellow spot on the liver, heart, kidneys, 
 or other interior organs, I could assure him, that his 
 fears were groundless, and that his horses could be 
 cured." 
 
FACILITIES FOR BREEDING IN AMERICA. 2 1 
 
 Aiid did they all live? 
 
 " Ah, yes, madame. Every one of them is now at 
 work and as well as ever. " 
 
 Only yesterday I read of a man dying from 
 glanders. He tried so hard to cure his beautiful 
 horse, but he caught the disease and both fell victims. 
 Is it possible to mend a broken leg? 
 
 " It depends somewhat upon the locality of the 
 break, and the value of the horse. I had a valuable 
 mare hanging in the 'cradle* for four months, hav- 
 ing set her leg, put it in splints, and covered it with 
 a plaster-of-paris jacket. When the inevitable stiff- 
 ness had worn off she trotted as well as ever ; but 
 the cure of course required the greatest care, and 
 was attended by very great expense as well as much 
 discomfort, not suffering, to the mare on account of 
 her enforced position." 
 
 But it was well worth the trouble, was it not? 
 Other animals are always killed, I understand." 
 
 *' Not always. A year ago I set the broken leg of 
 a little calf, which has now grown into a fine heifer, 
 and indicates in no way her previous misfortune. A 
 valuable dog should never be shot for a broken leg, 
 when there is a chance to save him. Many a dog's 
 leg I have set and every time have gained a warm, 
 true friend. " 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SENSE OF SMELL IN THE HORSE. 
 
 Of course, Count, you have read what Madame de 
 Stael says, that " the sense of smell is the noblest of 
 the senses." Is it the keenest sense in the horse? 
 
 " While the senses of sight and hearing are preter- 
 naturally acute, even more so than in dogs, the sense 
 of smell is exceedingly fine. It answers to the com- 
 bined senses of touch, taste, and smell in man. If a 
 horse can investigate an object to his satisfaction 
 with his nose, he no longer fears it. " 
 
 Is this true with regard to the steam-engine, that 
 bete iioir of the horse? 
 
 "He may see and hear a steam engine, and through 
 these senses exhibit fear and anxiety to get away 
 from it. But if once coaxed close and held firmly 
 near it, and made to smell of it, he will never show or 
 feel the same fear again, and aided by sight and 
 hearing can soon be broken to its various manifesta- 
 tions of noise — escaping steam, whistle, and shriek." 
 
 Then it is important to take him close enough to 
 the locomotive, to let him smell it in order to break 
 him properly? 
 
 *' His nose will convince him of its harmlessness, 
 when eyes and ears fail." 
 
 How can he conquer his fear of wild beasts, even 
 
 22 
 
THE SENSE OF SMELL IN THE HORSE. 2$ 
 
 when they are caged or tamed — he surely smells 
 them? 
 
 "To his natural enemies, even in bondage — the 
 lion and tiger and other carnivorous animals — he 
 manifests a strong aversion; but if his nose can be 
 rubbed with something from their cages, even the 
 straw in which they lie, he will no longer fear their 
 terrible roar and will pass them by in lofty indiffer- 
 ence. Whether the smell of the cage conveys the 
 idea of captivity it is hard to tell, but these are 
 facts easily proved." 
 
 Is it not wonderful how horses seem to enjoy the 
 excitement of battle? 
 
 " The horse hates blood, but rub it on his nose, 
 as the soldiers sometimes do before going into battle, 
 and he will no longer shun it. It is the unexpected 
 and the unsmelled that so scares even the most amiable 
 animal. In his master whom he loves, he places 
 wonderful and abiding confidence, and appreciates 
 the decision and determination coupled with kind- 
 ness, that will finally conquer him. When other 
 efforts have failed he will follow his example and 
 will take the plunge into deep water which he has 
 refused, if his master plunge in first and will swim 
 with him." 
 
 Ah, yes! I have read many a traveller's tale, 
 how he has been saved from impending death through 
 the simple discretion, instructive wisdom, and more 
 than human endurance of his horse. I am sure you 
 must have many such experiences. 
 
 " I will relate to you one, which seems even to me 
 almost incredible. Being wounded in battle, and 
 
24 MY horse; my love. 
 
 falling from my horse unconscious, the noble creat- 
 ure seized my clothing in his teeth, and lifting me 
 from the ground, carried me to a safe distance. 
 Three times in the course of this removal I recov- 
 ered consciousness, when he would lay me down 
 again most carefully. Each time I found myself 
 farther away from the scene of battle, and at last 
 began to revive. Some of my regiment had fol- 
 lowed us, but brave Omar would allow nobody to 
 approach me, standing guard defiantly over me, 
 until my own servant arrived. " 
 
 How dearly you must have loved so noble an 
 animal! Where did you find one of such rare intelli- 
 gence? 
 
 " Omar II. was of the pure Nedj breed of Arabia, 
 the rarest and finest in all the world. His father, 
 Omar I., I obtained by stratagem (as well as his 
 mother, Ansha), leaving in his place $15,000 in gold, 
 as these horses are never bought or sold. Omar II. 
 had been my especial pet and charge since his birth, 
 and a more perfect animal never lived." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 nature's vinaigrette. 
 
 I HAVE often wondered, Count, what the dry gray 
 warts on the inside of each foreleg of the horse and 
 about the size of a silver dollar could be intended for. 
 They are the only spot on all his beautiful body that 
 could be called unsightly, and so I questioned an 
 owner and breeder of fine horses. 
 
 "And what did he tell you?" 
 
 He said that he had thought the osselets, for so 
 he called them, a sort of safety-valve through which 
 the blood was rid of its impurities. So when one of 
 his horses had " scratches" he peeled off the layers 
 as close as he could, and watched the results. When 
 the " scratches" went away he attributed the cure to 
 what he had done, but admitted that it may have 
 had no influence. He thought also that when the 
 horse rubs his nose against his legs he may be trying 
 to peel off the layers and thus get relief from some 
 little ailment. Is this your theory also. Count? 
 
 "Ah, madam, that is a question that has been 
 asked over and over again by men of science, of 
 deep practical learning and observation, without dis- 
 covering any satisfactory reply. I have made experi- 
 ments, and have come to a conclusion that is bound 
 to meet with doubt, possibly scorn, from those who 
 
 25 
 
26 MY horse; my love. 
 
 always doubt and from the ignorant and unthinking. 
 But I am satisfied of the truth of my discovery." 
 
 Pray tell me about it, for these osselets seem to 
 be of no possible use. 
 
 " Everybody who loves horses and observes their 
 ways, will have noticed that after a long and fatiguing 
 journey, or sustained and tiresome work, the horse 
 will rub his nose, first on the inside of one foreleg and 
 again on the other, tossing his head meanwhile, 
 throwing it about and taking long deep breaths of 
 relief and satisfaction." 
 
 Yes, I have very often noticed it. 
 
 " I believe that Nature has furnished to our domes- 
 tic slave the noblest of all God's brute creation, her 
 vinaigrette and restorative. When the weary, over- 
 taxed animal, sweating at every pore, and covered 
 with foam, can reach down and rub with his wet 
 nose, this always dry hard substance, he is instantly 
 refreshed with an odor like that of geranium. Toss- 
 ing his head with delight, and sniffing perceptibly, 
 he applies again and again his wet nose to this boim- 
 tiful, secret, and cunningly arranged restorative, and 
 is thus fortified and strengthened sufficiently to re- 
 sume his journey." 
 
 And have you really tested this v/onderful theory 
 to your own satisfaction? 
 
 " To test my belief I removed from one of my 
 horses these warts in the foreleg over which the 
 skin grew healthily, but the horse never showed the 
 same endurance, and his value was diminished by 
 half. In another case when I experimented, an 
 eruption broke out over the healing wound, and the 
 
NATURE S VINAIGRETTE. 27 
 
 poor animal soon grew so lame and useless that he 
 had to be shot, a sacrifice to science. These two 
 experiments were sufficient, I think, to test the won- 
 derful truth of what I have said. By wetting the 
 fingers and rubbing them on these dry warts the 
 unmistakable odor of geranium thus generated must 
 carry conviction to the most unbelieving. " 
 
 Is it the same whether in horses of pure or impure 
 breeding and blood? 
 
 " The higher the breed and the purer the blood, 
 the more pronounced is the odor ; and small osselets 
 indicate fine breeding. The native Arabian in his 
 swift and never-ending joumeyings to and fro in 
 the scorching heat of the unprotected desert, with 
 scant food and most limited supplies of water, draws 
 constant stimulant from this, Nature's nosegay; 
 and the weary cavalry horse, on forced marches, lets 
 his head droop lower and lower to catch, perchance, 
 one more whiff of the grateful and sustaining odor." 
 
 Your argument would be a powerful one against 
 the bearing-rein, but are other animals similarly 
 provided? 
 
 " It is a remarkable fact in natural history that 
 every race, whether of man or beast, and every- 
 thing that has life, which grows in or from the 
 ground, is distinguished by its own peculiar odor. 
 This odor is agreeable or not, according to its deli- 
 cacy or the strength to which it is developed. " 
 
 And has it a similar purpose? 
 
 " In many cases it is bestowed by Nature's wonder- 
 ful forethought, as a means of offense or defense, and 
 many animals carry with them a well-supplied vinai- 
 
28 MY horse; my love. 
 
 grette which, in times of exhaustion, they turn to and 
 inhale exceeding refreshment therefrom. In some 
 the odor is perceptible to themselves only, while in 
 others it is such a powerful means of defense as to 
 make the pursuing victim wish he had never been 
 born, which floods cannot drown nor fires quench, if 
 any part escape, and only six feet of earth can extin- 
 guish." 
 
 I know of one, are there others? 
 
 " Notably among these is the musk antelope, 
 which sends forth such a powerful odor of musk that 
 even at the distance of one hundred yards he can 
 smother his enemy to death. " 
 
 Is musk never made from plants? 
 
 " Musk is entirely an animal perfume, and is 
 contained in a bag situated near the perineum, 
 which, by muscular contraction or expansion, the 
 animal can control at will. Experienced hunters 
 know that when shooting, even at longest rifle range, 
 a musk antelope or a mountain goat, if the wind be 
 blowing toward them from the animal, they must 
 immediately drop and bury their faces in the ground, 
 or the last effort of the expiring animal will carry to 
 them also certain death. " 
 
 What accounts for the very perceptible odor of 
 musk in some churches in Europe? 
 
 " In Constantinople the Mohammedan Mosque of 
 Sofia is pervaded always by a strong smell of musk. 
 In order to supply this perfume, which was freely 
 mixed with the mortar and cement which bound 
 together the stones, thousands upon thousands of the 
 musk antelopes were slaughtered. Thus, while one 
 
NATURE S VINAIGRETTE. 29 
 
 Stone is left upon another of this ancient and inter- 
 esting building, the odor of musk must remain to 
 refresh or to annoy its visitors, according as the sense 
 is affected." 
 
 Has musk not some medicinal qualities? 
 
 " Taken internally after being dissolved in water, 
 the substance of this little bag is said to be an excel- 
 lent specific for pulmonary diseases. It is, too, a 
 well-known fact that the negroes of the South value 
 highly — and are not deterred by the necessarily close 
 and nauseous proximity to obtain it — the substance 
 of the pole-cat as a sure cure for rheumatism as well 
 as for coughs and colds." 
 
 Then the odor of musk belongs to many animals? 
 
 " Musk is probably the most common of animal 
 perfume, or at least the one which we are best able 
 to recognize. The muskrat, inhabiting our own ponds 
 and ditches, is greatly in demand by the compounder 
 of perfumes, and it is a species of jollification to 
 hunt them, which dogs and negroes enter into with 
 excited zest. In all thoroughbred cattle there is a 
 small cavity in the head, immediately between, and 
 at the root of, the horns. By rubbing the fingers in 
 this cavity a distinctodor of musk will be perceptible 
 in them." 
 
 How in this position can it refresh the animal? 
 
 "That is Nature's secret, betrayed only to the 
 owner of it." 
 
 Have I not heard that beavers betray themselves 
 by a peculiar odor? 
 
 " Yes, beavers emit an odor, well known to hunters 
 of them, in which it seems that Nature cruelly favors 
 
30 MY horse; my love. 
 
 their enemies. The poor little industrious creatures, 
 so valuable for their pretty fur, fancying themselves 
 secure in their hidden dams, reveal by this freak of 
 Nature their hiding-places, and thus become easy 
 victims to covetous man." 
 
 Are not foxes an easier prey for the same reason? 
 
 "When the hunted fox is sore bested and the 
 hounds are gaining upon him steadily and surely, he 
 will be seen suddenly to turn himself round and 
 round, v^ith bewildering rapidity, and with his head 
 and tail in close proximity. After several of these 
 revolutions, he makes a sudden spurt and soon gains 
 a great advantage of distance between himself and 
 his pursuers ; and if luck be with him he may escape. 
 Many a huntsman through a long life has chased the 
 fox with enthusiastic ardor, who would be surprised 
 to know, that in the very tip of his tail or brush is a 
 little bunch of hairs, from twenty-five to thirty in 
 number, which gives forth to the despairing and 
 almost vanquished beast, the refreshing and stimu- 
 lating odor of violets." 
 
 How very wonderful ! 
 
 " With this choice vinaigrette of Nature's furnish- 
 ing the hunted creature is sustained. " 
 
 Then this simple fact may explain why the hunters 
 return in such unsatisfied humor? 
 
 " Ah, I have laughed to hear them making the air 
 blue, with vengeful threats against the sly old fellow 
 never yet run to earth, and who again and again has 
 outwitted them." 
 
 But does not the fact help the hounds also? 
 
 " Doubtless the hounds with their keen scent, fol- 
 
nature's vinaigrette. 31 
 
 low with delight this delicious perfume, and find it 
 an added incentive to their murderous designs. 
 Deprive a fox of his brush and let him go, and the 
 subsequent sport of catching him will be of very 
 short duration ; for his run will soon come to an end, 
 and the whole pack of huntsmen and hounds will be 
 in at the death. " 
 
 Madame de Stael's idea of the sense of smell may 
 have been founded on some such knowledge, and she 
 may have had a long nose as well as a large foot. 
 
 " How so, madam?" 
 
 You have heard of Talleyrand's retort at the 
 masked ball when she challenged him for recogni- 
 tion: '''' C'est Men facile de recon7iaitre la statue par le pied 
 deStaeir'^ 
 
 "Ah, I remember, but it was a cruel thrust of 
 Talleyrand's." 
 
 * It is very easy to recognize the statue by the (pedestal) foot of Stael 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ARABIA. 
 
 Your visits to Arabia must have been very inter- 
 esting, Count! Have you been there often? 
 
 "Ah, yes, madam, many times. I have lived 
 among the Arabs in their tents for months at a time, 
 travelling with them in their journeyings from place 
 to place; penetrating into the very depths of the 
 desert, and longing with them for the sight of an 
 oasis after the intense heat of the day. " 
 
 Then you speak their language? 
 
 " That goes without saying, and many of their 
 dialects also, which are important to know." 
 
 Had you any special object beyond the love of 
 travel, to induce you to spend so much time with 
 them, and were they always friendly? 
 
 " To me they were always friendly, for the reason 
 that some of their remote ancestors were mine also, 
 and with them nothing is so strong as the ties of 
 blood. Their pride of race is one of their strongest 
 characteristics, since they can trace back their ances- 
 try for thousands of years. For aliens and strangers 
 they have a certain contemptuous pity, as not belong- 
 ing to them, as well as much distrust and suspicion." 
 
 I have heard the old adage, '' In the desert no one 
 meets a friend. " 
 
 32 
 
ARABIA. • 33 
 
 "Yes, it is one they verify daily, unless the rites 
 of hospitality have already been offered, and bread 
 has been broken with the stranger in the 'tents of 
 Shem. * But they have certain unmistakable signs to 
 show that their entertainment is at an end, and no 
 hesitation then in declaring themselves at enmity." 
 
 Are their manners agreeable? 
 
 "The sheiks have a grave and haughty dignity in 
 their bearing, and polished manners, so affable that 
 they can quickly secure the attachment of neighbor- 
 ing tribes. Gifted with a courage never yielding 
 and never dying, they are also born traders, and 
 soon acquire great influence in their surroundings." 
 
 You must have made opportunities to learn every- 
 thing possible about their famous horses? 
 
 " My object in visiting the Arabs was always to 
 purchase horses, and while I was prepared for trickery 
 and even treachery in their dealings, I succeeded, 
 even if stratagem were the means. They knew I 
 was not to be deceived easily, and the remote ties of 
 consanguinity had its influence. " 
 
 How do they deal with strangers? 
 
 " If a man comes armed with wealth and might, 
 desiring to purchase a favorite horse, the Arab will 
 plunge into the desert, inaccessible except to the 
 native, and there hide himself and his horse until 
 the danger of losing him is past. But if the intend- 
 ing purchaser brings only money, he had better have 
 stayed at home, for the Arab will first kill and then 
 plunder him. They are notorious highwaymen and 
 the laws of their country shield, rather than punish 
 such misdoings." 
 3 
 
34 MY horse; my love. 
 
 It is said that Arabian horses have deteriorated, 
 Count. Can it be true? 
 
 " Indeed, no. It is impossible for the true Arab 
 horse to deteriorate so long as the Arab tribes follow 
 the same laws, and so jealously guard their rare breeds 
 from loss by sale or theft. " 
 
 But we are said to have many Arabian horses here 
 in Europe and South America? 
 
 " They have a race of horses called the Levantine, 
 which they offer in exchange for money and mer- 
 chandise. These horses have excellent points, are 
 showy, handsome, well-trained, and in every way 
 desirable, but they no more compare with the true 
 Arab breeds than a clumsy cart-horse to the swift 
 runner." 
 
 Are there many distinct breeds? 
 
 " There are but five, and every one entirely differ- 
 ent and with distinctive marks. Those most highly 
 prized, most rare and valuable are the Nedj and 
 Osman. The other three, the Abdalla, Mohammed, 
 and Dakir, although of blood as pure and as impos- 
 sible to obtain by purchase, have not the same match- 
 less beauty." 
 
 But were not the horses presented to General Grant 
 thoroughbred Arabs? 
 
 " There are many conflicting opinions regarding 
 these horses, and their claim to being the thorough- 
 bred Arabs of the desert. It was thought they must 
 be so because they were presented by the Sultan, but 
 if you asked an Arab he would tell you the Sultan 
 never owned one of these rare breeds, and never had 
 one in his stables." 
 
ARABIA. 35 
 
 Have you ever seen Leopard, or Linden Tree, 
 whose arrival in this country made such a sensation? 
 
 *' No, madam, and never having seen them I cannot 
 express any opinion. Among horsemen in Europe 
 who study the different breeds, it is believed 
 they belonged to the Levantine family, being showy, 
 stylish, strong, and with many fine points." 
 
 Have you any other reason for believing so? 
 
 " As I have said before, these rare breeds which I 
 have mentioned, are considered so precious that 
 every precaution is taken, not only by the owners, 
 but by the whole tribe, to prevent their loss, by 
 sale or intrigue. The Arabs, with all their peculiar 
 creeds of hospitality, have never arrived at that 
 state of civilization which could induce them to give 
 away such treasures. If an owner should be tempted 
 by an enormous price to part with a mare or stallion 
 — there are no geldings — he would be put to death by 
 his tribe, while the man who had the temerity to 
 seek such a purchase, must do so at the risk of his life. " 
 
 They must take peculiar measures to prevent 
 their loss. 
 
 " Every horse lives inside his owner's tent and is 
 the pet and delight~of the women and children, and 
 quite as much a part of the family. Their intelli- 
 gence is almost human, as they answer in obedience 
 to every word, and are so trained as to help their 
 owners in defeating any attempt to carry them off." 
 
 The endurance of the Arab horse is very remark- 
 able, I have heard, Count. 
 
 " It is almost inconceivable. From the days when 
 Noah's ark settled on Mount Aararat and his sons 
 
36 
 
 MY horse; my love. 
 
