Horses.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



103 



is most frequent in the island of Java. The 

 Javanese poney is generally larger than that of 

 Sumatra, and has more the form of a horse, is more 

 temperate, but less gay and handsome. Two dis- 

 tinct races may be described — that, of the plains, and 

 that of the mountains. The first of these is some- 

 what coarse, somewhat sluggish in disposition, and 

 so large as occasionally to reach the height of 

 thirteen hands and an inch. The second is small 

 and hardy, and, as in the case of the kuningan, a 

 breed in the interior of Cheribon, sometimes very 

 handsome. The horse is used in Java for the saddle, 

 and as a beast of burden, but never by the natives 

 in agricultural labour or any species of draught. 

 Europeans use them extensively in their carriages, 

 and on the level and well-constructed roads of Java 

 the traveller is conveyed at the rate of twelve and 

 even fifteen miles an hour in a carriage drawn by 

 four of these little animals. We must take this oppor- 

 tunity, however, to remark that, there is no advantage 

 whatever in the employment of this diminutive 

 breed of cattle. A pair of good English post-horses 

 will go a stage of fifteen miles on such roads as those 

 of Java without difficulty. To perform the same 

 distance in a carriage of the same weight requires 

 twelve Javanese poneys. One horse therefore is 

 equal to six poneys, and as at the utmost, a full- 

 grown horse will not consume above double the 

 food of a poney, the charge of maintaining him, in 

 proportion to the work he is capable of performing, 

 is no more than one third. 



The horse, but of a very inferior breed, is found 

 on the islands of Bali and Lombok. Passing over 

 these, we come to the island of Sambawa, which 

 produces two different races — those of Tamboro 

 and Bima. The last, especially those of Gunong 

 Api, are by far the handsomest breed of the Archi- 

 pelago, and are extensively exported. The Bima 

 poneys possess strength, symmetry, and beauty : and 

 at first appearance bear some resemblance to the 

 Arab. Upon a closer examination, however, it does 

 not appear that they are entitled to be considered 

 as possessed of the qualities designated blood in the 

 language of the turf, and which is only to be found 

 in the Arab, and his descendant — the English race- 

 horse. The limbs indeed . exhibit this character, 

 but, it is wanting in the sldn and coat, which are 

 thick and harsh, and it is not even present in the 

 shape and expression of the head, although very 

 pretty. 



Alter passing Sambawa, the horse is traced to 

 Flores, Sandal-wood Island, and Timor; but no- 

 where farther to the east, being unknown in the 

 Moluccas, New Guinea, and the neighbouring 

 islands. Next to Java, the horse is found in the 

 greatest abundance on the island of Celebes. Upon 

 the whole, we consider this to be the best breed of 

 the Archipelago. In the great island of Borneo 

 the horse is found only in its north-eastern extremity 

 opposite to the Suluk cluster, where also, asw-ell as 

 in the group of the Philippine islands, it is frequent. 

 The Philippine poney bears some resemblance to 

 that of Celebes, but, judging from the specimens 

 we have seen, is somewhat larger than this, and in 

 figure and beauty inferior to the breeds of Sambawa, 

 Java, and Sumatra. We do not imagine that, it 

 contains any admixture of the Spanish blood, 

 although this has been suspected. 



Within the Archipelago, as in other parts of the 

 world, the colour of the horse is singularly connected 

 with quality, temper, and locality. The prevailing 

 colour of the Achin poneys is piebald, which be- 

 comes rarer and rarer as we proceed eastward. A 

 Bima poney of this colour is as rarely seen as a black 

 Arab. The prevailing colour of the Batta poney is 

 bay and mouse-colour. In Java the best horses are 

 those of the most prevalent colours, viz., bays and 

 greys ; the roan and mouse-coloured horses are very 

 generally good. The worst colours are black and 

 chestnut. The Javanese have such a dislike to the 

 latter colour, that chestnut horses are not permitted 

 to appear at their public tournaments. Bays, greys, 

 and duns are the best and most frequent colours in 

 the Bima poneys. Blacks and chestnuts are not 

 frequent, but they are not considered inferior. 

 Greys and bays prevail amongst the poneys of Ce- 

 lebes and the Philippines, nearly to the exclusion of 

 all others. 



In the plains of Celebes wild herds of horses 

 exist, doubtless the descendants of a domesticated 

 stock. 



During the dominion of the Romans in Britain it 

 is very probable that some modification in the 

 characters of the British horse would -result from its 

 admixture with other breeds imported by the con- 

 querors from Italy, Gaul, and Spain ; but to what 

 extent this took place we have no means of ascer- 

 taining. At a subsequent period, during the Saxon 

 sway, it would appear that a fine breed existed in 

 our island : for we find that Athelstan (a.d. 930) 

 forbade the exportation of horses under any circum- 

 stances, except as presents to monarchs, wdience it 

 may be concluded that the English horse was then 



valued on the Continent. Besides endeavouring to 

 preserve the native breed, Athelstan endeavoured 

 to improve it, and received several German running- 

 horses, that is, horses formed for speed, from Hugh 

 Capet of France. 



