12 
ORIENTAL BLOOD OF HORSES, kc. 
The Crusades also established a communication with the 
East for a considerable time. Christian princes occupied the 
thrones of Jerusalem, Nicea, and Chypri; the first families of 
France, England, and Germany, even kings themselves, flocked 
to these holy wars. 
The inva>sions of the conqueror Tsengiskan, from the circum¬ 
stance of his dragging after him the armies of every people he 
had subdued, were attended with the transplantation and general 
mingling of the Asiatic breeds: Indian, Persian, Arabian, &c. 
became diffused over Asia, thereby perfectionating the indige¬ 
nous Asiatic race. 
Batoukan, his grandson, in 1621 made incursions into Po¬ 
land, Hungary, and Silesia. This Tartarian invasion, followed 
by SO many others, particularly that of Islam-Guezal, at the 
head of three hundred thousand Tartars, in 1649, has furnished 
Poland with great numbers of foreign horses; and the more so 
since it was the custom of the Tartars, when they went to war, 
to lead each of them a spare horse. This then is the epoch 
from which we may reckon the generalization and amelioration 
of the Asiatic blood among the native horses of the south of 
Poland; as well as part of Hungary : moreover, Poland, from 
the numerous connections, both fortunate and unfortunate, it 
has had with Turkey, has improved its breed by the introduc¬ 
tion of a great number of oriental horses. Anciently, Poland 
commerced with Persia over Caucasus, through the medium 
of the Armenians, and obtained thereby both horses and arms. 
Above all, the Poles have been from time immemorial horse¬ 
men, and have procured at great expense the finest stallions. 
The last war Russia had with Turkey introduced into Po- 
dolia and Ukraine upwards of eight hundred stallions. 
England, a country that, on account of the excellence of its 
horses, may be called the Arabia of Europe, possesses breeds of 
pure Arabian blood, which by a cross with what are known as 
the Royal Mares, imported by King James from Barbary, 
give rise to that noble race of thorough-bred horses in blood 
and form the same as the Arab : these animals however are 
delicate and subject to windgalls; a circumstance attributable 
to the humidity of the atmosphere and the luxuriance of 
the pasturage. 
Journal de Med, Veter, et Compar, Cahier d’Aout, 1827. 
