424 THE COMMON HORSE. 



sagacity, that this celebrated Horse, after having 

 received in battle many deep wounds, carried his 

 lord beyond the reach of danger, and then fell 

 down dead*; but it is to be presumed that any 

 other spirited Horse, in similar circumstances, 

 might have done the same thing. According to 

 the authority of Suetonius, Julius Caesar, as well as 

 Alexander, had a favourite Horse, which would 

 allow no one to ride him except his master. 



With respect to British Horses, great attention 

 has now been paid to the breeding of them for 

 several years; and although our climate is not 

 deemed peculiarly favourable to the Horse species, 

 yet the consequence of this attention is, that in no 

 part of Europe are Horses bred that can equal those 

 of Britain, either in swiftness of foot, or strength 

 and perseverance in the course. In Arabia, indeed, 

 where these animals may be deemed the chief 

 suppprt of the families that possess them, and 

 where, on many occasions, the very existence of 

 the owner depends upon the powers of his Horse, 

 the circumstance of having excellent radical qua- 

 lities in the parent stock, has obtained a still greater 

 degree of attention than in Britain. In that country, 

 it is not so much swiftness of foot that is regarded, 

 as the faculty of bearing fatigue and abstinence 

 without being exhausted ; and so successful have 



JElian, Hist. Animal, lib. 16, cap. 24. 



these 



