THE HORSE AND ITS HISTORIANS 



If we consider its antiquity as a domesticated 

 animal, and its great utility to man — greater, per- 

 haps, than that of any other species — it is not 

 surprising that the horse should have furnished a 

 theme for writers in all ages and in every civilised 

 country. The works which have been written on 

 its natural history, anatomy, and physiology ; its 

 dentition, diseases, and cures ; its use and treat- 

 ment in relation to agriculture, cavalry, hunting, 

 and racing; with treatises innumerable on equita- 

 tion, breaking, training, and stable management ; 

 bits and bridles, saddles, and harness of every 

 description — would form a library of no mean pro- 

 portions. And should anyone feel disposed to 

 collect all the works which have been written 

 relating to the horse, he would have to provide 

 shelf room for at least 4000 volumes. 



I have been at the pains to count the titles 

 quoted in the most recent bibliography on the 

 subject, ^ and find that, exclusive of editions and 

 translations, there have appeared, since the days of 

 Xenophon (b.c. 380) down to the issue of the 

 volumes on Hunting and Racinsf in the "Bad- 



1 Works on Horses and Equitation : a Bibliographical Record 

 of Hippology. By F. H. Huth. Sm. 4to, pp. 440. London : 

 Quaritch, 1888. 



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