426 



COMMON HORSE. 



never of a bad colour. The ancients appear to have 

 had a predilection for white horses, which were 

 used to draw the cars of emperors and conquerors 

 in public processions. The poets also represent 

 the steeds of many of their heroes as of a snow- 

 white colour ^. In our own country there seem 

 to be no breeds of horses naturally of a perfect 

 white ; those which are so termed having been 

 first grey, changed through age to whiteness. 



The most beautiful general colour seems to be 

 bright bay, which gives an air of peculiar neat- 

 ness and elegance to the animal. Black horses 

 are commonly of large size, and in this country 

 are chiefly used for the cart and the plough. In 

 some countries horses are not the less esteemed 

 for being variegated or piebald, as it is commonly 

 termed. This is said to be the case in China. 



Mr. Bruce informs us, that the Horses of Nu- 

 bia are of unparalleled beauty ; far superior, in his 

 opinion, even to those of Arabia. He observes, 

 however, that from the manner in which they are 

 fed, they are apt to become too fat or corpulent. 



In some parts of India is found a remarkably 

 diminutive race of Horses, scarcely exceeding the 

 size of a large dog. Small breeds of Horses also 

 occur in some of the northern parts of the world. 



* It is remarkable that Virgil, though in the ^neid he repre- 

 sents the horses of Turnus as white, yet in his Georgics condemns 

 that colour. In reality, however, as the learned Dr. Martyn has 

 well observed, this implies no contradiction; since Virgil might be 

 supposed to admire the beauty of a white steed, though he could 

 not commend the colour in a breed or stock , 



