Horses

“ Eight horses: seven iron-grey geldings, every one of them swift and sure-footed, sound as the bell in his hand, and as like each other as seven claret coloured eggs in the tinamou's nest; and the eighth the gentle piebald mare—the madrina his horses loved and would follow to the world's end, now, alas! ”

“ The horses count for so much, even without considering the dash and go of the riders, the brilliant white of their robes, the rich colours of the cloaks and saddle-cloths, the glitter of golden trappings, and the flash of light on the drawn swords. ”

“ The fiery impatience of the horses—their pawing and champing, the tossing of their beautiful heads, and the swan-like curving of their glittering, sleek necks, until they were fairly formed into order—at which time they knew just as well as their owners that the play was going to begin. ”

“ The horses, full of blood, spirit, and vigor, were skillfully managed by the postilions, and stepped with singular regularity, gracefully keeping time in their movements, champing their bits covered with foam, and ever and anon shaking their cockades of blue and white silk, with long floating ends, and a bright rose blooming in the midst. ”

“ Watch farmers’ horses loose in a field when hounds are in the vicinity, and you will see them careering madly up and down, as if they too would like to join in hunting the fox, although their avocation in life dooms them to the placid work of drawing a plough or heavy cart. ”

“ Before the big event the paddock was thronged with those who came to see the horses. A curious crowd they were—stout men, heavy-jawed and coarse-lipped; thin men, sharp-eyed and fox-faced; small, keen men, evil-looking boys, and round-faced, jovial-looking fellows—all stamped with horse. ”

“ The horses felt that they had brave men on their backs and, in that mysterious way peculiar to horses, caught the spirit of their riders. Every shell covered men and horses with chalk and soil, but they remained an immobile as statuary. ”

“ Cautiously, and restraining the ardent and fierce spirit of our horses to keep within the compass of control, we still slowly advanced in a double line, while many of the animals knowing, like an old seasoned English hunter when he catches a glimpse of the pack at the meet, the fun in preparation, pulled with might and main and almost defied the stalwart tug upon their jaws. ”

“ But these blemishes are forgotten when one looks at the broad contrasts of light and shade and the masterly figures of horses and riders, and travellers and rustics, or quarrelling children and dogs, poultry and cattle, amongst which a favourite place is always given to the white horse, which seems as invariable an accompaniment as the grey in the skirmishes and fairs of Wouverman. ”

“ The little horses, almost universally of a dun-color and having their manes cropped short, are wiry and full of life and courage, dashing down the hills at a seemingly reckless pace, which carries the vehicle half way up the next rising ground by the mere impetus of the descent. It was particularly gratifying to observe the physical condition of the horses both inland and in the streets of Christiania, all being in good flesh. ”

“ It is nice to watch their care and interest in the horses; knowing the peculiarities of each one, husbanding their strength, and frequently stopping to water them from the iron pail that clanks in the boot behind. ”

“ In this first affair of the new-comer, the horses are not so much on show as the swells; you get only glimpses of shining coats and tossing manes, with a glint here and there of a flying hoof through the lines of people coming and going, and the ranks of people, three or four feet deep, against the rails of the ellipse; but the swells are there in perfect relief, and it is they who finally embody the Horse Show to you. ”

“ Schoolboys are coming to see the start on ponies; farmers on clever nags; others on young horses of great price; neatly-dressed grooms, some heavy and some light, are riding, or riding and leading, horses magnificent in shape and breeding, in the most beautiful condition, all as clean and well-appointed as if they had been prepared to do miserable penance in Rotten Row. ”

“ The gods were kind to them and gave them beautiful chariots and swift horses with which to ride through the heavens. Look out of the window, children, and see how bright it is. That is because the mane of Night's horse is shedding light upon the earth as he travels onward. ”

“ The proud arching of the horses’ necks, their slim legs, their rippling muscles are rendered to make them the quintessence of the thoroughbred, so that we forget that the delicate wings would scarcely lift their sturdy bodies off the ground. ”

“ Horses have hoofs to carry them over frost and snow; hair, to protect them from wind and cold. They eat grass and drink water, and fling up their heels over the champaign. Such is the real nature of horses. ”

“ On they jog, with equal pace, through the verdant meadows or over the barren heath, their horses measuring four miles and a half per hour with the utmost exactness; the eyes of the beast and of his master being alike directed forwards, and employed in contemplating the same objects in the same manner. ”

“ Wild horses are found, in large herds, in Siberia, and several other parts of Asia, as well as in some parts of Africa. Endowed with the most useful qualifications, the horse is an animal of the greatest importance to the inhabitants of all temperate climates. Though naturally spirited, active, and intrepid, he submits with patience to carry burthens, and to toil, for days together, along roads and in agricultural labours. ”

“ They see hoof-marks of horses—scores of them—all over the ground for the space of several perches, and pointed in every direction; among them also the foot-prints of men, with here and there smooth spots as if where human bodies had reclined. ”

“ The horses, with drooping heads, and each with a mane and tail as scanty and straggling as those of a worn-out rocking-horse, are standing patiently on some damp straw, occasionally wincing, and rattling the harness ”

“ He undertakes to subdue the wildest horses, by the simple but somewhat cruel method of lightly securing their heads to their tails, when they spin round and round till they fall to the ground giddy and exhausted. ”

