552 



COXTIXENTAL HORSES. 



to the 6th November, and remain there for ten or eleven 

 months. At the time of purchase, these remounts vary 

 in age from 3 off to rising 5, and must be at least 2 

 archines and 1^ vershok (14. 2|) high. Their average 

 height when passed into the ranks is about 15. ij. They 

 have a good proportion of Arab and thorough-bred 

 English blood in them, are essentially saddle horses, 

 and as they are brought up on the wild steppes, they 



Photo bijl [J- deltox, Paris. 



Fig. 550.;— Chestnut mare, Dra/.ina (15.3) ; I'led in the steppes of the Don. 



are extremely hardy, and very enduring. Attention is 

 paid to their breeding, and in winter, during which time 

 the thermometer sometimes falls as low as —40° F., their 

 breeders occasionally afford them shelter and give them 

 hay ; but at other times, they have to rely for food on 

 what they can find on the plains. In their bringing 

 up, we may compare them to horses which are raised in 

 Australia for export to India, with of course the exception 



