The above cut is a good portrait of a mare bred bv 
Mr. M. Aldridge, of Wethersfield, Yt., and now own¬ 
ed by Mr. S. A. Gilbert, of East Hamilton, N. Y. 
Her sire was the well known horse “ Gifford Morgan.” 
She has great depth and capacity of chest, and remark¬ 
able muscular development, combined with justness of 
proportion, which gives her great bottom and power. 
She has naturally good action, and with mature age and 
proper training, will show speed enough to satisfy any 
reasonable man. She has great spirit and fire, but 
withal so much intelligence and gentleness, that a lady 
or child can safely drive her. 
HORSES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
The purposes to which the Roman horse seems to 
have been most commonly applied, were those of war 
and the chariot race. YirgiPs description of the war 
horse is particularly fine, and presents much of the 
liveliness and truth of a pictorial representation. 
“ If then the distant clang of arms he hears, 
He paws, he bounds, he pricks his listening ears, 
Quivering his joints, and snorting with desire, 
Within his nostril rolls the thickened fire; 
Adown his crest his locks recumbent stray— 
O’er his right blade the bushy honours play; 
His horny hoof upturns the hollow ground, 
And rings the air in grave and solid sound.” 
Pliny says that the ears discover the intention of a 
horse; and Buffon remarks, that when a horse walks, 
his ears point forward; when fatigued, they hang down; 
and when angry, one ear points forward, and another 
backward. Every horse, he adds, turns his ear to that 
side from which he hears a noise; and when struck from 
behind, he turns his ears backwards. The notion of fire 
rolling within his nostrils, is highly descriptive of the 
natural appearance of these organs when the animal 
neighs or is much excited. This is occasioned by the 
unusual flow of blood, which becomes distinctly visible 
through the fine membrane with which the nostrils are 
lined. The thickness of the mane is noticed both by 
Yarro and Columella. 
The training of the horse, both for war and the race, 
seems to have’ occupied much time and attention, and to 
have been conducted with a degree of skill which could 
not have been attained without considerable study and 
experience. The steed, says Yirgil, should first be ac¬ 
customed to see, without fear, the arms of the warrior 
in fight, and to endure the clangor of the trumpet, to 
listen to the bridles rattling in the stalls, and to hear 
the rumbling of the chariots over the ground. When 
yet a colt, he should be soothed by kindly tones from 
his master’s voice, and gently patted on the neck, till 
he comes to rejoice in being commended and flattered. 
At the beginning of his fourth year, he must be trained 
to run in the ring with measured pace, to bend his legs 
with ease, and to prance in “ changeful curves.” His 
speed must be gradually increased, till he seems to chal¬ 
lenge the wind as he flees with ardor through the level 
meadow, unconscious of his reins, skimming so lightly 
as scarcely to print the surface of the sand. 
After having been thus trained, the poet directs that 
the animal should be plentifully fed with corn and other 
fodder, until the body becomes large and robust; but, 
he remarks, if pampered with corn before being trained, 
he will become high-mettled, and will, even, though 
held, rebel against the lash and the curb. Nothing, he 
farther remarks, will more improve the strength of the 
males, than to keep them apart from the females. 
Heaves —Although there is no remedy for severe cases 
of heaves, yet horses maybe so far relieved that they 
may appear to be cured, while under good management 
