M EQUIPS 



tin- spring gnuu Carrie* off every humour that niny be lurking in 

 their fnune. 



The training of the HunUr for hi* work ii a simple affair. It IK, by 

 meao* of exercise and of physic, getting rid of all superfluous fat and 

 fteah, without debilitating him. The physic ia uneful; it in indis- 

 petuable ; but the chief thing i gradually to accustom him to the 

 exertion of every power that he poaweaea, without too much hurrying 

 hu breathing or overstraining or injuring him. 



Tho t raining of the Race-Hone ia of a aimilar character, but it is far 

 more severe, for hia strength, hia upeed, and hia endurance muat be 

 toted to the utmost The hunter ha* to carry his rider gallantly 

 and well through perhapa a long burst, and if he tire*, and the sports- 

 man has the good aenae and humanity to cease to urge him on, the 

 greatest evil U some temporary suffering to him, and disappointment 

 to hia master ; but if the race-horse break* down, or if hit capabilities 

 have not been accurately calculated, the most serious loss may be 

 sustained. Thence arise* the necessity of straining and of testing 

 every power in the preparation of the turf horse ; and thence too it 

 happen*, from the strange and impolitic sacrifice of the endurance of 

 the modern racer to speed during short distances, that so many young 

 horses break down and become perfectly useless in their training. 



The watering of the horse is a very important but disregarded 

 portion of his general management The kind of water lias not been 

 sufficiently considered. The difference between what is termed hard 

 and soft' water in a circumstance of general observation. The former 

 contains certain saline principles which decompose some bodies, as in 

 the curdling of soap, anil prevent the solution of others, as in the 

 making of tea, the boiling of vegetables, and the process of brewing. 

 It is natural to suppose that these different kinds of water would 

 produce somewhat different effects on the animal frame, and such is 

 the fact Hard water, freshly drawn from the well, will frequently 

 roughen the coat of the horse unaccustomed to it, or cause griping 

 pains, or materially lessen the animal's power of exertion. The 

 racing and the hunting groom ore perfectly aware of this ; and so is 

 the horse, for he will refuse the purest water from the well if he can 

 obtain access to the running stream, or even the turbid pool. Where 

 there is the power of choice the softer water should undoubtedly be 

 pi ; H '1 



The temperature of the water is of far more consequence than its 

 hardness. It will rarely harm if taken from the pond or the running 

 stream, but its coldness when recently drawn from the well has often 

 been injurious. It has produced colic, spasm, and even death. It 

 should therefore be exposed for some hours, either in the stable or in 

 some tank. 



There is often considerable prejudice against the horse being fairly 

 supplied with water. It is supposed to chill him; to injure his 

 wind, or to incapacitate him for hard work. It certainly would do so, 

 if, immediately after drinking his fill, he were galloped hard, but not 

 if he were suffered to quench his thirst more frequently when at rest 

 in the stable. Tho horse that has free access to water will not drink 

 so much in the course of a day as another who, to cool his parched 

 mouth, swallows as fast as he can, and knows not when to stop. 



When on a journey a horse may with perfect safety be far more 

 liberally supplied with water than he generally is. An hour before 

 his work commences he should be permitted to drink a couple of 

 quarts. A greater quantity might be probably objected to. He will 

 perform bis task far more pleasantly and effectively than with n 

 parched mouth and tormenting thirst The prejudice both of the 

 hunting and the training groom on this point is cruel as well as 

 injurious. The task or the journey being accomplished, and the 

 horse having breathed a few minutes, another quart, or even two, 

 will be delightfully refreshing to him, and will never do him harm. 

 His corn may then be offered to him, which he will readily take ; and 

 before he has eaten the whole of it two or throe more quarts of water 

 may be given. 



Towards the close of the day the speed of the traveller should 

 somewhat abate, and the horse should arrive at his resting-place as 

 dry and as cool as circumstances will permit If ho is hot he must be 

 walked about awhile, or the perspiration will return in the stable. If 

 be is wet he must be carefully nibbed dry. The sooner this U done 

 the better; and after he U clothed, watered, fed, and bedded, he should 

 as soon as possible be left to his repose. 



In travelling the hone should undergo some degree of training as 

 to the pace, the distance, and the burden. When there ha* been no 

 preparation, the stages must at first be short, and the pace gentle. 

 For a journey of 300 miles the horse may travel from 20 to 25 miles 

 a day, resting on the Sunday, and doing the work in two stages, at 

 the pace of six miles an hour. This requires a seasoned horse, and 

 the number of working hours per day is about four. 



