4 - EARLY HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 



the frieze of their temples. Among the Greeks, however, chariots were never 

 used for the purposes of war, but only in their public games *. 



The breeding of the horse, and his employment for pleasure and in war, were 

 forbidden to the Israelites. They were commanded to hough or hamstring 

 those that were taken in war. The sheep yielded them their wool, and the 



* It may not be useless to pause for a mo- 

 ment, and study the form and character of 

 these horses and their riders. 



There is considerable difference in the form 

 ami action of the two horses. The right-hand 

 one, and the foremost of the two, is sadly 

 defective in the portions of the fore-arms 

 which we are permitted to see. The near 

 one is poorly supplied with muscle. 



The off-horse is out of all keeping. The 

 largo ears placed so low ; the clumsy swelling 

 of the lower part of the neck ; the bad union 

 of it with the breast ; the length and thinness 

 of the barrel compared with the bulk of the 

 fore parts, notwithstanding the natural and 

 graceful position of the hind legs, show no 

 little want of skill in the statuary. 



The more animated head of the left and 

 hinder horse, the inflated nostril, the opening 

 of the mouth, the form and prominence of the 

 eye, and the laying of the ears, sufficiently 

 confirm the accounts which we have of the 

 spirit sometimes untameable of the primi- 

 tive horses. The neck, however, is too short 

 even for one with these immense forehands ; it 

 springs badly out of the chest ; the shoulder is 

 very defective ; but the fore-arms, their ex- 

 pression and their position, are exceedingly 

 good ; the long fore-arms and short leg are 



excellent ; and so are the off fetlock and foot ; 

 but the barrel is deficient, the carcase is lengthy, 

 and the hind quarters are weak compared with 

 the fore-arms. 



The beautiful execution of the riders can- 

 not escape observation. The perfect Grecian 

 face, the admirable expression of the counte- 

 nance, the rounding and perfection of every 

 limb, are sufficient proofs that the riders were 

 portraits, as probably the horses were to a very 

 considerable extent. 



These animals remind us of some of the 

 heavy ones of the present day particularly ; 

 they have the beauties and the defects of 

 many of the modern Holstein horses ; they 

 are high, but perhaps heavy-actioned ; courage- 

 ous, spirited, possibly fierce. They exhibit 

 the germs of many future improvements, and, 

 taken altogether, may be examined with con- 

 siderable pleasure, remembering that they aro 

 horses of nearly 2300 years ago. Art has 

 done much for the horse since that period, but 

 the countenance and figure of the human being 

 were at that time perfect. These horsemen 

 have not even the switch to guide the animal ; 

 but they are holding by the mane with the 

 left hand, and are evidently directing the horse 

 by pulling the mane, or pressing the neck with 

 the right hand a little hicrher up. 



