. The horse in the stable and the field : his management in health and disease. being dropped. Arabia is, in great measure, made up of rocky mountains andsandy deserts; but in Arabia Felix there are numerous valleys ofremarkable fertility; though it is chiefly on the limited oasis sur-rounding each well or spring of water that the Arab horses aredependent for their food. It is found even in this country that avery luxuriant^herbage does not suit the horse, whose frame be- THE MODERN ARAB. 35 conies coai;se and heavy if he is reared upon the succulent grassesof rich meadows, and therefore it is
. The horse in the stable and the field : his management in health and disease. being dropped. Arabia is, in great measure, made up of rocky mountains andsandy deserts; but in Arabia Felix there are numerous valleys ofremarkable fertility; though it is chiefly on the limited oasis sur-rounding each well or spring of water that the Arab horses aredependent for their food. It is found even in this country that avery luxuriant^herbage does not suit the horse, whose frame be- THE MODERN ARAB. 35 conies coai;se and heavy if he is reared upon the succulent grassesof rich meadows, and therefore it is probable that much of thewiryness of leg and lightness of frame in the Arab is due to thesandy soil in which the grasses of these oases take their this, the dry air may have something to do with the devel-opment of muscle and tendon, while the soft sands of the desertrender it unnecessary to protect the feet Avith iron shoes, and thusthey are enabled to grow into the form which nature has designedfor them as the most suitable to bear the superincumbent CHABAN, AN ABABIAN STALLION. Pure Arabs are considerably smaller than our modern thn-rough-brcds, seldom exceeding 14 hands 2 inches in height. Thehead is remarkable for the width across the forehead, which is §lsofull and square, while the muzzle is finer, the face more hollowedout, and the jaws more fully developed in their proportions thanin any other breed with which we are acquainted. The eye is fulland soft, yet sparkling with animation on the slightest excitement;the ear is small; the neck arched ; the shoulders oblique, but mus-cular ; the withers moderately high and thin ; the chest ratherlight in girth, but the back ribs deep in proportion, and the hips. 36 THE HORSE. though narrow, well united to the back by a rounded ma^s of pow-erful muscles. The croup is high, and the tail set on with a con-siderable arch. The bones of the legs are large in proportion tothe size, and the tendons full and fre
Size: 1728px × 1446px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectch, booksubjecthorses