ARABIA. 37 
 
 descended to the plains of Shinar, or from those of 
 Nimrod, his great-grandson, the mighty hnnter,* 
 down to the present day, the Ar a : r a ? ^t e e- bred to 
 endnre long days of continuoas toil. 5e~.s:^rvation, 
 and thirst," 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FAMOUS ARABIAN HORSES. 
 
 I HAVE heard the saying, " Never let an animal lose 
 its sticking flesh." 
 
 "Yes, it is an axiom with English breeders. The 
 Arab foal, on the contrary, while it may enjoy for 
 the first few months of its young life, the pastures 
 and watered plains of 'Araby the blest,* endures 
 great privations. Its tender little feet must trot 
 along after its mother on many a forced march, sub- 
 sisting on the scantiest of fare, and esteeming a little 
 camel's milk the greatest of luxuries. These are 
 hardships for the baby Arab, not lightened by the 
 fierce and perpendicular rays of the sun on his head 
 and spine, and the blistering sands under his feet." 
 
 One cannot wonder that his growth is somewhat 
 stunted, for Arabs are small, are they not? 
 
 " Yes, they are small ; but what the Arab lacks in 
 grandeur of physique, as seen in the English thor- 
 oughbred, the Percheron, or the enormous coach 
 horses now so fashionable, he makes up in his per- 
 fect proportion, his proud and dainty and graceful 
 mien and bearing, his never-failing courage, his 
 iron constitution, his delightful temper and disposi- 
 tion, his entire soundness, and his extraordinary 
 
 38 
 
FAMOUS ARABIAN HORSES. 39 
 
 ability to travel great distances with untiring 
 speed." 
 
 The last quality is a necessary one, when you are 
 running away with somebody else's property, eh, 
 Count? 
 
 " Ah, I see you refer to Omar I. He was famous, 
 and now belongs to the Empress of Austria, the 
 finest horsewoman in Europe. For three days and 
 nights he travelled over the hot and barren plains of 
 the Arabian desert with but two quarts of barley for 
 food, and an occasional tuft of the Sahara clover. 
 Only twice was there water found for him to drink. 
 Fleet as a bird he ran, seemingly unconscious of his 
 burden, and arrived at the wall before Cairo, appar- 
 ently as fresh as when he started. The two Slughi, 
 enormous greyhounds called antelope catchers, 
 which were a part of Omar's outfit, always travelling 
 with him, were lagging many rods behind, footsore 
 and utterly bested. But Omar neighed cheerfully, 
 encouraging them to approach, and promising to 
 them, rest and refreshment in his sympathetic whin- 
 nies." 
 
 Oh, pray describe him. He must have been won- 
 derful to look at ! 
 
 " His skin was black, and shone through a fine 
 glossy coat of silver-gray hair; his mane full and 
 long, and his tail, which swept the ground, were 
 pink. About fifteen hands high, in form the most 
 beautiful that can be imagined in any four-footed 
 animal, he was fleet as the wind, graceful as the 
 antelope, trained to every agile movement, and with 
 an endurance inconceivable. In disposition faultless, 
 
40 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 kind, gentle, caressing, and obedient, he had never 
 known whip or spur, or even a harsh word, giving 
 always the best he knew." 
 
 Does he still live? 
 
 " He was alive when last I heard, having carried 
 the Empress of Austria during her journeyings 
 through Ireland. He is now forty years old, and 
 still in his prime, as the Arab horses are as long- 
 lived as a man." 
 
 Do they make good war-horses? 
 
 ** In battle, their extraordinary evolutions remind 
 one of the gyratory movements of the swallow when 
 it flies. They turn and wheel with such rapidity, 
 that it is almost impossible to get a shot at them, and 
 if they run, nothing can catch them, their wonderful 
 wisdom and cunning leading them and their riders 
 out of difficulties the most serious. " 
 
 Where are they found? 
 
 "In Mecca, Medina, Palestine, and the Persian 
 Gulf are found the Nedj and Osman. They have 
 the Abdalla race in the Atlas Mountains, as well as 
 between Afghanistan and the Persian Mountains, 
 where live also the Dakir and Mohammed breeds. 
 These horses descend as heirlooms from father to 
 son, and no possession is so precious as these exqui- 
 site animals." 
 
 They also can prove a long ancestry? 
 
 "Their pedigree is carefully preserved with that 
 of the family's own, and their names descend as do 
 those of the generations of kings. Sometimes many 
 or all the members of a tribe will be each a part 
 sharer in a horse, and this horse is left by will to a 
 
FAMOUS ARABIAN HORSES. 4I 
 
 successor. One cannot sell his share without permis- 
 sion from the /est, be he ever so much in need ; and 
 it must be a most unusual circumstance which could 
 gain such permission." 
 
 Is there not some strange legend concerning Ara- 
 bian horses, Count? 
 
 " Yes, and it is said to be a true one. The legend 
 is this : During the reign of Mohammed he sent his 
 grand vizier with his army in the hope of conquer- 
 ing China. For five years they travelled over moun- 
 tain and valley, through forest and desert, climbing 
 rocky precipices to descend on the other side into 
 the rivers and streams. Unparalleled hardships 
 befell them on their long journey thither and were 
 not lightened on their return, inasmuch as every 
 horse died on the road except five beautiful mares. 
 From these and the Dzigguetai (pronounced Gigati) 
 are descended the five rare breeds so closely guarded 
 by the Arab tribes." 
 
 What are the Dzigguetai? 
 
 " They are the wild Arabian stallions of the desert, 
 outmatching and outwitting the wary and cunning 
 Arab in his various, d^evices to approach them, never 
 letting them get nearer than half a mile. After ex- 
 hausting every other artifice, the Arabs have lain 
 concealed in the desert by being buried in the sand 
 for days and nights, in their fruitless efforts to 
 secure them. But these untamed and untamable 
 creatures, with their intelligent instinct, ever scented 
 danger from afar, and kept their half-mile distance 
 between themselves and their would-be captors. 
 Their strength and endurance are greater than that 
 
42 • MY horse; my love. 
 
 of the Mohari, the desert camel, and they are far 
 more fleet. These powerful runners brook no rider, 
 no whip, spur, or bridle, nor have they ever been 
 captured or broken by man." 
 
 How, then, could they be made useful? 
 
 " In this dilemma it occurred to the far-seeing 
 Arabian, that this race could at least be perpetuated 
 and improved, by arranging some equine marriages. 
 Picketing the five beautiful mares near their hunt- 
 ing-grounds, they were offered as brides to the 
 Dzigguetai and accepted. The result gave every- 
 thing most valued in the horse, as well as his match- 
 less beauty. " 
 
 Do they differ greatly in color and appearance? 
 
 " The Nedj and Osman have always a black skin 
 under their coat, whether it be white or black. The 
 Osman is usually the color of a golden chestnut or 
 blood cherry, with dark mane and tail, while these 
 equipments in the Nedj are pink or rose-colored. 
 The Abdallah are a warm gray, inclining to black, 
 with dark mane and tail — the Arabian term to ex- 
 press their color, translated, meaning green. The 
 Mahomet is light brown or caf^ au lait in color, 
 sometimes dark enough to be called bay. The 
 Dakir is a dark shining brown, and the manes and 
 tails of all are long, fine, and full, but not heavy." 
 
 Do they wear shoes? A great traveller, one who had 
 lived in South America, and there owned Arabian 
 horses, told me they were never shod in that country. 
 
 "As their hoofs are hard as iron they need no 
 shoes, and die at an advanced age without having 
 ever worn them. " 
 
FAMOUS ARABIAN HORSES. 43 
 
 What are the distinguishing marks by which one 
 can tell an Arabian? 
 
 " The pure bred Arab is small, with such fineness 
 of skin that through it the veins can be clearly- 
 traced. The head is small and lean, with bold open 
 nostrils, thin as cardboard. Very broad between 
 tbe eyes, which are large and soft, and look at you 
 with an expression of human intelligence. Ears 
 small and erect, fine and thin as a kid glove. Mane 
 full and long, not heavy. Tail almost touching 
 the earth when standing, but lifted out when in 
 motion, and waving to and fro like an ostrich plume. 
 Thighs, fore and hind, immense. The frontal bone 
 below the knees very slender and round like a finger 
 when viewed from the front ; from the side it appears 
 wide and muscular. Hoofs very small, hard, and pol- 
 ished. Height from fourteen to fifteen hands. 
 Gait an even stretching gallop, which never trem- 
 bles and never tires, sure-footed as a mule, and ten- 
 der-tempered as a baby. " 
 
 Your description is enchanting, but only convinces 
 me that I have never seen a thoroughbred Arab. Is 
 there no more to be Told of the Dzigguetai, Count? 
 
 " I had a convincing experience that they can 
 travel from two to three hundred miles, in twelve 
 consecutive hours, in order to drink from a certain 
 clear cold spring in one of the oasis, and to feed on 
 the dainty nourishing grass there." 
 
 O Count, that seems incredible ! 
 
 "I realize that the statement sounds most exagger- 
 ated, and I myself could hardly believe that flesh and 
 blood could equal the locomotive's speed. I have 
 
44 MY horse; my love. 
 
 lain concealed with the Arabs behind the rocks and 
 buried up to my neck in sand, hoping they might 
 thus approach us more nearly. vStationed at a certain 
 oasis in the desert, over loo miles distant, were men 
 to note the time of their arrival there. How they 
 flew past us in the half-mile distance! It was like 
 watching an express train disappearing from view, 
 while the thunder of their many hoofs scarce lasted 
 longer than the roar of a passing train! They had 
 method in their going, and a leader whom they fol- 
 lowed. Their bellies hugged the ground, as their 
 slender legs carried them on with long strides and 
 an easy motion, in which there was no haste, but 
 immense untiring speed, and infinite lightness and 
 grace. For twelve hours we waited and watched for 
 their return, and were finally rewarded by hearing 
 approach the sound of their many hoofs, and could 
 see them fly past us with undiminished speed, on 
 their return. My men stationed so far off had noted 
 there, carefully, the time of their arrival. By com- 
 paring it with that of their return, which I witnessed, 
 I make no exaggeration in my statement. To be 
 still more sure I tested these facts many times." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF ARABIAN HORSES. 
 
 Have I not heard, Count, that the true-bred Arab 
 has concealed marks by which to be identified? 
 
 •* On every Arab, born and reared in the desert 
 and belonging to the families mentioned, are to be 
 seen certain fine marks, intelligible only to the 
 initiated. When the colt is young a very fine hot 
 iron, like a needle, is made to write certain marks 
 and lines on the forelegs, to the right and left of the 
 
 o 
 
 breast, something like this, ^ but differing on 
 
 either side. " 
 
 Is it not a painful operation? 
 
 " No, for it is done too quickly to be very painful. 
 Several of these needles are heated at the same 
 time, in burning camel's manure. One is taken up, 
 a stroke or two made with it, and replaced in the 
 heated mass. Then another is used and so on, until 
 the delicate, but perceptible branding is finished. 
 The skin heals rapidly, and the young colt carries 
 the long list of his ancestors about with him, for the 
 rest of his natural life." 
 
 But does not the hair grow over and cover these 
 slight marks? 
 
 " The hair never grows long enough to cover them 
 
 45 
 
46 MY horse; my love. 
 
 entirely: hence, by the uninitiated, and even by 
 travellers and horsemen who should know better, 
 they have been called 'blemishes,' and 'disfiguring' 
 marks. ' An Arab's first glance at a horse is for these 
 important signs. The more marks the horse has the 
 longer his pedigree, and the more he is to be coveted. 
 The blood has been kept pure for so many centuries, 
 that any stain in it derived from possible cross- 
 breeding, would be considered ineradicable forever. 
 I will show you the picture of Gherka, an exqui- 
 site Arab, whom I owned many years ago, and who 
 was shot under me in battle." 
 
 But she has marks on her flanks also! 
 
 "Certainly! That on the hind flank represents 
 her family, which was Nedj. The one on the shoul- 
 der signifies the province, Oran, where she was born, 
 and the name of the tribe 'Kehilan' is that to which 
 she belonged." 
 
 She wouldn't have found it easy to lose herself, 
 thus adorned with her family history; but I imagine 
 few foreign eyes have ever beheld an Arabian of 
 such absolutely pure blood? 
 
 "Very few travelers who have penetrated into the 
 desert for the purpose, have ever been rewarded by 
 the sight of these, as they are hidden away from 
 strangers; and other breeds of shorter pedigree, and 
 far less value, are brought forward to show their 
 paces, and perchance bring an incredible price to 
 their astute owners!" 
 
 Are these marks not very hard to read? 
 
 "To the scholar learned in cabalistic lore these 
 hieroglyphics are easily read, for beginning with the 
 
PEDIGREE OF ARABIAN HORSES. 
 
 47 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
48 MY horse; my love. 
 
 father and mother they indicate the ancestors for 
 many g-enerations back. Should any one buy a 
 horse so marked in America or elsewhere, he will 
 behold a thoroughbred Arab, but without these 
 marks he is not one." 
 
 Why are they marked on both legs? 
 
 " The signs on the left foreleg indicate the femi- 
 nine side of descent, the mother, grandmother, great- 
 grandmother, etc. On the right, the masculine side, 
 the father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. An 
 Arab regards the father of a family of very little 
 account, compared to the mother, whether of man 
 or horse." 
 
 Is not that contrary to most precedent? 
 
 " As a plurality of wives is an essential element 
 in the domestic economy of the Arab tribes, the 
 question of a man's title to distinction, and indeed, 
 almost his identity, must be established by the fact 
 of who is his mother. She belongs to the man who 
 has bought her of her father, as do his other wives; 
 and when she is established in his household, he sets 
 his eunuch to watch her, that no doubt of her virtue 
 may distract his thoughts, or fill his mind with uneasy 
 jealousies." 
 
 Then each of his numerous offspring is the pro- 
 verbial "wise child" in his day and generation? 
 
 " Most emphatically so, but to offset the duties of 
 the watchful eunuch, to themother and wife is shown 
 the highest respect. A man or child may not sit 
 in the presence of his mother without her gracious 
 permission, and to her wisdom and judgment all 
 important questions are submitted. The Arabs 
 
PEDIGREE OF ARABIAN HORSES. 49 
 
 hold this same peculiar tenet with regard to their 
 horses. Nothing will induce them to part with a 
 mare of any rare breed, and because of their sex they 
 are more highly esteemed and more favored. So in 
 speaking of a man or stallion the question is always, 
 not who is his father, but who is his mother?" 
 
 Have the horses in Russia any special value or 
 characteristics? 
 
 "The native Turcoman horses are closely allied 
 with the Arabian. They are exceedingly tough, 
 wild, and difficult to tame and teach. So obstinate 
 are they and so wicked that given a good chance 
 they will kill their rider or keeper, and failing this, 
 will persistently refuse to eat and thus starve to 
 death, rather than obey." 
 Is it possible to break them? 
 
 "Ah, yes! Once broken, however, no breed of 
 horses is more reliable or intelligent, or so suscep- 
 tible to the highest training. To the newly-enlisted 
 soldier is. given the well-trained horse, which in 
 time trains and teaches the soldier, answering to the 
 word of commandrin the drill, and going through its 
 intricate evolutions with automatic precision, without 
 the aid of spur, whip, or even bridle. In this way 
 the new soldier is taught." 
 
 And what about the new horses? 
 "Ah, madam, it is another matter when new 
 horses come to be trained in military tactics. Then 
 the old soldier's experience is required, and it is to 
 him that the new horse is given to be broken to 
 martial ways and sounds." 
 
 When do ordinary horses reach their prime? 
 4 
 
50 MY horse; my love. 
 
 " Divide a man's age by three and you will under- 
 stand his comparative relation to the horse, in point 
 of attainment." 
 
 Then a horse comes of age, so to speak, when he 
 is seven years old, as a man does when he is 
 twenty-one? 
 
 " Certainly, and when he is five he compares to 
 the lad of fifteen, having had such judicious training 
 as befits his youth. When he is three, he knows as 
 much as the boy of nine, and only so much should 
 be expected of him. In the proud owner's haste 
 to show off and develop the fine points of his young 
 horse, he overlooks the fact that his strength is being 
 tried too early, while his bones are yet too soft for 
 hard work. " 
 
 Should not young horses spend the first two or 
 three years of their lives in the open field? 
 
 "Any other idea is a most mistaken one. They 
 should live in the open air until their dentition is 
 complete, so as to draw from the nourishing grass 
 and herbs such tonic as their growing systems 
 need, as well as to develop the full and natural 
 play of their limbs." 
 
 Is it not also a great mistake to test the speed of a 
 young horse toosoon? 
 
 " Because a young horse can run very fast for a 
 short distance, it does not follow he must be imme- 
 diately trained to run long distances in a specified 
 time, without suffering from it. It is to this mistake 
 that so many fast and promising horses owe their 
 short lives or crippled condition." 
 
 Therefore, Count, you would say ** Make haste 
 
PEDIGREE OF ARABIAN HORSES. 5 1 
 
 slowly" should be the motto of him who sees a rare 
 promise in his pretty, playful, and petted young colt? 
 " Unless he wants to see him condemned to earn 
 his living on the monotonous track of the street car, 
 or pulling about timid women and children in remote 
 country districts, when he might have become a 
 famous racer, surrounded by admirers and enjoying 
 every care and attention his great money value could 
 demand." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IT IS THE BLOOD THAT TELLS. 
 
 The primacy of the Arabian horse has never been 
 doubted, has it, Count, even by the most sceptical? 
 
 "Their origin is historical from the time of Noah. 
 Notwithstanding all the difficulties attending their 
 purchase they have still entered Europe and other 
 countries as war-trophies — in a very few instances as 
 gifts — and again many have been stolen. Few have 
 been exchanged for money or merchandise, but all 
 countries need the infusion of their blood to fortify 
 and strengthen the best qualities." 
 
 What nations have been specially successful in 
 obtaining them? 
 
 " The national horses of Austria, Hungary, France, 
 and Italy owe their foundation blood to the Arab. 
 The famous Russian Orloffs came from the fiery 
 desert. To go far back, the Roman racers at Ebor 
 were Arabs. The only horses that survived the 
 first year of the Crusades were Spanish Barbs brought 
 by Raymond of Toulouse and his followers." 
 
 What is a Barb? 
 
 " The Barb is an Arab, but an Arab is not neces- 
 sarily a Barb. In the early creation of the English 
 thoroughbred it was discovered that the blood of the 
 'Eastern Horse ' produced speed with endurance as 
 
 52 
 
IT IS THE BLOOD THAT TELLS. 53 
 
 well as beauty, which no other type of horse had 
 done. These so-called 'Eastern horses ' were named 
 from the countries whence they came, as the 
 Arab, the Barb, the Turk, and the Spanish jennet, 
 but all were included under the head of 'Eastern 
 horses. ' " 
 
 Of course. Count, you remember the legend, that 
 when the Saracens, were driven out of Palestine by 
 the Crusaders they crossed into the Soudan. Here 
 they met the bold, brave, ever-unconquered tribes of 
 the desert. It is from the Saracens that the sheiks, 
 mounted on the " air-drinkers" — those who drink the 
 air in lieu of water — are supposed to have taken by 
 force the wonderful armor, made of finest links of 
 steel, in which they subsequently rode, and were so 
 invincible. 
 
 " I have not forgotten it. But it was also during 
 the Crusades that Coeur de Lion rode an Arab of 
 Cypriot breed, 'a magnificent bay,' taken by strata- 
 gem from the stable of Isaac the Great, Emperor of 
 Cyprus, Edward jDf England rode an Andalusian 
 Barb, 'Gray Lyard,' which carried him 'ever charg- 
 ing forward,' in Palestine. That stalwart warrior 
 the 'Cid, ' owned a famous stallion, 'Bavicca, ' also an 
 Andalusian Barb, and rode, besides, a noted white 
 Arab presented to him by the Sultan of Persia. By 
 weighing the armor of this trio of warriors, now in 
 the Tower of London, the fact is proved that these 
 small Arabs carried 4 cwt. each. " 
 
 Yes, " it is the blood which tells when the strain 
 comes." Only lately I have been interested in read- 
 ing that when Sir Gerald Graham was sent at the 
 
54 MY horse; my love. 
 
 head of six thousand men to chastise Osman Digma, 
 the Egyptian, he did it effectually, but it was the 
 reckless charges of the Arabs, horse and man, which 
 helped to win the day, and to insure Ot man's crush- 
 ing defeat. Then, too, General Gordon, so greatly 
 lamented, showed that the Egyptians could not be 
 made to face the Arabs; as two thousand of them, 
 armed with Remingtons, were put to ignominious 
 flight by only sixty fierce horsemen of the desert, 
 mounted on the famous Nedj racers, " swift as the 
 wind and tireless as the wolf. 
 
