Father Mohammed says they will be released tomorrow morning and allowed to drink at the cool spring nearby. Tomorrow we shall see...

The waiting is over. At last the gates are thrown open and the mares are released. Hundreds surge towards the spring where the water awaits them... Suddenly the recall horn blasts and a shudder passes through the herd. Several horses stop, waiting. Again it sounds, but the stampede has reached the water. Only 5 mares turn and race back without drinking. The horn sounds a final call, no others respond.

My Father, stroking the five who returned, calls to me saying, "These five, my son, will bear the horses that carry our people into battle."

Ancient legend has it that the "bloody-shouldered marking on some Arabians happened like this: The mare of an Arab Bedouin, heavy with foal, supposedly carriedly her wounded master, draped unconscious and bleeding over her shoulder, to safety. her foal was later born with a distinctive red mark over his shoulder. The Bedouins interpreted this mark as a symbol of the mare's devotion to her master.

Another legend is why the Arabians carry their tail so high. Mares ridden to war saw that their masters' long robes flying behind them slowed them down as they ran. The next time they were ridden to battle, they raised their tails as high as they could, thus holding the robes up on their backs, and well above the ground. This way they ran faster. To this day you will see the Arabian run with its tail flagged high into the air.

Mohammed was a prophet around 600 B.C. and made breeding the Arabian horse an integral part of his religion. His holy book, the Koran, compiled after his death had his set of rules for breeding and training horses. He demanded that bloodlines be kept for absolutely pure. With the breeding and training the horses were faster, hardier, had more stamina than all others. Combined with the Arab's religious fanaticism, [it] made them almost invincible.

For more information about Arabian legends and facts, there are many books and magazines available at book stores and libraries. Check them out.

For more information, visit:

• Arabians
• Bibliography