We thought you might find it interesting to see an example of what Americans had available to read about Arabian horses a hundred years ago in 1892. What follows is excerpted from ATLANTIC MONTHLY, July 1892. While space did not permit us to run the entire feature the vast majority of it appears here. The author presents some interesting conjecture and observations from various writers and travelers of the time as well as opinions of his own.

from ATLANTIC MONTHLY, July 1892

by H.C.Merwin

 Part I

Part II

             Whyte-Melville wrote:

             "A head like a snake, and a skin like a mouse, An eye like a woman's, bright, gentle, and brown, With loins and a back that would carry a house, And quarters to lift him smack over a town."

             This comparison of the head of a horse to that of the snake has often been criticized, and yet I think an Arab would perceive the force of the simile. The head of an Arabian horse, when he is excited, writes one, "seems to be made up of forehead, eyes, and nostrils," and this suggests the raised head of a hissing snake.

           What gives the head of the Arabian steed this peculiar appearance is chiefly the prominence of the forehead, which is greater in the mares than in the horses. A small head the Arabians particularly dislike, as indicating a small brain, but the size should be in the upper regions of the skull. From the top of the head to a point between the eyes will often measure as much as from the last mentioned point to the upper edge of the nostril. Moreover, the forehead, between and below the eyes, should be slightly convex or bulging. (5) The space around the eyes should be free of hair, so as to show the black skin underneath, which at this part is particularly black and lustrous. The name for the original breed of Arab horses, now divided into five families, is Keheilan, from kohl, antimony, the Arabian horse having by nature that dark circle about the eye which the woman of Arabia are wont to obtain by the use of antimony. Sometimes the whole face and even the ears are entirely free of hair. The cheek-bones should be deep and lean, and the jaw-bone clearly marked. There is great width of jaw and depth of jowl. In fine, the head of the Arabian horse is large where the brain is, and large in the breathing apparatus, but small in all the unessential parts. The face narrows suddenly below the check-bone, and runs down almost to a point. "A nose that would go in a pint pot" is an old description of the Arabian cast of countenance. But the profile of the Arabian horse terminates, not "with the nostril, as in the English race horse, but with the tip of the lip."

             "The nostrils," Mr. Blunt states, "when in repose, should lie flat with the face, appearing in it little more than a slit, and pinched and puckered up, as also should the mouth, which should have the under lip longer than the upper, ;'like the camel's' the Bedouins say. (6)

             "Fine his nose, his nostrils thin,

             But blown abroad by the pride within."

             The ears, especially in the mare, should be long, but fine and delicately cut, like the ears of a gazelle. This agrees with our Western notion on the subject, for small 'mouse-ears," as they call them, are not liked by our horsemen.

             As to the carriage of the ears, Major Upton well describes it as follows:

             "The ears, to be perfect, should be so placed that they point inwards, so that the tips may almost touch. The outline of the inner side of the ear should be much curved, and as it were, notched about halfway down."

           Next to the head and ears, the Arabs value the manner in which the head is set on the neck. this point, or rather form of juncture, they call the mitbah. It especially refers to the shape of the wind pipe, and to the manner in which the throat enters or runs in between the jowls where it should have a slight and graceful curve.

             "This," Major Upton adds," permits of a graceful and easy carriage of the head, and ... gives great freedom to the air-passages. The Keheilan is essentially a deep-breathed and a good and long-winded horse."

             The peculiar rounded prominence of the forehead, already described, the Arabs call the Jibbah; and the jibbah, the mitbeh, the ears, and the tail are the points as to which the Arabs are most particular. these points indicate breeding and breeding is all that the Arabs care for in a horse.

             For the rest, the Arabian horse, in his highest form, exhibits great length. He stands over much ground, as the phrase is, although his back is short. There is a common notion that the Arabian at rest keeps his legs well under him; that he belongs to that type of which it is said "all four feet would go in a bushel basket;" but this is erroneous. Often, on the other hands, the Arabian stands with his forelegs bent backward from the knee, which is thought to be a good formation or habit. In the length of his body, in the length of his hind legs, which is extreme, and in the fact that he stands higher behind than in front, there is a resemblance between the Arabian horse, or at least the Anazeh horse, and the typical American trotter. Maud S., for example, has these peculiarities. Sunol has them in still greater degree. The Anazeh mares, moreover, are very long from hip to hock,, and this again is the almost invariable formation of the trotting horse. The body of the Arabian is elegantly shaped. His ribs are more deeply arched than is usually the case with our horses, and consequently he swells out behind the shoulders in a graceful curve, whereas both the running horse and the trotter are very apt to be what is called slab-sided.

             Another peculiarity of the Arabian is the great length of his pastern joints, to which are chiefly due the remarkable springiness and elasticity of his gait.

             "All shining, beautiful, and gentle of herself, she seemed a darling life upon that savage soil, not worthy of her gracious pasterns."

