WAITING FOR THE WAZIR
ndia has been described by a European as the Paradise of horses, and from his point of view the phrase is not unfitting. The natural affinity between horses and Englishmen becomes a closer bond by residence in India, where everybody rides—or ought to ride—where horses and horse-keep are cheap, and where large castes of stable servants, contented with a low wage, are capable under careful superintendence of keeping their animals in a state of luxurious comfort. The horses, however, which serve native masters are born to Purgatory rather than to Paradise. Those in the hands of the upper classes suffer from antiquated and barbarous systems of treatment, and are often killed by mistaken kindness or crippled by bad training, while those of low degree are liable to cruel ill-usage, over-work, neglect, and unrelieved bondage.
I have not always thought it worthwhile in previous notes to dwell on the frequent appearance of notions on animals once current in Europe. But in the matter of the horse, there is no escape from this suggestive subject. The Oriental conception of a horse may be gathered from pictures and current sayings as well as from an inspection of princely stables. In many respects it recalls that of our forefathers before the introduction of Arab blood into Europe and the systematic cultivation of speed. No Eastern horse has anything like the substance of the "grete horse," "the gambaldyne horse," or "the grete doble trottynge hors called a curtal" of old England,—but that kind of animal is plainly the ideal in the Oriental mind. Its artificial paces, air-fighting attitudes, and slow rate of speed are still the model of the high-class Indian trainer when left to himself. This ideal is somewhat contrary to nature, for the climate is not favourable to the pig-like roundness of form shown in all modern Indian pictures as in European representations of a bygone time. For the animals that take their chance with the poor are always light in form and often of spectral slenderness. But by rigorous confinement and careful stuffing with rich food even this condition is approached. Many horses belonging to persons of rank are fattened like fowls in France, by the grooms thrusting balls of food mixed with ghi, boiled goats' brains, and other rich messes down their throats. And, as might be expected, very many die of diseases of the digestion and liver under the process. The difference between East and West, between old and new, between feudal and free conditions, is shown in few things more clearly than in a comparison of the horse of the Indian Raja with the scientifically treated animal of Europe and America. The latter is carefully fed during the all-important period of its growth, so that its strength and substance are fully developed, while it is made to take regular exercise. Year by year, too, a humane appreciation of its natural timidity leads to a more considerate and merciful training, which is accomplished without cruel constraint, harsh confinement, violence, or nervous shock.
The horse of the Indian noble, on the other hand, is imperfectly nourished in its early youth. Not always in the West will an ordinary farmer understand the requirements of a young horse after weaning, but in India it seems impossible to persuade people that money spent on a growing beast is money invested. All they see is a present loss. Then it is tied up during the greater part of its life, not merely secured by the head but tethered by heel-ropes. No innovation has been more obstinately fought against by native servants of English masters than the loose box, for Orientals have a passion for tying things up. A group of young horses in a pasture, free to exult in their strength, is a sight not seen in India, with a few exceptions to be presently noted. If you watch such a group and note their God-given delight in motion and freedom, the birthright and wild desire of all young things, you must admit that this is a custom of cruelty. But the pedantry of horse-folk, everywhere inclined to stupidity, is inflexible in India.
Some of the foregoing may appear incredible to Western readers. I quote from the India in 1887 of Mr. R. Wallace, Professor of Agriculture and Rural Economy in the University of Edinburgh,—a witness who writes from first-hand observation, and who, throughout his book, is inclined to the not unreasonable contention that a native custom is primâ facie likely to be right:—
"The pampering and over-feeding of favourite animals in the stables of wealthy native princes cannot be too strongly condemned and reprobated, as cruel to the beasts themselves and injurious to the best interests of the country. I spent some hours in one stable where over one hundred of the finest horses—Arabs, Barbs, Marwars, and Kathiawars—that India could produce were tied up and actually fed as fat as pigs. Horses that had cost Rs.18,000 and Rs.20,000 were kept in close boxes with most imperfect ventilation, and were taken out only for show at rare intervals, and not at all for regular exercise. In addition to ordinary food, they got mixed with it 2 lbs. of sugar and from 1 to 2 lbs. of ghi daily. The first result of this feeding would be a rapidly thriving condition, accompanied with a sleek and glossy coat and an increase of fat; but the ultimate and most natural consequence proved to be the gradual breaking down of the system in each case at its weakest point through over-pressure. This accounted for the variety of diseases that appeared and developed and were running their course at the time referred to—e.g. broken wind, founder (laminitis), weed (lymphangitis), skin eruptions or diseases, and fatty degenerations of the liver. All these, I noticed, were present, and no doubt there were others besides.
"I was informed that a considerable number died annually of an unknown disease, and I was able to satisfy myself by examining what existed of it at the moment, and from the accounts of the two native veterinary attendants, that this unknown and fatal malady was fatty degeneration of the liver, which seemed to carry off most of those horses that escaped the other more rapid and better-known forms of disease.
"The injury to the community lies in this, that the best horses of the best breeds in the country are picked up—even those bred by government sires—and brought to these stables; and if an animal finds favour in the eyes of the Prince or Sahib, it is supplied with the food of the favourites already described, and whether it is a male or female it soon becomes barren; consequently, the best horses are withdrawn from breeding, and the artificial selection of man is made to act in the wrong direction—the race being reproduced from the poorer specimens.
"I saw a horse suffering from a disease said to be produced by excess of moisture. It took the form of large blotches or swollen raw sores, which may occur on any part of the body, but most abundantly about the legs.... There is an extraordinary confusion in the minds of natives of the lower orders, such as grooms, in their ideas of kindness and cruelty to the lower animals. While some were being literally killed by over-feeding and care, I found the one suffering from this loathsome disease tied out in the open, and exposed without shelter to the sun or rain, as the case might be, and to the constant and irritating action of flies which swarmed about and lived on the skinless parts. Although the disease was well developed, no effort had been made to treat it in any way. The animal was suffering severely, but my drawing attention to the fact was received with the greatest astonishment and indifference."
With reference to the last case quoted by Mr. Wallace, a native groom would say that barsáti, which seems to be the disease indicated, is incurable and contagious. So the animal must be kept apart from the rest, but it may not be killed—and—"he is only a poor man and what can be done?" But in reality, it has never occurred to him to think that creatures can suffer.
The distinctively native methods of training, which are corruptions of the manège formerly popular in Europe, involve unnecessary cruelty. It is true that even in England, which is, relatively speaking, the true horse paradise, carriage horses are still made to learn certain artificial tricks, relics of unwise old fashions, indefensible because interferences with nature. To teach the outstretched, flying-buttress attitude which is considered good form, the animal is set to stand and the inside of the fore legs is tapped with a whip till he covers the proper extent of ground. The French take more pains to exaggerate this position than the English, but during the season in the Park you may often see an English coachman, on pulling up, fidget with reins and whip till his animals are outstretched like wooden rocking-horses. This is considered quite beautiful, but it is the worst possible attitude for a horse to move forward from, since it may cause strain in back or loins. But it is only done while the animal is at work. In India the poor brute is tied tightly in this posture and left for many hours together without possibility of relief.
