71 



tion of the Arabian Horses, and of their exposure to the vicissitudes 

 of the weather, in such a state, that they are subject to grease in their 

 own country, a disease which, I believe, they seldom experience in this, 

 where, from the nature of the climate,' that disease ought more to pre- 

 vail. Nor, according to the common practical rule of judging, can any 

 Horses on earth be less naturally predisposed to grease than those of 

 Arabia. The above letters state, that they are also subject to the 

 cholic, the mange, and the farcy. 



From that inconsistency of mind which seems an universal defect, the 

 Arabians, in one particular, are most cruel to their Horses, and this 

 arises from all-powerful habit, the most probable source also of their 

 humanity. They invariably use that dreadful implement of torture, 

 known in Europe by the name of the Turkish bit, which is so power- 

 ful in its purchase, as to endanger the rupture of a Horse's jaw bone, 

 should his resistance demand any great effect of strength in the rider ; 

 and as that absurd and generally useless trick of stopping short in full 

 speed, is deemed one of the greatest, and is one of the most frequent 

 feats of Eastern horsemanship, and no previous pains are ever taken 

 to temper the mouths of the colts, perpetual violence must be offered to 

 them afterwards. In the general course, the Arab, and most Eastern 

 horsemen, ride with a rough and severe hand, whence their Horses' 

 mouths, until they have become intirely callous and dead, are usually 

 in a most pitiable, bruised and lacerated state, and seldom are they 

 stopped on the career, without their mouths being filled with blood ; nor 

 is it an unfrequent occurrence for a Horse, more particularly a young 

 one, and no previous menage is used in order to supple their joints, to 

 be broken down, or incurably lamed in the hinder quarters, by the sud- 

 denness and violence of the shock. The spur too, or rather spike, is 

 used with great brutality; and in Barbary, Horses are seen on the 

 parade, their mouths and sides streaming with blood. I have been 

 sometimes tempted to suppose and to hope, that these barbarous horse- 

 men must, at least, be of a different class, from the humane and rati- 

 onal breeders of the desert. 



The Horse furniture of the lower classes is most simple, and many 

 ride, as has been said, in the primitive style, without either bridle or sad^ 



die:. 



