THE HORSE. 
Vlll 
HISTORY. 
an instant. The following singular story is related by Mr Rolle, a gentleman of Devonshire:—A certain person of rank con¬ 
ceived the cruel idea of tiring out a favourite hunter. After a long chase in the forenoon he dined, mounted the horse again, took 
him to the hills, and galloped him furiously, until the faithful creature had nearly sunk down from exhaustion. On his being 
brought to the stable the groom shed tears at seeing the condition of his poor favourite. The rider himself, some time afterwards, 
came into the stable, but the insulted horse, languishing and overcome as he was, sprung upon the wretch, and, but for the 
attendants, would have put him to death. Even harsh language used to a horse in the stall will cause his pulse to rise many 
beats in the minute. 
The Horse is susceptible of the feelings of pride and rivalry. In triumphal processions and displays of parade, he manifests 
distinctly the pleasure which he feels in his gay and glittering caparisons. In the race course, the spectators are able to observe 
the ardour of the rival horses, the impatience with which they wait the moment of starting, the spirit with which they press 
onward in the contest of speed. It is manifestly less the terrors of the whip and spur, than the passions which the contest itself 
engenders, that call forth the exertion of the animals’ powers. When the struggle reaches the crisis, life or death seems to depend 
on victory. A fine horse called Forester, known on the turf as having been the victor in many well-contested races, found him¬ 
self on one occasion closely matched by a younger rival. The latter began to gain ground, the horses at length ran side by side, 
neck by neck, when Forester, finding his strength failing, and his rival about to pass him, made a desperate spring, seized his 
competitor by the jaw to hold him back, and could scarce be forced to quit his grasp. In those ruder kinds of races, in 
which horses without riders are matched against one another, the rivalship is more apparent to the spectators, though not perhaps 
more keenly felt by the combatants. Ancient writers give us examples, from the games of the Hippodrome, in which horses, de¬ 
prived by accident of their riders, pursued the course, and came in the conquerors. The Horse shares even the feelings of his 
master, and enters with joy into his pursuits. Who that has seen the hunter in the fields has not marked the fire which lights up 
his eye, the eagerness with which he pricks up his ears, and listens to the voice of the pack, the courage with which he surmounts 
the obstacles opposed to him, and the ardour with which he pursues the sport! Nay, not only in the pastimes which suit his 
spirit and love of active motion, but in the sterner pursuits of his master, is this gentle and generous creature formed to take a 
part. Nothing seems more foreign to the very nature of such a creature than martial strife and the shedding of human blood; 
yet when, alas, has been the age in which the Horse has not been made the instrument of cruelty and bloodshed, and not even, it 
would appear, the unwilling instrument, for his gentle nature seems to adapt itself to the purpose to which he is rendered sub¬ 
servient, and he becomes fierce and cruel because his master wills it so ! He shares the fatigues of war, delights in the noise of 
arms, and braves the shock of combat and the danger of wounds. “ Hast thou given the Horse spirit? hast thou clothed his neck 
with terror ? Canst thou make him bound like the locust ? The glory of his nostrils is terrible : He paweth in the valley, and 
rejoiceth in his strength : He goeth on to meet the armed men : He mocketh at fear and trembleth not; neither turneth he back 
from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness 
and rage. He believeth not at first that it is the sound of the trumpet which he heareth; but at the full blast of the trumpet he 
crieth ha! ha! and smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting.” 
The Horse is found over nearly all the Old Continent, from the 65th degree of northern latitude to the Islands of Asia on 
the south. He did not exist in New Holland, nor in the Islands of the South Sea, nor in America, until carried to these countries 
by European voyagers. He is yet found in a state of liberty in the vast wilds of Tartary, extending through the south of Siberia, 
and to the deserts to the north-west of China. As he is presented to us in a state of nature in these countries, he is inferior in 
beauty and nobleness of form to the domesticated races. His head is large, thick, and very convex above the eyes. His ears are 
long, habitually carried low, and hanging backwards. The limbs are long, but stout; the muzzle thick, and garnished with 
bristles ; and long hairs grow beneath the jaws, and under part of the neck. The mane is thick and bushy. The hair of the 
body is long and shaggy, and sometimes frizzled. It is usually brownish-dun, approaching to a muddy cream-colour, but never 
black. These horses are gregarious : they are often observed in large numbers together; but for the most part they are in little 
bands, under the guidance of a stallion. Their senses of smell and sight are acute. They are vigilant in a high degree, stationing 
sentinels to guard the troop from surprise. They shun the presence of man; and, when alarmed, set off at speed, and are quickly 
lost in the distance. They are hunted by the people of the desert for their flesh and skins, and sometimes they are captured 
alive, chiefly in winter, when the snows arrest their progress, and allow them to be driven into hollows and ravines. In the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the Pains Mseotis, or Sea of Asoph, are wild horses, which Pallas supposes to be the descendants of Russian horses 
employed at the siege of Asoph in 1697, and turned adrift for want of forage. Older writers and travellers speak of wild horses 
in the deserts of Africa; but no modern traveller has verified the statements. 
The Horse is seen to be affected in his character and form by the agencies of food and climate, and, it may be, by other 
