-12- 



r 



dependently for many generations, entirely exempt from the in- 

 fluence of man, probably afford a tolerably correct idea of what 

 the primeval animal was. They are generally smaller, yet 

 stronger, than the domesticated animal, with rougher coats, 

 stronger limbs, and larger heads. Even when adult, the wild 

 horse is easily domesticated, and may be broken to any use 

 without great difficult}^, thus proving the natural gentleness and 

 docility of his nature. They are captured by the lasso, bitted, 

 mounted, and broken within an hour by the daring and skillful 

 Gauchos. 



The Arabians, long renowned for their attachment to the 

 horse, early showed the extent to which intelligent training 

 could develop his finer qualities, and render him the most docile 

 and obedient of animals. Something in that country or its cli- 

 mate is especially suited to the development of the horse, and, 

 although introduced there long after his domestication in other 

 eastern countries, he rapidly attained a degree of excellence 

 which surpassed all others, until the horses of Arabia and the 

 adjacent portions of Asia and Africa became the most celebrated 

 for speed, courage, spirit, intelligence and docility of any of the 

 equine race. Small in size, he has a beautiful, lean, bony head, 

 with a ver}^ broad forehead, a tapering muzzle, and large, well- 

 opened nostrils; his mane is very long, thin and silk}^ It is 

 from the Arabian horse, crossed with the Barb, that the best 

 stock of England and America has sprung. Although much of 

 the superiority of these horses is attributable to peculiarly favor- 

 able conditions of the country where they originated, yet many 

 of their excellent qualities may be traced to kindness and intel- 

 ligent training by which those qualities were first developed, 

 and through which they have been transmitted until they have 

 become characteristics of the race. 



The Arabian understands the value of his horse, appreciates 

 the nobility of his nature, and treats him accordingly. They 

 kiss and caress them ; the}" adorn them with jewels, and amulets 

 formed out of sentences of the Koran, as a preservative against 

 evil and accidents. "In short," saj^s a modern author, "they 

 treat them almost like rational beings, which are ready to sac- 



