ATHENIANS FOND OF HORSE RACING 51 



into Greece has not been ascertained for certain, 

 but the fact that fossilised remains of horses have 

 not been found in Greece as they have been in 

 many other countries leads to the belief that the 

 horse was not indigenous to the country. 



From a very remote period, however, we find 

 horses represented on vase paintings ; and from 

 these paintings too we are able practically to 

 prove that the Greeks had not rowels in their 

 primitive spurs, but that the spur consisted of a 

 short goad attached to the heel of the boot by 

 means of a strap passing over the instep and 

 another that passed under the sole, almost as the 

 modern hunting spur is strapped on. Spurs of 

 this kind have been discovered in Olympia, also 

 in Magna Grsecia, and elsewhere. 



With regard to the Greek bits and bridles of a 

 later date, the former apparently had no leverage 

 — certainly they had no curb chain — while the 

 pattern of the bridle seems to have remained 

 unaltered. 



As we come nearer still to the time of Christ, we 

 find the young men of Athens growing fonder and 

 fonder of horse racing and taking more pains and 

 spending much time and money in their attempts 

 to improve the breed of horses. And though 

 the soil of Attica was by no means adapted 