 "The English found the little Arabs most useful 
 in Egypt, too, for they alone could stand the work 
 and the long marches without water, and with scanty 
 food, and carrying immense weights." 
 
 It is in such emergencies that they show their 
 perfection of physical strength, I have no doubt. 
 They are very delightful to ride, are they not? 
 
 "Any one accustomed to riding a pure bred 
 Arabian will never ride any other, for there is all 
 the difference between the ordinary English hackney 
 and the Arab, that there is betwen a cart without 
 springs and a rocking-chair." 
 
 Do they not make fine hunters? 
 
 " In hunting they surpass every other breed ; for 
 they go well to hounds, are natural jumpers, bold 
 fencers, requiring neither whip nor spur. Then 
 they have good tempers, good mouths, easy paces, 
 are fast walkers, trotters, or runners, have undoubted 
 soundness of wind and limb, and can travel scores of 
 miles without fatigue. " 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TYPES OF ARABIAN HORSES. 
 
 The type of Arabian horses is very markedj is it 
 not, Count? 
 
 " Ah, madam, so pure and distinct of race is the 
 Arab, and so great his power of heredity, that how- 
 ever radical the cross-cut, themitit mark of the desert 
 still remains. For instance, one proof of his unsul* 
 lied descent for centuries, is the characteristic spring 
 of the tail from the cruppiei*, and his proud way of 
 carrying it as he moves it to and fro." 
 
 Do not Arabs increase in size after leaving the 
 desert ? 
 
 *' The progeny of Arabs once imported for breed- 
 ing purposes show at once in their increased size, 
 without any sacrifice of power and just symmetry, 
 the advantages of generous living, of a better climate, 
 of petted care, and of a wise indulgence in training. " 
 
 How many generations before they equal our horses 
 in size? 
 
 " In the course of three generations English or 
 American bred Arabs will not lack size. While, as 
 I have said, very few Arabs of the bluest blood ever 
 leave Arabia; yet English pounds, and even the 
 American dollar, backed by the right influence, have 
 
 55 
 
56 MY horse; my love. 
 
 proved that sometimes gold wins despite the Sultan 
 and the wily horse-copers of the desert." 
 
 Because of their scarcity any prejudice against 
 them must be founded on ignorance? 
 
 *'Ah yes, ignorance is a quality which 'knows it 
 all,' and to proclaim that they have deteriorated is 
 due to the same cause. The pedigree which boasts 
 an ancestry of great deeds and lengthy traditions, is 
 as jealously guarded by the haughty sheiks now as 
 in former days." 
 
 But they are brought out once in a while, although 
 the Sultan, considering he doesn't own any, has for- 
 bidden the export of the "true air-drinker?" 
 
 " It has been always as much the result of good 
 luck, as good management when a purchase has been 
 negotiated. In the times of Abd-el-Kadir fine stal- 
 lions even were scarce in the Sahara, while to secure 
 an Arab mare was to employ stratagem, which 
 would be considered unworthy in any other trade 
 than horse-dealing." 
 
 But aside from the many fine points you have men- 
 tioned, why are they so coveted and valuable? 
 
 •' Because the Arab horse is the primitive blood 
 cause, and has successfully withstood the tests of 
 in-breeding for many centuries. Experience for 
 many decades has so fully justified the production of 
 the Anglo- Arabian thoroughbred, that to reproduce 
 it new blood must be infused, for which new importa- 
 tions of the Arab are necessary." 
 
 Is the name Anglo- Arab arbitrary? 
 
 " The English discovered, some two centuries ago, 
 that with their native horses, together with the 
 
TYPES OF ARABIAN HORSES. 57 
 
 blood of the 'Eastern horses,' they were creating 
 several distinct types. Among these was the race- 
 horse which soon became the favorite type, and 
 received the most attention. In due time this crea- 
 tion was called the Anglo-Arab, the word Arab 
 indicating the blood-cause. For many years this 
 Anglo- Arab was exported to the Continent, as the 
 English thoroughbred, for to England was due this 
 new creation. Count Orloif created the famous Rus- 
 sian national horse in the same way^ by using Arab 
 stallions to Anglo-Arab and Flemish mares. So 
 France, to create her coach-horse, uses the blood of 
 the Arab and calls it the ' Franco- Arab. ' " 
 
 Is not the modern racer considered perfect by 
 most breeders? 
 
 " He does not show the fine points and attributes 
 formerly seen in horses of an older date and trans- 
 mitted to them by their Arabian ancestry. The 
 English thoroughbred has failed to hand down to 
 his descendants the primal characteristics of the 
 pure Arabian." 
 
 Why has he so failed? 
 
 " Because he is not really of unadulterated race. 
 History proves that the race-horses of England are 
 neither of Arabian blood nor yet entirely of Eastern 
 extraction, and cannot, therefore, be entirely thor- 
 oughbred. " 
 
 Do horses inherit particular qualities? 
 
 *' Just as in man. Many a horse proves his ancestry 
 by what he has inherited. In studying the pedigrees 
 of modern race-horses, one finds that each individual 
 inherits the flaws, which are shown to have existed 
 
58 MY horse; my love. 
 
 in his ancestor, and often, alas, a multiplication of 
 them. This is the case with the most carefully 
 bred. What, then, can be said of those of much 
 mixed pedigrees, where strains are numerous and 
 derived through inferior animals? " 
 
 And do imperfections continue to descend? 
 
 " Inferior horses used in the stud most certainly 
 hand down the stain immediately derived from their 
 dam, in addition to former ones. In these later days 
 every consideration has been sacrificed to the develop- 
 ment of speed alone, all the science and sound prin- 
 ciples of breeding which our ancestors established 
 being very greatly disregarded. Since the days of 
 King James the First the racer has been the product 
 of careful selection for racing purposes only." 
 
 Have the English always been celebrated for their 
 horses? 
 
 " It was immediately after the introduction of 
 Eastern blood, not before, and within the last two 
 hundred years, that the English reputation for own- 
 ing and breeding fine horses began, and it was not 
 until 1808 that the first volume of the stud-book, in 
 which every thoroughbred horse was registered, was 
 issued. If one should look back to the days of Queen 
 Anne and trace the pedigrees given of some horses 
 in her days, it will be seen that nothing but Eastern 
 blood can be found. No better Arabians have ever 
 appeared in England than the black and bay stallions 
 presented by Imaun Seyeed of Muscat to his majesty, 
 William the Fourth. These horses came from the pur- 
 est strain of the desert, the Nedj. It is, however, be 
 lieved they were never used as sires with thorough- 
 
TYPES OF ARABIAN HORSES. 59 
 
 bred mares, or even with an Arabian mare sent 
 with them." 
 
 What a royal present ! But was not this neglected 
 opportunity much to be deplored? 
 
 " It was a national mistake, for the three famous 
 English racers, Herod, Eclipse, and Matchem, from 
 whom all modern horses are descended, were only 
 half-bred; got by half-bred sires from half-bred 
 dams, which proves only too conclusively that the 
 English racer is not the 'true son of Arabia Deserta. ' 
 Subsequently the arrival in England of Betty Leedes 
 and Darley Arabian, the sire and dam of Flying 
 Childers, caused such a furore that the nobility and 
 landed gentry vied with each other for their posses- 
 sion, and for years after the Yorkshire horses were 
 invincible. " 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ARABIAN HORSES IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Owing to the great difficulties of purchase and im- 
 portation of Arab horses, I imagine that only a few 
 breeders can afford to be enthusiastic on the sub- 
 ject, even in England. 
 
 " In England the Prince, or rather the Princess, of 
 Wales heads the list. It is the custom of the Sultan 
 of Turkey to send presents of so-called Arab horses, 
 to distinguished crowned heads in Europe. A 
 tremendous sensation was caused in Turkey and the 
 East by the present of the famous stallion Kouch to 
 the Princess of Wales. The Pasha who was sent 
 over in charge of the horse said on his arrival in 
 England that he had taken many beautiful horses 
 as presents to various crowned heads, but one of 
 Kouch 's breed, never before. It was believed the 
 Sultan would as soon have thought of parting with 
 his sultanate as with an Arab horse of this breed, 
 and it was doubtful if he could ever get another like 
 him. It was so unusual a gift that it was confi- 
 dently asserted that the Sultan would never again 
 be allowed to part with anything so rare and valu- 
 able." 
 
 Had the Sultan any special reason for presenting 
 
 Kouch to the Princess? 
 
 60 
 
ARABIAN HORSES IN ENGLAND. 
 
 6i 
 
 "The simple reason of it was the susceptibility 
 of the Sultan to female beauty. He was so captivated 
 by the Princess of Wales, when in England, that 
 on hearing of her great passion for horses, and her 
 great ambition to possess a beautiful Arab, that he de- 
 termined, on his return to Turkey, to send her the 
 choicest animal in his stable. Of course you must 
 understand that the Sultan had no opportunity at 
 
 K'lt..'/ 
 
 THE ARABIAN MARE, NAOMI. 
 
 home, of conversing with any other women than 
 those of his own harem. And so it was that Kouch, 
 the most beautiful horse ever seen in England, the 
 only pure 'air-drinker' in the Sultan's stables, for 
 which he paid ten thousand guineas, entered 
 England." 
 
 Is he still living? 
 
 "Alas, no; and the only pure-bred son he had, 
 Gomussa — whose dam was Naomi, the only Arabian 
 
62 MV HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 mare now in the United States — was subsequently ex- 
 ported to Chili. Kouch and Kismet were admitted by 
 the Cognoscenti, to be the horses of this century, and 
 now both are gone. Kismet died two hours after land- 
 ing in New York, having been eighteen days at sea, 
 and dying, no doubt, of pericarditis." 
 
 Yes, I heard with great regret of his death, which 
 was a severe loss to two continents. His owner, the 
 Rev. F. F. Vidal, of Needham Market, Suffolk, 
 England, yielded him up after the most earnest per- 
 suasions, as a loan to J;he Americo-Arab Company on 
 Long Island for two years, in order that new blood 
 might be infused into the coming races of horses in 
 America. Mr. Vidal himself wrote me that he was 
 actuated by a hearty sympathy, in the efforts of Mr. 
 Randolph Huntington and his company, to found a 
 family of Arab horses; and that Kismet was a treas- 
 ure of such inestimable value that he could never 
 forgive himself for letting him go to his death. 
 
 '' Did Kismet leave no successors?" 
 
 Mr. Vidal owns a very handsome pure-bred son of 
 Kismet, "who," he writes, *' bids fair to outrival'his 
 father in beauty, although no horse can ever do so 
 in other qualities." His little stud of Arabs is said 
 to be the best in England? 
 
 Who are the other owners of Arab studs in England? 
 
 " The Hon. Miss Etheldred Dillon, who has spent 
 year after 5^ear in India, Algiers, Turkey, and 
 Egypt, going as far into Arabia as she dared, to secure 
 the precious sons of the desert for her stud, is also 
 an enthusiast. Although approaching three score 
 years, she is still a devotee of the saddle, and owns 
 
ARABIAN HORSES IN ENGLAND. 63 
 
 and breeds fine Arabians. Mr. Wilfred Blunt and 
 his wife, Lady Anne, granddaughter of Lord Byron, 
 make up the trio of pioneers, so to speak, in the cause 
 of securing Arabs for the improvement of their studs 
 in England. Officers of the army who have had the 
 advantages of travel and service in Egypt, India, 
 and the Crimea, and always bestrode Arabs there, 
 have brought them out when possible. Among 
 these is Captain W. C. Kerr, V. C, of the Royal 
 Lancers, to whom belongs the beautiful Anglo- 
 Arabian Khaled. Of him he says, *He is good 
 enough to hold his own against all comers on the 
 flat, or between the flags, to carry a first flight four- 
 teen stone man in the shires ; would mount the Prince 
 of Wales to perfection, at the head of the Tenth or 
 Lady Clara Vere-de-Vere in the Row.* He owns 
 also * Speed of Thought, ' a dark rich chestnut without 
 white save a star. Possessed of superlative quality 
 from head to heel, high-couraged, full of what 
 Americans term *vim, ' strong, vigorous; his bold, 
 free, and jaunty walk quite up to five miles an hour; 
 he is ever the theme of general admiration. Across 
 country he is as clever as a cat, will face anything, 
 no matter how big, how yawning, and on parade 
 bears himself bravely, as becomes his ancestry." 
 
 And do these believe that no other than the true 
 Arabian is of absolutely pure blood? 
 
 " This intelligent company of scientific breeders be- 
 lieve, after many years of experience, that the blood 
 of the true Arabian must be the foundation of every- 
 thing that is excellent in the various types of light 
 horses for the turf, the field, war, pleasure, or light 
 
64 MY horse; my love. 
 
 harness. Also that each type must have recourse 
 to a fresh infusion of the parent blood, or it will de- 
 teriorate. For many thousands of years we know cer- 
 tainly, that his blood has been maintained unalloyed, 
 although among a very small section of the numer- 
 ous tribes that roam the desert. They prize this 
 blood so highly that they will never cop it and rarely 
 part with it." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN HORSES. 
 
 Aer there many types of English horses? 
 
 "There are several well-established types, most 
 valuable in their different spheres in England. The 
 thoroughbred ranks first, and it is a mistake to sup- 
 pose he is good for no other purpose than racing, but 
 he is very costly as an all-round horse as well as a 
 racer." 
 
 What are the heavy-draught horses? 
 
 " First, there is the Suffolk breed of sorrel cart- 
 horses. Second, the Lincolnshire horse, called the 
 Shire. Third, the Clydesdale, a first cousin to the 
 French Percheron. Of coach-horses and roadsters 
 there are, first, the Cleveland Bay, and second, the 
 Norfolk Roadster. Some of the ponies are very 
 distinctive. " 
 
 Is not the Suffolk cart-horse very popular? 
 
 " Ah, yes, and he owes his popularity to the fact 
 that he is founded on Arab blood. He is the grandest 
 and by far the best heavy-draught horse in the world. 
 As I know all breeds I have no hesitation in plac- 
 ing him above them all. His .gay proud carriage, 
 indomitable courage, gentle temper, and beautiful 
 appearance place all compeers in the show-yard at 
 a disadvantage. And I must be honest and say 
 5 6s 
 
66 
 
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ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN HORSES. 6^ 
 
 that he owes all these good qualities to the large 
 infusion of Arab blood he possesses. " 
 
 This matter of breeding must be one of very grave 
 importance. 
 
 "Ah, madam, those who proceed on ignorant and 
 unscientific principles, encourage largely the breed- 
 ing of mongrels. Many are so prejudiced and carried 
 away by the fashion of the day that they cannot see 
 the harm they are doing, and they will not be 
 warned in time." 
 
 Have they no other Arabs in Russia than the 
 Orloffs? 
 
 " There is a stud in Russia where the Azeel Arab 
 has been bred for a century. It began with the purest 
 blood attainable — most likely stolen — and the system 
 of selection has always been carefully carried on. 
 The object has been to produce such a race of su- 
 perlative hunters as would mount the owner of enor- 
 mous estates and his huntsmen, fit to run w^th his 
 noted pack of wolf-hounds. Captain Kerr writes 
 interestingly of his visit to Russia, and of his ex- 
 perience with these Arab hunters and the hounds. 
 He says: 'These hounds hunt by scent as do our stag, 
 fox -hounds, and harriers. The runs are often fast 
 and always long. The wolf can travel both fast and 
 far, and the Duke of Beaufort with his crack pack 
 could make little of the gaunt untiring wolf of 
 Brittany, Over and over again on good, sound, 
 wet ground I have tried to spear a wolf, but on even 
 the fastest race-horse I could never get within strik- 
 ing distance. When I put on a spurt Mr. Wolf 
 would just lengthen his stride, seemingly without an 
 
68 MY horse; my love, 
 
 effort, and keep his carcase out of reach of my 
 longest arm. Many of the runs when the scent was 
 good would mean thirty miles and more, as the crow 
 flies, of continuous galloping. This was followed 
 by a long weary trudge home, and it was only these 
 Russian Arabs, so carefully and systematically 
 trained, that could overtake the wary, cunning, and 
 tireless wolf, and give their riders the chance for suc- 
 cessful slaughter." 
 
 They appreciate the Arab in India also, I have 
 heard. 
 
 " In Bombay there is a community of merchants 
 called 'Battias, ' who deal mainly in shirtings. They 
 have accumulated much wealth, and it is their 
 particular fad, to ride to and from their offices in 
 buggies, with an Arab in the shafts. These light- 
 handed mild Hindoos are skilful drivers, and get 
 far more trot out of their horses than do the Euro- 
 peans. The high knee action, an inheritance from 
 coarse breeds^ is conspicuously absent in these graceful 
 Arabs, and a good many of them pace." 
 
 I have heard it said that " A Spanish gypsy girl, a 
 pure Arabian, and a game-cock are the accepted 
 embodiments of beauty, symmetry, and graceful 
 m.otion." 
 
 " Yes, that is an old saying. The pure-bred Arab 
 of the desert is trained to be graceful. His rider 
 needs not the bridle to guide him, but indicates his 
 wishes by the pressure of his knees and legs. His 
 head is not jerked, nor his mouth torn, by cruel bits, 
 but a sign, a pressure, a whistle, or a word, is only 
 necessary to establish a perfect understanding. For 
 
ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN HORSES. 69 
 
 centuries he has been trained and broken by intelli- 
 gent kindness, which his intelligent instinct fully 
 appreciates. He regards man in the light of an 
 intimate friend, while he acknowledges his mastery 
 and obeys him lovingly. Well he knows him by the 
 sound of his voice, the smell of his garments, the 
 sight of his face. In all are they in sympathy and 
 accord, and so nothing stands in the way of perfect 
 temper and disposition, which the Arab horse pos- 
 sesses by right of a long and ancient inheritance. 
 His thorough docility causes him to be easily trained 
 to unaccustomed work, to a change of step, to har- 
 ness rather than the saddle, and to pull rather than 
 carry. " 
 
 You have never explained to me the different gaits 
 of a horse. 
 
 " The gallop is the natural gait of a horse. A 
 pacer goes first on the two legs on one side, and then 
 the two legs on the other. This makes a very easy 
 rocking motion, and is natural to many horses, being 
 generally inherited. The natural gait of the camel 
 is to pace, and that is why it is not difficult or tire- 
 some to ride on an animal so awkward lookinsf. His 
 speedy trot is anotlter thing, " 
 
 What is the simple step or single foot? 
 
 " It is one foot on the ground and three up. The 
 quick trot is the same, but with such force that the 
 body is propelled forward with one leg." 
 
 Is trotting then an artificial gait? 
 
 " Emphatically so, although in some the gait is 
 more readily acquired than in others. Horses must 
 always be broken to trot steadily, and it is consid- 
 
70 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 ered the most desirable step. To gallop or run the 
 horse throws his forefeet forward, and propels him- 
 self with his hind feet. This is his natural motion, 
 and so it is why a horse is said to * break' when he 
 relieves himself by going from a fast trot into a 
 gallop. '* 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CRUELTY OF DOCKING. 
 
 Will you tell me, Count, i£ there be any conceiv- 
 ably good reason for " docking" a horse, except as it 
 may have captivated the fancy of horse-owners, who 
 regard " style" as the only requisite in their hand- 
 some turnouts? 
 
 " There is but one excuse for the cruel custom, 
 that it is possible to imagine. When a horse is 
 fretted through constant jerking and pulling on the 
 driving-reins, he may have acquired the habit of 
 seeking for them with his tail. Such wonderful 
 strength has he in that member that by holding down 
 close what so torments him, his mouth for the time 
 being is relieved." 
 
 Then inexperienced drivers who tug continually at 
 the reins and saw tiie mouth intolerably, sometimes 
 teach their horses this bad habit? 
 
