Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-07-25
EVENING STAR.
THE HORSE.

ueAb W udI, III tuc ulstOry Ol nature. Their
activity, their strength, their usefulness and
their beauty, all contribute to render them
the principal objects of our curiosity and care,
a race of creatures in whose welfare we are
interested next to our own OF all the quad
ruped animals, the horse seems the most beau
tiful; the noble largeness of his form, the
graceful ease of his motions, and the exact
symmetry of his shape, have taught US to re-
gard him as the first, and as the most per-
fectly formed and yet what is extraordinary
enough, if we examine him internally, bis
structure will be found the most different
from that of man, or all other quadrupeds
whatsoever. As the ape approaches US the
nearest in internal conform alton, so the horse
is the most remote, . striking proof that there
may be oppositions of beauty, and that all
grace is not TO be referred to one standard
To have an idea Of this noble animal in his
native simplicity, we are not to look for him
in the pastures, or in the stable, to which he
has been consigned by man. but in those
wide and extensive plains where he has been
originally produced, where he ranges with
out control, and riots in all the variety of
luxurious nature. In this happy state Of in
dependence he disdains the assistance of man,
which only tends to servitude. In those
boundless tracts where he runs at liberty, he
seems no way incommoded with the incOnve-
niences to which he is subject in Europe.
The verdure of the fields supplies his wants
and the climate which never knows a winter
suits his constitution, which naturally seems
adapted to heat. His enemies of the forest
are but few, fer none but the greater kinds
will venture to attack him any one of these
he is, singly, able to overcome while at the
same time he is content to find safety in So
ciety, for the wild horses of those countries
always herd together. In those countries,
therefore, the horses are often seen feeding in
droves of five or six hundred As they do
not carry on war against any other race Of
animals, they are satisfied to remain entirely
upon the defensive. The pastures on which
they live satisfy all their appetites; and all
all other precautions are purely for their Sc
curity, in case of a surprise As they are
never attacked but at disadvantage, when
yer they sleep in the forests they have al
W ays one among their number that stands as
sentinel, to give notice of any approaching
danger an Office they take by turns.
1t is not easy to say from what country the
horse came originally. There is very good
authority for supposing that even at the time
of the Trojan war horses were but rare ami
mails in Greece, and were possessed only by
princes or great men, who employed them, not
for the purpose OF husbandry and draught,
but for the ornamental displays of war and
chariot drawing, as the proud and distinctive
accompaniments of royalty alone. In Judea
horses were, till the days of Solomon, very
rare. Egypt is always described in the Old
Testament as the land of horses. The earliest
notice of the horse is in the book of Genesis,
where Joseph is said to have given the Egyp-
tians " bread in exchange for horses" In
the very minute enumeration of the cattle
stores of Abraham, Isaac, ESau, Laban, Job,
&c, in the book of Genesis, though there is
a superabundance Of other quadruped prop
erty, no mention whatever is made of horses.
Neither in the fourth nor tenth command
rs hOrSaS potice1 with he ofhar
ing animals. In the enumeration, however,
of the Egyptian cattle property affected by
the murrain, horses are mentioned in prece-
dence of the rest Even in the Trojan war
these animals were only in the retinue of
princes. Accordingly, we find that in all the
first descriptions Of that animal he is depicted
with beauty and majesty, as the war steed
alone. Homer speaks of him always with
dignity and admiration; and it is apparent
that, in his conceptions, an additional respec-
liability is conferred upon his princes and his
war grooms by the title which he bestows upon
them, of horse tanners" and "horse whip
pers," contemplate appellatiOn, according
to our ideas, assOciating, as We inevitably do,
these epithets with the persons and mean en-
ployments of grooms Of the stable and horse
jockeys. The ancient poets and ancient peo-
pie must have connected, however, beauty,
majesty and sublimity with their idea of that
animal, not only from his singularity, and
consequently high price, his being the friend,
as it were, and attendant of princes, his be-
ing the terrible, yet graceful accompaniment
Of war, and his being never seen, as in mod.
ern times, degraded to the familiar, yet more
beneficial purposes of draught in our streets
and husbandry in our fields
1t would seem that the colder climates do
not agree with his constitution; for, although
he is found almost in all, yet his form is alter
ed there, and he is found at once diminutive
and ill-shaped. We have the testimony of
the ancients that there were wild horses once
in Europe; at present, however, they are to-
tally brought under subjectiOn; and even
those which are found in America are of a
Spanish breed, which, being sent thither upon
its first discovery, have since become wild
and have spread over all the south of that
continent, almost to the Straits of Magellan.
These in general, are small breed, of about
fourteen hands high. They have thick jaws
and clumsy joints; their ears and necks also
are long; they are easily tanned; for the
horse, by nature, is gentle, complying crea-
ture, and resists ather from fear than obsti
macy. They gosin companies, generally to
the extent of FIVE CT six hundred. They oc-
cupy the great savannahS, where it is difficult
to disturb, or try to catch them. In the dry
season they are sometimes obliged to 90 two
OF three leagues, or even mere, in search of
water. They set out in regular ranks, four
abreast. Five or six scouts precede the troop
about fifty PAGES. If they perceive an enemy,
they neigh, and the troop stops; if avoided,
they continue their march; but if any dare to
march across their squadron, they turn on
him and crush him under their feet. No foe
is capable of withstanding their attack. They
have a regular chief, who marches between
the scouts and the squadron-a kind of adju-
tant, whose duty consists in hindering any in
dividual from quitting the ranks If any one
attempts to straggle, either from hunger or
fatigue, he is bitten till he resumes his place.
When wild horses are feeding, should any
stragglers be threatened with an attack, by a
particular signal, which they all understand,
they close into dense mass and trample the
assailant to death When an attack is re-
solved upon, their leader shows the example,
and if he considers a retreat necessary, he
gives the signal, and it is instantly obeyed.
Herds of wild horses, the offspring of those
which have escaped from the Spanish posses
sions in Mexico, are not uncommon on the eX
tensive prairies that lie to the west of the Mis-
sissippi. They were once numerous on the
Al n