30 THE HORSE 



docile, good-constitutioned race ; but, like Eastern horses in 

 general, nature must not be interfered with, for geldings 

 are only too prone to lose their natural characteristics. 

 When subjected to a surgeon's knife they become timid 

 creatures, apt to shy whether there is reason or no. 

 Amongst many good qualities they have splendid bone, with 

 excellent hocks and knees ; and when I first lived in Spain 

 nothing struck me more than the splendid limbs almost 

 every animal had. They are capital hacks, bend the knees, 

 and flex the hocks well, and seldom make a false step ; they 

 walk and trot well, but galloping is not one of their paces, 

 unless they are crossed with Eastern or English blood. 

 They are low in stature, especially in Andalusia, but still 

 they are lengthy, and are "horses," not " ponies," and the 

 want of size is chiefly attributable to the arid nature of 

 their country during the long summer, when no rain falls 

 for months, and food is therefore difficult to obtain. Their 

 sure-footedness is remarkable, over ground worse even than 

 the most rugged parts of Dartmoor, as any one hunting 

 with the Calpe Hunt, either in the cork-woods or amongst 

 the " craigs," will cordially endorse. When stabled their 

 food is barley and chopped straw, and on this they thrive 

 and do well. It used to be an interesting sight to watch an 

 Andalusian farmer winnowing his grain. Some hard 

 ground having been selected, droves of mares, many in foal, 

 were tied in a long line by their necks, as many as thirty 

 sometimes being in one string, and then they were driven 

 round and round, hour after hour, over piles of barley straw 

 laid on the ground. Often the mares had sharp shoes on 

 their fore-feet to assist in breaking up the straw into little 

 bits and treading out the grain, and this was the only use 

 the mares were generally ever put to. At other times they 

 ran in large droves, and in the spring of the year stallions 

 were turned out amongst them. 



As soon as the straw was adjudged to have been broken 

 up sufficiently, and all the grain had been, detached, the 

 mares were withdrawn ; and the next process was to cast 

 the dusty mass high into the air with shovels when a brisk 

 breeze was blowing, which quickly blew away the dust 