 " It is true. Horses are very cunning in their modes 
 of personal defense. If one be viciously disposed, it 
 is when his tail has secured the reins, and he can 
 forcibly hold them down, that he may take the bit 
 between his teeth and show his driver as little mercy 
 as has been vouchsafed himself." 
 
 Ah, yes, then he can run away or kick the carriage 
 
 71 
 
72 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 to pieces, or revenge himself as he pleases; but is it 
 not the young horse who is docked before he can 
 learn such tricks? 
 
 "A colt may show, possibly by inheritance, the 
 disposition to be easily fretted, and then if his master 
 approve the cruelty, he has little chance of escaping 
 it ; but only extreme age protects a horse from being 
 docked if his master see fit." 
 
 Has the custom been always fashionable, or is it 
 not a recent fad ? 
 
 " It has descended to us as a relic of barbarism, and 
 belongs to an era, far less intelligent and christian- 
 ized, than the present century. There was a time 
 when the scriptural injunction *If an eye oifend thee 
 pluck it out' was literally followed; and when an 
 insult was offered from man to man, it was met by 
 a speedy and unerring sword-thrust. So when a 
 driving horse showed a disposition to interfere with 
 the reins by using his tail, the suggestion, 'Cut it off, ' 
 seemed the easiest and quickest way out of the 
 difficulty." 
 
 Was there no plea for mercy for the noble brute, 
 who instinctively protected his suffering mouth, or 
 no hesitation at committing so wicked an outrage 
 upon him? 
 
 " None whatever in those days, and hardly any in 
 this enlightened age, as a drive in any of our fash- 
 ionable parks will prove. There you will see that 
 mutilation takes the place of personal beauty, and 
 docking is, forsooth, called 'style.' " 
 
 But tell me. Count, of what particular or impor- 
 tant use is the horse's tail? 
 
CRUELTY OF DOCKING. 73 
 
 "When the gad-fly lights and stings, or the pump- 
 fly — so called because its sting once inserted, it 
 pumps the blood and poisons it — or when any insects 
 persistently irritate the sensitive skin, the long hairs 
 of the tail have power to switch them off. The tail 
 is usually long enough, to reach all along the body 
 up to the neck. About the fore-legs the horse can 
 reach with his nose, and thus defend himself in those 
 parts. As the point of his nose is his touch-point and 
 the sense of a thing is conveyed to him with it, just 
 as we examine an object with our fingers, so is the 
 tail important also, as a part of his sign-speech." 
 
 Please explain what you mean by his sign- 
 speech. 
 
 " Does not the dog wag his tail to give expression 
 to his delight? and does he not hold it down close 
 between his legs, to show his humiliation at angry 
 words or any form of punishment? By the same 
 token, does the horse lift his tail proudly when in 
 motion, and wave it to and fro like an ostrich plume, 
 when he is happy and pleased. One of the surest 
 signs of good-breeding is the spring of the tail from 
 the crupper. Then it can give also a direct blow, 
 blinding, disconcerting, paralyzing, to the too famil- 
 iar, when the intelligent beast knows he need not 
 kick in self-defense." 
 
 Live and learn ! I had never thought of all these 
 accomplishments ! 
 
 " Then when the head hangs wearily down, the 
 •tail drops also, and these are signs of great fatigue 
 after hard work, or a long day's toilsome journey. 
 The merciful man notes all these familiar signs, 
 
74 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 and gives to his faithful servant the rest he 
 needs," 
 
 Is the operation of docking a very severe or pain- 
 ful one? 
 
 " To explain why it is a fearful ordeal, I must give 
 you a short lesson as to the anatomy of the horse's 
 tail. First, there are from fifteen to seventeen bones. 
 There are two pairs of tendons to lift the tail up and 
 to draw it down, and there are two pairs of tendons to 
 turn it sideways from left to right, and from right to 
 left. There are strong ligaments joining the bones, 
 and arteries, veins, and nerves intertwined through- 
 out. Covering all, with Nature's perfect finish, is the 
 muscular tissue from which grow the long heavy 
 hairs. Therefore, to cut through the quivering flesh, 
 the bones and tendons and ligaments, to sever the 
 great arteries and the smaller veins, and to expose 
 the shrinking nerves, is not only to produce exquisite 
 agony to the terrified helpless being, but the opera- 
 tion being of so dangerous a nature, must necessarily 
 be prolonged beyond bearing." 
 
 Are the nerves of a horse very sensitive? 
 
 " That no animal, not even man, has such an ex- 
 cessive development of nerves as the horse, has been 
 proved over and over again by post-mortem exami- 
 nations, betraying the closeness with which they are 
 interlaced. With this exceedingly fine nervous con- 
 stitution are given the patience and pluck, to endure 
 longer, more severe pain than any other animal 
 living. In comparison to his size he possesses also' 
 a very small stomach, and the power to endure 
 longer and more tedious work." 
 
CRUELTY OF DOCKING, 
 
 75 
 
 Then to "ride a willing horse to death" is no 
 unmeaning adage? 
 
 " It takes its source from the fact of the heavy bur- 
 dens put upon the patient animal from time imme- 
 morial, to satisfy his exacting and capricious master, 
 Man." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OPERATION OF DOCKING. 
 
 Have you ever seen the operation of docking per- 
 formed, Count? 
 
 "Only once, and then I was called in as surgeon 
 to save the life of the suffering victim." 
 
 Will it be too harrowing to hear how it was done? 
 
 " The horse was tied by the neck to a ring in the 
 wall, as he stood in his stall, with a switch screwed 
 as tight as possible on the end of his nose. This 
 was in order to hold his head very high and make 
 him powerless. Two men held him against the 
 wall, another cut with a pair of scissors the hair 
 where the tail was to be severed, while a fourth 
 attended to the roasting iron in a small furnace." 
 
 Did not the poor dumb creature know something 
 dreadful was about to happen? 
 
 " Ah, if you could have seen him tremble with 
 apprehensive fear! When all was read)', there was 
 a sudden click of the large shears, the tail lay on the 
 ground, and the blood spurted from the various veins, 
 striking the wall several feet distant. Then the 
 saucer-shaped iron, heated to a white heat, was fitted, 
 over the bleeding- wound, and held there until it was 
 
 sufficiently roasted." 
 
 76 
 
OPERATION OF DOCKING. 77 
 
 And did the poor horse bear this cruelty pa- 
 tiently? 
 
 ' " He endured it bravely until the hot iron was 
 applied, and then the dreadful heart-searching scream 
 he gave, I shall never forget to my dying day — and I 
 never saw him afterward without a choking sensa- 
 tion of tears in the remembrance." 
 
 Do horses always survive this cruel operation? 
 
 " By no means. Many die of lock-jaw, in torture 
 so prolonged (in the hope that since they have money 
 value they may recover) that both owners and opera- 
 tors are in dread lest the public may learn of the 
 tortured animal's sufferings. The 'Society for the 
 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' has aided the en- 
 actment of the strictest of laws against docking and 
 any man permitting or performing the operation is 
 liable to imprisonment and a heavy fine." 
 
 It cannot be painful to bang the tail, and is infin- 
 itely prettier, is it not? 
 
 " Most decidedly. A woman does not suffer when 
 the ends of her long hair are trimmed, and a banged 
 tail is effective, giving the idea of neat grooming. 
 Then the hairs can be cut quite short, as the stump 
 of the tail is never longer than fifteen to sixteen 
 inches, and seldom more than twelve. No idea of 
 mutilation is suggested by banging." 
 
 I have seen horses whose tails seem to have no 
 natural springs 
 
 " Yes, but they are presumably of coarse breeds. 
 It is a natural defect which can be remedied, by cut- 
 ting slightly the tendons or ligaments w^hich hold it 
 down, even as you would cut a child's tongue who is 
 
78 MY horse; my love. 
 
 'tongue-tied.' Then the tail must be artificially 
 propped and the wound will heal quickly." 
 
 There is no danger in this, I suppose? 
 
 " Yes, even this slight operation is dangerous to 
 the horse, and he suffers much pain. " 
 
 Do you consider the mane also so important? 
 
 " The mane and forelock should always be culti- 
 vated, for they are a very great protection against 
 sunstroke. To cut off the mane is therefore to 
 uncover a sensitive part of the neck and head, to an- 
 nihilate a beauty, and to defeat Nature's meaning 
 in her wise bestowal of what she deems a necessity, 
 or she would not have given it. What would you 
 think of a little colt coming into the world with an 
 ass's mane and a docked tail? Would you admire 
 it?" 
 
 Well, it might bring its owner an income as one 
 of Nature's freaks, like the double-headed calf or the 
 four-legged chicken, if exhibited in a menagerie. 
 But I doubt if a horse, artificially deprived, would be 
 seen in company with one ready made, so to speak, 
 born Avith a banged mane and docked tail. 
 
 "Of course, madam, you know that all accounts of 
 the prehistoric horse, which was little larger than a 
 sheep, prove his tail to have been prehensile. To 
 him it was as much of an absolute necessity as it is to 
 the monkey to-day. He finds it indispensable as a 
 hand in climbing from bough to bough, in swinging 
 forward to catch the swaying limb of a tree, and in 
 all his nimble movements a wonderful means of 
 defense, progression, or escape, " 
 
 And you consider the tail of our modern horse as 
 
OPERATION OF DOCKING. 79 
 
 essential to his comfort, well-being, and personal 
 beauty, although no longer prehensile, as was that of 
 his prehistoric ancestor? 
 
 " Undoubtedly, notwithstanding the efforts of a 
 silly fashion to prove the contrary. It is certainly 
 past finding out how any lover of the symmetrical 
 can be approvingly silent, when he witnesses a pro- 
 cession of thoroughbreds, shorn of this most neces- 
 sary of Nature's equipments, but otherwise glorious 
 to behold! In the horse. Nature revels in Hogarth's 
 line of beauty. Starting at his ears she brings her 
 curve about his neck, gently undulating it at his 
 shoulder and along his back, and gracefully bending 
 it about his haunches, so to describe a profile, of 
 which a swaying tail is an artistic necessity." 
 
 I agree with you, for whoever saw a picture by 
 Schreyer or Fromentin, or De la Roche, or Rosa Bon- 
 heur, wherein these distinguished artists, who have 
 studied and know the beauties of the animal, would 
 consent to depict him after the performance of this 
 brutal operation ! I am sure the question of prefer- 
 ence can never be given to the ridiculous bob-tails, 
 who lift the abbreviated remnant of their hind-quar- 
 ters like a pompon/absurdly suggestive of a certain 
 fashion in bonnets, or hold it down closely as if 
 ashamed of it; but to those who still possess what 
 Nature so emphatically designed and intended they 
 should have. 
 
 "Ah, but it is the moneyed classes who give the 
 cue to the horse-using world, and who find it easier 
 to copy an inhuman abuse, than to enlighten fashion- 
 able Goths." 
 
8o MY horse; my love. 
 
 I have heard and read of many horse lovers in 
 this country who refuse to buy or own animals so 
 shorn. 
 
 " Yes, there are breeders and buyers here who 
 will not have a horse that is docked, and through 
 their efforts the long-tailed saddle-horse is steadily 
 becoming more fashionable. European governments 
 will not buy one that has been docked for cavalry 
 purposes. It is also well known that officers are not 
 allowed to ride them, even if they be private prop- 
 erty, when on military parade." 
 
 That is surely a step in the right direction and 
 ought to be encouraging to the Anglo-maniacs to 
 abolish the abuse also in this country. Let us hope 
 that Dame Fashion will interfere and set her arbi- 
 trary seal of disapproval, on this cruel and ugly cus- 
 tom of equine mayhem ! 
 
. CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE MEXICAN BIT AND CURB. 
 
 What do you think of the Mexican bit, Count? 
 
 " Ah, madam, it is a fearful piece of machinery. 
 Just as the custom of docking descends to us from 
 barbarous times, so is the Mexican bit a remnant of 
 the Spanish Inquisition. It cuts without mercy or 
 relief, every part of the animal's jaws. To place 
 it in any horse's mouth, whether tender or hard, and 
 then to pull against it with the reins, is to produce 
 a tortare rivalling the thumb-screw or the rack. 
 While these may not kill or break any bones, as we 
 all know, they have too often made many a sufferer 
 forswear his religion, or swear to secrets he never 
 heard of." 
 
 Is this bit frequently used? 
 
 "Not nearly so much now as formerly. Possibly 
 among the ranchers in the far West, or among the 
 Mexicans, whose ponies are hard to break, and 
 whose hearts are quite indifferent to any cruelties 
 inflicted on animals." 
 
 Have you any knowledge or experience of these 
 bits personally? 
 
 "Some years ago I knew a man in Philadelphia, 
 from whose livery-stable I occasionally hired horses. 
 One day I missed from his stall a beautiful young 
 
82 MY horse; my love. 
 
 stallion of Arab descent, who always whinnied at 
 my step, expecting, his frequent caress. The man, 
 with a sad shake of his head, told me the result of 
 having hired him out to two young men who were 
 very ambitious to drive him. He warned them 
 that the horse was not thoroughly broken. 'In what 
 way?' said they. 'Well, you see, he is very good 
 tmder the saddle, but objects strongly to being 
 hitched, and it isn't everybody who can manage 
 him.' 
 
 *' ' Let us have him, and we will break him to har- 
 ness for you. ' 
 
 "'AH right,' said the proprietor, 'he has cost me 
 a pretty penny kicking things to pieces, but if you've 
 a mind to try him don't forget I warned you.' 
 
 "'Well, we'll take him and tame him, too, but 
 first I'll go for my Mexican bit.' 
 
 " Returning shortly, he placed the bit in the young 
 horse's mouth, and the horse was finally hitched to 
 the buggy. As he was led out of the stable he pranced 
 proudly and playfully, lifting his feet daintily, and 
 glancing from side to side, already uneasy at what 
 seemed ever approaching his hind legs. A tug at the 
 bit warned him to go quietly, and he proceeded, still 
 uneasy and half-scared, until the smooth country road 
 was reached." 
 
 Then did he run away? 
 
 " No, but he protested with his hind legs, for he 
 
 had felt the insulting whip, and his mouth! The 
 
 cruel two-edged sword was doing its work, cutting 
 
 into his palate, his gums, his tongue. In vain he 
 
 ' tried to run awa}'' from the agony of it, but the bit 
 
THE MEXICAN BIT AND CURB. 8^ 
 
 held him ! He could not shake it off or ease his 
 aching mouth. The blood flowed down in streams, 
 until his breast and fore-legs were red and dripping. 
 Maddened with pain and fright he went at a furious 
 pace for an hour or so, returning at last to his stable. " 
 
 And had the bit cured him of his youthful spirit? 
 
 "Alas, yes! He was not only completely con- 
 quered and subdued, but his jaw was rendered help- 
 less, and his tongue so cruelly cut that he could 
 never carry a bit again. From that time on his 
 spirit was broken, and he was unfit either to ride or 
 drive. So much for the Mexican bit!" 
 
 And what became of the poor fellow? 
 
 " His owner could make no protest against the 
 cruelty, and had just sold him to a breeder, who, 
 knowing the immense value of his blood and ances- 
 try, could make him useful in the stud." 
 
 There can be no such objection to the curb bit? 
 
 "No, the curb bit is, on the contrary, not only 
 useful, but essential. It is a far more merciful 
 means of reminding a wilful horse, that he is not to 
 have his own way entirely. It does not cut and 
 cause the mouth to bleed." • 
 
 How does it act?^ 
 
 " It creates an ache in the jaw, which few horses 
 enjoy, and which in most cases effectually controls, 
 while it does not injure them. The curb is most 
 important in riding, especially with fiery young 
 steeds, when mounted by daring women. As a gen- 
 eral thing, women have a light touch on the reins; 
 and one properly taught, soon learns when it is neces- 
 sary to use the curb, and how much of it her horse 
 
84 MY horse; my love. 
 
 can bear. With some horses it is dangerous even 
 to let go the curb, while with others the snaffle or 
 guiding-rein only is necessary." 
 
 Horses are very differently broken, are they not? 
 
 " While some have hard mouths, which means a 
 greater strength of resistance in the jaw and a defiant 
 way of showing it, others are so tender that it seems 
 cruel to use the curb. Force and will in the rider 
 are not to be always foremost in guiding; but a 
 coaxing word often makes a good understanding, and 
 the horse is most sensitive to kindness. His ears 
 are quick to catch a caressing sound. Few^ are really 
 vicious by inclination, and it must be some remem- 
 brance of a cruelty during their early training which 
 makes them so." 
 
 But horses are widely different in disposition, are 
 they not? 
 
 " They are the same as in man. Did you not read 
 lately of a horse trampling not only his master, but 
 his master's little son to death?" 
 
 You refer to the stableman in New York who had 
 owned and fed the horse for four years? 
 
 " It is the same. That horse must have been a 
 Percheron, for they are singularly revengeful and 
 never forget an injury." 
 
 But what could the man have done, to provoke 
 the horse to commit such a horrible deed? 
 
 " Some men are naturally overbearing, and take no 
 trouble to win the affection and good-will of the 
 animals under their charge. This man may have pun- 
 ished the horse unjustly, or have teased him or neg- 
 lected to feed him, or have done many other things 
 
THE MEXICAN BIT AND CURB, 85 
 
 which were offenses from the horse's standpoint. 
 The Percheron is slow and sullen and never for- 
 gives nor forgets." 
 
 Are they not especially valuable as draught- 
 horses? 
 
 " Immensely so. They are never speedy, but have 
 enormous strength and endurance, being founded on 
 Arab blood, and can pull for so many hours a day, 
 and so many miles an hour, tremendous weights, and 
 show no fatigue. The express companies own a 
 large number of Percherons for which they pay the 
 stated sum of $333.33 apiece, or §1,000 for three." 
 
 Did you ever see a horse injured by thrusting a 
 cold metal bit in his mouth? 
 
 " That is of too frequent occurrence for me not to 
 have seen it, and far oftener than I like to think of." 
 
 One cold frosty morning I heard one boy say to 
 another, " I dare you to put your tongue on this iron 
 lamp-post." In a twinkling the boy did it, and the 
 skin of his tongue was left on the frozen iron. I 
 was indignant at such an outrage, but had no time 
 to interfere. Would a cold bit have a similar ef- 
 fect? — 
 
 " Certainly, madam. The horse's tongue is equally 
 sensitive, and a frozen bit, whether of steel or iron, 
 has done infinite mischief to the poor animal, which 
 could never be accounted for. Many a run -away 
 can be traced to this unthinking carelessness or 
 ignorance." 
 
 It should not be difficult to remedy. 
 
 " A cold bit can be quickly warmed by thrusting 
 
S6 
 
 MY horse; my love. 
 
THE MEXICAN BIT AND CURB. .87 
 
 it between the arm and body for a few moments, or 
 rubbing it between the hands, or on something 
 woollen. But to avoid the trouble permanently, 
 through ignorant grooms, the bit in winter should 
 be covered with leather or rubber to prevent such 
 prolonged and intolerable suffering." 
 
 The tongue so injured must take a long time to 
 heal? 
 
 " It is as severe and painful as a bad bum, and no 
 horse should take the bit after such a misfortune, 
 until entirely recovered. " 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BEARING-REIN. 
 
 We have never heard your sentiments about the 
 bearing or check-rein, Count, but from my own 
 knowledge and limited observation I am almost sure 
 you do not approve of it. 
 
 " No, madam, I cannot approve of anything, which 
 makes of a knowing horse simply an automaton, and 
 deprives him of the chance to exercise his natural 
 intelligence. The bearing-rein is a near relation 
 to the Mexican bit, although its invention may have 
 been conceived in a spirit somewhat less cruel." 
 
 Should it ever be used? 
 
 " It may sometimes be used, but sparingly, on a 
 very unruly young horse and before he is entirely 
 broken." 
 
 But does it not prevent any natural play of the 
 head? 
 
 " That seems to be the object of it, as it holds the 
 head as if in a vise; but without it a colt, if so 
 minded, can put his head down between his fore-legs, 
 and thus gain such a purchase on his hind ones, as 
 will enable him to do any amount of mischief." 
 
