THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 201 



only partially remedied by an effective society for 

 preventing cruelty to animals ; such as we find em- 

 bodied in the skill of our civil engineers, who have 

 given a regulated velocity to iron surpassing the 

 powers of the Avhip, and railroads and steam- ships, 

 will effect more for the relief of horses than all 

 the remonstrances of humanity. 



In the structure of the horse, mares are always 

 comparatively lower at the withers than geldings or 

 stallions ; these last have the neck much fuller than 

 either of the above, their spirit is also much more 

 noisy, and their disposition, when they meet at 

 liberty, exceedingly pugnacious : they are even dan- 

 gerous when ridden ; so that where they are com- 

 monly used for the saddle, as, for instance, in India, 

 two horsemen cannot venture to ride side by side 

 without constant attention, and always at some 

 distance asunder. A striking example of the fierce- 

 ness of stallions occurred, we are informed, during 

 the last war, when the Marquess de la Romana 

 made his celebrated march towards the Baltic, 

 where, by the celerity of the movement, he distanced 

 the pursuing enemies and embarked his corps in 

 transports ; the cavalry, mounted on stallions, as is 

 usual in Spain, was obliged to abandon their horses 

 on the beach, where they had just arrived after ex- 

 cessive forced marches, yet no sooner were the horses 

 sensible that they were out of human controul, than 

 rushing together in wild troops, they galloped head- 

 long up and down, and then attacked each other 

 with such fury, that it was believed a great number 



