Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates Vol 2 - The Search For Mecca

cH. xs.] Betcyeji!s Mare. 10'
coltisli. His action was less good, tliougli it is
difficult to judge from tlie extremely bad riding
of the man who brought him. Horses, in the
desert, are always ill-broken compared to the mares,
for they are seldom used for riding purposes. But
our chief delight Avas to follow, when IJeteyen
ibn Mershid, sheykh of the Gomussa, rode up to
Mohammed Dukhi's tent to pay a visit. He had
just purchased from one of his
people the " bridlehalf"
of a three-year-old mare, an Abeyeh Sherrak,
xmd was riding her home when he heard that we
were at Mohammed Dukhi's tent. The mare is so
much more remarkable than the man, that I must
describe her first. She is a dark bay, standingfifteen
hands or over. Her head, the first point an
Arab looks to, is a good one, though I have seen
finer, but it is perfectly set on, and the mitbakh,
or join of the head and neck, would give distinction
to any profile. Her neck is light and well arched,
the wither high, the shoulder well sloped, and the
quarters so fine and powerful that it is impossible
she should be otherwise than a very fast mare. Her
length of limb above the hock is remarkable, as is
that of the pastern.
well-bred Arabians do, and there is
She carries her tail high, as all
a neatness and
finish about every movement, which remind one of
ii fawn or a gazelle. We are all agreed that she is
incomparably superior to anything we have seen
here or elsewhere, and would be worth a king's
ransom, if kings were still worth ransoming.