Book VII. VARIETIES OF THE HORSE. 881 



Egypt, and now living in the royal garden of Paris,) are reckoned the best, and their 

 inhabitants the most expert in horsemanship. The care taken by the Arabs in pre- 

 serving the breeds of their horses, is most 603 

 remarkable. None but stallions of the finest 

 form and purest blood are allowed access to 

 their mares, which is never permitted l)ut in 

 the presence of a professional witness or pub- 

 lic officer, who attests the fact, records the 

 name, and signs the pedigree of each. The 

 Persian horses are considered next in value ; 

 and after them the horses of Andalusia in 

 Spain. The Barbary horses are descended 

 from the Arabians, and much esteemed. 

 Jackson {Empire of Morocco, p. 42.) men- 

 tions one very fleet variety, used for hunting 

 the ostrich, and fed entirely on camel's milk. In Algiers they are said not to like to 

 castrate their horses, but only squeeze their testicles when they are about three months 

 old, which renders them incapable of propagation. The horses of India are small and 

 vicious, the climate being unfavorable to their greater developement. Those of Tartary 

 are of a moderate size ; l)ut strong, muscular, full of spirit and active. The Tartars 

 are considered skilful riders. Like the Kalmucks, they eat their flesh as we do that of 

 oxen, and use their milk either in curd or fermented. 



5551. Of the European varieties of the horse, those of Italy were formerly in greater 

 esteem than at present ; but still, those of the Neapolitans shine both under the saddle- 

 and in traces. Great numbers are bred in Sicily ; those of Sardinia and Corsica are 

 small, but active and spirited. The Swiss horses partake of the same qualities. 



5552. The Spanish horses are much commended : some make them second to the 

 Arabians, and place them before the Barb. Those of the finest breeds are generally 

 finely carcassed and well limbed horses, active, ready and easy in their paces, docile and 

 affectionate to their owners, full of spirit and courage, but tempered with mildness and 

 good nature ; they are for the most part, of a moderate size. Those which are bred in 

 Upper Andalusia are deemed the most valuable. The Portuguese horses, or rather 

 mares, were famous of old for being very fleet and long-winded ; but of late it is said 

 they are much degenerated. * 



5553. France abounds in horses of all kinds, but does not excel in native breeds ; the best of those 

 fit for the saddle come from Limousin : they resemble the Barbs in many particulars, and like thera are 

 fittest for hunting, but they are supposed not to be fit for work before they are seven or eight years old. 

 There are also very good " Bidets" or ponies, in Auvergne, Poitou, and Burgundy. Next to those 

 of Limousin, Normandy claims precedence, for a well formed and useful breed. Lower Normandy and 

 the district of Cotentin furnish some very tolerable coach horses, and which are more active and appear 

 more elastic in their motions than the Dutch horses. They have, however, a noble race of large draught 

 horses equal to any seen in England, and, among which, the chestnut color seems to prevail. The French 

 horses generally are apt to have their shoulders although oblique, yet too loose and open, as those of the 

 Barbs are usually too confined and narrow. 



5554. The Flemish horses^ arc inferior in value to the Dutch, having usually large heavy heads and 

 necks; their feet also are immoderately large and flat, and their legs subject to .watery humours and 

 swellings. 



5555. i/o/Zflrtd furnishes a race of horses which are principally serviceable in light draught work : the 

 best come from Friesland. 



5556. Germany is not destitute of good horses, and such as prove useful for many purposes ; but they 

 are reckoned to oe heavy and defective in wind. The Germans possess, however, finer breeds obtained 

 from Turks and Barbs which are kept as stallions ; they obtain also some good specimens from the 

 Italians and Spaniards. As racers and hunters they are inferior to the Hungarian and Transylvanian 

 horses. The horses of Bohemia are not distinguished by any eminent qualities. The Hussars and 

 Transylvanians are accustomed to slit the nostrils of their horses, under a notion of giving their breath 

 a free passage, and improving their wind, as well as to render them incapable of neighing, which, in the 

 field, would be often inconvenient. The Croatian horses are nearly allied in qualities and character to 

 the Hungarian and Bohemian : these, as well as the Poles, are remarkable for being, as the French term 

 it, " Begut," or keeping the mark in their teeth as long as they live. 



5557. The Polish horses are hardy, strong, and useful, but they are generally of a middling size. In 

 the marshy parts of Prussia, and towards the mouth of the Vistula, there is a breed of tall, strong hofses, 

 resembling those of Friesland, but of inferior value. 



555S. The hor.^es of Russsia are not much re^nrdoAhy other naiions. They are small but hardy, and' 

 capable of enduring great fatigue. Great attention is, however, paid to such as are very fast in their trot, 

 and such a breed is much encouraged for trotting matches on the snow and ice. Those of the Turkish 

 breed are handsome and finely shaped, but too slight and weak for heavy cavalry. The Kalmuck horses 

 are somewhat higher than the Russian common horses, and are so lasting and constitutionally strong as 

 to be able to run three or four hundred English miles in three days. They subsist, summer and whiter, 

 solely upon grass in the great deserts which are between the rivers Don, Volga, and Yaik, where they are 

 collected in great herds of four hundred, five hundred, or even a thousand. They are excellent swim- 

 mers, and pass the river Volga, where it is from one to two miles broad, with great ease. 



5559. The horses of Sweden are low and small, and the Norway breed may be comprehended under the 

 same description, but they are strong, hardy, and active. Denmark, and also Holstein and Oldenburg, 

 boast a large variety of horses, which has long been esteemed as peculiarly adapted for heavy cavalry and 

 carriage uses, though they are apt to fail with respect to elegance of limb and symmetry of parts ; their 

 heads being large, their shoulders heavy, their backs long, with croups too narrow to correspond with 

 their fore parts. In the islands of Feroe there is a race of horses of small growth, but strong, speedy, 

 and very sure-footed. They are never shod, and feed abroad without shelter both summer and winter. 

 In Suderoe, one of these islands, they have a peculiarly swift breed, of great use to the inhabitants, who 

 catch their sheep, which are wild, by hunting them with a dog, pursuing them at the same time with 

 their horses. The horses of Lapland are small of stature, but active and willing j they are used only in 



3 L. 



