DOMESTICATED MAMMALS OF THE FARM 107 
obstinate to be manageable. His back was a natural saddle, 
behind the sloping shoulder blades, and his well-knit frame 
was well braced and fitted for carrying a rider easily His 
rounded muscular hams gave power to his hind legs and made 
them efficient organs of propulsion. His lengthened foot 
bones gave length of stride. His solid hoofs were well 
cushioned and admirably adapted for 
travel over solid ground. His gait was 
more easy and graceful than that of any 
other beast of burden. The structure of 
his mouth would seem to have invited the 
use of a bridle-bit for his guidance and 
control. The whole horse invited a rider; 
and doubtless many a savage youth, who 
had captured an orphaned colt and reared 
it by hand, felt moved to accept the invi- 7-31, The Pleasure 
tation. At first he doubtless rode bare- 
back, and with only a cord halter for control. Later, 
he invented a saddle and a bridle. To a strong horse, 
the weight of grown man is a lightsome burden. The 
saddle is not a symbol of labor, but of a pleasure that 
is mutual. The two participants seem complemental. 
The trained horse and the skilful rider make a unit in 
action: they make up such a powerful creature as the 
mythical Centaur was intended to portray. In the long 
struggles of past centuries during which incessant wars were 
waged in hand to hand encounter, the mounted soldier had a 
tremendous advantage. The horse lent him swiftness 
and strength and momentum in attack, and advantage of 
position in the fray. The mounted soldiery of the Aryan 
and Semitic peoples enabled them to overrun the earth. 
As the wealth of a people was measured of old by its herds 
of cattle, so its power was measured by its multitudes of war 
horses. All ancient art and literature testify abundantly to 