Hunting require* speed and stoutae**. The pace seldom exceeds 

 twelve miles an hour, and the run is short, soon over, or interrupted ; 

 yet soft sinking ground, hills, and leaps make this pace severe even on 

 the best horses. The time for preparation varies from two to four 

 months. On the day before work the horse should have exercise 

 enough to empty the bowels. If be is a good feeder he should have 

 no hay within eight hours of starting, nor water within four hours, 

 nor corn within throe hours ; but if he has five or six miles to go to 

 cover, these restrictions are lea* necessary. The working days will 



EQUIDA r.....i 



vary according to hia condition and the hardness of the running. Id- 

 may be able to go out every second day, oiid sometimes not morn 

 than once in six or seven. His spirits and appetite, and tin- tato of 

 hi* legs, will decide this. Even on the blank days some exercise should 

 be taken in order to evacuate the bowels and create an app 



Horses are best prepared for coaching by good feeding and gradual 

 increase of speed and distance. The ordinary length of a stage is 

 eight miles ; so that a horse is required for every mile, or a coach 

 running between two places forty miles distant, employs forty horses 

 to take it away and bring it back. The pace being calculated at from 

 nine to eleven mile* an hour, no horse works quite an hour in the day, 

 and some not more than three-quarters of an hour, except that, occa- 

 sionally, an able horse may perform a double journey in order to 

 relieve a sick companion. No horse therefore leads so easy a life as 

 nn English coach-horse in a well-regulated establishment The 

 muscular exertion is severe while it lasts, but it is soon over. Th. 

 excitement however of high keep and excessive exertion gradually 

 wears the horse down, and it is rarely that he continues in a fust 

 coach more than four years. (Nimrod, ' On the Itoad.') 



Cart-Horses usually work from eight to ten hours, six days in the 

 week. The pace varies from two miles to three and a half miles |*r 

 hour, and the weight rarely exceeds 24 cwt, besides the cart, whi.-h 

 probably is seven or eight more. All beyond this in weight .n in 

 time of work is cruel. 



The average work done by a horse in ploughing is about eight 

 hours in the day. The severity of it depends on the pace, the nature 

 of the soil, and the breadth of the furrow-slice. The pace is I 

 mile and a half to two miles per hour ; the furrow varies from eight 

 inches to eleven, and the distance travelled is from 12 to 16 miles. 

 The horse and the man can well support this as long as the plou 

 season continues. 



Atintu. The species of this genus have the upper part of the tail 



covered with short hair, and the lower part covered with longer hair 



forming a tuft ; the fur marked with darker stripes ; the fore legs 



only furnished with hard horny warts in a similar situation to those 



in the front legs of the horse, but there are none in the lower part of 



the hinder legs. We shall follow in our arrangement of the species 



that adopted by Dr. J. E. Gray in the ' British Museum Catalogue.' 



* Colour nearly uniform, with a dark longitudinal dorsal stripe ; some 



have a black stripe across the shoulders. The Asses of Asia. 



t Ears elongated, acute. The Tame or Domestic Asses. 



These animals vary greatly in size and appearance, according to the 

 climate. They are large and smooth-haired in the warmer climate*; 

 small and shaggy in the colder countries. 



It is very doubtful if the Domestic Ass is found in a truly wild 

 state ; the asses which have been described as wild appear rather to 

 be domestic animals which have escaped, or mules between the Domestic 

 Ass and the allied wild species ; for when caught they, after a short 

 time, submit themselves to man, which is not the case with what Dr. 

 Gray has here considered as the wild kinds. 



Palloa justly observes, "In extensis Asia) dcsertis primam patriam 

 ease quserendam Equi feri et Onagri a nomadibus in doinesticos u*n- 

 domatorum, axjue ac Hemioni hacteuus indorniti." ('Zool. Ross.,' 

 A. i. 255.) This is equally applicable to the African species. [Ass.] 



A. rulyarit, the Domestic Ass. Gray, with a longitudinal 

 streak and a dark streak across the shoulders ; ears elongate ; facial 

 line arched. Skull with suborbital foramen as in /.'. J/emiuntu. 



The following are some of the synonyms of this animal : 



K/uut Atinu* (Linn.) ; Atintu rulijarii (Gray) ; J-.'i/uu-i Anna (Flem- 

 ing) ; Annul (Pliu.); Ass (Penn., Bewick); Asne (BufTon) ; Am; 

 (Cuvier) ; Atinui Onager (Gray, Bonap. 'Index Mam. Eur.'); Annul 

 ilomeilictu, Domestic Ass (H. Smith). 

 Var. Without any cross. 



For. Legs and body more or less banded. 



Domestic Varieties. 



Gudha of the Mahrattaa, very little larger than a good mastiff or 

 Newfoundland dog (Sykes). Domestic Ass pf Ispahan (11. Smith). 

 Domestic Ass of lieloochistan (H. Smith). Domestic Ass of Til.et, 

 with a cross-band (Strachey). The Pico of ancient Egypt < H. Smit h \. 

 Tosandunt of the Shellulm (H. Smith). The Djaar of Arabia 1 1 1 

 Smith). The Lalisiones, or Wild Ass Colt* (11. SmitM. l, :i li*i,, 

 (Martial). Wild Ass(Lenant; Hoskins). Egyptian A*s (H. SmitM. 



Tin- common Domestic Ans is sometimes of the usual gray a 

 without any appearance of the cross. They are sometimes black, and 

 at other times white, rarely skewbald ; but this is the common albiniim 

 and melsnism of domestic animals, and when of these colour- th- 

 ere** is not apparent, or at least sometime* only to be seen \\ I 

 animal is observed obliquely. 



tt Ears moderately short, rounded. The Wild Asses. 



A. Onager, the Koulan, or Wild Ass. Pale reddish (in winter 

 grayish); dorsal streak black, rather widi-r over the small of the 

 back. Skull with the infraorbiUl forum-n high up, about one-third 

 the space between the face-line and the back edge of the teeth, f ur 

 back, being directly over the fruut end of the cheek ridge and the back 

 edge of the third grinder. 



