, 1872-11-17
! THE HORSE.
His Origin, History, Uses, &c.

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ANIMALS useful alike in the arts Of peace and
war, and the horse is thus rendered m eff, cti
ooadjutor in an infinite variety Of human pu
suits. In peace, lie aids in the 1abors of a q
culture and commerce, ministers to our soc i
attachments and pleasures; while in war, he ;.
absolutely Indispensable None Of the triu1nphl
OF modern science can supersede, offset, or neu
tralize the advantages one army would have
over another, if the LITTER were dispossessd o.
this important auxiliary. Conflicts On which
the fate Of nations depended have been lost or
won BY this efficient instrumentality. To
this the conquest Of Mexico is due, fol
! the lack Of this was the Revolutionary
struggle prolonged. ''sheridans Rid" is i'm
mortalized, Grierson in Mississippi, Stuart On
the Potomac, Morgan in Ohio, are among the
recent instances Of the efficiency Of this ann OF
the military service. Waterloo was lost by Ma
poleon mainly On account Of the failure of his
cavalry. Frederick the Great Of Prussia owed
bis successes in great degree to this instru-
mentality, as did also Gustavus Adolphus OF
Sweden, Oliver Cromwell, Alexander, and Va
nous other warriors Of antiquity.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY.
When asked for the origin Of his noble steed,
Abd-el-Kader replied: "When God wished to
create the horse, he said to the south wind, 4
wish to form creature out Of thee; be thou
condensed Afterward came the Angel Gabriel,
and took . handful Of that matter, and
presented it to God. who formed it
into Light brown or sorrel horse, saying, 7
have called thee horse. have created thee.
have bound fortune upon thy mane which falls
the other animals. Men shall follow thee whith-
ersoeyer thou goest. Thou shall be as good for
pursuit as for flight. Thou shall fly without
wings: Riches shall repose in thy loins. Wealth
shall be made by thy interceesion.'
Less fanciful are Tho deductions Of histo- y and
science as to his origin. Fossil remains de mon
strate q that he was an inhabitant Of this New
World anterior to the Flood, and contempo TarY
with the Mastodon; but his race here became
extinct, and be was unrepresented at the time Of
In the Old World, he WAS fortunately pre-
served. AS be WAS designed by the Creator for
the use of man, he thrives best under his foster
ing care. Barbarous tribes recognize hia utility,
as Well as civilized and Christian nations. The
Indian, while be repulses our advances to give
him civilization and Christianity, has learned to
subdue and utilize the descendants of the stock
taken to Mexico BY the Spaniards. Hence, with
civilized and savage, this noble animal has be-
come mans COMPANION in every part OF the
habitable globe. He is found in the wild state
IN the unpeopled wastes Of Central Asia; but
naturaLsts are not agreed on the question
whether, as there found, he is the tyne OF race
originally wild, or is descended from the tame
stock OF some ancient people.
Certain it was that he was the companion OF
man from the most remote antiquity. There is
evidence that horses have been bred on the |
plains Of Assyria for more than q thousand |
Oriental cities-Nineyeh and Babylon have
brought to light sculptured images of the horse,
which might be taken for jac-sintles Of the Ara
bian horse Of to-day, although they may have
represented the family steeds Of sennacherib or
The EaCrfd WritarH Anahla RIO afi11 |
further to trace the affinity Of tho |
ancient type with the modern Arabian. |
Jobs sublime description Of the war-horse !
would not apply to an animal less noble than the t
Arab OF the desert. The prophet Habakkuk, il |
FFarning the Jews Of the dangers from the pow
arful forces with which the Cha1deans Eere
about to assail them, says: "Their horses ara
swlfter than the leopards, and more fierce than
evening wolves. Their horeemen shall Hy as an
'agla fastening to eat"
HTS USES, ETC.
In point OF usefulness, the horse can claim s1,-
'eriority over any other domestic animal He !
'eauty: and gracefulness OF his form, the noble
less OF his demeanor, his strength and his swift
less, have furnished q theme for the historian |
nd poet from the days OF Job to the present.
The varieties OF the horse, though presenting
triking external differences are al included in
ne geological classification, their diversity Of
orm and size being attributed to his various
see, climate, and breeding. The English and
lemlsh draft differ ton in weight. The Shet-
md pony OF 200 pounds e1cites our astoniah- !
1ent that all are identical in origin.
Ihe horse in our modern civilization. and |
lore so II cities than N the country and smaller
owns, has become the victim Of numerous
nd vltulent diseases- Our object is to
rses rsest,gate and make known the .causes,
udy for the amelioration Of the condition Of
us noble animal. As with the human animal |
~it9 the equine; his food, drink, and manner
hors mv'ng, ,.n hls constitution. temperament and
oo1b, make his average health and usefulness. |
laeases among horses in new countries have !
ss9l peen 90 numerous or virulent as in older
caIties. So with the hardy piouear: and tha |
DUST . o. health OF each can be attributed to .
su-ventilated apartments. The Indian and
ex1can ponies are never sick, and feed almost e
ciuslVely On the wild grasses, green or dried.
their native plains and prairies.
Let us look q moment at the hay-crop of the a
1ited States, the varieties grown in the differ
t States, and the condition Of the horses in | F
gard to health, and We will at once discover
1t no horse diseases exist where the wild ma
g grasses are the principal articles of food. O.
Inc fat-producing element that has enlarged
carcass Of the Conestoga horse has not j..
lded to robust health or longevity. The Cali T.
mia equine, that makes his l25 miles per day.
cells his famed Arabian brother in speed and n
~ a1rsnce, On regime Of wild hay, producing "
but fRa ieas e gFe"i ba pesssa
9osit than his rhinocerian proportioned Cones-
"a contemporary. Botanists give US 5000 |
aeties Of grasses now known, and new ones r
continually discovered in the unexplored -
ions OF the West. Only about 80 OF these |
7e been brought under cultivation, selected b
large yield and for their nutritiye and fat
ducing, properties. The annual hay crop OF
United States is about q, ,0o0, 900 tons. most
lover and timothy, and is worth about $780,
,oo9. Clover ia the greatest meat-producing
d. 1t only requiring II pounds Of hay to mako
ound Of meat; hence the mass Of flesh On the |
% farm horses Of Pennsylvania. It requires | "
barley, 7.of oats, 8 OF beans or peas, 15O Of en-
nips, marigolds, or carrots, to attain the same
chemical analysis of the wild grasses of our
ries, as veil as experiments in feeding them, vi
yes them to contain less Of the meat -produc- :
elements, and more OF the bone and tendon: tn
in other words, they possess less of the car :
hceous elements, and give more power to the ne
nework Of the animal The writer well re- :
nbere the ante-railroad period in Ohio, when Ne
Ohio Stage Company traversed the State, in | Pc,
ength and breadth, with its hundreds Of =
hes and thousands OF horses. requiring Of a p
4 the greatest physical endurance. Thefeed :
[dged best By their most experience1 man | f1u