The Norman Conquest was productive of changes 

 in the English breed, resulting from the introduc- 

 tion of the Spanish horse by some of the barons on 

 the estates they had acquired by the right of the 

 sword. The Crusades brought the English into con- 

 tact with the spirited horses of Arabia and Syria ; 

 and there is little doubt that some were brought to 

 our country. Two horses of Eastern origin, and 

 purchased at Cyprus, were possessed by Richard 

 Coeur-de-Lion, and are celebrated as unequalled for 

 speed: most probably they were not adapted for the 

 tournament, or the shock of battle, or the weight of 

 a knight cased in a heavy mail. 



In the reign of John, who, as Rapin observes, 

 scarcely possessed one valuable qualification, chosen 

 horses were introduced by his direction from Flan- 

 ders, for the purposes of improving the breed of 

 draught horses; and that monarch himself accu- 

 mulated a stud of the most superb horses to be 

 found. 



During subsequent reigns Spanish barbs, Lom- 

 bardy war-horses, and heavy Flanders horses, were 

 obtained ; and thus gradually three sets or breeds 

 of horses became established, exclusive of the 

 poney, which, time immemorial, has inhabited the 

 mountains of Wales and Scotland, and the Shetland 

 Islands. 



Of these breeds, one was the war-horse, fitted 

 to bear a warrior clad in heavy armour, oppressive 

 to the wearer, but more to the horse, which was 

 also to a great degree protected in the same man- 

 ner. Its principal requisite was strength and .en- 

 durance, not, however, to the exclusion of a certain 

 degree of fieetness : it probably resembled the 

 coach-horse of the present day, and was a powerful 

 animal, of high action and great spirit. Besides 

 this stalwart breed, there was evidently a lighter 

 race, fitted for ordinary purposes, of moderate 

 stature, fleet, yet strong, and capable of under- 

 going fatigue. Horses of this kind were termed 

 running-horses: they were used as hackneys, for 

 travelling, and also for running races, a sport prac- 

 tised at Smithfield as early as the time of Henry II., 

 though racing cannot be said to have been then in 

 its palmy days. It was in the reign of Henry VIII., 

 and especially of Elizabeth, that regular race- 

 meetings were established at Chester, Stamford, 

 and elsewhere ; gradually a passion for the sport 

 increased, and in the reign of James I., who en- 

 couraged racing both in England and Scotland, it 

 assumed a more definite character, and became 

 conducted according to fixed regulations. The 

 breed appropriated to this sport, originally selected 

 for speed, now became improved by Arab, Turkish, 

 and Barbary admixture. James I. introduced the 

 Arab, and purchased one of great celebrity for the 

 then enormous sum of 500Z. In the time of 

 Charles I., Turkish and Barbary horses were ob- 

 tained, and also in the reign of Charles II. It was 

 in the reign of Queen Anne that the celebrated 

 Darley Arabian, bred in the deserts of Palmyra, 

 was introduced, and which may be regarded as the 

 progenitor of the most celebrated of our modern 

 racing stock. He was the sire of Flying Childers. 

 At a subsequent period, Lord Godolphin's barb, 

 generally called the Godolphin Arabian, contributed 

 to the celebrity of the English racer. From these 

 and from other Eastern horses, which might also 

 be enumerated, have descended a stock unequalled 

 by any in the world for spirit and fieetness. Such, 

 then, is the more than half Oriental origin of our 

 racer ; but while this stock was thus rising out of 

 the old English running-horse, that breed itself 

 partook of the improvement, and we have now the 

 half-blood saddle-horse and the three-parts-blood 

 hunter. 



The third breed of the olden days was hea- 

 vier and slower than the war-horse, and used for 

 the purposes of draught. This breed, overlooked 

 by the nobles, would necessarily vary in qualities 

 as circumstances might influence it; but in pro- 

 portion as the war-horse and hackney improved, so, 

 indirectly, would the old cart-horse become ele- 

 vated into the Cleveland bay, the Suffolk punch, 

 and the huge Lincolnshire black. 



The Suffolk punch is now seldom seen pure, 

 being much crossed with other breeds. The Cleve- 

 land bay is confined principally to Durham and 

 Yorkshire. The Lincolnshire black exceeds all in 

 size, and is a noble and massive animal. Its per- 

 fection is to be attributed to the Flanders horse ; 

 and it is of this admirable mixed breed that the 

 teams in the brewers' and distillers' carts in London 

 are chiefly composed. No one can behold them 

 without being struck with their appearance. Their 

 strength is prodigious, and many stand seventeen 

 hands in height. 

