The horse; with a treatise of draught / [William Youatt].

  • William Youatt
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The horse; with a treatise of draught / [William Youatt]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    cattle their milk, and both of them their flesh. By the latter of these animals the land was tilled, and the corn trodden out; while the rulers and the judges, and even the kings of Israel, are carried by asses. The horse is occasionally mentioned in the early period of the Israelitish commonwealth. No definite duty, however, is assigned to him ; and it is said of the then monarch that “ He shall not multiply horses to himself*.” There were two reasons for this : they were destined to be a peculiar people, preserving in the narrow confines of their country the knowledge and worship of the true God : therefore they were forbidden the means of wandering to other lands. The nature of their country likewise forbade the extensive breeding of the horse. It consisted, in a great measure, of mountains, and was bounded on the west by the sea, and on three other sides by deserts. It was not until the time of Solombn, 500 years after the Israelites had left Egypt, that the horse was domesticated among them; and then so rapidly did he increase that Solomon had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand cavalry, and stabling for forty thou¬ sand horsest. ■ The greater part of these horses were imported from Egypt. The sacred historian gives the price both of the chariots and the horses, it is the oldest document of the kind on record. The horse, including pro¬ bably the expense of the journey, cost 150 shekels of silver, or rather more than £l7+. The chariot cost GOO shekels, or a little more than £68. Of the comparative value of money at that period it is impossible to speak ; but it was probably many times greater than at present. It is a question yet disputed, whether the use of chariots or the art of riding was first cultivated. According to Colonel Hamilton Smith, the northern nations were exclusively riders. At Nineveh, in Asia Minor, and India, they were both charioteers and riders. In Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, they were originally charioteers only §. The probability, however, is, that although one might prevail in particular eras and countries, the other would not long remain unpractised ||. Before a sketch of the history of the European horse is attempted, it may be interesting to collect the accounts given by historians of the character aud management of the horse in earlier periods. Upper Egypt and Ethiopia were inhabited by horsemen, of wild and preda¬ cious habits; plundering those who fell into their power, or hiring themselves to increase the army of any foreign potentate. Many troops of them attended Xerxes in his expedition into Greece. In Libya, Numidia, Mauritania, and the settlements on the northern coast of Africa, comprising Morocco, Barbary, Tunis, and Tripoli of the present day, and the northern part of the Sahara, or Great Desert, the horses were numerous and fleet. iElian describes them as being somewhat slenderly made, and seldom carrying much flesh; requiring little care and attendance from their owners; content with the common pasture which the country afforded, and on which they were turned, without further care or notice, as soon as their work was done. Their present treatment is not a great deal better. They were at first ridden, as they are represented on the fresco of the Parthenon, without either bridle or saddle; and the rider had nothing but a switch or stick by which to guide them. This is said to have given them an ungraceful and awkward appearance ; their necks being straight and * Deut. xvii. lfi. f 1 Kings x. 26. || Berengcr’s Hist, of Horsemanship, vol. i. + 1 Kings x. 29. p. Ilf. § Nat. Lib., vol. xii. p. 88. f This is a work of great research and fidelity. We have found it truly invaluable in our Investigation of the early history of the horse.
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