avery's own farrier. 33 



Egypt. It also decides another point, that Arabia, by 

 whose breed of horses those of other countries have been 

 so much improvred, was not the native place of the horse; 

 for six hundred years after the time just referred to,there 

 were no horses in Arabia. 



Solomon imported silver, gold and spices, from 

 Arabia (2 Chron. ix, 14), but all the horses for his own 

 cavalry and chariots, he procured from Egypt (2 Chron, 

 i, 17). In this place it is mentioned that a horse brought 

 from Egypt cost 150 shekels of silver, which amounts to 

 something over seventeen pounds sterling, or a little over 

 eighty-five dollars, American currency; which was con- 

 sidered an enormous sum for those days. 



A writer (Goodrich, if I mistake not) thus says, '' that 

 horse of Arabia and the southern parts of Europe, are 

 clearly derived from Egypt; but whether they were bred 

 there or imported from the southwestern regions of Asia, 

 or, as is more probably the case, brought from the inte- 

 rior or northern coasts of Africa, can not with certainty 

 be determined." 



The first horse-race, of which we have any account, 

 dates back to Greece, eight hundred and eighty-four 

 years before Christ. The first trotting park on record 

 was in Italy, built by Tarquinius Prisons. According to 

 Pliny, it was oblong, three and a half furlongs long, and 

 had rows of seats all around, raised one above the other, 

 suflScient to accommodate 300,000 persons. A race 

 usually consisted of seven rounds, equal to seven or eight 

 miles. Competitors in these games were disciplined for 

 ten months previous. The honor of having gained a 



