When the horse is impassioned with love he shews his teeth, and seems to laugh; he shews them also when he is angry, and would bite. He sometimes puts out his tongue to lick, but less frequently than the ox, who, notwithstanding, is less sensible to caresses. The horse remembers ill treatment much longer, and is sooner dispirited, than the ox. His natural spirit and courage induce him to make every effort, but when he finds more is expected from him than he is able to perform, he grows angry, and will not endeavour at all; instead of which, the ox, who is slow and idle, seldom exerts his utmost, and is not therefore easily dejected.
The horse sleeps much less than man, for when he is in health he does not rest more than two or three hours together; he then gets up to eat. When he has been much fatigued he lies down a second time, after having eat; but in the whole he does not sleep more than three or four hours in the twenty-four. There are even some horses who never lie down, but sleep standing, which is sometimes the case even with those who do lie down. It has also been remarked, that geldings sleep oftener and longer than horses.
Quadrupeds do not all drink in the same manner, though they are all equally obliged to seek with the head for the liquor, which they cannot get any other way, except the monkey, macaw, and some others, that have hands, and consequently drink like men, when a vessel is given to them which they can hold; for they carry it to their mouths, inclining the head, throwing down the liquor, and swallowing it by the simple motion of deglutition. Man usually drinks in the same manner, because it is most convenient; but he can drink many other ways by contracting the lips to draw in the liquor, or dipping the nose and mouth deep enough into it for the tongue to be environed therewith, and then perform the motions necessary for swallowing; he can also take in a fluid by the lips alone; and lastly though with more difficulty, stretch out the tongue, and, forming a kind of little cup, carry a small quantity of water into the mouth. Most quadrupeds could also drink in several different ways, but, like men, they chuse that which is most convenient. The dog, whose mouth is very large, and the tongue long and thin, drinks by lapping, or licking, forming with the tongue a kind of cup or scoop, which fills each time with a tolerable quantity of liquor, and so satisfies his thirst; and this mode he prefers to that of wetting the nose. The horse, on the contrary, whose mouth is small, and whose tongue is too short and thick to form a scoop, and who always drinks with more avidity than he eats, dips the mouth and nose quickly and deeply into the water, which he swallows largely by the simple motion of deglutition; but this forces him to drink without fetching his breath, whereas the dog breathes at his ease while he is drinking. Horses, therefore, should be suffered to take several draughts, especially after running; when respiration is short and quick, they should not be suffered to drink the water too cold, because that, independent of the cholic, which cold water frequently occasions, it sometimes brings on rheums, and often lays the foundation of a disorder called the glanders, the most formidable of all diseases to which this species of animals are subject; for it is known, that the seat of the glanders is in the pituitary membrane, and that it is consequently a real cold, which causes an inflammation in this membrane. Travellers, who give us a detail of the maladies of horses in warm climates, as in Arabia, Persia, and Barbary, do not say that the glanders are so frequent there as in cold climates, and it is for this reason the conjecture arises, that this malady is occasioned by the coldness of the water, because the animals are obliged to keep the nose and nostrils a considerable time under water, which would be prevented by never giving it to them cold, and by always wiping the nostrils after they have drank. Asses, who fear the cold more than horses, and who resemble them so strongly in the interior structure, are not so subject to the glanders, which may possibly be owing to their drinking in a different manner from horses; for instead of dipping in the mouth and nose deeply into the water, they scarcely touch it with their lips.
I shall not speak of the other diseases of horses, it would spin out Natural History too much to join to the history of an animal that of its disorders; nevertheless, I cannot leave the history of the horse without regretting that the health of this useful animal should have been hitherto abandoned to the care, and too frequently absurd practice, of ignorant people. The branch of physic, which the ancients called Veterinaria Medicina, is at present scarcely known but by name. I am persuaded, that if some physician would turn his views this way, and make this study his principal object, he would soon find it answer his purpose, both with respect to reputation and profit: instead of degrading himself he would render his name illustrious, and this branch of physic would not be so conjectural and difficult as the other. The diet, manners, and influence of sentiment, and all other causes of disorders, being more simple in animals than in man, the diseases must be less complicated, and consequently more easily investigated, and treated with success, without mentioning the advantages that would be derived from the entire liberty of making experiments, trying new remedies, and to be able to arrive, without fear or reproach, to a great extent of knowledge of this kind, from which, by analogy, inferences might be drawn useful to the art of curing mankind.
