887 
E Q U U S. 
Iiave very beautiful horfes, of a fmall fiz.e : in fwiftnefs 
and beauty they nearly approach to tliofe of Arabia. 
The Arabian breed has fpread into Egypt, Turkey, and 
Perfia, where they are of great value. The celebrated 
Venetian traveller, Marco Paulo, relates, that he faw in 
Perfia a fluid confiding of ten thoufand white mares ; and, 
in one province of that'empire, a great number of very 
large and fleet horfes, whole hoofs were fo hard that they 
needed not to be fnod. The Turks alfo procure horfes 
from Hungary and Tartary, as well as from Arabia. The 
Tartars aflbeiate with their horfes with almoft as much 
familiarity as the Arabians; and make them an article of 
traffic. The Tartarian horfes are fo eafily fubfifted, that 
thole wandering people are enabled to take out vaft num¬ 
bers with them in their predatory excurlions. In the 
army of the chain, when De Tott accompanied him, 
there were no fewer than three hundred thoufand of thefe 
animals. Browne deferibes the horfes of Soudan in the 
kingdom of Fur, as numerous and tractable. The beft 
are bred in the country of Dongola, and by the Arabs to 
the eaft of the Nile. Thefe are perfeftly well formed, 
and full of fire. Their aftion is grand ; yet Browne 
fays they are not remarkable for bearing fatigue. The 
breeders of them are in the habit of feeding them with 
milk; and rarely, if ever, caflrate them ; nor are they 
ever (hod. 
The horfes of Arabia and Barbary are often brought 
into Europe; and through all the countries of the eaft 
they are highly prized. The horfes of India are of an 
inferior kind-, being fmall and fpiritlefs; the Arabian 
horfes are therefore much fought after in Hindooftan. 
The barbs have been moftly introduced into Italy and 
Spain. The Spanifh genette is much efteemed. This 
variety of the horfe is fmall, but beautifully fhaped, 
fpirited, and fwift. The Italian horfes are not in the 
fame eftimation in which they once were ; yet they are of 
a large fize, high fpirited, and move gracefully. The 
Danifli horfes are excellent for the draught. They are 
flout, but feldom elegant, or finely proportioned. They 
move well; and accordingly make good war horfes. They 
are often party-coloured ; fometimes ftreaked like the ty- 
ger, or fpotted like the leopard. The German horfes 
are originally of the Arabian and the Barbary breed ; 
but they are much degenerated. The Hungarian horfes 
are excellent both for the draught and thefaddle; but 
the Dutch horfes are moftly preferred on the continent 
for draught. 
.The Englifh horfes are at prefent efteemed through 
Europe, more perhaps than thofe of any other country. 
The attention paid, in our ifland, to the breed and cul¬ 
ture of this noble animal, and the vaft Aims expended on 
ftuds and horfe-races, have naturally produced this effeft. 
The inftances of fwiftnefs which the horfes of this ifland 
have difplayed at Newmarket, are almoft incredible. Nor 
are the horfes of this ifland lefs remarkable for ftrength, 
than for fwiftnefs. Thofe of Yorklhire, employed in 
conveying the manufaitures of that county, ufually carry 
a burden of 420 pounds. Our Britifh mill horfes often 
carry, at one load, the weight of 910 pounds. The im¬ 
provements made by the late Mr. Bakewell, of Difhley, 
in Leicefterftiire, in the ftrength and fymmetry of draught 
horfes, has rendered them at this time the beft in the 
■world. The horfes alfo on which our cavalry are mount¬ 
ed, are well known to be fuperior in ftrength and activity 
to thofe in the armies of every other nation in Europe. 
Under the Anglo-Saxon monarchy, it even appears that 
the Englifh horfes mud have been much efteemed by fo¬ 
reigners ; for there is a law of Athelftan, prohibiting their 
exportation, except when intended for prefents. Wales 
and the Highlands of Scotland ftill furnilh a breed of 
An all horfes, which are very hardy and patient of fatigue. 
It is remarkable that no horfe was found in America 
when firft difeovered ; and that even their prefent wild 
breed fprung from the flock carried there by Europeans. 
Why this excellent animal was denied to the new conti¬ 
nent, almoft: all regions of which are fo well adapted to his 
produftion and maintenance, is a difficulty not eaft 1 y folved. 
