Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-10-07
Something nbout The HorsO

In these days of Township, County, District,
State, National, and Horse Breeders Assoeia-
ton Fairs, in all of which tho Horse figures
first and forome4t. snrcinct history Of the noble
animal in ancient days will be read with inter.
est. The Boston Traveller has been turning its
attention to Horseology, and we clip tho result
OF its researches, as follows:
The earliest mention of the horse occurs ia
the Holy Scriptures, and refers only TO mules
tho offspring of.the horse and ass, in the Mosaic
account of Anah, the son Of Zbeon, ootempo.
rary of Isaac.
The earliest direct mention of him is "Jnseph
gave the Egyptians bread in exchange for
horses, and for the ilOcks, and for the cattle Of
the herds aud for the asses Gen ~: II.
We first find him mentioned az domesticatsd,
in Jacobs dying benediction on his sons-"Dan
shall be serpent by the way, an adder in the
path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his
rider shall fall backward. Gen. 49, n.
In the Book OF Job, 80: 10, we find tho of
quoted description of the war horse, showing
tnat he was then trained animal
Another passage in job shows that horses
were also used for hunting. Hoses are also
mentioned in various parte Of the Bible by their
colors, az red, black, white and bay.-Zoch o.
3, 9.
Among the Egyptians, as well as with the
Persians and Armenians, it was Customary to
racrifce the swillest and finest horses to the
sun, as an acknowledgment of the speed of the
sun in his supposed iiery journey around the
earth
Solomon was the first King OF Judah noted
for the number Of his horses He had 40, 600
stalls OF horses for his chariots, and IL. 900
hOrsemen distributed among his fortified places
The Greeks and Romans used horses n their
wars at an early date. The Romans in war
with the ltaliC Guals, are said to have had no
less than 70,0O> horse. The army of Xerxes
possessed $4,000 Norses, according TO Greek
writers, who must, however, be taken with al.
lowaNces Homer, in the 9th Book of the
lliad, aud Virgil, in the llth Book of the
Eneadi give evidence ofthe poetry to bo extrsc-
ted from the motion of the horse
In the reign Of Saul, horse-breoding had not
been Introduced into Arabia; and even at the
time when Jerusalem was fret conquered and
destroyed by Eebuchadnezzar, Arabia appears
to have been without horses. as lhs 1'yrians
brought them from Armenia. The earliest
period then TO which We can accurately trace
the horse, is 1850 years before The birth OF
Christ, as we read in the Book of Genesis; and
200 years later had become so general known,
that the Olympic Games were established in
Greece, including chariot and horse races.
The wei. .ht OF authority seems t. be ia favor
of the suppositon that the hOrse is originally 3
native of Central Asia-1roni there he spread
from Cashmere to China, India and Egypt, ia
which latter country he was arti6cially improv.
ed and brought TO a high standard. There
seems to have been evidently an effort made BY
the Egyptians in the breeding ofhorses 20 inn
prove both their speed and appearance. The
igures which are found in the discoveries of
Belsoni, Wilkinson aud others, represent steeds |
evidently Of the highest breed and best blood |
The EthiOpans, the Medes, the Persans and |
the Greeks, successfully paid great attention |
10 horses, improving them both for war and the |
chase The Greeks introduced either fine breeds |
Of horses themselves into Arabia, Barbary, Spain
and Southern lAly, or taste for improving
hem. The lsomans afterwards fused them
throughout Europo.
The Persian horses have always been famous
for their beauty, yigoT and tire The ancient
Persians held the art Of hoTsemanship in such
esteem that their chilaien Nere taught 10 ride
when five years old. The ho1ses were quick
md graceful, their pace being what iS com
monty called Tack.
Th' ParLhlans were noted for the skill With
which they managed their horses The
Ameniani, Scythians and Sarmatans were
llso distinguished as hOremen The latter
according to Lucan and Virgil, offered their
Iteeds as sacrifices to their gods, aud even ate
heir flesh and drunk their Blood themselves
The Colonies which camo from PhOenioia
and Egypt in which equitatiOn Aourished,
brought the art with them ~ Greece long before
Inc slege VI Troy aud also carried thither the
lOrse ltself, which was not before q native Of
Greece From Greece the art was carried to
Rome where it was praetieed with the greatest
'uccess. The celebrated horss "Bueephalua7
received bis name from the resemblance Of his
lead to that Of bull, "BOukepkaioi," being the
ireek for burisheadi the marx, a bulls head,
VAS stamped upon his buttOcks and haraess,