THE ARABIAN HORSE.
The Arabian, the horse of romance—The horse naturally
foreign to Arabia —Superiority of the camel for all Arabian
needs—Scarcity of horses in Arabia in Mohammed’s time—Various
preposterous traditions of Arab horsemanship—The Prophet’s
mythical mares—Mohammed not in any sense a horseman—Early
English Arabians—the Markham Arabian—The alleged Royal
Mares—The Darley Arabian—The Godolphin Arabian—The Prince
of Wales’ Arabian race horses—Mr. Blunt’s pilgrimage to the
Euphrates—His purchases of so-called Arabians—Deyr as a great
horse market where everything is thoroughbred—Failure of Mr.
Blunt’s experiments—Various Arabian horses brought to America
—Horses sent to our Presidents—Disastrous experiments of A.
Keene Richards—Tendency of Arab romancing from Ben Hur 51-66