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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    “ But, alas! our Christian gi-oonis’ horses go on at another rate. They never think them rightly curried till they thunder at them with their voices, and let their clubs or horse-whips, as it were, dwell on their sides. This makes some horses even tremble when their keepers come into their stable ; so that they hate and fear them too. But the Turks love to have their horses so gentle, that at the word of command they may fall on their Icnees, and in this position receive their riders. “ They will take up a staff or club upon the road with their teeth, which their rider has let fall, and hold it up to him again; and when they are perfect in this lesson, then, as a reward, they have rings of silver hung on their nostrils as a badge of honour and good discipline. I saw some horses when their master was fallen from the saddle stand stock still without wagging a foot till he got up again. Another time I saw a groom standing at a distance in the midst of a whole ring of horses, and at the word of command, they would either go round or stand still. Once I saw some horses when their master was at dinner with me in an upper room prick up their ears to hear his voice, and when they did so they neighed for joy.” THE AMERICAN HORSES. Before we can advance eastward into Europe, it will be convenient to dispose of the horses of the American continents. In South America, although con¬ stant warfare is carried on against them, there are innumerable herds of wdld horses; and in the back settlements of the south-western states of North America, there is a horse resembling the wdld horse of the Pampas; but both are evidently the descendants of those who have escaped from the slavery of man. THE WILD HORSE OP SOUTH AMERICA. All travellers who have crossed the plains extending from the shores of La Plata to Patagonia have spoken of numerous droves of w’ild horses. Some affirm that they have seen ten thousand in one troop. They appear to be under the command of a leader, the strongest and boldest of the herd, and whom they implicitly obey. A secret instinct teaches them that their safety consists in their union, and in a principle of subordination. The lion, the tiger, and the leopard * are their principal enemies. At some signal, intelligible to them all, they either close into a dense mass and trample their enemy to death, or, placing the mares and foals in the centre, they form themselves into a circle and wel¬ come him with their heels. In the attack, their leader is the first to face the danger, and when prudence demands a retreat, they follow his rapid flight. In the thinly-inhabited parts of South America it is dangerous to fall in with any of these troops. The wild horses approach as near as they dare : they call to the loaded horse with the greatest eagerness, and if the rider is not on the alert, and has not considerable strength of arm and sharpness of spur, his beast will divest himself of his burden, take to his heels, and be gone for ever. Byron beautifully describes this in his Mazeppa:— “ A trampling troop : I see them come In one vast squadron they advance ! I strove to cry—my lips were dumb. The steeds rush on in plunging pride, But where are they the reins wlio guide ? A thousand horse and none to ride ! With flowing tail and flying mane, Wide nostrils—never stretch’d by pain— Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein, And feet that iron never shod, And flanks unscarr’d by spur or rod— * These animals are of a different race from those which go under the same names in the Old World, and arc very inferior in strength.
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