 From the varied stocks of horses which we now 



possess within the limits of our own island, by selec- 

 tion and judicious admixture, may be acquired 

 breeds modified to suit every purpose of use or 

 luxury, from the racer to the serviceable roadster, 

 from the. splendid carriage-horse to the farmer's 

 hard-working servant. 



When we look at the elephantine dray-horse, and 

 the Welsh and Shetland poneys, the transition with 

 respect to size is so great, that we are almost 

 startled by the comparison, and wonder that such a 

 difference, can exist between two individuals of the 

 same specie,s. 



Wales and the Shetland Isles have been ever 

 celebrated for miniature horses of £reat beauty, 

 spirit, strength, and hardiness. The Welsh poney is 

 often a model : a small head, high withers, a deep 

 yet round body, short joints, flat legs, and small 

 round hoofs, characterise him ; his ears are small, 

 his eyes full and animated, and his actions are free 

 and vigorous. 



The Shetland poney is still less in size than the 

 Welsh, and is often very handsome, but the shoul- 

 ders are usually low and thick ; the limbs, however, 

 are well knit, and the strength of the animal in pro- 

 portion to its size is astonishing. In 1831 we mea- 

 sured a poney of the Shetland breed of very small 

 dimensions, but of great beauty. Its height at the 

 withers was only thirty-four inches ; its length, from 

 between the ears to the insertion of the tail, follow- 

 ing the curve of the neck and back, four feet two 

 inches. 



Poneys of different degrees of value range the 

 New Forest, Exmoor, and the Highlands of Scotland, 

 but much attention is not paid to their breeding. 



We have already stated that at a very early 

 period the horse was employed in Egypt, both for 

 the saddle and in drawing" chariots. Among the 

 very interesting series of Egyptian paintings in the 

 British Museum is one (see Fig. 460) representing 

 in the upper compartment a pair of horses yoked 

 to a light chariot, of which one (the foreground 

 horse) is black ; the other, of which the head, limbs, 

 and tail are partially shown, is red. In the lower 

 compartment are also a pair of horses, as most 

 suppose, of a pale milk colour, attached to a chariot : 

 one is about to eat or drink from a vessel before it. 

 This chariot or car is perhaps intended to carry the 

 sheaves of corn which a reaper is cutting. It has 

 been observed that the tails of these horses appear 

 as if shaved, with a tuft left at the end ; but we are 

 inclined to think the animals are intended as mules, 

 not horses, both from this appearance of the tail, 

 and from the marked difference in the contour 

 between them and the horses of the upper compart- 

 ment, which cannot be mistaken. The chariot 

 they are yoked to is a war-chariot, the form of 

 which is more definitely given at Fig. 455, and 

 which will convey a clear idea of the chariots with 

 which Pharaoh pursued the Israelites, or of that, to 

 which Achilles lashed the body of Hector before the 

 walls of Troy. 



It is remarkable that though there was a mounted 

 cavalry in Egypt, and that Solomon's horsemen 

 were mounted on trained Egyptian horses, there is 

 but one representation of a man on horseback in 

 the whole range of the sculptured and painted an- 

 tiquities of that country. The copy, Fig. 465, will 

 be regarded with interest: the animal in all its 

 points is an Arab. 



At what period the Arabs began to employ the 

 horse is not very clear; certainly not till a compa- 

 ratively late era, nor, as far as we are aware, is 

 it known whence they obtained their breed. May 

 it not be descended from the stock of Egypt, with 

 which Solomon replenished his stables? Accord- 

 ing to Burckhardt, there are three breeds of horses 

 at "the present day in Syria — the true Arab breed, 

 the' Turkman, and the Kourdy, which last is a 

 mixture of the two former. The Turkman horses, 

 from their superior size and more martial appear- 

 ance, displaying when dressed the Turkish trappings 

 to the greatest advantage, are preferred by the 

 Osmanlis to the Arab horses. They are trained to 

 walk gracefully, to set off suddenly at full speed, to 

 turn with the gentlest touch, and to stop short in- 

 stantaneously. 



The Arabian horses are of more slender make, 

 and less showy in appearance than the Turkman, 

 but they are beautifully limbed, more hardy, and 

 much fleeter. The esteem in which the Arabs 

 hold them, the scrupulous eare taken to preserve 

 the purity of the breeds, and the reluctance with 

 which the Arabs part with their mares, are circum- 

 stances frequently noticed by travellers. The Rev. 

 V. Monro, in his 'Summer's Ramble in Syria,' 

 relates that on the visit to the river Jordan, one of 

 the Arab escort, " a great ruffian, was mounted on 

 a white mare of great beauty ; her large fiery eye 

 gleamed from the edge of an open forehead, and 

 her exquisite little head was finished with a pout- 

 ing lip and expanded nostrils ; her ribs, thighs, and 

 shoulders were models of make, with more bone 

 than commonly belongs to the Syrian Arab, and 