Whether they were, ab origine, indigenous 10 one particu¬ 
lar country, whence all parts elfc were fupplied ; or whe¬ 
ther common to many, and of different races, befitting the 
nature and circumftances of eacli country, is a queftion 
that will probably for ever remain undecided. Thus 
much conftant obfervation and experience have deter¬ 
mined, that the genus varies with foil and climate; that 
the horfes of warm climes and dry foils, are of the truefi: 
proportion, the fineft (kin, and the mod generous fpirit ; 
of courfe the fleeted and fitted: for the faddle : as we 
approach the north, we find them more robuft, and form¬ 
ed with very little fymmetry of fhape ; coarfe-haired, 
hardy, and flow, fitted for draught, and the more laborious 
purpofes of life ; that the fpecies will thrive, with proper 
care, in all habitable countries ; but Aicceed beft under 
the temperate'zones, and upon fruitful and grameniferous 
foils. For the qualifications and bed: forms of this noble 
animal ; age, breeding, ffioeing, anatomy, and external 
and internal blemifhes, difeafes, and beft means of cure, 
fee the article Farriery, vol. vii. with the numerous 
and elegant correfponding engravings of a complete dif- 
feftion of the horfe, throughout all its parts. 
2. Equus Hemionus, the Dshiggetai, or Wild Mulf.. 
This animal, deferibed by Dr. Pallas and Dr. Zimmer¬ 
man, and after them by Mr. Pennant, has received the 
Latin name of equus hemionus. By the Mongols it is called 
djkiggetai , which is faid to fignify the eared ; and by the 
Chinefe yo to t/c , the mule; not becaufe it is a mule, but 
becaufe it refembles one. It feems to have been known 
to the ancient naturalifts, Ariftotle, Theonhraftus, and 
Pliny. In fize and general appearance it nearly refembles 
the hybrid mule, the progeny of the horfe and the afs. 
Its head is rather large in proportion to the body; its 
forehead is flat, and becomes narrow towards the extre¬ 
mity of the nofe. Its ears are confiderably longer than 
thofe of the horfe ; they ftand ereft, and are lined with 
a thick coat of whitifh curling hair. Its neck is (lender 
and firm, not loofe and foft. The bread fwells forward, 
and is (harp. The limbs are long and finely fhaped ; the 
thighs thin, like thofe of the common mule. There is 
an oval callus within the fore legs, but none on the hinder 
legs. The hoofs are oblong, fmooth, and black. The 
tail refembles that of a cow : it is (lender, one half of it 
bare, but covered on the other half with long a(h-co- 
1011 red hairs. 
This animal changes its coat with the feafon. In win¬ 
ter, its hair is about two inches long, foft, like that of a 
camel, waved on the back ; and, on the fuperficies, of a 
grey colour, but under that, of a browniffi afli-colour. In 
Cummer, Hie hair is much Ihorter, beautifully fmooth, 
and marked here and there with hairy vortices. The 
extremity of the nofe is, at this time, white ; and from 
that part, up the front, the colour is nearly tawny. The 
buttock, the infide of the limbs, and the under part of 
the belly, are white. A blackiffi teftaceous line extends 
from the mane, along the ridge of the back, to the tail: 
this line becomes broader upon the loins, and narrowei! 
again as it approaches the tail. The upper part of the 
body is now of a light yellowifh grey colour, paler to¬ 
wards the fides. The body of this animal, between the 
tip of the nofe and the bafe of the tail, is fix feet feven 
inches long; the trunk of the tail meafures one foot four 
inches; the hairs depend about eight inches beyond the 
extremity of the trunk. The height of the animal is 
about three feet nine inches. 
The hemionus, or dffiiggetai, is mentioned by Ariftotle 
to have been found, in ancient times, in Syria. Pliny in¬ 
forms us, on the authority of Theophraftus, that it was 
then found likevvife in Cappadocia. This animal is no 
longer found in thofe countries ; but it is now known for 
an inhabitant of Dauuria, and the deferts between the 
rivers Onow and Argun, in the mod fouthern part of 
Siberia, of the extenlive plains and deferts of weftern 
Tartary, 
