22 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 



GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 



At the head of the many varieties of the Horse stands the 

 equus caballus, or common horse. Although there are many 

 varieties of hoofed animals, the horse is distinguished from 

 other animals by having the quadrupedal phalanges united and 

 surrounded with a hoof, which does not admit of its grasping 

 any' thing. Hence these animals of the tribe ungulata, or 

 hoofed, having but one toe, belong to the tribe solipeda, or 

 single-hoofed. 



The original country of the horse cannot now with cer- 

 tainty be ascertained, although many naturalists think that 

 he is indigenous to most countries, for he is to be found in 

 different temperatures, and varying in size and utility. 



The precise time when this animal was first domesticated 

 is very uncertain. The sacred writings inform us, that, when 

 Jacob went into Egypt to procure corn, he sent up oxen, 

 camels, and asses. Chariots and horses, however, appear to 

 have been used by Pharaoh, when that prince lost his army 

 in the Red Sea. Greece, doubtless, amongst other things, 

 learned the art of subduing these animals from the Egyptians. 

 History informs us that horse and chariot races were highly 

 esteemed at their games, and Homer mentions them as early 

 as the Trojan war. Wild horses have been found in count- 

 less droves in the great plains of Tartary. Solomon, in his 

 traffic with foreign nations, would have obtained Arabian 

 horses, if in his day they had been as highly esteemed as 

 now; but we are told that Egypt furnished him. Mahomet, 

 at the commencement of his career, did not possess any cav- 

 alry. Indeed, we are credibly informed, that, when presents 

 were made to the Arabian princes, even as late as the fourth 

 century, horses were considered the most acceptable offering ; 

 from which circumstance we may conclude, that, however 

 superior the present breed of horses in that country may be, 

 the climate and industry have brought these animals to that 

 esteem in which they are at present held. The Romans, in 