“ The Horses are harnessed with remarkable lightness, but they bear the gorgeous trappings which befit the rank of the rider, their heads being decorated with the curious successive plumes with which the Assyrian princes distinguished their chariot Horses, and the breast-straps being adorned with tassels, repeated in successive rows like the plumes of the head. ”

“ But would you judge of the nature of horses in general, as to its fitness to be governed, take the foals of the best bred mares and finest stallions, and turn an hundred of them loose, fillies and colts together, in a large forest, till they are seven years old, and then see how tractable they will be. ”

“ The neighing of horses, the barking and growling of dogs, the lowing of cattle, the shouts of the arrieros unpacking their mules, the clanking of sabres along the stone pavement, the tinkling of spurs, the laughter of men, and the voices of women—all were in our ears at once. ”

“ When horses work, or travel over a hard road, they have iron shoes nailed to their hoofs, so that they will not be hurt by striking the stones.
13. The hoofs have no feeling on the outside, and it does not hurt the horse to have these shoes nailed on. They grow like our nails, and must be pared once in a while.
14. The horse can paw with his fore feet, and kick with his hind ones, and, when he kicks hard, he breaks things. He has a tail covered with long hair, and this he uses as a switch to keep off flies in summer.
[59]
LESSON XXII. THE HORSE AND ITS FRIENDS.
1. ”

“ Using the term horses in a broad sense to include all the existing members of the family Equidæ, true horses, asses, zebras and quaggas, we find a greater uniformity in the skeleton and teeth than would be expected from the external appearance. ”

“ Sometimes six or eight horses will be required to draw the ponderous load, and the coolness and dexterity with which they wend their way through the confused mass of vehicles in the crowded streets is a truly remarkable sight. ”

“ Then all the warriors and the young men picked out their best and fastest horses, and made ready to start. Among those who prepared for the charge was the poor boy on the old dun horse. But when they saw him, all the rich young braves on their fast horses pointed at him and said, "Oh, see; there is the horse that is going to catch the spotted calf;" ”

“ Those horses must have been Spanish genets born of mares fecundated by a zephyr, for they were fleet as the wind itself, and the moon, which had just risen at our departure to light us on the way, rolled over the sky like a wheel detached from her own chariot. ”

“ Words cannot do justice to the splendid appearance of the well-matched horses, a large proportion of which were greys, and the cleanliness and order of the stalls. Even the straw beneath the horses’ feet was unruffled. ”

“ But, as you know, horses are not the only living [Pg 163] creatures in the world; and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain limits—are confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on which we live,—and, as that is the simpler matter, I may take that first. ”

“ The traveller, supposing this fine horse to have strayed from his master, and considering him as a good catch for carrying him a part of the way, would approach the horse with the greatest caution, soothing it with proogy proogy, and many other terms of endearment, in the event of his taking to his heels, as wild horses are sometimes apt to do. ”

“ They never groom their horses and never clean the harness or bits, yet the horses keep fit as fiddles and look really well too. Their intelligence is extraordinary. Almost every night I see the old chap, at whose farm I keep my own horses, come in with four or five horses from ploughing—riding on one, not in the orthodox fashion, i.e., astride, but with both legs hanging over the horse's near side, something like ladies' style of riding, but without saddle, braces, or stirrups. He is leading no fewer than four other horses on one rein—a remarkable thing in itself. ”

“ We have frightened various horses to-day; a quiet old gray steed, driven by two old ladies in black bonnets. They were too old to get out, and were driving their horse timidly and nervously into the ditch in their anxiety to give us all the road. ”

“ Their horses also are swifter [Pg 152] than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. ”

“ Various horses of different colors, forms, positions, and with or without riders, may be made in a similar manner; and elephants or other animals may be substituted for the horses, and made to move around the track, as if subject to the master’s whip. ”

“ The youngsters in our party are interested to see horses hitched tandem to the wide hay wains in the fields, and to observe that when we meet a double team in the road, instead of being harnessed as two horses are with us, on each side of a tongue, here each of the two horses is in his own pair of shafts. ”

“ In the lightly swinging branches you find prancing horses, and on many a mad ride they carry you. The [Pg 10] larger ones are steep paths leading up mountain sides. Great chasms yawn beneath you. Here only the daring, the cool-headed, may hope to be successful and reach the highest points without danger to their bones. ”

“ A propos of horses, we will look at the lightly-built and lightly-limbed mules, with hoofs scarcely bigger than those of donkeys—those that rum on some tramways. Light as they are, they are strong and powerful ”

“ They grew famous for the breeding of horses according to the exacting taste of the day, learned in the various species of palfreys and sumpter horses and knight's chargers and horses for ambling or for trotting. ”

“ These horses are always full of spirit, and willing, their faults being that they are a little delicate, and dainty feeders; they are very sure-footed, going at full speed over the roughest ground or loose stones. ”

“ Judging from the quantity of their remains found associated with those of the men of that time, the chase of these animals must have been among man’s chief occupations, and horses must have furnished him with one of his most important food-supplies. ”

“ The horses here are trained so that if your animal puts his foot in a hole you shoot off over his head, and he turns head over heels, and then stands up and waits for you, and never breaks his leg. In the wilds women ride straddle-leg like a man ”

“ Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment; cares I knew not, and cared naught about them. I purchased excellent and beautiful horses, visited all such neighbors as I found congenial spirits, and was as happy as happy could be. ”