370 
THE EDUCATION OF THE HORSE. 
“ Downwards the horse his head and shoulders bent, 
To give his rider a more free ascent.” 
We entertained an idea, until lately, that this latter method of 
mounting horses was one of a more modern invention; but we 
find that 
“ To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, 
And witch the world with noble horsemanship,” 
was practised by the Greeks with as much skill as by Monsieur 
Ducrow himself; as among the several titles and appellations of 
horsemen, most of which were derived from the variety of their 
armour or different methods of fighting, that of ApqwTroiy te some¬ 
times by mistake,” says Potter, “ called awn-wo*,” were such as 
for conveniency had two horses, on which they rode by turns, 
leaping from one to the other at full gallop, as appears from 
Homer's mentioning it. 
— - 0 tfAWtSov U<7(pet}< E? utiu 
Qguaxuv abhor s7T* aMov ol <$e nirovrcti. 
“ Nor docs he ever fall, tho’ at full speed 
The leap from one upon the other steed.” 
The bold and animated language of the Theban bard has immor¬ 
talized both the horse and the rider at the Olympic games. 
Through all Greece, individuals made a study and a merit of 
breeding the species of horses proper for the course, and pre¬ 
pared and brought them into the lists at the public games. So¬ 
vereigns frequently ranked themselves among the competitors for 
the prizes ; and it is said that Philip, king of Macedon, felt more 
pleasure at having gained a victory at the Olympic games, than 
at hearing, almost at the same instant, that one of his generals 
had defeated the Illyrians, and his wife Olympias was brought 
to bed of a son,—the celebrated Alexander. 
Horse-racing has a high beneficial tendency in improving the 
breed of horses in every country; for it is beyond a doubt, that 
to turf sports we owe the general superiority of the horses of this 
kingdom over those of our continental neighbours; a circum¬ 
stance of vast importance in war, and of no little consequence in 
commercial enterprize. 
The Romans acquired the art of horsemanship from the Gre¬ 
cians ; and they cultivated it with such zeal and assiduity, that 
they soon rivalled their teachers. 
Virgil, an authority we have often before quoted, has shewn as 
much skill in his precepts for breaking and educating, as he has 
in the breeding of horses. We could give either Dryden’s or 
Sotheby’s poetical translation; but we prefer the simple prose. 
