The horse / by William Youatt. With A treatise of draught.

  • William Youatt
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The horse / by William Youatt. With A treatise of draught. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    every fourth year, in honour of Jupiter. The young men flocked thither from every district of Greece, to contend in every manly exercise—hurling the javelin, leaping, running, WTestling and boxing. The candidates were persons of unble¬ mished reputation—the contest fairly and honourably conducted, and the con¬ queror, crowned with a laurel, or with gold, was received in his native town, with acclamations of joy. A breach was made in the wall of the town for one who had so distinguished himself to pass. He was, for life, entitled to prece¬ dency at every public exhibition; he was exempted from all taxes and inferior civil offices; his name was em’olled in the archives of his country', and statues were erected to his memory’. This was the source of the noble spirit of emu¬ lation and the ardent love of country by which the Greek was distinguished. Nearly a century, however, passed before the attraction of the exhibition was increased by the labours of the horse. The first colonists could bring with them only a few of these noble animals. In several of the wars in which they were engaged, their deficiency in cavalry was lamentably apparent. It was not until the 23rd Olympiad that the horse mingled in the contest. Durmg the first two Olympiads after this, horsemen alone appeared. Of these races the accounts are exceedingly imperfect. Each horse w’as ridden by his owner, who was obliged to undergo preparatory trials for the space of thirty day's. The horses were divided into full and under-aged; but no explanation is given by any writer of the precise meaning of these terms, nor is anything said of the weight of the riders. We only loiow the space to be run over, which somewhat exceeded four miles. There was one race, called Colne, in which mares alone were permitted to run. Towards the end of the course, the riders were compelled to leap from their backs, and, keeping the bridle in their hands, to run alongside of them to the winning-post. In the 25th Olympiad, chariot-races were introduced. The chariots were arranged abreast of each other at the starting-post; the places—for it will appear that these gave some important advantages—having been previously' decided by lot. An altar was erected on one side, upon which stood a brazen eagle, dedi¬ cated to Jupiter, and a dolphin, sacred to Neptune. At a signal from the presiding officer, the eagle, by some mechanism, sprang into the air, the dolphin sank under gi’ound, and away the horses started. The hippodrome, or course, was about one-third of a mile in length; and at the farther end w’as a pillar, round which the chariots were to be driven, and back again to the start¬ ing-place, six times, making rather more than four miles. The rounding of this pillar was the first test of the skill of the driver and the docility of the horses, and many an accident happened there. This dangerous spot was no sooner passed, than the competitors came at once upon a strange figure placed to try the courage and nerve of the horses. It was an enormous statue, called Taraxippus, the terrifier of horses—and, according to the old writers, well worthy of the name. None of them describe tbis strange deity, but all agree that he used sadly to frighten the steeds, and often to endanger their lives, and that of the driver. A little farther on was a lofty rock, in the very centre of the course, leaving only a very narrow defile, in the passing through which the skill of the cha¬ rioteer was severely tried; while several men, placed on the rock, increased the confusion, and the terror of the horses, by the continual braying of their trumpets. As may be well supposed, the number of the competitors was much dimi¬ nished ere the conclusion of the race. Some ran against the pillar, others were frightened out of the course by' the horrible statue, and not a few were wrecked on that fearful rock. Some were destroyed on the spot; others, who escaped
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