 I have wondered how a horse can propel himself at 
 all, with the check-rein holding him in so unnatural 
 
 88 
 
THE BEARIISTG-REIN. 89 
 
 an attitude, and appearing to clog any free or easy- 
 motion. 
 
 "Ah, yes, it is as effectual in i'^s way as is the 
 handcuff on the hands of a prisoner. A man cannot 
 run far with his hands tied together, the connection 
 between his arms and legs being such that they 
 unconsciously assist each other, and to tie the hands 
 is to prevent any rapid progression." 
 
 Then what is the check-rein good for? 
 
 "It is supposed to produce 'style' in a driving 
 horse. That is, his head is held up at an angle to 
 his body, at once unnatural and painful, and is kept 
 in a position, that every one must acknowledge, is 
 stiff, artificial, and ungraceful." 
 
 Does it not defeat easy locomotion? 
 
 " Undoubtedly, producing excessive fatigue, pain, 
 and long-suffering, through the severe strain put 
 upon all the muscles of the body." 
 
 The constant use of it must then be an unmixed 
 evil? 
 
 " It is so, emphatically. A horse driven daily 
 with a check-rein, will in time have the tendons of 
 his tongue paralyzed. The steady pull, so fixed and 
 constant, strains the muscles of the head and neck, 
 and becomes imbearable in its cruel pressure against 
 the corners of the mouth." 
 
 Do they not get callous? 
 
 " No, unfortunately ; the effect is to wear away the 
 corners, little by little, until a hole is formed on 
 each side of the mouth from which the tongue pro- 
 trudes. I have seen horses' mouths so worn away at 
 the corners by the constant use of the bearing-rein, 
 
9© MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 that there was literally no room left in the mouth 
 for the tongue to lie, so naturally it would hang out, 
 first on one side and then on the other. The horse 
 would prefer to keep his tongue in his mouth, but 
 the tendons being paralyzed and helpless, the pour 
 creature has no volition in the matter." 
 
 This detracts considerably from a horse's value, 
 does it not? 
 
 " It cannot fail to reduce his value greatly, a hang- 
 ing tongue being always so unsightly. Imagine a 
 horse held thus firmly by the check -rein; his head 
 high in air, his nose poking forward, his eyes covered 
 with blinders! He must go on, although he cannot 
 see where he is placing his feet. He lifts them 
 high, trying to feel his way carefully ; he can only 
 turn his head when he turns his body, in obedience 
 to a pull on the rein, while all the bones and mus- 
 cles in his strong frame ache. Still, on he goes, 
 prancing or plodding, for there is a cracking whip 
 behind him ! He is amiable. He wants to do what 
 is required of him, and it is from this disposition 
 that his encouragement to mend his pace or mind his 
 ways must come — surely not from the stupid clogs 
 that check and make unnatural his gait and thereby 
 defeat their own intention!' 
 
 Under the guidance of the check-rein the horse 
 must then go automatically? 
 
 " Certainly, for nothing is left to his intelligence, 
 and he has no more volition than a machine. If 
 regarded as such, then is the machinist a bungler 
 in his trade; but it must be very hard for the in- 
 telligent horse to understand why his friendly ser- 
 
THE BEARING-REIN. 9I 
 
 vices to man are rewarded only by pain and misap- 
 prehension." 
 
 As one of the most sensitive and delicate of 
 animals, he is too often the victim of the ignorant 
 and indifferent, in their love of display, and to 
 accentuate their v^ealth and fashion, I imagine. 
 
 " It is true, but those who know how to care for 
 horses with sympathy, and an understanding of their 
 needs and merits, cannot look with pleasure on their 
 distress. Or, when robbed of their becoming equip- 
 ments of mane and tail, they are held back to prance 
 against the check-rein, while being urged on by the 
 smarting, irritating lash, all their natural aptitudes 
 held in abeyance, in order that they may thus give a 
 'stylish' effect on parade." 
 
 I fancy there must be very few who have not a 
 keen appreciation of their courage and loyalty; their 
 beauty and sagacity; their endurance and power; 
 their affection and forbearance; and above all, their 
 self-restraint under provocation. 
 
 " It may be so, but it is to wealth and fashion that 
 we look, to promote the development of these noble 
 animals, and to prevent their being tortured and 
 harassed by inhuman and ignorant abuses." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BALKING. 
 
 There must be some good reason, Count, why 
 many horses, excellent in every other respect, are so 
 given to balking. 
 
 "Ah, madam, a balking horse is a difficult subject 
 to deal with, for he represents the obstinacy of 
 ignorance." 
 
 In what way? 
 
 " 1 have found that in almost all cases the habit 
 comes from not seeing an object perfectly — as in 
 man, the horse often inherits or is born with imper- 
 fect sight. Very many are near-sighted, others are 
 far-sighted, and those with normal sight are really 
 the exception." 
 
 Is this simple fact usually known by horse- 
 owners? 
 
 " If known, much less attention is paid to it than 
 
 should be. The sight of each horse should be tested, 
 
 especially when they shy, swerve, scare easily, balk, 
 
 or appear in any way, from no definable cause, 
 
 unruly. A horse which shies at everything along 
 
 the road will almost invariably be found to have 
 
 short sight." 
 
 But what will help this defect? 
 
 92 
 
BALKING. 93 
 
 "It would seem a very odd proceeding, I suppose, 
 to suggest eye-glasses as a remedy. Many horses, 
 especially speedy hunters, would find such artificial 
 assistance invaluable. So many are unfit for even , 
 ordinary work on this account, that only a visit to the 
 optician could prove their one defect; and establish 
 the fact, that but for it, their value need be no less 
 than that of their more fortunate companions with 
 normal sight.'* 
 
 I have read lately that the oculists have made 
 great strides in curing defects of vision in man, with- 
 out the use of glasses. Even eyes which have been 
 dimmed from birth by malformation have had the 
 power to see well, without glasses, restored by the 
 best specialists. Many examples were given as 
 evidence that errors of refraction were daily cured 
 by treatment, glasses being dispensed with. Dr. W. 
 H. Bates, of New York City, concludes an excellent 
 article in the New York Medical Journal^ after record- 
 ing many cases cured of near-sightedness, supposed 
 to be irremediable, in these words: "The vision, in 
 many cases of myopia, can be improved very much 
 by treatment without glasses, and frequently this 
 improvement is-so marked as to render glasses 
 unnecessary." Could this same treatment be made 
 successful in horses? 
 
 "Certainly, diseases in man and horse are very 
 similar, but such treatment of the eyes would be 
 very expensive, although probably not more so, than 
 that of many other infirmities. It might prove that 
 the horse accused of vices^ such as shying, balking, 
 swerving, etc., had none such from inclination; and 
 
94 MV horse; my love. 
 
 that the sight, being promptly cured of its defect, re- 
 lieved the horse of such odium." 
 
 Has any other remedy been found for this trouble? 
 
 " If the object about v^^hich a balking horse is 
 in alarmed doubt can be brought to him or he can be 
 coaxed to it, so that he can see it closely, and can 
 investigate it with his nose, in most cases he will be 
 found perfectly willing to resume his journey, and will 
 show his disgust at his own stupidity by a disdainful 
 sniff." 
 
 Then you do not advocate force, whipping, or even 
 coaxing? 
 
 "They have been tried too often not to produce 
 their own moral. As I have said before the sense 
 of smell is more acute in the horse than any other 
 sense. The point of his nose being his touch-point 
 conveys a subtler and more exact meaning to his 
 intelligence and reasoning powers. It demonstrates 
 facts when scenting danger from afar, a distant 
 object is either magnified or indistinctly seen by his 
 startled and imperfect eyes, and quick imagination. 
 He is satisfied of its harmlessness when brought 
 dosely enough for him to smell of it. If not per- 
 mitted to examine an object in his own way, he will 
 never forget in passing that certain locality, that 
 something is there which puzzles and frightens 
 him. He will manifest always the same repugnance 
 toward it,' the same disposition to shy or balk in 
 approaching it." 
 
 One of the most practical ways of curing a balk- 
 ing horse was told lately by a police-officer. It was 
 to lift the fore-leg by the fetlock and hold it up for 
 
BALKING. 95 
 
 three minutes. On placing the foot again on the 
 ground the horse would go on as if nothing had 
 stopped him. 
 
 '* Possibly his attention was thus distracted from 
 what had caused his sudden disinclination to move." 
 
 Is it not worvSe than stupid that the driver of '^. 
 balking horse will not explain to him the alarming 
 object, whether it be an engine or a scarecrow? 
 
 " Ah, dear madam, the horse is too often regarded 
 as a mere machine, without common sense or even 
 common instinct. It is only a man of intelligence 
 who will discover the same quality in his horse and 
 credit him with 'horse-sense.' " 
 
 I notice that expression quite commonly used. 
 What is its real meaning? 
 
 " It intends to convey the idea of ordinary intelli- 
 gence combined with quick and unerring instinct 
 which together prevent mistakes. Many a traveller 
 owes his life to 'horse-sense,' when if left to his own 
 he would have lost it. Afterward with what nervous 
 awe, he has looked upon the frail and narrow bridge, 
 spanning a rushing torrent far below, over which 
 his faithful sure-footed beast has carried him in 
 safety, while the thunder rolled and the lightning 
 flash was the only lantern, to point out the dangerous 
 path in the inky blackness of night!" 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BLINKERS AND BLINDNESS. 
 
 Do you advocate the use of blinkers? 
 
 " Many horses are better without them, but it 
 would be not only absurd but dangerous, to drive all 
 horses without blinkers. There is much to be con- 
 sidered in the method used in the early training of a 
 horse; how much intelligence his trainer possessed, 
 and how much he gave the young colt credit for. 
 While some are more knowing than others, all horses 
 have a certain and intimate knowledge of their own 
 power and its limitations, and their inductions are 
 singularly accurate." 
 
 Then you believe in the old sa\T "As the twig is 
 bent the tree's inclined?" 
 
 "It should never be forgotten for a moment in 
 breaking, training, and rearing young horses. They 
 have a surprising memory and often prove the fact 
 to one's consternation. An examination by the 
 optician to test their sight, would also establish the 
 need or abolishment, of blinkers, in each mdividual 
 animal." 
 
 Why do saddle-horses never wear them? 
 
 " For one reason, because custom has established 
 the fashion. It is obvious that a horse carrying his 
 burden, can travel on as narrow a path as the rider 
 
 96 
 
BLINKERS AND BLINDNESS. 97 
 
 himself, and oftentimes more surely. Riding-horses 
 swerve and shy quite as much as carriage-horses; 
 but the former can be guided to a disconcerting 
 object and so be able to investigate it, while the 
 horse that is pulling a vehicle must be kept in the 
 beaten road." 
 
 Is a horse more easily managed under the saddle? 
 
 '' Undoubtedly. A good rider is not so liable to 
 accident as the driver whose horses checked, trussed, 
 and tortured by fashionable harness have their 
 natural action encumbered. Forced as their move- 
 ments are into an artificial gait, when they become 
 thoroughly alarmed, the ease and dash with which 
 they can throw off all restraining bonds, prove their 
 mighty strength and make man feel helpless in his 
 own inventions." 
 
 Then it is not surprising that with blinkers or 
 without they sometimes get unruly? 
 
 " They know well the power or lack of it, of the 
 hand which guides them, and the voice which en- 
 courages them to do their best." 
 
 Is the martingale an essential equipment in 
 
 riding? 
 
 "It bears the^ame relation to the riding-bridle 
 that the bearing-rein does to the harness of a horse 
 driven. The latter holds up and back the horse's 
 head to an unnatural position, while the martingale 
 pulls it down, to emphasize the arch of the neck." 
 
 Then it is not important? 
 
 " Not in the least, and there are times when the 
 use of it is very dangerous. Riding with a party of 
 hunters one day, we came to a fast-running stream 
 - ■ 7 ■ . 
 
98 Mv horse; my love. 
 
 into which one man plunged impetuously, intending 
 his horse to swim the distance. From the horse's 
 struggles I realized in a moment that the martingale 
 was not undone and the horse's nose was below the 
 water line. The frantic animal soon unseated his 
 brave rider, who immediately sank before our eyes, 
 having been kicked in the desperate effort of the 
 poor horse to free his head. He finally found the 
 solid ground under him, and came ashore. But his 
 rider, one of the best horsemen I ever knew, rose to 
 the surface a drowned man ; and all our efforts to 
 recuscitate him proved im a vailing — I have never 
 since found any use for the martingale." 
 
 What are the principal causes of blindness. Count? 
 
 " If the nose-bone be affected by disease the nerves 
 of the eyes will suffer, and unless the trouble can 
 yield to treatment, as it does in man, the horse will 
 eventually become blind. Knocking in the head or 
 nostrils, which some human brutes seem to think an 
 effectual punishment ; striking sharply with a whip 
 over the ears and head, or teeth from which the 
 enamel is broken and the nerves exposed ; all sooner 
 or later affect the eyes and sight. Pulling daily 
 very heavy loads up-hill, and choking with tight col- 
 lars, as well as the sudden passage from a dark stable 
 to the bright sunlight or dazzling snow, help to pro- 
 duce blindness." 
 
 Is it not remarkable the way in which blind horses 
 can go about, avoiding difficulties, sliding off just 
 in time to escape hitting their heads against a fence 
 or stone wall? 
 
 '' For this reason I would much prefer a blind horse 
 
BLINKERS AND BLINDNESS. , 99 
 
 to a lame one. Their sense of hearing is abnormally 
 developed. They listen always to the echo of their 
 own footsteps, which tells them how near they are 
 to an object. Their olfactory nerves also become 
 preternaturally sensitive, and warn them of the ap- 
 proach of persons or things. They know their mas- 
 ter by his voice, his step, his smell, his touch, quite 
 as well as a horse that can see. Blindness seems to 
 develop all their affectionate instincts. They par- 
 ticularly love their mate in the stable or in driving; 
 doing their share of work cheerfully, depending on 
 him only for guidance, and if separated will pine and 
 refuse to be comforted. " 
 
 Then, for all these reasons, he will not deteriorate 
 so much in value? 
 
 " His value should not be greatly lessened, as his 
 usefulness is by no means at an end. Conscious of 
 his deficiency, he seems always most anxious to do his 
 best, while any natural wilfulness gives place to the 
 most amiable desire to be led or guided, only that he 
 may do the thing required of him. While there is 
 nothing that more appeals to the sympathies than a 
 blind horse, it is not on account of his helplessness so 
 much, as because oL his exceeding willingness, and 
 the surprising cleverness of his sharpened instincts." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TEETH AND TOOTHACHE. 
 
 Is it true, Count, that horses are great sufferers 
 from toothache? I have read that the complaint is 
 the real cause of many a runaway, attributed to 
 viciousness. 
 
 " I believe nothing can be more absurd than such 
 a statement. Decayed teeth in a horse are most 
 unnatural. Of course, if the horse be constantly fed 
 on something sour, which creates fermentation, the 
 enamel may become broken or rotted and the nerve 
 may in time be exposed. In this condition a frosty 
 bit will cause exquisite pain ; but toothache, as we 
 realize it, is something unknown to a well-kept 
 healthy horse. Filing, cleaning, evening, and there- 
 by spoiling the horse's teeth, is gypsy work." 
 
 How do you mean? 
 
 " It is the way gypsies often take to earn a few 
 dollars, and at the same time learn the secrets of 
 5^our stable. The veterinary surgeon knows better, 
 and nothing is gained by constantly fooling about a 
 horse's mouth. In Europe and in the colleges there 
 such things would excite much merriment and con- 
 tempt — but the subject has been presented to me 
 before in this country." 
 
 The age of a horse is told quite distinctly by his 
 teeth, is it not? But I have never understood just how. 
 
 lOO 
 
TEETH AND TOOTHACHE. lOI 
 
 "The young horse's teeth meet in the mouth, edge 
 to edge, being upright. Some horses are parrot- 
 mouthed, so that the upper teeth project somewhat, 
 but the back ones always meet squarely. As they 
 grow older the teeth in both jaws project more and 
 more, making an acute angle, until, at twenty years 
 of age, the undersides meet together." 
 
 Ah, I see. Did you ever pull a horse's tooth? 
 
 "Never, but once. The horse in this case had 
 what are called J>orane teeth ; that is, four little tusks 
 growing at the sides of the mouth. As they were 
 not attached to the bone, I nipped them off promptly 
 with the forceps with little pain to the horse, who 
 was greatly relieved to be rid of them." 
 
 And is this the only case? 
 
 " I was called once to come quickly to a horse, 
 supposed to be suffering from lockjaw. After ex- 
 amination I could assure his anxious owner that the 
 trouble was a very trivial one. A tooth in the upper 
 jaw had broken off, and just opposite to it, in the 
 lower jaw, was a tooth projecting nearly an inch 
 above the others. When the horse closed his mouth 
 in eating, the projecting tooth fitted nicely into the 
 hollow of the broken tooth above, and became 
 wedged or locked. " 
 
 What did you do? 
 
 "It was very simple. I pried open his mouth 
 with a chisel and filed off the long tooth, so that 
 there was no further danger of its locking — an 
 operation which the horse seemed to understand, 
 and bore very patiently." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LOCKJAW. 
 
 Is lockjaw a common disorder? 
 
 " Fortunately not, being very dangerous." 
 
 What produces it? 
 
 " Such similar causes as produce it in man. A 
 nail cutting a nerve in the foot, sometimes a splinter 
 of wood, or wounds which cause great inflammation 
 and poison the system. Unless great care be taken 
 in 'docking, * lockjaw is likely to follow the opera- 
 tion, and it is seldom that a horse so afflicted can 
 recover. A large proportion of horses docked die of 
 lockjaw." 
 
 Have you seen the late controversy about corns 
 on horses' feet, Count, and do you consider them 
 curable? 
 
 "Certainly, they can be cured, if great care be 
 taken in shoeing, for it is the shoe which produces 
 corns. The quarter-hoof should never have a nail 
 in it, as it is in the corners where come the bars and 
 the crust that the corn has its beginning. A care- 
 less blacksmith will cut the bars and open the frog, 
 and thus open the hoof, into which dirt and mud 
 enter and find an abiding-place. That part of the 
 shoe which goes beyond the quarter-hoof does not 
 even pretend to fit the foot sometimes,, but curves 
 
 I02 
 
LOCKJAW. , 103 
 
 downward, making an effectual recess between the 
 hoof and shoe, for the accumulation of dirt and even 
 small pebbles. These foreign substances, if not 
 at once carefully removed, will soon produce corns, 
 which if m turn grow too high will develop quitor." 
 
 What is that? 
 
 " It is a species of tumor. Then an operation 
 must be made by cutting this tumor open, when sup- 
 puration will follow and the corn can be permanently 
 removed." 
 
 Then horses who have never worn shoes do not 
 have corns? 
 
 " Certainly not. Corns are the inevitable result of 
 careless shoeing. Many other evils also follow upon 
 the indifferent, not to say cruel handiwork of the 
 blacksmith. I have seen the crust of a horse's foot 
 perforated like a sponge, nail upon nail having been 
 driven into it. Every nail, more than is absolutely 
 necessary, not only helps to impede the horse's prog- 
 ress, but causes him often great suffering. Nobody 
 •should own a horse who cannot afford to have him 
 properly shod, or who will permit him to wear a 
 worn-out shoe, simply because it still clings to the 
 hoof. The laminaJs exceedingly sensitive, and iron 
 nails pressing close against it are a frequent cause of 
 lameness. The shoe should be nailed neither too 
 high nor too close to the heel. All owners of horses, 
 whether for the saddle, the carriage, or the plough, 
 should look to it that no false economy in the matter 
 of proper shoeing, and frequent renewals should 
 tempt them to reduce the value of their animals, as 
 well as to cause to them great pain and suffering. " 
 
I04 MY horse; my love. 
 
 Have you seen many horses made lame by imper- 
 fect shoeing? 
 
