These may be “foolish things to all the wise,” but nothing is useless which familiarises the horse, which increases the confidence and intimacy between him and his rider, or which teaches him to look to man for the indications of his will, and to obey them, whether from fear, interest, or attachment.
CHAPTER XI.
THE HORSE AND HIS STABLE.
Condition depends on food, work, and warmth.—So does the difference between the breeds of horses.—The terseness of the Arab is the result of hard food.—So is that of our thorough-bred horse.—Different breeds result from different natural conditions.—Crossing is only necessary where natural conditions are against you.—We do not attend enough to warmth.—We should get fine winter coats by warmth instead of singeing.—No fear of cold from fine coats.—The foot should be stopped with clay.—The sore ridge.—Stable breastplate.—The head-stall.—Never physic, bleed, blister, or fire.—Food for condition.—Rest for strains.—Nature for wounds.—Miles for shoeing.—The horse should have water always by him.—And should stand loose.—No galloping on hard ground, either by master or man.—He who cripples the horse kills him.
Condition depends on food, work, warmth. For perfect health and condition three things are necessary, good food, work, warmth. For appearance a fourth may be added, cleaning. To suppose cleaning necessary for health is nonsense. Do you clean your sheep?—the stags in your park?—or the horses young and old in the breeding stud? But, speaking liberally, a horse which is not worked cannot be clean and a horse which is worked and clothed cannot be dirty. A horse cannot be clothed too heavily summer or winter short of perspiring.
So does the difference between breeds of horses. But it is not only that the present passing condition of the horse depends solely on food, work, and warmth, but the permanent structure and stature of the horse depend on them; that is, the difference between what are called different breeds of horses depends solely on these three things.
The Arab the result of hard food. The Arab has a legend that his horse came from the stable of King Solomon. From the book of Kings it appears that Solomon was a great horse dealer. He imported them largely from Egypt, and he supplied certain kings with them. The merchandise which he received from Arabia is enumerated, and though it is not stated that he supplied horses in part payment for this merchandise, it is not improbable that he did so. Speaking liberally, in Arabia the sole food of the horse is barley and straw; and the terseness of structure of the Arab may be said to be the result of three thousand years of hard food, if we reckon only from the modern horse-keeper King Solomon. Fuerant autem in Egypto semper præstantissimi equi. And, shades of Bunsen! how many thousand years of hard food shall we add to the account for our horses’ Egyptian ancestry? Moses and Miriam sang their dirge on the shore of the Red Sea, in the reign of a mediæval Pharaoh, but their “early progenitors,” as Mr. Darwin would phrase it, might have enjoyed the barley of the ancient King Menes. To hard food we must add early work, for the Arab is worked at two years old.
So is our thorough-bred horse. Our thorough-bred horse, the descendant of the Arab, has been bred under the same natural conditions somewhat improved; that is, he has had better hard food in unlimited quantity, he is earlier trained, the goodness of both sire and dam are proved to an ounce, and performance only is bred from. What is the consequence? In Evelyn’s days Arabs and barbs raced at Newmarket. In later days, in the give and take plates there, winners are recorded of thirteen hands high, and the size of a stud horse of fourteen hands was advertised. Now, if a horse is under sixteen hands his size is not mentioned, and all the world is our customer at £5000 or £6000 a horse. And if more people had the skill to ride him, the merits of the thorough-bred horse as a hunter would be better known; though, indeed, under any circumstances, it is but the sweepings of the training stable which descends to the hunting field or private life.