The Horse. 117 



THE HORSE, 



BY DR. J. B. ORMSBY, OF BRADFORD. 



AN ABSTKAUT. 



* * What would be the effect upon mankind 

 were thej deprived of the horse ? The mere asking of this 

 question brings vividly to the mind the great importance of 

 the subject. In all ages the horse has been the most con- 

 stant, and tlie most valuable servant of man. In war or in 

 peace, in barbarous or enlightened, in civilized or half civil- 

 ized, or in the savage states of society, we find the horse 

 associated with man as his best servant. 



It is not a matter of wonder, then, that almost every 

 nation should have had grown up with them a race of horses 

 peculiar to themselves. 



The Arabians, on their broad and arid plains, leading a 

 nomadic, tent life, with a warm climate, subject to sudden 

 emergencies of depredation, or tempted by revenge or hope 

 of plunder to strike a blow upon some neigliboring tribe, 

 have developed a race noted for astonishing agility. While 

 the Cossack, amid the mountains of Northern Europe, 

 where short summers and lono; winters necessitate a life of 

 toil and exposure to the vicissitudes of a vigorous climate, 

 where hard fare, long terms of fasting and severe labor, have 

 produced a breed of horses as different from the Arabian as 