 " It is only too common a fault. Only lately a 
 physician called me to look at his horse, remarking at 
 the same time that he thought 'the horse must be- 
 come lame on purpose, for he couldn't discover any- 
 thing the matter with him!' He said further, 'The 
 horse will go all right for ten minutes or so in the 
 morning, and will then suddenly go lame, and con- 
 tinue so the rest of the day.' Well, I examined 
 the horse carefully, although my eye had lighted on 
 the real cause at once, and I said: 'Now, doctor, you 
 are pretty wise, and know the proportions of a horse 
 and his defects. Stand exactly in front of him and 
 tell me if you can see nothing wrong.' 
 
 "'No, ' replied the doctor, 'I'll be switched if I 
 can, and I believe he is playing off, the rogue!* 
 
 " 'Will you kindly look at his shoes?' 
 
 " The doctor lifted first one hind foot and then 
 the other. ^Nothing the matter with them, Count.* 
 
 '"Well, go on, finish your inspection.' 
 
 " He lifted one forefoot and then the other and a 
 sudden light began to dawn on his visage: 'Ah, can 
 it be so simple a thing?' 
 
 "'It is that, and that is all,' said I, and by actual 
 measurement the corks oil the shoe of one fore- 
 foot, were a full inch longer than all the others, 
 and so lifted the horse just so much more from the 
 ground." 
 
 You had the laugh on the doctor that time. 
 Count. 
 
 " Yes, I had. and he went off half mad and half 
 
LOCKJAW. 105 
 
 pleased, when I told him to go home and walk 
 around in shoes, one with a heel and one without, 
 and see how lame he'd go, without trying." 
 
 There are many different causes for lameness, of 
 course? 
 
 *' So many that it is a proof of much care, that we 
 see so few lame horses in the street. An unprinci- 
 pled stableman, knowing all the tricks of the trade, 
 in order to spare himself a day's uncongenial labor, 
 can quickly lame a horse, without doing him more 
 than a passing injury. These things are so common 
 that before examining a horse just developing some 
 trouble, I make a sort of detective's inspection of 
 the groom, and seek to learn something of his habits, 
 inclinations, etc. A pin in the fetlock, a hair from 
 the tail, threaded in a needle, and run through the 
 outer and middle tendons of the front leg, and cut off 
 close so that nothing appears, are some of the 
 detestable tricks occasionally resorted to out of 
 petty revenge, which I mention only as a warning to 
 trusting owners." 
 
 What are your notions about clipping, Count? 
 
 "Among some of the best horsemen there is a 
 strong prejudice ^lagainst clipping a horse, thus 
 depriving him, during the cold weather, of the warm 
 coat Nature provides. It would be most cruel to 
 do this, when a horse, by reason of neglect, was per- 
 mitted to stand after heating exercise, without being 
 well blanketed." 
 
 I suppose the argument against clipping is that it 
 is against nature? 
 
 " Yes, that is the strongest argument, but as stab- 
 
io6 MY horse; my love. 
 
 ling,drivirjg, and even domestication, are all artificial 
 conditions it cannot well stand." 
 
 But does he not take cold more readily without his 
 winter's coat? 
 
 " On the contrary, a horse with a heavy coat is all 
 the better for being clipped, and is not nearly in so 
 much danger of taking cold. When brought in 
 'sweating' his heavy coat will not dry out readily, 
 and unless 'worked' an hour or so to cool him off, 
 will chill and shiver, even under the blanket, and 
 that dread foe, pneumonia, may follow. A clipped 
 horse is rubbed dry in a few moments, and being 
 wrapped in his warm blanket, he is in a glow very 
 soon. Experience proves that he eats better, feels 
 better, will do more work cheerfully, and will even 
 keep in better condition and sounder health on less 
 food." 
 
 Clipping certainly improves the appearance vastly. 
 
 *' No doubt of it, giving the idea of excellent 
 grooming and care, so immediately detected in the 
 horse's coat, and I believe it adds greatly to his phys- 
 ical comfort and well-being." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ARAB HORSES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 Are not Arab horses a specialty of some of the 
 South American states, Count? 
 
 " It is a matter of history that when Pizarro con- 
 quered Peru in the sixteenth century, he carried 
 from Spain less than a score of Andalusian Barbs. 
 The natives had never seen a man riding astride of 
 an animal, and their wonder deepened into terror 
 and dismay, at the near approach of this little band 
 of Centaurs. Seeing the four legs surmounted by a 
 human body and head, and in their crude supersti- 
 tion imagining it to be some new species of aveng- 
 ing animal, the Inca natives fled, conquered by their 
 fears. Amused by this easy conquest of the Lower 
 Country, Pizarro took his army of vagabonds, 
 gathered in Panama and amounting to about one 
 hundred and fiftjrmen, led by the score of mounted 
 Barbs, to the royal city in Peru of the reigning 
 Atahualpa. Him, he took prisoner after getting 
 possession of the city. 
 
 " Discovering shortly Atahualpa's hold on the affec- 
 tions of his people by the enormous ransom they 
 offered for his redemption, he realized that such a 
 prince would be a dangerous rival to his own in- 
 fluence, and ordered his execution. This was os- 
 
 107 
 
Io8 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 tensibly, for the crime of unbelief; but it was 
 delayed by the influence of a pious priest, who un- 
 dertook to explain to the willing-, helpless Pagan 
 the doctrine of the Trinity. He was unable to com- 
 prehend it, but Pizarro promised him that he should 
 not be burned to death if he would give him a room 
 full of gold. The room which Pizarro signified was 
 filled with gold, but the poor Pagan ruler of the 
 Incas was subsequently butchered by the treacherous 
 Spaniard. The removal of this powerful monarch 
 and the settlement of Pizarro's quarrels with his 
 partner Almagro, brought tranquillity to the con- 
 quered land, which was at once placed under colonial 
 government, subject to the Spanish crown. 
 
 " Stirring reports of the wonderful wealth in pre- 
 cious metals of this Eldorado having gone abrcad, 
 intense excitement among all classes in Spain was 
 created, of which the immediate result was exten- 
 sive emigration to the new country. Thus the city 
 of Truxillo, named for Pizarro's birthplace in Spain, 
 was founded in the department of Libertad. Many 
 of this colony of Spaniards were from the families of 
 grandees, and with every ship-load of emigrants 
 came its quota of Andalusian Barbs. These men, 
 easily making slaves of the amiable natives, devoted 
 themselves to agriculture, and became proprietors of 
 vast domains. In the vicinity of Truxillo are still 
 two haciendas, devoted to the breeding of horses, 
 in which the blood of these imported Arabs remains 
 pure to this day. Their progeny are found all over 
 Northern Peru, where they are greatly affected as 
 saddle-horses by military officers, political dignita- 
 
ARAB HORSES IN SOUTH AMERICA. lOQ 
 
 ries and gentlemen of wealth. They are never har- 
 nessed or driven. 
 
 " One of the uses to which the Arab's grace, agil- 
 ity, and intelligence especially fit him, is the 
 national bull-fight. This, in Lima, is the most 
 perfectly-placed specimen of its kind in the world. 
 No cruelty is permitted there. It is worth the 
 rider's reputation to. let his horse be injured, as those 
 ridden are the very choicest from the haciendas. 
 They are trained to the touch of the knee, both 
 hands of the rider being devoted to exciting the 
 wrath of the bull. As the toreador waves his capa, 
 which conceals from the horse, the furious oncoming 
 of the enraged brute, a pressure of the rider's knees 
 against the sides of the perfectly trained Arab, causes 
 him to swerve gracefully aside, and the bull is car- 
 ried on far beyond, by his own momentum. As he 
 returns to the charge the horse again coquettes with 
 danger, until, to the sound of the bugle, he prances 
 out of the arena, to let a second horse and rider take 
 his place. Should a horse be injured in this danger- 
 ous play, instead of exciting the plaudits of the 
 audience — as in Madrid and Mexico, where the most 
 worthless and broken-down are used, and gored to 
 death — the rider would have to encounter the angry 
 curses and contemptuous hisses of the multitude. 
 
 " The matador on foot, whose duty it is to finally 
 kill the bull by a sudden and direct plunge of his 
 long sharp sword through the heart — thus causing 
 him no suffering — shows wonderful courage, agility, 
 and cool self-possession. He must strike with uner- 
 ring aim or his own life will probably pay the forfeit. 
 
no MY HORSE; MV LOVE. 
 
 "The scene is one of exciting and pleasing interest 
 to the audience, which may hold its breath in cer- 
 tain portions of it, but only as we do when our acro- 
 bats take a flying leap from the topmost height of 
 the circus tent. The bull, having been killed 
 instantly, is hitched to four gayly-caparisoned white 
 mules; and as a concluding funereal ceremony he is 
 dragged around the vast circle of the amphitheatre, 
 in order that every individual may get a glimpse of 
 the creature so skilfully slain. Finally he is dragged 
 out of the arena, through a portal under an archway, 
 as another doomed and angry bull comes plunging 
 in, excited and terrified by the noise of exploding 
 bombs and rockets, the loud hurrahs and clapping 
 of hands, and the deafening clamor of the military 
 bands." 
 
 There is a new idea in what you tell me. Count, 
 in this fact, that not very far away from us, and on 
 our own continent, are horses of the purest Arab 
 blood, accessible and purchasable, which can be 
 bought for a very moderate price. 
 
 " Certainly, madam, and more beautiful and more 
 perfectly trained than any saddle-horse to be seen in 
 New York City." 
 
 Yes, I can understand that when it comes to the 
 breaking and training of horses we know very little 
 about it in comparison to those who are entirely 
 dependent upon them in their journeyings; whose 
 travel is all in the saddle ; who know little of rail- 
 roads and almost nothing of ordinary wheeled 
 Vehicles. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 ARAB HORSES IN NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 Since all European Governments recognize the im- 
 portance of Arab blood as the foundation for their 
 national horses, has America been clever enough to 
 take the cue from them and follow their example? 
 
 "Until 1861, the initial year of America's civil 
 war, the foundation blood of her finest horses was 
 the choicest from England's thoroughbreds. This 
 was always kept strongly reinforced by infusion of 
 the blood of Arabian horses. " 
 
 And was America able to secure them notwith- 
 standing the many difficulties of purchase and im- 
 portation? 
 
 " An Arab stallion now and then found his way to 
 America, through the persistence of travelers in 
 securing them, either by fair means or foul. Their 
 coming has not only always made a sensation, but 
 the histories of their departure and their arrival here, 
 have more or less of romance and mystery attached 
 to them." 
 
 There is no doubt of that. I have never heard 
 anything about any individual Arabian horse that 
 was not interesting, possibly because of the mystery 
 that seemed to surround him, and the very natural 
 
 III 
 
112 MY horse; my love. 
 
 wonderment and question in one's mind as to " how 
 did he ever get here?" 
 
 '' Yes, that is the first question one naturally asks; 
 for stratagem and not strictly fair dealing has been 
 the means of securing most of them, except when 
 they have been presented by the rulers of the coun- 
 tries whence they came. " 
 
 What is the earliest mention of their importation 
 to this country? 
 
 "About the year 1600 the arrival of two famous 
 Arabians is mentioned, one called ' Abdallah, ' and the 
 other, Lindsley's Arabian, 'Ranger.' These were 
 the first known progenitors of Arab blood in this 
 country. Several horses have been called for the first 
 who were Abdallah in name only, and not in blood, 
 as has been erroneously supposed." 
 
 And what Arabians have come to us in this present 
 century, Count? 
 
 "As early as 1820 Charles D. Cox, United States 
 Minister to Tunis, who married the daughter of the 
 Bey of Tunis, was presented by the Bey with two 
 Arab stallions, one a chestnut and the other a sorrel. 
 They were sent over the seas in a sailing vessel, and 
 landing safely, were kept on a farm in Middlesex 
 Co., New Jersey. The sorrel was the sire of the 
 original 'American Star,' the founder of the noted 
 Star family, and from whom the Hambletonians 
 derive their best qualities." 
 
 Was not Stamboul an imported Arabian? 
 
 " Yes, and of pure blood. Before the Minister to 
 Turkey, Mr. Rhind, left Constantinople in 1832, 
 he sent over three Arab horses, Zilcaadi, Stamboul, 
 
ARAB HORSES IN NORTH AMERICA. II3 
 
 and Yemen. The etiquette between the two na- 
 tions made it impossible for Minister Rhind to own 
 them, and they were sold for the benefit of the 
 United States Government. Yemen was taken to 
 South Carolina. The Hon. Henry Clay and Hon. 
 Mr. Berriman, then senators at Washington, were 
 anxious to secure this noted blood to their own State 
 of Kentucky, and so bought Zilcaadi and Stamboul. ' 
 
 It must have been their progeny then that have 
 made the fame of Kentucky horses? 
 
 " Doubtless, madam, for from Zilcaadi came the 
 famous 'Gold-dust' blood of that State, while Beau- 
 tiful Bells, the cherished brood-mare, owned by 
 Governor Stanford of California, is a granddaugh- 
 ter of Stamboul on the maternal side. Then, too, 
 the fastest colt ever bred by the late R. A. Alexander 
 of Kentucky was from a granddaughter of Stam- 
 boul." 
 
 Was Grand Bashaw not an Arab? 
 
 " He was a Barb, imported to Philadelphia about 
 182 1 from Tripoli. The Logan family bred and 
 owned young Bashaw, whose sire was Grand Bashaw, 
 and whose dam was Fancy. She was a daughter of 
 Pearl, who was a daughter of imported Messenger, 
 four times inbred to Arabian blood, three times to 
 the Arab Godolphin, and once to Darley's Arabian. 
 Messenger, therefore, was the sire of Pearl on the 
 maternal side." 
 
 Henry Clay was not an imported horse, was he? 
 
 " No, he was a native bom American, but was 
 doubly interbred on both sides to Arab blood. This 
 fact made him a phenomenal sire, and many of 
 8 
 
114 MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 America's fastest trotting horses trace back their 
 descent to old Henry Clay. The dam of Electioneer 
 was also a Clay." 
 
 And was not Electioneer the sire of Arion, who 
 has lately been sold for $125,000 to Mr. Forbes of Bos- 
 ton as a two-year-old? 
 
 " Certainly, but the dam of Arion was three times 
 interbred to the same blood, which is only another 
 proof of the value of inter-breeding to pure blood 
 derived from the Arab, the primitive." 
 
 Is not Arion a near relation of Axtell? 
 
 " Both Axtell and Allerton were interbred to the 
 same blood as Arion's. " 
 
 Is there not an interesting story connected with the 
 rearing of Axtell? 
 
 "Ah, yes, and one which proves again the errors of 
 mismating, and the folly of experiments when mon- 
 grel blood is used. Also it proves the fact that no 
 type oi horse can be created except through Arab 
 blood, and that all game qualities are due to that 
 blood." 
 
 Well, what is the story? 
 
 " Two gentlemen of Dubuque, Iowa, purchased 
 mares of fashionable name, to breed to the blood of 
 certain other fashionable name in the sires. To 
 their great disappointment the offspring proved an 
 utter failure, and the mares were sold for a song as 
 valueless. Mr. C. N. Williams bought the two for 
 $225, and bred them to the same blood he believed 
 the mares possessed — the Clay. Each in time pro- 
 duced a colt. One was called Axtell and the other 
 Allerton. When Mr. Williams had offered mares 
 
ARAB HORSES IN NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 "5 
 
 E- 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 1-4 
 
 1-1 
 
 ■< 
 
ii6 MY horse; my love. 
 
 and colts for $250 apiece, and no purchaser was found, 
 he concluded to train the colts himself. Both gave 
 promise of rare speed. When Axtell beat the 
 record at 2:12, as a three-year-old, the offer of 
 $105,000 was made for him by a stock company 
 in Indiana, to which he was sold at the price offered. " 
 
 Then it is to the Arab-Clay blood predominating in 
 Axtell which explains his phenomenal speed? And 
 what became of Allerton? 
 
 "Mr. Williams, having sold Axtell, began the 
 training of Allerton, who proved the better horse, for 
 as a four-year-old he trotted a mile in 2:10. These 
 two colts are matched against each other for a purse 
 of $10,000, but Allerton will not be sold for less than 
 $200,000. They demonstrate the blood cause in the 
 most satisfactory manner. " 
 
 Whence comes the Wilkes family? 
 
 " The dam of George Wilkes was a daughter of 
 Henry Clay, which blood made him the phenomenal 
 sire he was. Rysdyk's Hambletonian is credited to 
 the Wilkes family." 
 
 Was there not a famous Arab called Black Em- 
 peror? 
 
 "Yes, madam. Black Emperor was a Barb, 
 although registered in Bruce's American thorough- 
 bred stud-book, as an Arab. He was presented to 
 the ambassador from France in 1857 by the Sultan of 
 Morocco. Mr. Scott, an American, purchased him 
 in Morocco from the ambassador for $7,000. He 
 was at once shipped to England and thence brought 
 to America by Mr. Scott, who subsequently sold him 
 to Mr. John B. Hall, of Toronto, Canada. Black 
 
ARAB HORSES IN NORTH AMERICA. II 7 
 
 Emperor left a son whom Mr. Hall presented to his 
 son-in-law, President H. M. Claflin, of Cleveland, 
 Ohio. This son was known as Black Emperor, Jr., 
 a daughter of his — and granddaughter of the im- 
 ported Arab, Black Emperor — made a visit not many 
 years ago to Abdul Hamid II. of the Americo-Arab 
 Company of Long Island. The result was the colt, 
 Fez, who will be shown at the World's Fair Exposi- 
 tion in Chicago, matching, if not rivalling, anything 
 of his age there on exhibition. " 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SECRETARY SEWARD'S ARABS. 
 
 Did not the horses brought out by William H. 
 Seward create some sensation and controversy? 
 
 *' Undoubtedly so. Mr. Seward was sent to Syria 
 to adjust some difficulties between the two govern- 
 ments. The matter was finally settled in the crimi- 
 nal courts and was so amicably and satisfactorily 
 adjusted that the Syrian government, to show its 
 appreciation of Mr. Seward's clever diplomacy, 
 asked him to express some wish which it was in 
 their power to gratify. Mr. Seward, always inter- 
 ested in the agricultural needs of his country, espe- 
 cially of New York State, replied that if the Syrian 
 government would help him to procure some pure- 
 blooded Arabs to send home, the)" would not only 
 confer upon him a personal favor, but would also 
 benefit the United States more than in any other 
 way. At that time there were some beautiful Arabs 
 imder the control of the Syrians. Of these the clerk 
 of the Criminal Court selected a blood-bay stallion, 
 eight years old, and a chestnut colt, two years old; 
 also a white mare, who, unfortunately, died on the 
 way. They arrived in iS6o, the expenses of their 
 journey amounting to $10,000. 
 
 " Mr. Seward offered them as a gift to the New 
 
 118 
 
SECRETARY SEWARD'S ARABS. II9 
 
 York State Agricultural Society if the society would 
 pay the expenses of their importation. It was a poor 
 return for Mr. Seward's generosity — even when ex- 
 cused by the great excitement attendant upon the 
 breaking out of the civil war — that they refused to 
 comply with his very just proposal. In this emer- 
 gency, as he had sought, in the acceptance of the 
 gift, to benefit his country, he presented the two- 
 year-old colt to Mr. Ezra Cornell of Ithaca, N. Y., 
 and the stallion to Hon. John E. Van Etten of Kings- 
 ton, N. Y." 
 
 And what of their progeny? 
 
 " The stallion was known to be the sire of only two 
 animals. One was a gray filly, bred by Judge West- 
 brook of Kingston, and the other a colt, bred by a 
 nephew* of Judge Sackett of Auburn, N. Y. The 
 colt was shown as a three-year-old in the State Fair 
 at Rochester, and won a special gold medal for being 
 the handsomest horse on the grounds. Subsequently 
 he was sold to Canton, Ohio, where he died leaving 
 two fillies only. They are now owned by the Myers' 
 stock-farm at Canton." 
 
 What became of the chestnut colt? 
 
