202 THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 



were killed, and nearly all were rendered useless. 

 The case was very different with the English troop- 

 horses (all geldings) when Sir John Moore's corps 

 embarked after the battle of Corunna : orders having 

 been issued to shoot them, they witnessing their 

 companions fall one after another, stood trembling 

 with fear, and by their piteous looks seemed to 

 implore mercy from men who had been their 

 riders ; till the duty imposed upon the dragoons 

 entrusted with the execution of the order be- 

 came unbearable, and the men turned away from 

 the task with scalding tears : hence the French 

 obtained a considerable number unhurt, and among 

 them several belonging to officers, who, rather than 

 destroy, had left their faithful chargers with billets 

 attached, recommending them to the kindness of 

 the enemy.* 



It is asserted that horses with a broad after-head 

 and the ears far asunder are naturally bolder than 

 those whose head is narrow above the fore-lock; 

 some are certainly more daring by nature than 

 others, and judicious training in most cases makes 

 them sufficiently stanch. Some, habituated to war, 

 will drop their head, pick at grass in the midst of 

 fire, smoke, and the roar of cannon; others never 

 entirely cast off their natural timidity. We have 

 witnessed them groaning, or endeavouring to lie 

 down when they found escape impossible, at the 



* The King's German Hussars alone brought off their horses, 

 in consequence of being ordered to march by Vigo, where they 

 had time to embark the whole unmolested. 



