THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 105 



of an iron constitution ; proof alike against the se- 

 verest cold, and the most burning heat, and capable 

 of living, in a constant exposure to every kind of 

 weather, without the shelter even of a bush. 



It must be a matter of indifference to him whether 

 he makes his bed at night among the wet grass, or 

 upon the naked earth, baked for twelve hours by an 

 almost vertical sun. In the coldest weather he can 

 seldom hope for the shelter of a roof ; and though the 

 hot winds blow upon him like the blast of a furnace, 

 and his skin cracks with very dryness, yet he must 

 pass the greater part of his day in the saddle, ready 

 at every instant to gallop off in pursuit of a stray 

 steed, or to fly to the rescue of a young foal attacked 

 by a ravenous wolf. The shepherd and the herdsman 

 carry their houses with them. Their large wagons, 

 that always accompany them on their wanderings, 

 afford shelter from the weather, and a warm nest at 

 night ; but these are luxuries the tabunshick must 

 not even dream of. His charges are much too lively 

 to be left to their own guidance. His thousand horses 

 are not kept together in as orderly and disciplined a 

 fashion as those of a regiment of dragoons ; and it 

 may be doubted whether an adjutant of cavalry has 

 to ride about as much, and to give as many orders, on 

 a day of battle, as a tabunshick on the quietest day 

 that he spends in the Steppe. When on duty, a tabun- 

 shick scarcely ever quits the back of his steed. He 

 6* 



