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The Arabian — and Walter Ross always speaks of the horses in the generic sense as "he" — is the oldest living breed of animal. From the time of the earliest existing records of him, he has not varied. He's still of the same fine structure, delicate and dainty as a Dresden figurine, yet sturdy; sensitive as a compass, and still gentle with the gentleness bred into him through the generations he spent as honored guest in the tent of his master. On the walls of the rumed Parthenon they found a picture of the Arabian. He looks exactly as he does now, running in the pastures of /iO Graceland in the middle of America.
That's rather enough to rocks you back on your heels — when you consider that this horse cropping the blue grass of Missouri in this year of the great victory is the first horse in all the world. All other horses are simply his devious progeny. And that takes in Hook, Jr., Percherons, and the horses that clop around town with the Manor Bread wagons. From the Arabian — the generic — all the "specialists" are developed. He is the fountainhead. And he has the longest pedigree of any living creature, not excluding the D.A.R. Western horses, who are almost true types many times, and very tough, are descended from Arabians left in this country by the Conquistadors.
It was the custom in Egypt and Arabia for the women to ride the stallions, the men to ride mares. This may seem strange, since the stallion is usually considered the more spirited
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September, 1945
mount. But the stallion also had a habit of screaming at inopportune times and giving away the master's location to the enemy.
In Arabia the horses are ridden without bits. There is simply a bridle — made of a couple of chains woven of shells and yarn and passed over the nose — and usually a sheepskin. The Arab, we learn, rides by balance, while the American grips with his knees. And instead of placing his hand on a holy book to swear, the Arab places his hand on a spot just above the horse's nose — a spot called the jib-bah — and there takes his solemn oath.
There are not more than five thousand Arabians in ^ the world just now. In the desert they've been largely replaced by automobiles. But at least five hundred horsemen and those caught by the romance and the beauty of the horse keep the breed alive. These five hundred comprise the Arabian Horse Club, organized in 1910, and headquartering in Chicago. They keep a registry for every horse in America, his number and complete lineage, and all transfers are handled through this office. If you own even one pure Arabian, you're eligible for membership; and Walter Ross says every member knows every horse in this country — all twenty-two hundred of them.
It all started when, at the close of the Civil War, the Sultan of Turkey made Ulysses Grant a gift of