OF HORSEMANSHIP. 85 



priated, frauds prevented, and the breeds and pedi- 

 grees, of which they were very careful, preferved 

 and diftinguiflied. This cullom prevails ahiioft uni- 

 verfally at' this time, in the ftuds of princes, and other 

 perfons, who have valuable ■ breeds ; and in fome 

 places the counterfeiting thefe marks is highly penal ^ 

 the perfons to whom they belong being as nice and 

 fcrupulous about them, as families are proud and 

 jealous of their coats of arms. 



It was ufual alfo for them to give names to their 

 horfes, exprefllve of their country, qualities, or co- 

 lour ; fuch as Nitidus, Niger, GentiJis, jEgyptus, ViFtor, 

 Fohicer, Incitatiis, Delicatus, Superbus, and fo forth. 



In breaking and drefling their horfes, they ufed to 

 work them in waving ot ferpentine lines, as the pracftice 

 is (or ought to be) at prefent. The French call this 

 riding an horfe en ferpentant. The Greeks and Romans 

 knew it by the term of riding in Maanders, in allufion 

 to the windings and doublings of the celebrated river 

 which bears that name. 



The Sybarites, a people of Calabria, and proverbially 

 famous for the voluptuoufnefs of their manners, are 

 recorded to have taught the horfes in their troops to 

 move or dance in exaifl time to the founds of mufical 

 inflruments. The better way, however, of relating this 

 fact would probably he to fay, that they were fo wan- 

 ton and refined in their pleafures, that they exercifed 

 their horfes by the found of mufic, which was fct to 

 the time and cadence of their Heps ; fo that the horfes 



did 



