14 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



is superior to any other breed. The withers are high, and the shoulder- 

 biade inclined backward, and so nicely adjusted that in descending a hill 

 the point or edge of the ham never ruffles the skin. He may not be 

 thought sufficiently high ; he seldom stands more than fourteen hands 

 two inches. The fineness of his legs, and the oblique position of his pas- 

 terns, may be supposed to lessen his strength; but the leg, although 

 small, is flat and wiry; anatomists know that the bone has no common 

 density, and the startling muscles of the fore-arm and the thigh indi- 

 cate that he is fully capable of accomplishing many of the feats which 

 are recorded of him. The Arab horse is as celebrated for his docility 

 and good temper as for his speed and courage. 



The kindness with which he is treated from a foal, gives him an afiec- 

 tion for his master, a wish to please, a pride in exerting every energy 

 in obedience to his commands, and, consequently, an apparent sagacity 

 which is seldom seen in other breeds. The mare and her foal inhabit 

 the same tent with the Bedouin and his children. The neck of the 

 mare is often the pillow of the rider, and, more frequently, of the 

 children, who are rolling about upon her and the foal ; yet no accident 

 ever occurs, and the animal acquires that friendship and love for man 

 which occasional ill-treatment will not cause him for a moment to forget. 



When the Arab falls from his mare, and is unable to rise, she will 

 immediately stand still, and neigh until assistance arrives. If he lies 

 down to sleep, as fatigue sometimes compels him, in the midst of the 

 desert, she stands watchful over him, and neighs and rouses him if 

 either man or beast approaches. An old Arab had a valuable mare 

 that had carried him for fifteen years in many a hard-fought battle, and 

 many a rapid weary march ; at length, eighty years old, and unable 

 longer to ride her, he gave her, and a cimeter that had been his father's, 

 to his eldest son, and told him to appreciate their value, and never lie 

 down to rest until he had rubbed them both as bright as a looking-glass. 

 In the first skirmish in which the young man was engaged he was killed, 

 and the mare fell into the hands of the enemy. When the news 

 reached the old man, he exclaimed that " life was no longer worth pre- 

 serving, for he had lost both his son and his mare, and he grieved for 

 one as much as the other ;" and he immediately sickened and died. 



The Canadian Horse. — This variety of the horse is chiefly found in 

 Canada, though they have been introduced, in considerable numbers, 

 into the United States. They are chiefly of French descent, though 

 many of the larger and more valuable of them are the produce of 

 crosses with various English breeds. They are a very hardy race, easily 

 kept, long-lived, and the larger varieties excellent farm and draught 

 horses. Not as large as the Norman horse, they still exhibit many of 

 his characteristics. Many stallions have been brought into the states, 

 and crossed with our common breeds. The result has tended to give 

 vigor and compactness of form and constitution, and a continuance of 

 the practice is suggested. 



Tlie Norman Horse, — This is a hardy and very valuable breed of French 

 horses of recent introduction. Mr. Harris thus speaks of them : 



"Those who are acquainted with the thorough-bred Canadian horse 

 will see in him a perfect model, on a small scale, of the Perchcron horse. 



