"Horses pray to Allah to make them beloved by their masters."
"Allah comes to the aid of such as occupy themselves with horses, and lightens the expenses incurred on their account."
"Every grain of barley given to a horse is inscribed by Allah in the Register of good Works."
"Martyrs of the holy war will find in Paradise horses of rubies, furnished with wings, which shall fly whithersoever their riders desire."
BREEDS.
The tribes that inhabit the Sahara have always been better able than those of the Tell to withdraw from the caprice, oppression, and spoliation of the various conquerors of Africa. It is therefore evidently among them that the Barb has had the best chance of preserving all the qualities of grace, speed, and sobriety, that are universally regarded as its characteristics. We shall consequently confine ourselves exclusively to the horses of that region, and with a view to avoid a repetition of what every one has read in books, we shall allow the many Arabs we have interrogated, to speak for themselves. Here, then, is the outline they have drawn of the thoroughbred horse, shareb-er-rehh, "the air-drinker:"
The thoroughbred horse is well proportioned, his ears are small and in constant motion, his bones massive, his cheeks meagre, his nostrils wide as the throat of a lion, his eyes bright, black, and level with the head,[[20]] his neck long, his chest full, his withers prominent, his loins well knit, his haunches strong, his fore-ribs long and the hinder ones short, the belly hollow, the croup rounded, the upper part of his legs long like an ostrich's and furnished with muscles like a camel's, his hoofs black and of a uniform colour, his hair fine and abundant, his flesh firm, his tail very thick at the dock but loose at the extremity. Looked at in front he is like unto the peak of a lofty mountain. Looked at from behind, he seems to lean forward as if he would prostrate himself. Looked at from the side, he shows himself robust and well set up.
To sum up: he should have four points broad, the front, the chest, the croup, and the legs;—four points long, the neck, the upper part of the legs, the belly, and the haunches;—four points short, the loins, the pasterns, the ears, and the tail. All these qualities in a good horse, say the Arabs, prove firstly that he has real blood in him, and secondly that he is certainly fleet of foot, for his form combines something of the greyhound, the pigeon, and the mahari, or riding camel.[[21]]
The mare ought to take from the wild boar its courage and breadth of head; from the gazelle, its grace, its eyes and mouth; from the antelope, liveliness and intelligence; from the ostrich, its neck and swiftness; from the viper, the shortness of its tail.