218 



A HISTORY OF 



considered as next to the Arabian horses, 

 both for swiftness and beauty; but they are 

 rather still smaller than the former. The 

 Italians have a peculiar sport, in which horses 

 of this breed run against each other. They 

 have no riders, but saddles so formed as to 

 flap ngainst the horses' sides as they move, 

 and thus to spur them forward. They are 

 set to run in a kind of railed walk, about a 

 mile long, out of which they never attempt to 

 escape ; but when they once set forward, they 

 never stop, although the walk from one end 

 to the other is covered with a crowd of spec- 

 tators, which opens and gives way as the horses 

 approach. Our horses would scarcely, in this 

 manner,face a crowd, and continue theirspeed 

 without a rider, through the midst of a multi- 

 tude; and, indeed, it is a little surprising how 

 in such a place the horses find their own way. 

 However, what our English horses may want 

 in sagacity, they make up by their swiftness ; 

 and it has been found upon computation, that 

 their speed is nearly one-fourth greater, even 

 carrying a rider, than that of the swiftest Barb 

 without one. 



The Arabian breed has been diffused into 

 Egypt as well as Barbary,and into Persia also; 

 where, as we are told by Marcus Paulus, there 

 are studs often thousand white mares all to- 

 gether, very fleet, and with the hoof so hard 

 that shoeing is unnecessary. In these coun- 

 tries, they in general give their horses the 

 same treatment that they gire in Arabia, ex- 

 cept that they litter them upon a bed of their 

 own dung, dried in the Sun, and then reduced 

 to powder. When this, which is spread under 

 the horse about five inches thick, is moisten- 

 ed, they dry it again, and spread it as before. 

 The horses of these countries a good deal re- 

 semble each other. They are usually of a 

 slender make ; their legs fine, bony, and far 

 apart ; a thin mane ; a fine crest ; a beauti- 

 ful head ; the ear small and well pointed ; the 

 shoulder thin ; the side rounded, without any 

 unsightly prominence ; the croup is a little of 

 the longest, and the tail is generally set high. 

 The race of horses, however, is much degene- 

 rated in Numidia; the natives having been 

 discouraged from keeping the breed up by 

 the Turks, who seize upon all the good 

 horses, without paying the owners the smallest 

 gratuity for their care in bringing them up. 



The Tingitanians and Egyptians have now, 

 therefore, the fame of rearing the finest horses, 

 both for size and beauiy. The smallest of 

 these last are usually sixteen hands high ; and 

 all of them shaped, as they express it, with 

 the elegance of an antelope. 



Next to the Barb, travellers generally rank 

 the Spanish genette. These horses, like the 

 former, are little, but extremely swift and beau- 

 tiful. The head is something of the largest ; 

 the mane thick ; the ears long, but well point- 

 ed; the eyes filled with fire; the shoulder 

 thickish, and the breast full and large. The 

 croup round and large ; the legs beautiful, and 

 without hair; the pastern a little of the long- 

 est, as in the Barb, and the hoof rather too 

 high. Nevertheless, they move with great 

 ease, and carry themselves extremely well. 

 Their most usual colour is black, or a dark 

 bay. They seldom or never have white legs, 

 or white snip. The Spaniards, who have a 

 groundless aversion to these marks, never 

 breed from such as have them. They are all 

 branded on the buttock with the owner's 

 name ; and those of the province of Andalusia 

 pass for the best. These are said to possess 

 courage, obedience, grace, and spirit, in a 

 greater degree than even the Barb; and for 

 this reason they have been preferred as war- 

 horses to those of any other country. 



The Italian horses were once more beauti- 

 ful than they are at present, for they have 

 greatly neglected the breed. Nevertheless, 

 there are still found some beautiful horses 

 among them, particularly among the Neapo- 

 litans, who chiefly use them for the draught. 

 In general, they have large heads and thick 

 necks. They are also restive, and conse- 

 quently unmanageable. These faults, how- 

 ever, are recompensed by the largeness of 

 their size, by their spirit, and the beauty of 

 their motion. They are excellent for show, 

 and have a peculiar aptitude (o prance. 



The Danish horses arc of such an excel- 

 lent size, and so strong a make, that they are 

 preferred to all others for the draught. There 

 are some of them perfectly well shaped : but 

 this is but seldom sren, for in general they are 

 found to have a thick neck, heavy shoulders, 

 long and hollow back, and a narrow croup: 

 however, they all move well, and are found 

 excellent both for parade and war. They are 