             Nor, despite its length, does the pastern joint ever break down with the Arabian horse, as happens so frequently with the English racer. Grogginess and knuckling over are unknown in the desert.

             As to the legs of the Arabian, they are as hard as flint; spavin, curb, and ringbone are very infrequent. In speaking of a certain Anazeh mare, a bay with black points, Major Upton declares that her legs appeared to have been cut out of black marble, and then highly polished. The knees and hocks of the Arabian are large, as they are in all good horses.

             "A Bedawee, whose mare and a foal running by her side, being pursued, feared that his steed would not do her best, out of consideration for the foal; therefore he struck at the foal with his lance, and it fell back disabled. But when the Arab stopped his mare, the foal shortly made its appearance; and although it had been wounded in the hocks, it had made such good play that it was called the father, or possessor, of good hocks. It is a stain most highly esteemed."

             Another family is descended from "the mare of the Old Woman," whose story is as follows. A Bedawee had been pursued for some days through a long and devious course. On the way his mare gave birth to a foal, but her master soon mounted again and continued his flight, leaving the little creature to its fate. However, when he stopped at night to rest, the infant appeared, having followed all the way, notwithstanding its extreme youth, and thereupon he gave it to an old woman, who brought it up by hand; and this foal, "the Mare of the Old Woman," became the mother of a noted family.

             As to the manner in which the Arabs treat their horses, it is pleasant to be assured that neither romance nor tradition has exaggerated its kindness and familiarity.

             "their great merit as horse-breakers is unwearied patience. Loss of temper with a beast is not in their nature, and I have never seen them strike or ill use their mares in any way."

             If Providence provided central Arabia as a region peculiarly fit for breeding sound horses, it would seem also that the ancient Arabian race was specially designed to have the nurture and training of these high-bred animals. It is clear that rough treatment would soon convert them into demons. Mr. William Dayk, the noted English trainer, conjectures that the ill tempered ferocity which characterize some strains of the English thoroughbred are owing to the Arab blood in their ancestry. Hence he infers that Arabian horses are bad-tempered. His conjecture is very likely correct, but his inference is a vicious one. It is not improbable that a generation or two of the old-fashioned English groom, with his rough "Come up, horse!" and dig in the ribs or kick in the belly, added to the use of whip and spurs and severe bits, would sour the temper and awake the resentment of so highly bred and finely organized an animal as one of Arabian descent. but in the desert viciousness in the horse is absolutely unknown. The Arab rides without saddle or stirrups, on a small pad fastened in place by a surcingle. As for bridle and bit, he has none. the horse is guided by a halter, the rope of which the rider holds in his hand, and he is controlled by the voice.

             "I have never seen either violent plunging, rearing, or indeed any serious attempt made to throw the rider. whether a Bedouin would be able to sit a barebacked unbroken four-year-old colt as the Gauchos of south America do is exceedingly doubtful."

             The Arabian mare has no more fear of her master than a dog would have with us, and she is on terms of almost canine intimacy with the whole family. An old traveler in the desert describes an incident on a wet evening, at the sheikh's tent:

             "Evening clouds gathered....The mare returned of herself through the falling weather, and came and stood at our coffee fire, in half-human wise, to dry her soaked skin and warm herself as one among us. She approached the sitters about the hearth, and, putting down her soft nose, kissed each member of the group, till the sheikh was fain to rise and scold his mare away."

             "Ali's tent," writes Mr. Blunt, "was partly occupied by a filly and a bay foal, the latter not a week old, and very engaging. It was tied up, as the custom is, by a rope around the neck, while its mother was away grazing, and neighed continually. It was very tame, however, and let me stroke it, and sniffed at my pockets as if it knew that there might be some sugar there."

             No wonder, then, that the Arabian foals are described as being gentle and familiar. They do not run away when they are approached at pasture; they are not to be intimidated by the flourishing of sticks or by the waving of garments. If they happen to be lying down when one comes near them, they continue in that position, instead of scrambling to their feet in alarm; and they have an engaging, habit of using their masters as rubbing-posts. This is true, in general, of our trotting-bred American foals. The fact is that any colt whatever its origin, if treated with uniform kindness, will become, at the age of six or eight months, as tame and fearless as the pets of the desert.

The End

 

Footnotes:

(5) This feature, which distinguishes, by the way, the Touchstone family of English thoroughbreds, is not to be confounded with that of a convex or "Roman" nose. The latter points to a low descent, and is associated with obstinacy.

 

(6) "The nostril which is peculiarly long, not round, runs upward toward the face, and is also set up outward from the nose, like the mouth of a pouch or sack which has been tied. This is a very beautiful feature, and can hardly be appreciated except by sight. When it expands, it opens both upwards and outwards, and in profile is seen to extend beyond the outline of the nose." (Major Upton).

 

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