These
colts are again picked and culled, after having been some time in
the grand seignior's stables, and the refuse disposed of at his
pleasure, so that the fine Horses found in the possession of the
Turks, are either some of these which are cast from the grand
seignior's stables, or which the Turks buy from the Arabs whilst
they are young. And he farther acquaints us with the reason why
the Turks choose these Arabian Horses when young, because, if
continued long in the hands of the Arabs, they are small, stunted,
and deformed in shape; whereas, when brought into Turkey, a land
of greater plenty than the deserts of Arabia, they acquire a
greater perfection both of size and shape. Now, whether these
Turks and Arabs are of the same or different extraction, may
perhaps be very little to our pourpose; but it is absurd to
suppose that providence has bestowed a virtue on a part only of
this species produced in any one country, (which species was
undoubtedly designed for the use of man) and that mankind should
not be able, in any age, to determine with precision this virtue,
or fix any criterion, whereby to judge with any certainty.
Seeing then, this is the case, how shall we account for the
various perfection and imperfection in the breed of these foreign
Horses; for we perceive it not determined to those of Turkey,
Barbary, or Arabia, but from each of these countries some good,
some bad Stallions are sent us? What shall we do? Shall we
continue to impute it to the good old phrase of blood, the
particular virtue of which, no man ever yet could ascertain, in
any one particular instance, since Horses were first created? or
shall we say that nature has given these foreign Horses a finer
texture, a finer attitude, and more power than any other Horses we
know of; and that these very Horses, and their descendants always
did, and always will surpass each other in speed and bottom,
according to theit different degrees of power, shape, elegance,
and proportion? But there is also a certain length determined to
some particular parts of this animal, absolutely necessary to
velocity, of the particularity and propriety of which length, all
jockeys appear to be intirely** ignorant, from the latitude of
their expression, which is that a racer must have length
somewhere.
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