 *' Ah, poor fellow, he died simply from neglect, 
 the war just then— causing such absorption of all 
 men's thoughts, that all things else seemed of little 
 importance. At that time many of our best and 
 most noted trotters were always spoken of with pride, 
 as coming from Arab ancestors. Morgan was an 
 Anglo-Arabian, and the dam of Dolly Spanker, an 
 inbred Morgan mare, while Sherman Morgan and 
 Buckshot were doubly inbred to Morgan. Gano was 
 
120 MY horse; my love, 
 
 by American Eclipse, who also boasted the Arab 
 strain. Thus it was that the Arab blood was spread 
 throughout the United States up to 1861. It was not 
 only known and most highly valued by intelligent 
 breeders, but was considered absolutely essential to 
 the making of a perfect horse." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SELIM. 
 
 All these imported horses that you have spoken of, 
 Count, were presents or purchased with the consent 
 of the "powers that be." In what cases was strata- 
 gem used? 
 
 "Judge Richard Jones, of Lower Merion, Mont- 
 gomery Co., Penn., who had been appointed consul 
 to Morocco from that district, was an exceptionally 
 honest man. But much against his inclination he 
 finally resorted to stratagem, in order to secure the 
 famous 'Selim.' During the whole term of his con- 
 sulate, about 1840 to 1845, he tried in various ways 
 to buy this horse who had so captivated his fancy, 
 but the Sultan forbade the sale and export, and the 
 owner fought shy of the judge." 
 
 But you say he finally secured him? 
 
 " He reasoned with himself a long time before he 
 would admit the Temptation which was gradually 
 conquering him. His servant, a native, understood 
 perfectly the struggle in his master's mind, and hav- 
 ing become much attached to him, determined to 
 help him. 
 
 "'You want Selim, Effendi?' 
 
 "*I do, indeed, Rustam, but they won't listen to 
 his being sold. ' 
 
 121 
 
122 . MY horse; my LOVE. 
 
 "'No,' said Rustam, shaking his head, 'nobody 
 can buy Selim, he too good horse to go away over 
 the sea. What will the Effendi pay for Selim?' 
 
 "'I will gladly give $4,000 for him, but I tell you 
 he can't be bought.' 
 
 " 'The Effendi is right. If the Effendi try to take 
 Selim, wicked men kill Effendi.' 
 
 " 'Well, I might as well give it up, Rustam, and as 
 I sail for home in a day or two I must go without 
 my beauty. It is too bad!' 
 
 "Rustam soliloquized: 'The Effendi sail to-mor- 
 row night. No moon — all dark. Four thousand dol- 
 lars!' Aloud, 'Rustam very sorry, Effendi.' 
 
 "With a sharp look at Rustam — 'Get out, you 
 miserable tempter! I'm an honest man and must 
 go without Selim. ' 
 
 " The ship still lay at anchor the next night on a 
 dark sea, lashed to quiet by the torrents of rain that 
 were descending. The judge paced up and down on 
 the covered deck thinking sadly of his disappoint- 
 ment and wondering what caused so unusual a com- 
 motion on the ship, when Rustam suddenly appeared 
 before him: 
 
 " 'What brings you here, Rustam?' said the startled 
 judge. 
 
 " 'Rustam steal Selim away! Effendi very good 
 master! Selim here on ship, he go too. ' 
 
 '"You rascal! Is it possible you have stolen 
 Selim and have brought him here on board?' 
 
 "With excited affirmative gesture: *Yes, yes, 
 Effendi. Selim come with me! Nobody know 
 where he go! Rustam take money, put in Selim "s 
 
SELIM. 123 
 
 place! Gold good! Make owner rich! Buy more 
 horse! Too late, now, wSelim stay here!' 
 
 *' The temptation was too great for the judge, and 
 counting out the $4,000 in gold he handed it to his 
 faithful servant, knowing it would find its way to 
 Selim's owner. Not forgetting Rustam's service he 
 rewarded him liberally, and bade him depart, as the 
 ship was about to set sail. 
 
 " The judge and Selim arrived in due time and in 
 good condition at the judge's farm. Selim's blood 
 laid the foundation for the finest breed of horses 
 ever raised in that country. His arrival caused 
 a furore among the breeders, all anxious to secure his 
 blood. Among others, Jonathan Roberts, then 
 United States senator, bred to him, and owned 
 several of his colts, among whom were Murad Bey 
 and Selimair. As late as 1861, Selim was sent from 
 Philadelphia and shown at Mineola, L. I., at the 
 State Fair, as a 'noted gray Arab stallion. * He was 
 small, gray in color, and had all the finest points of 
 the 'true air-drinker of the desert.' " 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ABDALLAH. 
 
 Has the importation of any other Arab a similar 
 history, Count? 
 
 *' I remember talking with an old sea-captain some 
 twenty years ago, and he related these facts: Many 
 years before he had been in command of a trading 
 schooner plying between New York and Morocco. 
 As he was about to set sail from the latter port on 
 his return voyage, he had been very busy all day 
 superintending the shipping of the cargo. The dark- 
 ness fell early and the night was black with threat- 
 ening clouds, so that the sailors had quit work, had 
 eaten their rations, and were about to turn in, when 
 the ship was signalled from the shore. Soon a boat 
 lay alongside, and a voice from it desired speech of 
 the captain. After a few moments' conference, he 
 decided to go ashore. As he landed, there stood im- 
 patiently waiting, a Moor. Beside him, pawing the 
 ground and sniffing the salt air, was a horse of the 
 most beautiful proportions, and with every mark of 
 the finest blood. The Moor wasted no words in ex- 
 planation, but requested the captain to take the 
 horse aboard his schooner, carry him to New York, 
 and deliver him in safety to the person to whom he 
 was consigned. There was no time to demur and a 
 
 124 
 
ABDALLAH. 1 25 
 
 good round sum in gold being counted out, in pay- 
 ment of the horse's passage, with some difficulty the 
 young Arabian stallion reached at last the deck of 
 the schooner. 
 
 "The Moor then confided to the captain these 
 facts. A very large sum of gold had been paid for 
 the Arab, which was of Abdallah breed, with direc- 
 tions that he should be shipped to America. But the 
 tribe, of which he was the pride, and from which he 
 had been purchased, finding that the owner resented 
 their interference in his sale, appealed to the Sultan. 
 The Sultan at once forbade the departure of the horse 
 from the country, and the American consul's author- 
 ity was also called into requisition to prevent it. 
 While the dispute still raged, the wily Moor was 
 flying toward the coast under cover of the darkness 
 with the result described. The captain remembered 
 well, being greatly impressed by it, how the Moor, 
 to prove his horse's ancestry had pointed out to him 
 the marks branded with a fine needle, which were 
 written on the inside of each foreleg, thereby telling 
 the story of his birth." 
 
 And was he the progenitor also of a race of fine 
 horses? 
 
 " Unfortunately, no-f for he lived but a short time 
 after reaching America. " 
 
 Then this may have been the ** Abdallah" which 
 died on Long Island many years ago, from starva- 
 tion ? 
 
 "It is impossible to tell, for there is much mystery, 
 and many uncertain statements have been made about 
 the fisherman's Arab, which was allowed to starve to 
 
126 MV HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 death on the Lon^ Island coast. The old sea-captain 
 believed it to be the Abdallah Arab he had brought 
 over, as no trace of him could he find. The Abdallah 
 had never been broken to harness or the plough, and 
 the fisherman, into whose hands it was supposed he 
 had fallen, vexed by his proud spirit, which could 
 brook no such humiliating labor as was required of 
 him, turned him out in disgust rather than be at the 
 trouble and expense of feeding him." 
 
 I have heard it claimed by some Long Island na- 
 tives that the Abdallah who died thus was Abdallah 
 only in name and not in blood; although he was sup- 
 posed to be the sire of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, 
 whose dam was a Conestoga draught-mare. This 
 horse, Abdallah, it is said, could neither trot nor run, 
 was lazy and vicious, and the fisherman's patience 
 coming to an end, he turned him out to find a living 
 for himself. 
 
 **The identity of this horse has never been fully 
 established, but it is plain to be seen that any creature 
 turned out on the barren sands of the Long Island 
 coast would have little chance to find a living, and 
 must inevitably die from lack of both food and 
 water. " 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE AMERICAN HORSE. 
 
 Was our civil war so immensely destructive of our 
 best horses, Count? 
 
 "Alas, yes! the war almost depleted the country 
 of its thoroughbreds. I had not yet found a home 
 in America, but all Europe rang with accounts of 
 the hearty response, and self-forgetting rush to arms, 
 which was made by men of all classes, in defense of 
 their country and its honored institutions." 
 
 Ah, Count, that was but the practical expression 
 of a noble patriotism ! There are many large and 
 generous hearts in America, and each individual 
 man and woman longed to help, if only a little. I 
 know that the farmers and owners of valuable breeds 
 offered willingly to the government their most 
 precious possessions, their horses, and begged Presi- 
 dent Lincoln to accept them. The proportion of 
 horses to men was one hundred to one, and it seems 
 incredible that so many should have been slain! 
 
 " It seems so, but those offered were the best and 
 finest in the land, and were the stallions and geld- 
 ings. The mares were left at home for the very 
 good reason that in battle they are likely to stam- 
 pede and create a panic through fright. Horses 
 have more nerve. The beat of the drum, the call to 
 arms, the familiar toot of the bugle and horn, and the 
 
 127 
 
128 . MY HORSE; MY LOVE. 
 
 Stirring march of the regimental band, are music in 
 their ears, and an impulse to their going. ' 
 
 Very true, and every soldier has something to 
 tell of the surprising and intelligent faithfulness of 
 his horse in battle. How many I have heard grieve 
 over their loss or their wounds! They seemed ever 
 bound together in a mutual love, the soldier for his 
 horse, and the horse for his maiter. 
 
 '' Up to that time the foundation blood of America's 
 best horses was the choicest from England's thor- 
 oughbreds, which was always kept strongly reinforced 
 by infusion of Arabian blood. For fifty years New 
 England had been proud of her Morgan horse created 
 from Arab blood. New York and Long Island 
 boasted with proper spirit of the families of Henry 
 Clay and Andrew Jackson, while Long Island was 
 the home of the famous Messenger of direct Arab 
 blood, and also of Wildair, inbred to Arab blood. 
 The latter, after importation from England, was so 
 highly prized there that he was repurchased," 
 
 Then it was these noted stallions who were the pro- 
 genitors of the finest horses in the country, and who 
 gave the foundation blood to all the trotting speed of 
 which America could then boast? 
 
 " Yes, madam, but when this immense army of 
 horses was sent to the front, the mares at home were 
 left without mates equal to them in blood. Only the 
 basest of stallions, in fact, the commonest mongrels 
 were left to mate with these blooded mares. As the 
 progeny of mongrel blood does not 'train on' with 
 successive generations, the reproduction of thorough- 
 bred horses was an impossibility. From this time 
 
THE AMERICAN HORSE. 1 29 
 
 dates the advent of what is known as the American 
 horse. No heavier blow to the reputation of Ameri- 
 can horse-breeders could have fallen than this, for 
 it is impossible to create a type from a mongrel of any 
 animal, except a mongrel. " 
 
 Then it is conceded, after long experiment, that no 
 valuable type can be created, except through the infu- 
 sion of pure blood? 
 
 " Yes, madam, we may say that we have an Ameri- 
 can horse with certain characteristics of much money 
 value to his owner; but does it reproduce with cer- 
 tainty any quality that is in demand by any other 
 nation? Alas! it is only too well proved that the 
 American trotting horse, bred experimentally, in so 
 many cases, does not reproduce two per cent, of trot- 
 ting speed. From Maine to the Pacific coast the 
 country is flooded with horses which have no type, 
 are uncertainly bred, and unintelligently trained, 
 which are not in demand for export, and at which all 
 foreign nations may shrug disdainful .shoulders." 
 
 But, Count, are you not very hard on us? Think 
 of our magnificent trotters who beat the world I 
 Sunol and Arion, and Axtell, and Allerton ! 
 
 " Yes, they have earned a world-wide fame, prov- 
 ing the exception ta^e rule. But have they not 
 come by accident, as it were, and without any 
 surety beforehand, of their being anything phenom- 
 enal? Within the last few years only have the 
 breeders here, with the exception of a very few 
 scientific men, begun to realize their own ignorance 
 and foolish mistakes in getting away from the blood 
 cause. There is a little secret about breeding to 
 9 
 
I30 
 
 MY HORSE; MV IA)\E. 
 
THE AMERICAN HORSE. I3I 
 
 make the produce sure, which it takes the uninitiated 
 a long time to find out, and which many American 
 breeders have not yet discovered." 
 
 Then those who, tired of experiments, have begun 
 to follow out certain inevitable laws in mating, are 
 those who have met with success? 
 
 " Yes, and proud of it they may well be ! They 
 alone have saved the vanishing reputation of the 
 American trotter." 
 
 Do we not export our trotting-horses> 
 
 ** Once in a while a phenomenal trotter with a 
 wide reputation is sent over to the other side ; but 
 they are^ not exported as a type, or to take the first 
 place in a stud of thoroughbreds, although they are 
 universally admired." 
 
 But only lately the Czar of Russia asked Governor 
 Stanford for an exchange of trotting mares with his 
 Russian Orloffs. Would not both countries be 
 mutually benefited b)^ such an exchange? 
 
 '* If fine trotting mares are sent from America the 
 Czar may get the best of the bargain, or as a Russian 
 saying goes, 'He will have the hatchet, and we shall 
 get the handle. ' " 
 
 Are the Orloffs trotters? 
 
 " Yes, madam, but their gait is very different 
 from that of the American trotter. When the Orloff 
 trots he leaves always a certain distance between his 
 hind and fore-legs The American trotter throws his 
 hind legs ahead of his fore-legs at every step, his 
 hind legs being of abnormal length. The step of 
 the Orloff is more graceful, inherited directly from 
 the best of the Turcoman horses. " 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 "standard bred" horses. 
 
 Do we not export other animals than horses? 
 
 " Yes, certainly, hogs in barrels and butchered 
 bullocks in ice, if you will kindly excuse the blunt- 
 ness of the statement. With all the vast and un- 
 paralleled facilities in this magnificent country for 
 growing live stock — which it is estimated can be 
 done ninety per cent, cheaper here than in any coun- 
 try in Europe — America exports no animals except 
 as they go to be butchered." 
 
 Can this be true, Count? 
 
 "Ah, madam, if you will read the statistics you 
 will see that it is by the continued annual importation 
 of breeding stock from England and Scotland that the 
 cattle in the great West do not deteriorate. Is it to 
 the credit of this great continent, with its vast graz- 
 ing lands, its fertile valleys, its unlimited supply of 
 fresh spring water, its spreading shade trees, its 
 beneficent if changeable climate, that we import, in 
 almost all cases, our thoroughbred animals instead of 
 mating properly, and breeding intelligently, and so 
 creating types of our own?" 
 
 Then it is true that we pay from five to seven mill- 
 ions of dollars annually to France and England 
 alone for the importation of brood-stock? 
 
 132 
 
STANDARD BRED HORSES. 1 33 
 
 " Yes, those are the figures. The type is destroyed 
 here at once by crossing, and deal^s abroad profit 
 by this continued mistake — the destruction of the 
 types — and are therefore not averse to its encourage- 
 ment, so long as their animals continue in demand. 
 As soon as the various types of English horses are 
 brought over, they are mongrelized by constant 
 crossings, and thus the type cannot be sustained." 
 
 Do you know, Count, that England is to be repre- 
 sented by seven different types of horses at our 
 World's Fair Exposition at Chicago in 1893? 
 
 " Ah, yes, England will be well represented there 
 in that matter; for she sends not only her horses, 
 but her sheep, cattle, hogs, and fowls all over the 
 world for brood purposes. Her different families of 
 thoroughbreds, all created from the Arab blood, are 
 in demand by every other civilized nation for the pur- 
 pose of creating new and perfect types." 
 
 Well, Count, I wonder if you can guess how many 
 types of American horses are to be represented at 
 our World's Fair in 1893? 
 
 " Madam, you puzzle me by such a question — 
 please explain." 
 
 The World's Fair Commission allows fourteen 
 classes of horses for awards. Of these classes seven 
 are of English created types, three of French, one of 
 Belgian, one of German, all created from the Arab, 
 and one from the Shetland Isles. The one that is left 
 is to be devoted to the American " Standard-bred. " 
 To all our great, free, boundless, boasting Yankee 
 nation, we are entitled to, and I suppose satisfied 
 with, one kind of horse. I could hardly believe my 
 
134 MV horse; my love. 
 
 own eyes when I read the little pamphlet which told 
 of this remarkable distribution of honors and awards. 
 
 " But, madam, there is but one horse in America 
 which approaches a type, and that is the 'Standard- 
 bred. • " 
 
 And how does the term come? 
 
 " It is entirely arbitrary. No American horse can 
 be entered at the Columbian Exposition unless he 
 be 'Standard-bred' according to the register, and for 
 the privilege of entry his owner must pay so much." 
 
 Is there not strong indignation at this injustice to 
 other classes? 
 
 " Undoubtedly, and praiseworthy efforts are being 
 made by horsemen to change a rule 'better honored 
 in the breach than in the observance. ' " 
 
 What is the real meaning of the term " Standard- 
 bred?" 
 
 " It means that the only excellence in the horse 
 considered necessary is speed at an established 
 rate. If he can trot in 2 130 he is entitled to be con- 
 sidered 'Standard-bred,' or, if having been gambled 
 in races, he has beaten some other horse, he may 
 aspire to the dubious distinction." 
 
 Then it describes no type; it belongs to no family; 
 it can prove no ancestry? 
 
 "What you say is all true, madam." 
 
 Well, one might as well say a cow is " Standard- 
 bred," when she gives fifteen quarts of milk a day, 
 and is not so when she fails to give so much. Or, 
 that a dog is no setter unless he makes so many 
 points an hour. The name must include many 
 horses that are not desirable, and exclude many 
 
STANDARD BRED HORSES. I35 
 
 others who deserve not to be thus humiliated. So 
 the distinction of being " Standard-bred," according 
 to an arbitrary register, cannot be flattering to our 
 national pride. 
 
 " After all, madam, it is only a convenient term 
 adopted for want of a better, and to cover possibly 
 many deficiencies. Breeders and owners will want 
 to exhibit such horses as show the true virtues of 
 noble descent, so doubtless the World's Fair Com- 
 missioners will realize the justice of this before it is 
 too late." 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT's HORSES. 
 
 I HAVE understood that Governor Stanford believes 
 with Mr. Bonner that thoroughbred blood in the 
 trotter is the essential which makes and breaks 
 records; that cold blood has not the staying quality 
 of thoroughbred blood, and that an infusion of it 
 is necessary to give suppleness to the knee joints, as 
 well as many other qualities which are desirable. 
 
 " Governor Stanford has been highly successful 
 with the scientifically bred, and carefully reared, 
 members of his stud. It is said that California, par- 
 ticularly that part of it subject to the invigorating 
 coast winds, is destined to become the horse-breed- 
 ing district of the nation. That in California, with 
 its twelve months' freedom from such inclement 
 weather that horses need not be closely stabled, not 
 losing, as they do elsewhere, four or five months of 
 fresh air and regular exercise, all the equine aristoc- 
 racy of America will be found sooner or later." 
 
 Do Governor Stanford, Mr. Bonner, and others 
 breed only trotting horses? 
 
 " Undoubtedly the horse most in popular favor 
 here is the trotting horse. If he can trot in 2 130 so 
 much the better, for then he is sure to have undisputed 
 sway as a race-horse, especially in the small West- 
 
 136 
 
GENERAL GRANT's HORSES. 
 
 137 
 
 2; 
 
 O 
 
 •-) 
 
 H 
 
 en 
 
 cq 
 
 «»: 
 
 O 
 
 2; 
 W 
 U 
 
13^ MY horse; my love. 
 
 ern towns. Here and there I have discovered a 
 horse with excellent blood lines, in the most obscure 
 places. Only the other day, in this almost deserted 
 village, I was attracted by the step and air of a 
 little black mare pulling a butcher's cart. Falling 
 into conversation with her owner, the butcher, I 
 took a quick mental survey of the mare, and was con- 
 vinced that she only needs proper training to do a 
 day's work at fast trotting, which means one hun- 
 dred miles in ten consecutive hours. " 
 
 Have you ever known a horse to make such time 
 as that? 
 
