Re: RC: was Dates - How the Arabs treated their horses

[Irene M Burnett <renieburnett@juno.com>]

Shelley, You're right about the Bedouins not mistreating their horses. 
If you are looking for some authentic information about how the horses
were treated and handled, here is where to look.  Just the facts, Ma'am,
not a bit of Romance.

Read any thing you can get your hands  on by Carl Raswan;  he lived and
rode and fought with the Bedouins, books he wrote, to list a few:  "Black
Tents of Arabia", "The Arab and His Horse", "Drinkers of the Wind" and
"The Raswan Index".  He and Richard Pritzlaf were very good friends and
Mr. Raswan also worked with the Kellogg Arabian ranch.  The books were
written about early 1930's to mid and late 1930's.  I am looking at
photographs right now, and although the horses are lean, they are by NO
MEANS starved looking.  At times, Mr. Raswan states, food was Not in
abundance for man nor beast, and sometimes the horses were fed a  mixture
of barley meal, dry dates, grasshoppers and seeds from wild herbs and
grasses.  You bet it wasn't an easy life for man or horse, but the
Bedouins  loved their horses and shared what food they had with them. 
Their war mare was their wealth, something to cherish.  We grossly over
feed our beloved Arabs;  Just remember why they are such hardy, tough
animals.  Kind of like a program I just watched about the Bristlecone
pine tree named Methuselah.  
I also read Dougherty's "Travels in Desert Arabia" which was written by
an actual traveler in the late 1800's.  It is 2 volumes of very
difficult, but extremely interesting reading about what it was actually
like to live and travel with the Bedouins.   Lawrence (of Arabia) studied
these books before traveling to Arabia, as Dougherty was about the only
Englishman who had actually lived and traveled for many years with the
Bedouins.  These books have several references to the horses, but a lot
of reading to wade through and then, Wow, a whole page about the horses. 
Hope this helps you.