X INTRODUCTION 



Brahman ; that whose sweat has the smell of milk is a Kshatriya ; 

 that with the smell of fish is a Shudra; and that with the smell of 

 ghl is a Vaishya. 



The Brahman horse is brave in battle ; the Kshatriya horse, 

 even if it breaks down by riding-, bears its master to the end of the 

 stage ; the Vaishya horse gallops and shies ; the Shudra horse is a 

 coward in war, throws its master in fight, and flees away, terrified. 



According to some Hindu writers, horses are descended from 

 water, fire, air, and the deer,^ each of these classes corresponding to 

 the four castes just enumerated. Eaja Sir Sourindro Mohan Tagore, 

 iu his pamphlet on the Indian horse, tells us, on the authority of a 

 Kislii named Parasara, that horses are classed according to the five 

 elements, and that under the Ether class come " those who always 

 gallop, who run very fast while in a temper, and who can easily 

 jump over moats that are beyond the jumping power of other 

 classes of horses." 



Qualities of a good Horse. — " Nakul has said : ' A good horse 

 should have its ears, its legs, its neck, and its quarters high, and 

 the hair of its mane soft and fine ; its loins should be well- 

 developed; its fore-legs- fine; the circumference of the hoof con- 

 siderable ; the chest broad ; the ears small ; the palate red ; ^ the 

 teeth long, narrow, and white. The head should be 28 fingers'- 

 breadth in length ; the ears 6 ; the palate 4 ; the neck 40 ; the 

 back 27; the loins proportionate to the back; the dock 1 span; 

 the yard 1 cubit; the testicles 4 fingers' -breadth ; the chest 16; 

 the height, from the head to the hoof, 70 fingers' -breadth ; the 

 mouth, the head, the fore-legs, and the mane, should all be long ; 

 the chest, nostrils, forehead, and hoofs large ; and the lips, the 

 tongue, the palate, the yard, the dock, the ears, and the testicles 

 small. Such a horse is of the best.' " 



Another Indian, however, states : " Nakul says that the ears 

 should be G fingers' -breadth in length; the pasterns 4; the back 27; 

 the height^ 80; the chest 16 in breadth and 27 in length; and the 



' Earth ? 



2 Fore-legs like a deer are often considered a sign of pace. Accord- 

 ing to some Hindu writers the best horses should travel 2,400 cubits in 

 128 twinklings of the eye. 



^ A horse with a black palate is unlucky. 



* Sar qadd, " the head and stature " ; apparently the height to the 

 top of the head. 



