AND Ills VARIOUS BREEDS. 
589 
races, though ancient, have been mixed with plebeian blood on either 
the male or dam side. They are still deemed noble, but mis-allied. 
The last class comprehends common horses, which are sold at a low 
price, while the two former sorts are exceedingly dear; the lowest 
priced mares of the first class being worth 500 French crowns, and 
some fetching four, five, or even six thousand livres. 
When a mare drops her foal, a certificate is drawn up and signed 
in the presence of an authority, and this voucher is given with the 
animal, like the deeds of an estate when it is sold. The Arab 
dwells in tents, and has no stable: but there is scarcely one, how 
poor soever he may be, that is not provided with a horse. He 
never beats it, but uses it gently and treats it as a friend. It is as 
much a part of his household as his wife and children, and is shel¬ 
tered in the same tent. It is as familiar and domesticated as a pig in 
an Irish cabin, but, unlike “Juliana the cratur,” it is never sacri¬ 
ficed to furnish the rint. The Arab dresses his horse most care¬ 
fully twice a-day—he washes his legs, mane, and tail, which he 
never cuts, and but seldom combs, lest it should thin the hair. 
The mane of a foal is sometimes clipped, when about eighteen 
months old, in order to promote its strength. 
He seldom feeds his horse during the day, but allows it to drink 
once or twice. The parching heat of their sandy soil may account 
for this peculiar treatment. At sunset they hang a bag at the 
horse’s head, in which is a certain quantity of clean barley. He 
is turned out to pasture in March, at which period the mares are 
given to the stallion. When the spring is over they take them 
from pasture, and they have neither grass nor hay during the rest of 
the year. Barley is their staple food, with, now and then, a little 
straw. 
If we consult the ancients on the nature and qualities of the 
horses in different countries, we learn that the Grecian horses, 
particularly those of Thessaly, made excellent chargers. Those of 
Achaia were the largest that were known. The most beautiful 
came from Egypt, and were bred there in large numbers. The 
horses of Ethiopia were not in esteem, from the heat of the 
country. Arabia furnished beautiful and swift horses. Those of 
Italy, and especially of Apulia, were good. In Sicily, Cappadocia, 
Syria, Armenia, Media, and Persia, there were excellent horses, 
e(jually esteemed for speed and vigour. Those of Sardinia and 
Corsica, though small, were spirited and courageous; those of 
Spain, like the Parthian horses, were adapted for war. In Walla- 
chia and Transylvania there were horses with bushy tails and 
manes hanging to the ground, nevertheless swift and active. The 
Danish horses were good leapcu’s. Those of Scandinavia, though 
small, were well shaped and jKissessed of great agility. The Plan- 
