2 THE HORSE 



Egypt. Yet, the latter country could scarcely be the native land of the 

 horse, not possessing the extensive plains which are peculiarly suited to 

 his existence in a wild state, and it is considered probable that he was 

 introduced from the central regions of Africa, which are undoubtedly 

 the native plains of the Quagga, the Zebra, and some other congeners 

 of the Horse; but where, curiously enough, he is not now found in a 

 wild state. Thence he would naturally find his way into Egypt, and 

 through Arabia to Persia, Tartary, and Greece, ultimately reaching Great 

 Britain; but in what century he was introduced there we are quite 

 at a loss to conjecture. 



THE GREEK HORSE 



Of the precise form of the Horse of Scripture we have no account, 

 beyond the glowing language of Job, which will apply to almost any 

 variety possessing the average spirit of the species. The horse of the 

 Greeks is far better known, being handed down to us in the writings 

 of Xenophon, and preserved in the marble friezes of the Parthenon, 

 which are now removed to our own National Museum. The above 

 Greek writer, in giving his advice on the purchase of a horse, says, 

 "On examining the feet, it is befitting first to look to the horny 

 portion of the hoofs, for those horses which have the horn thick are 

 far superior in their feet to those which have it thin. Nor will it 

 be well, if one fa'^l next to observe whether the hoofs be upright both 

 before and behind, or low and flat to the ground; for high hoofs 

 keep the fi'Og at a distance from the earth, while the flat tread with 

 equal pressure on the soft and hard parts of the foot, as is the case 

 ■with bandy-legged men. And Simon justly observes that well-footed 

 horses can be known by the sound of their tramp, for the hollow hoof 

 rino-s like a cymbal when it strikes the solid earth. But having begun 

 from below, let us ascend to the other parts of the body. It is needful 

 then, that the parts above the hoof and below the fetlocks be not too 

 erect like those of the goat, for legs of this kind being stiff and 

 inflexible, are apt to jar the rider, and are more liable to inflammation. 

 The bones must not, however, be too low and springy, for in that case, 

 the fetlocks are liable to be abraded and wounded, if the horse be 

 galloped over clods or stones. The bones of the shanks should be 

 thick, for these are the columns which support the body, but they 

 should not have the veins and flesh thick likewise ; for if they have, 

 when the horse shall be galloped in difficult ground, they will necessarily 

 be filled with blood, and will become varicose, so that the shanks will 

 be thickened, and the skin be distended and relaxed from the bone; 

 and Avhen this is the case, it often follows that the back sinew gives 

 way and renders the horse lame. But if the horse, when in action, 

 bend his knees flexibly at a walk, you may judge that he will have 

 his legs flexible when in full canter ; for all horses as they increase 

 in years increase in the flexibility of the knee. And flexible goers 

 rtre esteemed highly, and with justice, for such horses are much less 

 liable to blunder or to stumble than those which have rigid, unbending 

 joints. But if the arms below the shoulder-blades be thick and 



