1889.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 223 



of maxims concerning the horse and its management, that are 

 worthy of close attention. His method of judging a horse 

 is "to measure him from the root of the mane close to the 

 withers, and descend to the end of the upper lip between the 

 nostrils. Then measure from the root of the mane to the end 

 of the tail bone, and if the fore part is longer than the hind 

 part, there is no doubt the horse will have excellent qualities. 

 To ascertain if a young horse will grow any more, measure 

 first from the knee to the highest point situated in the pro- 

 longation of the limb above the withers, then from the knee 

 downwards to the beginning of the hair above the coronet 

 (to the crest of the hoof) ; if these two measures are to one 

 another as two-thirds to one-third, the horse will grow no 

 more. If this proportion does not exist, the animal has not 

 done growing ; for it is absolutely necessary that the height 

 from the knee to the withers should represent, in a full-grown 

 horse, exactly double the length of the leg from the knee to 

 the hoof." 



And now, with a few choice maxims from the same hand, 

 I must pass on to other themes : — 



No one becomes a horseman until he has been often thrown. 



Thorough-bred horses have no vice. 



A horse in a leading-string is an honor to his master. 



Whoso forgets the beauty of horses for that of women, will never 



pi-osper. 

 Horses know their riders. 

 The best time of day for giving barley is the evening. Unless on a 



journey, it is useless to give it in the morning. 

 Water a horse at sunrise, and it makes him lose flesh. Water him in 



the evening, and it puts him in good condition. Water him in the 



middle of the day, and you keep him as he is. 

 During the great forty-day heats, water your horses only every other 



day. 



The pious Ben-el-Abbas — Allah be good to him ! — hath said : — 



" Love horses and take care of them. 



Spare no trouble ; 

 By them comes honor, by them comes beauty. 

 If horses are forsaken of men, 

 I will receive them into my family, 

 I will share with them the bread of my children ; 

 My wives shall cover them with their veils, 

 And cover themselves with the horse-cloths. 



