30 THE HORSE. 



to exert his utmost speed, which he could not do with the mass of 

 provender in his stomach which is carried by the cow or sheep. 

 The same provision is shown in the udder of the mare, which is 

 not larger than that of the goat or sheep. 



All these several characteristics of the horse will be more mi- 

 nutely considered under the different heads to which they each 

 belong ; but they are here grouped together to give a better general 

 idea of the animal which is under examination. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE HORSES OF THE EAST. 



The Barb — The Egyptian Horse — The Horses of Dongola and 

 Abyssinia — Other African Horses — The Modem Arab — The 

 Persian Horse — The Turkish Horse — Other Asiatic Horses — 

 The Australian Horse. 



For the following descriptions gf Oriental varieties of 

 the horse I am indebted to the accounts of travellers, having only 

 seen one or two of them, and those only as single specimens, with 

 the exception of the Arab. 



THE BARB. 



This kind is named after the country in which it is found, 

 which is rather an extensive one, comprehending' the states of 

 Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Fez, and Morocco, all lying on the northern 

 coast of Africa to the west of Egypt. Vegetation is very luxu- 

 rious in the valleys watered by the streams which descend from 

 the Atlas Mountains in their course to the Mediterranean, and 

 grass is abundant in the early spring and autumn, but in the 

 summer season the great heat burns it all up ; and therefore the 

 horse is dependent upon the care of man for fodder during a great 

 part of the year. Berenger describes the true Barb as follows : — 



" The fore-hand is long, slender, and badly furnished with 

 mane ; but the neck rises distinctly and boldly out of the withers ; 

 the head is small and lean ; ears, of good size, and well placed ; 

 shoulders, light, obliquely sloping, and broad ; withers, thin and 

 high ; loins, straight and short ; flanks and ribs, round, and well 

 developed; haunches, strong; croup, somewhat too long; quar- 

 ters, muscular and full; legs, clean, and the tendons clearly marked 

 and separate from the bone; pasterns, somewhat too long and 

 slanting; feet, sound and of good shape. In size they are lower 

 than the Arabs, seldom measuring more than fourteen and a half 



