40 FOREIGN BREEDS OF IIOESES. 



THE SARDINIAN AND CORSICAN HORSES. 



Tliey are small, Avell-made, and capable of enduring mncli fatigue ; as 

 for tlieir other qualities (and they are not mncli changed at the present 

 day from what they formerly were), Blundeville shall speak of them : — 

 ' The horses that come out of the Isle of Sardygnia and Corsica have short 

 bodyes and be verye bolde and courageous, and unquiet in their pace, for 

 they be so fierce and bote cholericke complexion, and thercAvith so much 

 used to running in their countrie as they will stand still on no grounde. 

 And, therefore, this kynde of horse requireth a discreete and pacicnt ryder, 

 who must not be over hastie in correcting him for feare of marring him 

 altogether. ' 



THE ITALIAN HORSE 



Was once celebrated for the beauty of his form and his paces ; but, like 

 everything else in that degraded country, he has sadly degenerated. The 

 Neapolitan horses were particularly remarkable for their size and majestic 

 action ; there was, however, a degree of clumsiness about the heads, and 

 forehand, and general appearance, which the seeming grandeui' of their 

 action would not always conceal, and they were occasionally untractable 

 and vicious to an alarming degree. They are noAV much deteriorated, and, 

 in fact, with but few exceptions, scarcely of any value. 



Some of the Italian races are a disgraceful burlesque on those of other 

 countries. At Rome they have become a necessary appendage to the 

 animal carnival, and there is no other of the pastimes of that gay season 

 in which the people take an equal delight. Some of the horse-races re- 

 semble those in other countries, and are faii^ly contested ; but much 

 oftener the Roman coui'se presents nothing but the horse running without 

 any rider, and not from his own spirit and emulation, but startled by noises 

 and goaded on by ridicu.lous and barbarous contrivances. 



The horses termed Barberi — because the race was at first contested by 

 Barbs — are brought to the starting-post, their heads and their necks 

 gaily ornamented : while to a girth which goes round the body of each 

 are attached several loose straps, having at their ends small balls of lead 

 thickly set with sharp steel poiuts. At every motion these are brought 

 in contact with the flanks and bellies of the horses, and the more violent 

 the motion, the more di^eadful the incessant torture. On their backs are 

 placed sheets of thin tin, or stiflp paper, which, when agitated, M^ill make a 

 rustling, rattling noise. 



It is difficult to conceive of the rearing, kicking, paAving, and snorting 

 which occurs at the starting- place. A rope placed across the street pre- 

 vents them from getting away, and a stout peasant is employed with each 

 horse in a struggle of downright strength, and, at the hazard of limb and 

 of life, to restrain him. Occasionally some of them do break away and 

 pass the rope before the street — the race-course — is cleared, and then 

 many serious accidents are sure to happen. 



^Yhen all is ready for starting, a troop of dragoons gallop through the 

 street in order to clear the way. A trumpet sounds — the rope drops — 

 the grooms let go their hold, and the horses start away like arrows from 

 a bow. The harder they run, the more they are pricked ; the cause of 

 this they seem scarcely able to comprehend, for they bite and plunge at 

 each other, and a terrible fight is sometimes commenced. Others, from 

 mere fright or sulkiness, stand stock-stdl, and it is by brute force alone 

 that they can again be induced to move. 



A strong canvas screen is passed along the bottom of the street. This 

 is the goal. It has the appearance of a wall ; but some of the horses, in 



