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.

    18/600 page 6
    extended, and their noses pointing somewhat upwards. “It may, in some degree,” says Berenger, “ be difficult to conceive how a wand or stick could 6c sufficient to guide or control a spirited or obstinate horse in the violence of his course, or the tumult of battle; but the attention, docility, and memory of this animal are such, that it is hard to say to what a degree of obedience he may not be reduced. There is no reason why these horses should not be brought to understand the intention and obey the will of his rider with as tnuch certainty and readiness as our cart-horses in our crowded streets attend to the voice of their driver, by which they are almost solely governed*.” The older writers say that the horse was touched on the right of the face, to make him go forward—on the left, to direct him to the right—on the muzzle, when he was required to stop ; while the heel was used to urge him forward. The guidance of the horse by the gentle touch of the fingers is well represented in the engraving given at page 4. Passing the Isthmus of Suez, ancient writers say not a word of the horses of Arabia. These deserts were not then inhabited by this noble animal, or there was nothing about him worthy of record. Palestine, during the later periods of the Jewish monarchy, contained nume¬ rous horses. Mention has been made of the forty thousand stalls for horses built by Solomon ; but they were all brought from Egypt, and a very little portion of the Holy Land was ever devoted to the breeding of horses after the settlement of the Israelites in it. Syria acquired little reputation on this account, nor did Asia Minor gene¬ rally, with the exception of the country around Colophon, between Smyrna and Ephesus, whose cavalry was so numerous and well trained that they were always in request as mercenaries, and deemed to be invinciblet. We must now travel to Armenia, on the west of Media, before we meet with anything to arrest our steps. A beautiful breed of horses was cultivated in this district. The chariot of Xerxes was drawn by Armenian horses, being the stateliest and the noblest which his extensive empire could produce J. Some writers, describing the horse at a later period, mention the great care that was taken of the dressing and adorning of the mane. Vegetius gives a long account of this. It was cut into the form of an arch or bow ; or it was parted in the middle, that the hair might fall down on either side; or, more generally, it was left long and flowing on the right side—a custom which has been retained to the present day$. Many old sculptures prove that the horsemen of almost every country mounted on the right side of the animal. There are a few exceptions to this. The mane hanging on that side would assist the rider in getting on the horse. There were not any stirrups in those days. The modern horseman always mounts on the left side, yet the mane is turned to the right||. Media produced numerous horses of the same character as those from Armenia. Cappadocia stood highest of all the eastern countries for its breed of horses; not perhaps so speedy as those from some other districts, but dis- * Silius Italicus thus describes the manage¬ ment of the early horse :— “ Paret in obsequium lentse mode ramine virgse, [fraeni.” Vcrbera sunt prsecepta fugae, sunt verbera “ All needless here the bit’s coercive force To guide the motions of the pliant horse : Form’d by the rod alone, its aids they know, And stop and turn obedient to the blow f In all long and tedious wars the assistance of the Colophonian troops was courted, and the party that obtained supplies from them were so certain of success, that KoXotpiava t lOivai, and, afterwards among the Romans, “ Colophoncin imponere,” were used proverbially for putting a conclusion to any affair. Strabo, lib. xiv. J Berenger, vol. i p. 20. § Denso juba, et dextro jactata rccumbit in armo.— Virgil. II Vegetius, lib. iv. c. 7 Berenger, vol. i. pp. 21 and 26.
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image