Algeria, the Douaouda, the Aïad, the Mâdid,
the Oulad-Mad, the Galad-Jakoub-Zerara,
the Djendal, the Attaf, the Hamis, the Braze,
the Sbéba, and many others. No one doubts
that the Arabian horses have spread in the
Mogheb, in the same way as the Arabian
families. In the time of Ifrikech-ben-Kaïf,
the empire of the Arabs was all-powerful; it
extended towards the west as far as the
boundaries of the Mogheb, as in the time of
Chamar the Hémiarite, it extended towards
the east as far as China, according to the
statement of Ben-Kouteïba in his book entitled
El Mârif.

It is perfectly true, that if the Algerian
horses are of Arab race, many of them have
fallen from their nobility, because they are
only too frequently employed in tillage, in
carrying burdens, and in doing other similar
hard work; and also because some of the
mares have been associated with asses, which
never happened under the Arabs of old. So
much so, that according to their ideas, it is
sufficient for a horse to have trodden upon
ploughed land, to diminish his value. On
this subject, the following story is told:

A man was riding upon a horse of pure
race. He was met by his enemy, also mounted
upon a noble courser. One pursued the other,
and he who gave chace was distanced by him
who fled. Despairing to reach him, he
then shouted out, " I ask you, in the name
of God, has your horse ever worked on the
land?"

"He has worked on the land, for four
days."

"Very well! mine has never worked. By
the head of the Prophet, I am sure of catching
you."

He continued the chase. Towards the end
of the day, the fugitive began to lose ground,
and the pursuer to gain it. He soon succeeded
in fighting with the man whom he had given
up all hopes of reaching.

My father—may God receive him in
mercy!—was accustomed to say, " No blessing
upon our country, ever since we have
changed our coursers into beasts of burden
and tillage. Has not God made the horse
for the race, the ox for the plough, and the
camel for the transport of merchandize?
There is nothing gained by changing the
ways of God."

IX. You ask me, besides, for our maxims
as to the manner of keeping and feeding our
horses.

Know that the master of a horse gives
him at first but little barley, successively
increasing his ration by small quantities,
and then diminishing it again a trifle, as soon
as he leaves any, and continuing to supply it
at that rate. The best time to give barley,
is the evening. Except on the road, there is
no profit in giving it in the morning. On
this point, they say, "Morning barley is found
again on the dunghill, evening barley in the
croup." The best way of giving barley is
to offer it to the horse ready saddled and
girthed; as the best way of watering a horse,
is to make him drink with his bridle on. On
this point it is said, "The water with the
bridle, and the barley with the saddle." The
Arabs especially prefer those horses which
are moderate eaters, provided they are not
weakened by their abstinence. " Such a one,"
they say, " is a priceless treasure." " To give
drink at sunrise, makes the horse lean: to
give him drink in the evening, makes him
fat: to give him drink in the middle of the
day, keeps him in his present condition."

During the great heats, which last forty
days (semaïme), the Arabs give their horses
drink, only every other day. It is said that
this custom has the best effects. In the
summer, in the autumn, and in the winter,
they give an armful of straw to their horses,
but the ground-work of their diet is barley,
in preference to every other sort of food.
On this subject the Arabs say; " If we had
not seen that horses are foaled by horses,
we should have said that barley produces
them." They say,

Ghelid ou chetrih,
Ou chair idjerrih—
"Look for a large one, and buy him,
Barley will make him run."

They say; " Of forbidden meats, choose
the lightest." That is to say, choose a light
horse; the flesh of the horse is forbidden to
Musselmen.

They say; " It takes many a breakage to
make a good rider."

They say; " Horses of pure race have no
vice."

They say; " The horse at the halter is the
honour of the master."

They say; " Horses are birds which have
no wings."

"For horses, nothing is distant."

They say; " Nothing is at a distance, for
horses."

They say; " He who forgets the beauty of
horses for the beauty of women, will never
prosper."

They say; "The horse knows his rider."

The Saint Ben-el-Abbas—may God take
him into favour,—has also said;

"Love horses, care for them,
Spare no trouble for them,
By them comes honour, by them comes beauty.
If horses are abandoned by men,
I make them enter into my family,
I share with them the bread of my children,
My wives dress them in their own veils,
And cover themselves with their horsecloths.
I lead them every day
On the field of adventure,
I fight with the bravest."

I have finished the letter which our
brother and companion, the friend of all, the
Commandant Sidi-Bou-Senna, will forward
to you.—Health.

ABD-EL-KADER.