 " Yes, I knew of one who had no special record, who 
 travelled one hundred miles in nine hours and forty- 
 five minutes. That is where the Arab will always 
 win over the English thoroughbred. The latter may 
 outrun the Arab, in the races for which he has been 
 trained, but when the thoroughbred begins to show 
 signs of fatigue the Arab is just 'getting down* to 
 work." 
 
 I wonder did the butcher know what a prize he 
 possessed? 
 
 " He seemed to have not the least idea of it, 
 although he said * she was a good little mare,* but 
 he knew nothing of her ancestry." 
 
 The light harness-horse of America has a great 
 many admirers. 
 
 " Yes, and deservedly so. When properly broken 
 and trained they make fine and valuable specimens 
 of equine beauty. " 
 
 Have they special blood-lines? 
 
 " When carefully bred from thoroughbred sires 
 
GENERAL GRANT S HORSES. I39 
 
 and dams their blood-lines are distinctive. They 
 again prove the blood cause and for general worth 
 and utility have few rfvals. " 
 
 Have many Arabian horses come to us since the 
 close of the war? 
 
 " You have heard of course, of Leopard and Linden 
 Tree presented to General Grant by Abdul Hamid, 
 the Sultan of Turkey? No American was more fully 
 alive to the fact of the sad reduction in numbers and 
 quality of American horses during the war; and no 
 man ever lived who more dearly loved a good horse 
 than General Grant. His acceptance of the Arabs 
 was in a great measure influenced by their special 
 worth in the stud, realizing that the race must be 
 rebuilt." 
 
 Did you not say, there was some doubt, about 
 General Grant's horses, being the true-bred sons of 
 the desert? 
 
 " There has often been such a doubt expressed. " 
 
 Possibly General Grant's letter to Mr. Huntington 
 on the subject may convince the unbelieving, and I 
 am glad to be able to show it to 3^ou. 
 
 Did he ever drive these horses? 
 
 "They were possibly not broken to harness, but 
 if so, he denied himself a great pleasure, and the 
 immediate disposal of Leopard to General Beale and 
 of Linden to his son, showed his interests and con- 
 fidence in the infusion of Arab blood. He hoped 
 that from them a new and better type of horse might 
 be created. The)' are the only Arab stallions now 
 in America, it is said, and their progeny are a most 
 distinctive and superior type." 
 
140 
 
 MY horse; my love. 
 
GENERAL GRANX'S HORSES, 14^ 
 
 
 ^ v^ 
 
 ^^^Ai 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 AMERICO-ARAB STUD. 
 
 You have doubtless visited the stud on Long 
 Island where this famil)' of Americo- Arabs is bred? 
 
 '* Only a few weeks ago I was there and examined 
 with great interest, the various members of this 
 unique family. Some of them were very handsome 
 animals." 
 
 The beautiful mare, Naomi, and her filly, Ruth- 
 Clay, were there? 
 
 *' Certainly. Naomi is said to be the only Arab 
 mare ever imported to this country, no record of any 
 other having been found." 
 
 It was with great difficulty and only through the 
 influence of powerful friends in Europe that the 
 president of the company succeeded in importing and 
 securing Naomi. 
 
 "Yes, her arrival was a happy event, as Mr. 
 Himtington believes that the Arab is primitive and 
 perfect, and reproduces himself with all mental 
 and physical perfection; that all of our values in 
 the horse, whether to trot, pace, or run, come from 
 the Arab, and that all good qualities are less or 
 greater, according to the amount of good Arab 
 blood. Crossings are but the dilution of blood cause. 
 He realized the necessity of having more pure Arab 
 
 142 
 
AMERICO-ARAB STUD. I43 
 
 blood, especially in the female line, that a promis- 
 cuous use of it is not satisfactory, and that an affinity 
 blood is essential. " 
 
 Then he adopted the methods employed in the 
 Old World? 
 
 " Exactly so, and as here the Clay, Morgan, and 
 Gold-dust families are strongest in the Arab blood, 
 he selected virgin mares to mate with General 
 Grant's Arabs, and was fortunate in the get of one 
 filly and three colts. While these were growing he 
 interbred these three families, getting a harem of 
 fillies which at maturity he mated with the sons of 
 Leopard and Linden Tree. The result was the 
 foundation of a superb stud of thoroughbreds." 
 
 Why do they refuse to sell these horses? 
 
 " Because it is desirable to have a family so large 
 that it can reproduce itself, then the annual sales need 
 not weaken the strength of the plant. By close breed- 
 ing with this Arab blood, the animals he might sell 
 in the one blood will be so near to the primitive, that 
 the improved results will be positive, and will, there- 
 fore, benefit any community into which they may 
 be introduced. " 
 
 Then the object of this company is to breed such 
 perfect horses from the Arab as to elevate the blood- 
 standard in the United States. 
 
 "You have said it, madam, and it can only be re- 
 garded as a national triumph to breed a pure type 
 that shall ivith certainty reproduce itself in any coun- 
 try, and to perpetuate it until it shall be known, 
 recognized, approved, and earnestly sought for by 
 every other nation as the American horse,'' 
 
144 ^*Y horse; my love. 
 
 Did 3'ou see any of the direct progeny of General 
 Grant's Arabs, Count? 
 
 "Abdul Hamid II., a golden sorrel, and Abdul 
 Hamid III., a bay, are a son and grandson of 
 Leopard. Although Leopard and Linden are grays 
 strange to say, none of their progeny are gray. 
 Abdul Hamid III. was from an own sister to the 
 dam of his sire, Abdul Hamid II. Both these stal- 
 lions are much larger than their sire and grandsire, 
 Leopard. Their dams were Mary and Topsy vShep- 
 ard, by Jack Shepard, a son of Henry Clay, from a 
 granddaughter of imported Messenger. The heads 
 of this Leopard family are uniformly fine and clean, 
 with straight faces Their limbs show their good 
 blood, and their hocks are clean, as if chiselled 
 from marble. They show fine trotting action, all to 
 the credit of their sire, Leopard." 
 
 Is Linden's produce there also? 
 
 " Hegira, by Linden, was from a daughter of 
 Henry Clay. This horse stands fifteen and one-half 
 hands high barefoot, and is a rich, dapple coal-black. 
 Linden was purchased by Abdul Hamid II., Sultan 
 of Turkey, from an Egyptian merchant. It is said 
 that all of the Sultan's Arabs are either seized by his 
 tax-gatherers, or purchased by their agents. Hegira, 
 by Linden, represents entirely different blood, 
 from the get by Leopard. The head is shorter, 
 finer in the muzzle, deeper and broader between 
 jowls, dished in the face, with great breadth 
 between the eyes. The ears are shorter and finer, 
 the rump more sloping, showing all the characteris- 
 
AMERICO-ARAB STUD. I45 
 
 tics of the pure Barb, a special family descending 
 from the Numidian horse, also an Arab. 
 
 ^* Euphrates, a son of Hegira, from Mary Shepard, 
 is the counterpart of his sire in build and color; but 
 is phenomenal in that even at a walk he takes the 
 pacing step. This inclination to pace is shown in all 
 the get of Hegira, although he is a square-gaited 
 trotter; and from the beginning of these special 
 breedings no horse or mare was ever known to pace 
 until Euphrates set the fashion. 
 
 " The sire of Clay Truth, a game and resolute trotter 
 with a delightful disposition, was Ashland by Henry 
 Clay. His dam was interbred to the blood of Justin 
 Morgan, the Arab founder of the Morgan family. 
 
 " A horse showing fine trotting speed is Young 
 Jack Shepard by Jack Shepard, by Henry Clay and 
 from Kate McPherson, by Henry Clay. He is a beau- 
 tiful dapple gray. " 
 
 Where was Henry Clay born? 
 
 "He was born on Long Island, not far from where 
 the Arab, Anglo-Arab, and Clay Stock Farm Com- 
 pany is located. In this collection is the only daugh- 
 ter of Henry Clay now living, not too old to produce ; 
 while the interbred sons and daughters have come 
 back to Long Island, to restore to her, the prestige 
 she lost, when all the blood of Andrew Jackson (the 
 Anglo-Arab bred sire of Henry Clay) was sold away 
 from it." 
 
 But you have told me so little, Count, of the 
 Arab mare, Naomi. 
 
 *' There is no doubt whatever of the absolute 
 10 
 
146 MY horse; MY LOVE. 
 
 purity of Naomi's blood. The late Captain Roger 
 Upton, of the English Army, who lived frequently 
 among the Arabs, and was an enthusiast about pure 
 horses, himself purchased both her parents at great 
 cost from the Gomussa tribe, in the Euphrates val- 
 ley. Naomi was foaled a few days after their arrival 
 in England. Her sire was Yataghen, 14.3, and her 
 dam Haidee, also 14.3. Both these were Maneghi, 
 considered in the desert the choicest of all families. 
 They have, as a rule, finer action, and if possible, 
 a greater amount of wear and tear in them. On 
 the other hand, they are a little larger and coarser 
 in the head sometimes, than, for instance, the 
 Seglawi Jedran. An alliance between the last-named 
 family and the Maneghi is simply perfect, so far as 
 blood goes. Owing to the system of Naomi's rearing 
 she is the largest pure Arabian I have seen, being 
 15^ hands high." 
 
 English breeders did not relish the idea of her 
 being sent here, I've heard. 
 
 ''No, but her owner, the Rev. F. F. Vidal, of 
 Suffolk County, England, was so interested in the 
 efforts of this company to breed pure Arabs (and 
 because of his illness induced to relinquish his stud) 
 that he at last listened to the petitions for her and 
 sent her over. Her colt, Gomussa, now in Chili, 
 was by Kouch. All race-horsemen in America, as 
 well as England, know that the opinion of the cele- 
 brated jockey, Fred Archer, was of great value. He 
 rode Kismet in his English races, and pronounced 
 him the gamest horse and best finisher of a race he 
 had ever ridden." 
 
AMERICO-ARAB STUD. 
 
 147 
 
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148 MV horse; mv i.ovk. 
 
 What get has Naomi here? 
 
 " Since coming to this country she has produced the 
 beautiful colt, Anazeh — now two years old — by Gen- 
 eral Grant's Leopard. This gives Anazeh the distinc- 
 tion of being the first pure-bred Arabian horse born 
 in the United States, both sire and dam being im- 
 ported as the true * air-drinkers of the desert.' In 
 i8qo the dainty filly, Ruth Clay, was born, whose 
 sire is Jack Shepard. Ruth Clay roams with her 
 mother, Naomi, without bridle or halter, as tame as 
 any dog, about the unfenced grounds surrounding her 
 master's house. They both expect caresses and 
 come for them with a little air of curiosity toward 2 
 stranger, that partakes not in the least of feai 
 Naomi has all the dignity of aristocratic birth and 
 associations, walking up to you as sedately as you 
 please, to have her pretty face stroked. When a 
 lump of sugar is not in evidence, Ruth pokes her 
 dainty muzzle about her mistress* skirts to find her 
 pocket, and the sugar dropped within it. She is 
 playful, alert, coquettish, and full of mischievous 
 pranks, and like her dam, bids fair to remind one of 
 the quotation, 'In her, strength and beauty have 
 come together, ' and all the pride of all her race, in 
 herself reflected lives." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In all my conversations with the Count little has 
 been said about the inevitable effects of climate on all 
 races of men and animals. It is so interesting a 
 study, that many chapters might be needed to do jus- 
 tice to the subject. A few words now regarding it 
 may not be amiss. 
 
 That climate makes and unmakes different types 
 of races in man, is a conceded fact, even to a com- 
 plete change of form and feature. The dark, glow- 
 ing eyes of the fervid South, after two or three gen- 
 erations, become blue or gray with softer lights, 
 when transplanted to the North, and the hair, black 
 as night, turns to tender brown or shining gold. 
 Owing to the different conditions of climate another 
 type is being evolved, and even the nature and dis- 
 position are undergoing a radical change. 
 
 In England, the mild-tempered climate tends to 
 round out the foTm, and to give a reddish glow to 
 the face. To expect the same type in France, only 
 across the channel, would be absurd, or to mistake 
 an Italian for a German would be laughable. The 
 climate in these countries is pronounced, and so are 
 the types. With our entirely uncertain climxate who 
 can be sure of any distinct type in America? We 
 
 149 
 
150 MY HORSE; MY LOVE, 
 
 have our class distinctions, our various social levels, 
 our families, proud of their American ancestry; and 
 to serve us all, v^e import from every country under 
 the sun. We are always importing distinct types 
 of live stock, both of man and beast, and our importa- 
 tions "come to stay." But even after many years — 
 beyond the "y> ne sais qiioi^'' which betrays our 
 nationality — who can assert that America has a type? 
 Do we owe this fact to our ever changing climate, 
 which w^oos us with coquettish smile, caressing our 
 expectant cheeks with balmy breezes from the Sunny 
 South, and embracing us in a loving, generous 
 warmth one day, and the next! with blackest f:own; 
 pelts us unmercifully with wind and storm, hail and 
 rain, with terrifying thunder which roars at us, and 
 angry lightning which strikes and blinds and destroys 
 us? With nothing positive in the way of climate, 
 our differing types have no chance to become fixed, 
 and the student who loves to arrange and classify 
 will yield the attempt in despair. 
 
 When we import a horse of whatever type, after 
 two or three generations his progeny loses his dis- 
 tinctive marks, and in two or three more the climate 
 has obliterated any that might be left. Some three 
 hundred years ago when the Spanish horses entered 
 America, some of them escaped to the great plains 
 of the West. From them has been evolved the native 
 horse of America, the broncho. The conditions of 
 climate have made him what he is, strong, rough, and 
 hardy; able to exist on the scantiest of food, in the 
 severest weather. He would probably turn up his 
 nose at a "warm mash," thinking it "food for 
 
CONCLUSION. ,151 
 
 babes," and would no doubt resent a daily groom- 
 ing as an unwarranted liberty. He remains a sav- 
 age, and as a savage cannot always be trusted. But 
 when he is caught and fairly tamed, he can do more 
 hard steady work in a day, than the pampered, 
 petted stabled horse of the East, could do in three. 
 This broncho is our national type, evolved by the 
 climate of the plains, and in direct contrast to the 
 tame, gentle, and affectionate Arab, reared in the 
 wilds of the scorching unprotected desert. Small 
 in size, they are both hardy, enduring, and able to 
 travel great distances without fatigue and here the 
 two extremes of climate, seem to develop similar 
 characteristics of endurance. When we can control 
 our climate we may be able to develop fixed types; 
 but until then it must be our excuse, that something 
 different from what we so often expect, appears. 
 
 The shrewdest and most thoughtful observers and 
 students of animal life are frequently those, who give 
 not to the doubting world the benefit of their wisdom 
 and experience. Too often they are misunderstood 
 and any facts that seem strange and new, and yet are 
 as old as the memory of man, are received with 
 doubt, contempt, and ridicule. In a way we Ameri- 
 cans are a self-satisfied, self-sufficient people, pro- 
 claiming our patriotic love for our newly-founded in- 
 stitutions, by ignoring the wisdom gained in the Old 
 World, through centuries of practical experience. 
 Many things that we have never thought about at all, 
 or that are just beginning to present themselves to 
 our intelligence, have occupied the close attention of 
 foreign governments for hundreds of years. Facts 
 
152. MY horse; my love. 
 
 are stubborn things, and cannot be obliterated by 
 any amount of denial or argument. The Austrian, 
 French, Russian, German, Italian, and other Euro- 
 pean goverments have studied deeply, the blood 
 cause in horses, and having a wide and comprehen- 
 sive faith in their own methods, naturally look with 
 disdain upon ignorant and unscientific breeders. 
 
 The English have admired always what is not 
 English, with a " saving clause," and when the Amer- 
 ican colonists, more than a century ago, asked for 
 their freedom from English rule, it was refused with 
 the intimation that they were not capable of self-gov- 
 ernment. This sneer lost John Bull his colonies, and 
 America then and there declared her independence 
 to act as she pleased. She has done so ever since, 
 not always admitting, that in some things, other na- 
 tions might be wiser. But to-day, in matters of sci- 
 ence she recognizes the imperative necessity of a 
 training that educates, compares, observes closely, 
 avoids serious mistakes, and produces the inevitable 
 consequences desired or intended. It is one of the 
 blessed results of our swift Trans-Atlantic journeys, 
 encouraging constant travel and communication with 
 foreign countries, that the wise of our day and gener- 
 ation have been enabled to gather and enjoy the 
 various fruits of scientific research, ripe with age, to 
 be found in the cultivated gardens of Europe's col- 
 leges. 
 
 The recent establishment here of veterinary 
 schools is a growth commensurate with the more 
 advanced ideas, not only of men of science, but of 
 such interested owners of blooded stock as desire to 
 
CONCLUSION. 153 
 
 perpetuate the best types, and who are willing to ex- 
 periment only in the right direction. Only a few 
 years ago the "vet" in America was the stableman, 
 practised only in his daily care of, and experience 
 with, horses, and seeking to relieve their distress 
 through his very love of them. To-day a thorough 
 course of study and practical training is deemed 
 essential, to secure a graduate's diploma in any 
 veterinary college. The American Veterinary Review^ 
 issued monthly, edited by Prof. A. Liautard, M.D., 
 V.M., Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of 
 Veterinary Surgeons, England, and the valuable 
 works of Dr. James Law, of Cornell University, Prof. 
 O. Schwartzkopff, V.M., of the University of Min^ 
 nesota, Prof. Wm. Zuill, M.D., D.V.S., of the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania, Dr. Hoskins and Dr. Will- 
 iams of New York, Dr. Huidekoper of Philadelphia, 
 Dr. D. E. Salmon of the U. S. Department of Agri- 
 culture, and others, tell of the great strides in prac- 
 tical scientific knowledge our students are making. 
 
 To seize an idea quickly and improve it to perfec- 
 tion is a national trait — a matter of chronic surprise 
 and wonderment, to those who know only the method 
 which grinds and plods, to arrive at certain truths 
 only after the most exhausting labor. 
 
 If our experiments^ are somewhat bold, we are sure 
 they will be tempered with humane treatment, and 
 that we shall never imitate the dreadful abuses one 
 sometimes reads of in the foreign news, to which 
 science in many cases condemns its victims, the 
 wretched dumb creatures selected for experiment. 
 
 Our societies for the prevention of cruelty to 
 
154 > MY horse; my love. 
 
 animals, presided over by such men as George 
 Angell of Boston and John P. Haines of New York, 
 are ever on the alert to enforce kindest consideration 
 for all that need their protection, while cruelties are 
 punished with all the rigors of the law. The workers 
 are in earnest. Abuses are being corrected. The 
 abolishment of the check-rein in many of the 
 smartest turn-outs on our fashionable drives, proves 
 the significance of " Black Beauty's" horse-sense, 
 and how deeply it has sunk into the minds and 
 natures of the hitherto unthinking. That they fol- 
 low the example set by the Queen of England, who 
 permits no check-reins, does not detract from the 
 courage of refusing here, to follow a fashionable 
 fad. 
 
 All domesticated animals crave a perfect sympathy 
 with their masters, and ask in their mute way for some 
 constant expression of it. What lover can exhibit a 
 more genuine jealousy than a devoted dog, or show 
 the symptoms of that unhappy trait more deter- 
 minedly? What a tragical grief is that which can 
 make a dog or horse refuse his food, and thus die of 
 starvation, for the loss of his companion for whom he 
 had such enduring love? Such instances are nu- 
 merous. Horses are never so willing, as when they 
 feel the magnetic influence of the hand that guides, 
 and the voice that cheers them on! So intense is 
 this sympathy that they become easy subjects of 
 hypnotization. The practice of this mysterious 
 science was introduced into the Austrian army by 
 a cavalry officer named Balassa, and hence is called 
 " Balassiren." So popular has it become in cases 
 
CONCLUSION. 155 
 
 of any painful operation, that it has been adopted by 
 law in Austria. 
 
 What the years may bring forth to us in our 
 intimate and ever extending knowledge of the super- 
 lative delight and usefulness of our coming horse, 
 may all my indulgent readers live to know and ap- 
 preciate ! And if this little book shall point the way 
 to improvement in any direction, it will have ful- 
 filled its intended mission. 
 

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