774 



HORSE. 



another. It is, however, well worthy of remark, and 

 shows the general adaptation of the animal tribes to 

 the use of man, that while the less tractable pachyder- 

 mata have perished from our temperate regions, the 

 horse has remained, and been taken into the service 

 and favour, and we may also say, the companionship 

 of man. 



The horse, as it should seem, is an inhabitant of 

 the eastern continent only ; no trace of it having 

 been met with as showing that it existed in any part 

 of America, until it was carried there by the Euro- 

 pean settlers. But in the wide plains of South Ame- 

 rica, which resemble in many respects those places of 

 the eastern continent, in which wild horses are still 

 met with, the imported ones have been multiplied till 

 they are, perhaps, more abundant there than in any 

 part of the east. Multitudes of the race are> found 

 running wild in various parts of the world ; but in 

 very many cases, at least, they seem to have de- 

 scended from domestic generations ; and it requires 

 no great stretch of the imagination to presume, that 

 in no country has the species enjoyed absolute inde- 

 pendence and freedom. In the southern parts of 

 Siberia, in the great Mongolian deserts, and among 

 the Kalkas, to the north-west of China, they are fre- 

 quently met with in large herds roaming at will ; and 

 they are also found in the deserts on the banks of the 

 Don ; but the last are supposed to have sprung from 

 those horses which were turned loose for want of food 

 by the Russians, whilst they were engaged in the siege 

 of Azoph, during their barbarous conquest of the 

 Tartar states to the northward of the Black Sea, 

 which Russian ferocity and zeal for destruction found 

 an Eden and left a wilderness. There are also num- 

 bers of wild horses found at the Cape of Good Hope. 

 These are of small size, and, from the vicious dispo- 

 sition they exhibit at the approach of man, they are 

 reckoned almost untameable ; it is probable, however, 

 that those animals which have been described as-wild 

 horses in this colony, and in some other parts of 

 Africa south of the desert, are a distinct variety, allied 

 to the quagga, and intermediate between that animal 

 and the horse ; for the quagga, like the zebra, is a 

 wild and untractable animal, and has not been brought 

 into a state of regular servitude by man. The wild 

 horses of South America, and of the plains to the 

 northward of Mexico, to which we have already 

 alluded, are descended from the Andalusian breed. 

 They were originally conveyed from Spain by the first 

 conquerors. They are most frequently found in the 

 southern districts of the river Plata, as far as Rio 

 Negro, the country of the Patagonians, and the dis- 

 tricts immediately adjoining. In these parts they 

 are met in great numbers, some of the herds amount- 

 ing to not less than ten thousand animals ; and each 

 herd comprising many families, the stallion appropri- 

 ating as many mares as they can, to all of whom he 

 extends his most especial protection. The most pre- 

 vailing colour of these animals is black ; but there are 

 also a sprinkling of bay and dark brown amongst 

 tbem. Of all the countries in which the horse is 

 found in a wild state, Arabia produces the most beau- 

 tiful breed. The animals that are met with in these 

 deserte, though not in such large numbers as are found 

 in some other parts we have alluded to, are of superior 

 symmetry arid swiftness. The Arabians are solicitous 

 in catching the wild horse, which by their kindness 

 and attention they are not long in domesticating. 



It has been very general! v believed, that Arabia 



was the original country of the h6rse ; and certain 

 we are that there the greatest care is taken to avoid 

 crossing his breed, that tfte species may be kept 

 entire. 



We shall now notice one or two of the most 

 remarkable breeds of horses which are found in dif- 

 ferent countries of the world, and also a few of those 

 which are of the greatest name in the British islands ; 

 but before we proceed to this we may remark that, 

 in our plate, HORSES, there are given three remarkable 

 varieties, in order to show the contrast. At the top 

 of the plate there is given the Tartar horse, remark- 

 able for the straightness of the frontal line, the square- 

 ness of the nose, the wideness of the nostrils, the beard 

 along the under jaw, the general shajrginess of the 

 coat, and the length and quantity of hair in the tail. 

 This appears to be the original horse of eastern 

 Europe, as well as of western Asia northward of the 

 central mountains ; for if the figure of its head is com- 

 pared with those of the horses on the Elgin marbles, 

 or any other Grecian sculptures of undoubted authen- 

 ticity, there will be found to be a wonderful coinci- 

 dence : nor are these characters entirely lost in the 

 Shetland pony, shown in the under part of the same 

 plate ; and, as we shall afterwards see, there is every 

 reason to believe that this pony found its way to the 

 Shetland Islands through Russia and Scandinavia. 

 In the third variety on the plate, representing a 

 draught or dray-horse, there is a remarkable difference 

 in the outline of the head, which is far more convex 

 than in the other ; the body is different, too ; for, 

 though larger, it is not nearly so compact, and the 

 animal is less strong in proportion to its size, and far 

 less enduring. 



The Arab is, in many respects, entitled to take the 

 lead among all the breeds of horses ; though it is pro- 

 bably not the most handsome, according to our notions. 

 Its frontal line is straight, or even a little concave ; 

 the chest is narrow, and the balance is thrown with 

 great equality upon both sets of extremities. But, 

 the narrow chest, by means of which the fore-legs are 

 brought much closer to each other, though essential 

 to a swift running horse, does not adapt the animal 

 well for draught. In Arabia, and the other countries 

 where this horse is so much esteemed, this is not 

 considered a deficiency, because there the horse is 

 not used for the draught, and goods are conveyed on 

 the backs of camels. The skin of the Arab is very 

 fine, the hair smooth, and the form of the muscles and 

 the positions of the veins under the skin very conspi- 

 cuous. The joints are particularly well made, and 

 those processes of the bones to which the tendons 

 are attached, are very prominent, and the joints them- 

 selves are generally free from any defect. The limbs 

 of Arabian horses are particularly handsome ; and 

 they have little or no hair on the fetlock. The com- 

 mon height at the shoulder is, in general, rather more 

 than four feet and a half. The height of horses is, 

 however, usually estimated in hands a hand being 

 reckoned four inches, or three hands to a foot ; so that 

 the usual stature of the Arab is between thirteen and 

 fourteen hands. The pace of these horses is rapid and 

 graceful ; they do not perspire much ; they last a 

 long time ; they can continue travelling at the rate 

 of from fifty to sixty miles a day ; and five or six 

 pounds of dourra, or the barley of that country, in the 

 evening, is a sufficient feed for them. When at home 

 in the tent, they are fed with barley-straw, chopped 

 short, which is something like our cut-chaff, but more 



