The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-08-10
FAMOUS HORSES.
The Favorites of Heroes From Buce-
phalus to Marengo.

The Favorites of Heroes From Buce-
phalus to Marengo.
1t is hard to say with any near APP
proach to accuracy how long the horse
has been a domesticated animal We
can only say. says the London Stand
ard, that he has been so from time i'm
memorial-that is, from the earliest
times of which we have any records.
The Assyrian sculptures-and they are
about the most ancient of which we
know anything, for some of them are
estimated to date from 1900 B. Coon
tain more representations of capari-
soned horses than even men. Hence
the horse was domesticated six thou
sand years ago at least. This being so,
1t is probably, nay certain, that there
We're among them individual favorites
who were petted and caressed more
than others, either on account of their
beauty, size or amiability.. Still we do
not get any examples of favorite horses
until long time after this.
Even the first examples, indeed, are
only legendary, for though there is no
doubt that Hector Of Troy existed, 1t is
not improbable that Homer invented
the names of his three favorite horses,
and the fiery Ethon. 1t is likely, too,
that the horses of Menelaus, Xanthor
and Balls were also fictitious. But the
horse of Alexander the Great, Bucepha-
lus, is an individual as historically real
as his master. This famous horse was,
says Plutarch, offered to Philip for
thirteen talents (about 92,51S), but he
displayed so much viciousness that AL
s,,fI~@ NV
away, when the young prince offered
to tame him. He agreed, in the event
of failure, to forfeit the price of the
horse, and began by turning his head
to the sun, as he observed that the
horse was frightened at his own shad-
ow In the end he completely tanned
him-so completely indeed that Buce-
phalus, though he would permit nobody
except Alexander to mount him, always
knelt down for that purpose to his mas
ter. He died at the age of thirty, and
his master built as his mausoleum the
city of Bucephala
Cyrus again had pet horse, called
Pesaces, which he rode at the battle of
Cunaxa, in which he was finally killed,
and it was mainly due to the high spir-
it of this animal that sthe Persian king
was slain, for he became unmanage-
able, and rushed with his master into
the thick of the battle. Readers of
Macaulay will remember the famous
black Auster, the horse of Hermnius,
and the dark gray charger of Mamilius,
whose sudden appearance in the city of
Tusculum without his master brought
the news of the defeat of the allies at
Lake Regillus. Connected with that
battle, too, were the horses of the great
Irwin Brethren" Castor and Pollux-
Cykaros and Harpagon, coal-black with
width legs and tails. But these again
are legendary. Not SO, however, the
well-known horse of Caligula-Incita-
tus. This animal had stable of mar
BILE, his stall was of ivory, his clothing
of purple, and his halters stiff with
gems He had set of gloden plates,
and was presented with palace, fur
niture and slaves complete, in order
that guests invited in his name should
be properly entertained. His diet was
the most costly that could be imagined.
the finest grapes that Asia could pro-
vide being reserved reserved for him.
Verus, another Roman emperor. about
century later, treated his horse al
most as extravagantly. He fed him
with raisins and almonds with his own
hands, and when he died erected a
statue of gold to him, while all the dig
nitaries Of the empire attended the fun
eral.
AS we come to later times, so we get
more examples of favorite horses. Will
liam the Conqueror had one, which he
rode at the battle of Hastings, about
which almost everything seems to be
known except his name. He was of
huge size, and was a present from King
Alfonso of Spain-"such a gift as
prince might give and prince receive"
This gallant horse, however, did not
survive the battle, for Gyrth, .Harold's
butcher, ''clove him with a bill, and he
died" Richard rs horse was called
Maleck and was jet black. He bore his
master through the Holy war, and ar
rived in England before him In fact,
he survived the king several years.
The Second Richard, too, had favor
ite horse, call Roam Barbary. which was
supposed to be the finest horse in Eu-
rope at that time, and it was on Roam
Barbary that the young king was
mounted when the incident wherein
Wat Tyler was stabbed by the mayor
of Walworth took place.
About a century later We get the
Wars of the Roses, and in the many
battles of that civil disturbance a cou-
pie of horses played important parts.
These belonged to the great Earl of
Warwick, the king-maker. His first
was Maleck-a beautiful gray, which