THE PERSIAN. 233 



of the more ancient breeds, Tahtar, Hungarian, 

 "Wallachian, and lowest class of Arabians. They 

 are fed at sunrise and sunset, and watered at the 

 same time, contrary to the Persian mode, who do 

 not let them drink till an hour after. 



THE PERSIAN. 



If we were to judge from ancient sculptures, the 

 Persian horses of antiquity were as heavy as the 

 present Flemish cart-horses ; for mail-clad riders and 

 horse armour rendered bone necessary. In the great 

 wars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the 

 superiority of the Persian horse over the Turkish 

 was still chiefly owing to their greater bone enabling 

 them to bear armour on man and beast, while the 

 Turks had no other defence than a shield ; but at 

 present the form of the animal is much altered. 

 Like the Turkish, it consists, in their mutually bor- 

 dering provinces, of pure Arabians, already men- 

 tioned ; but, further east, is more intermixed with 

 the residue of the ancient breeds and later Turko- 

 man importations. Persian horses seldom exceed 

 fourteen hands and a half, have the neck slender, 

 often a little ewe-like, the ears handsome, the chest 

 narrow, the legs fine, the hoofs hard, and the croup 

 well turned. The nobler studs have the head some- 

 what larger, but nearly as beautiful as the Arabian ; 

 the frame is more developed, and their spirit is war- 

 like. From the speed of chuppers, or express mes- 

 sengers, we know their endurance of fatigue. Major 



