SOME FOREIGN BREEDS 145 



cavalry, are bred in the country lying between the 

 Volga and the Ural, and stand about 15 hands in 

 height. Kirghiz horses, on the other hand, are 

 smaller, seldom exceeding 14^ hands, and are 

 reared in the steppes to the north-east of the 

 Caspian. 



The horses of Turkey can scarcely be said to 

 form a distinct breed at the present day, being 

 derived proximately from the ancient brown stock 

 of Armenia, which itself originally came from 

 Northern Asia, by crossing with Arab blood, which 

 soon gained the predominance. Colonel Hamilton 

 Smith ^ writes that "they have, from the ancient 

 Turkoman blood, a tendency to Roman-nosed 

 chaffrons and ewe-necks, but the head is finely 

 set on ; they are delicate, have very tender and 

 irritable skins ; but also they are docile, and grace- 

 ful like gazelles." 



Before proceeding to notice some of the modern 

 Asiatic breeds, other than Arabs, a few lines may 

 be devoted to the early history of domesticated 

 horses in the countries at the eastern end of the 

 Mediterranean. With the exception of a solitary 

 reference in Isaiah to their employment in threshing 

 corn, horses are mentioned in the Bible only in 

 connection with military operations. In Syria and 

 Palestine they appear to have been unknown before 

 the time of David ; but at that date they were used 



^ Naturalist' s Library, Horses^ 2nd ed. p. 232. 



K 