SUPPLEMENT.
Africa, it has already been observed, appears to be the original climate of the horse, and from the country being so dry and warm, admits many customs that cannot be practised in the northern regions, at least with any effect. In different countries they not only receive different food, but are also differently managed. In Arabia and Barbary they scarcely ever are allowed herbage or grain, but are principally kept upon dates and camel’s milk, which is given them morning and evening; they are seldom made use of till the seventh year, till when they suck the camels whom they constantly follow.
In Persia they are always kept in the open air, being sometimes covered with clothes to preserve them from the inclemency of the weather. The whole troop are tied to a rope, which is fastened at each end to iron rods fixed in the ground; they have also ropes tied to their hind legs, and fastened to pegs in their front, this latter method is to prevent them from doing any injury to each other; but notwithstanding both fastenings, they stand perfectly at ease, and have sufficient room to lie down. The Persians make use of nothing but sand or dry dust for litter, but the Arabians and Moguls litter their horses with their own dung dried to a powder. It is the custom in these countries not to let the horses eat from the ground, or racks, but to constantly put their barley, and cut straw into bags, which are tied round their necks. In spring they are fed with grass and green barley, but care is taken that they should not have too much, upon a supposition they would soon become fat and useless. They never use bridles or stirrups, but easily manage their horses with a single snaffle; whips and spurs are also seldom employed, and one or two strokes of the former is sufficient at all times to answer every purpose. The horses in Persia are very tall, strong, and sometimes heavy, and from being so plenty, the best of them sell at a low price. These people have a practice of tying a rope to the fore and hind foot on the same side, which teaches them to adopt an easy pace; they also slit their nostrils, for the purpose, they say, of making them respire with more ease.
Horses, however, succeed as well in cold as warm countries, if they are not damp. Denmark, Sweden, and Poland, it is well known, produce fine and beautiful horses; those in Iceland, where the cold is excessive, and where they frequently have nothing but dried fish to subsist upon, though small, are strong and vigorous. In this island the shepherds tend their flocks on horseback, for they are both plenty, and their keep is not attended with any expence. When not wanted they are turned loose into the mountains where they soon become wild; if the owners want them, they are hunted in troops, and caught with ropes, which is thought necessary when the mares have foaled, the owners of which put a mark upon the foals, and then turn them into the mountains again for the space of three years, and it is generally remarked that those left in this manner, are more fleet and better than those brought up at home.
The Norwegian horses possess a peculiarity well adapted to the country, for they travel through the roughest parts of it, and descend the steepest declivities, by putting their hind feet under their bellies with perfect safety. They are small, generally yellow, with a black stripe along their backs. They are frequently assaulted by the bear, and if a stallion happens to be among the mares and foals, when this destructive animal appears, he advances to meet him, and has the sagacity to attack with his fore feet, in which case he almost always is conqueror, but if he ever trusts to his hind legs he is as constantly subdued, the bear in that case leaping upon his back, which he never quits until he has worried him to death.
The Nordland horses are also small, and it is a pretty general remark, that the nearer we approach the pole the more diminutive are these animals. Those of the West Nordland are short and thick; the upper part of their legs is long, and the under short, and without hair; they are generally very temperate, sure-footed, and climb the highest mountains with the greatest steadiness and perseverance. The pasturage of this country is so rich that the horses are always fat and in good condition, which however, they soon lose if they are taken to Stockholm; and by the same rule if a weakly horse is carried to the Nordland he soon recovers.