OF HORSEMANSHIP. 123 



and by never permitting an horfe or mare to come to- 

 gether, unlefs of equal rank, beauty, and merit. By 

 this exacStnefs, fcrupuloufly obferved for ages, they 

 have raifed and refined the fpecies, and led it up to a 

 pitch of perfection, beyond what mere nature perhaps 

 could have attained, though affifted by the advantages 

 of a better country. With refpetT: to the climate, it is a 

 certain truih, that thofe agree befl with horfes which 

 are rather hot than cold ; and above all a dry foil is 

 necelTary : that in general middle-fized horfes are to 

 be preferred ; that care and proper management will 

 conduce as much almoft to their well being as food ; 

 that mildnefs, patience, and kind treatment, will in- 

 fluence their temper, gain their confent and obedience, 

 more efFedlually than feverity and force ; that horfes 

 of warm climates have their bones, hoofs, and mufcles 

 more compact: and firm than thofe born in colder re- 

 gions ; and that although warmth is more pleafing to 

 their conftitutions than cold, yet the extreme of either 

 is hurtful ; and laftly, that their Manners, charaders, 

 and other qualities, almoft entirely depend upon the 

 -climate, the properties of food, their treatment, and 

 education. 



I will conclude this narrative with a defcription of 

 their manner of riding at this day. The account is 

 taken from a traveller, who vifited the tents of thefe 

 Bedouin Arabs in the year 1749, ^^^ was an eye-witnefs 

 of what he relates. 



R 2 "It 



