V2 EARLY HISTOKV OF THE HORSE. 



exposed was very early adopted, and tlie lieel of it was, occnsionally at 

 least, armed Avith a spur. 



The horses' feet were unshod, the paved or flinty roads, which are now 

 so destructive to the feet, being in a manner unkno^NTi. Occasionally, 

 however, from natui-al Aveakness of the foot, or from travelling t^o far or 

 too fast over the causeways, lameness then, as now, occurred. In order 

 to prevent this, the Greeks and the Romans were accustomed to fasten a 

 sort of sandal or stocking, made of sedges twisted together like a mat, or 

 else of leather, and whei-e the owner could afford it, strengthened with 

 plates of iron, and sometimes adorned with silver and even with gold, as 

 was the case Avith the horses of Poppasa and Nero. 



There was a peculiarity in the Greek mode of riding, at least Avith 

 regard to the cavalry horses, and, sometimes, those used for pleasure. Tavo 

 or three of them Avere tied together by their bridles, and the horseman, at 

 full speed, leaped from one to another at his pleasure. This might occa- 

 sionally be useful ; Avhen one horse was tired or wounded, the Avarrior 

 might leap upon another ; but he Avould be so hampered by the manage- 

 ment of all of them, and the attention Avhich he Avas compelled to pay to 

 them all, that it never became the general Avay of riding or fighting ; nor 

 was it practised in any other country. Homer, in his 15th Iliad, alludes 

 to it as a feat of skill attempted in :^port. The folloAAdng is a translation 

 of the passage : — ' Just as a skilful horseman riding four chosen horses 

 along a public road to some great city, Avhere his course is to terminate, 

 the Avhole toAvn assembles to behold him, and gaze upon him AArith Avonder 

 and applause ; Avhile he leaps Avith ease from the back of one horse to 

 another, and flies along AAdth them.' 



The Greeks must have carried their management of the horse to a A^ery 

 high state of perfection ; and the Grecian horse must have been exceed- 

 ingly docile, when exliibitions of this kind could take place. 



It Avas, hoAvever, to the draught of the chariot that this animal Avas 

 principally devoted in some other countries, and among the Greeks in the 

 early period of their history. No mention is made of a single horseman 

 on either side, during the ten years' siege of Troy ; but the Avarriors all 

 fought on foot or in chariots. 



The chariots Avere simple in their structure, open at the back, and partly 

 on the sides ; and containing the driver in the front, and the warrior 

 standing on a platform, usually somcAvhat elevated. These vehicles seem 

 to have been rarely brought into collision Avith each other ; but they Avere 

 driven rapidly over the field, the warrior hurling his lances on either side, 

 or alighting when he met with a foe worthy of his attack. These chariots 

 were not only contrived for service, but Avere often most splendidly and 

 expensively ornamented. They Avere the prize of the conqueror. Some- 

 times they Avere draAvm by three horses ; but the third Avas a spare one, in 

 case either of the others should be tired or wounded. Some had four 

 horses yoked abreast ; such Avas the chariot of Hector. 



The charioteer, although at the time inferior to, or under the command 

 of the Avarrior, Avas seldom or never a menial. He Avas often the intimate 

 friend of the warrior; thus Nestor, and even Hector, are found acting as 

 charioteers. When not the personal friend of the n^arrior, he Avas usually 

 a charioteer by profession ; and droA^e Avhere he was directed. 



Occasional mention is made of the cnirus falcafi, chariots with armed 

 instruments in the form of scj'thes, projecting from the axles of the Avheels, 

 by means of which whole ranks might be moA-sm doAAm at once. They 

 were confined, however, to the more bai-barous nations, and Averc used 

 neither by the Greeks nor the Romans. They were advantageous only 

 on tolerably open or IcA'el ground ; and it not unfrequently happened 



