SOMETHING ABOUT THE HORSE.
751
distributed by the people of this
ancient country as demanded by the increasing civilization of surrounding
nations. The country lying between the Tigris and the Euphrates in
Mesopotamia, where the whole race of mankind was collected together
after the flood, and from thence dispersed over the earth—this spot, so
memorable in the history of humanity, was the primitive home of the horse,
and is the place where the best breeds are still found. This is the true
Arabia, so far as the animal is concerned—the very spot where,
curious enough, the progenitors of the equine race found a natural
home after leaving the ark. From this point the horse was easily brought
into Egypt, where there was money to buy, and sovereigns to use them; and
hence the earliest notice we have of him occurs in Genesis, where the
people are represented as giving them to Joseph in exchange for
bread. The plagues that were pronounced against Egypt on account of
the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, were visited upon domestic
animals, and the horse is mentioned among those which are to suffer. To
attend Jacob's funeral there came forth from Egypt “ chariots and
horsemen.” The Israelites were pursued into the Red Sea by Egyptian
cavalry. Moses, as if associating the horse with the oppression of
his people, forbids the Israelites, if they elect a king, to allow him “to
multiply to himself horses.” Profane history harmonizes with this
testimony, for Sesostris, an Egyptian king, is represented as the first
one who taught men to train horses and use them for pleasure. The people
mentioned in sacred history living upon the borders of Egypt, however,
seem to be strangely indifferent to the value of the horse, for in the
very careful enumeration of the cattle stores of Abraham, Isaac, Esau,
Laban, and Job, though all other domestic animals are abundant, the horse
is never mentioned; nor is it alluded to in the fourth and tenth
commandments, with other working animals. Throughout Judea he
continued to be very rare even down to the days of Solomon, for that
monarch obtained his horses from the land of Pharaoh.
Assyria after Egypt, particularly
that part of the empire which was watered by the Tigris and Euphrates,
became celebrated for its cavaliers among the people of the ancient world.
The prophet Habakkuk exclaims of the horses of the Chaldeans that “ they
are swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening
wolves.” Among the ruins of Nimroud, discovered by Layard, were found
bas-reliefs representing Assyrians on horseback, not only engaged in
hunting expeditions but in actual war; yet upon the ruins of
Persepolis and of cities of coeval date, are representations in abundance
of horses and chariots, but not one of men mounted and going to battle.
Throughout the whole of the Iliad we believe there is not a single mention
made of a warrior on horseback in the field. Until the discoveries in
Nimroud were made, it was supposed that the Persians originated
equestrianism, but it seems they only revived what
had
SOMETHING ABOUT THE HORSE.
BY T. B. THORPE.
T
HE announcement was, that
man should have dominion over every beast of the earth; yet the
realization of that delegated power was the result of many centuries of
slow and painful progress. The savage had no apparent relation to the
horse more than to any other of the wild animals that with him disputed
sway in the open field and dense forests. The horse was anxiously sought
after only as food. As man learned the value of the fruits of the earth,
and consequently the necessity of cultivating the soil, it is most natural
to suppose that, by slow degrees, he became desirous of assistance; yet
the horse would have appeared, under the circumstances, the least
likely to afford the desired help. Smaller animals, more easily captured,
and more readily tamed, were necessarily selected, but their
inefficiency manifested itself just in proportion as man became conscious
of his innate power to govern, and his natural wants increased. From the
dog, the sheep, the bison, the ass, up to the horse, a natural ascent can
be traced, and probably somewhat in this order did man receive the sublime
conviction that he was to rule over the beasts of the field. A foal
was first caught and reared without any object save curiosity. Such
treatment as a savage would bestow would naturally subdue the spirit of
the captive, and familiarize its owners with the possibility of its entire
subjection. It was these enervated and degraded specimens of the
horse that were first practiced upon, and gave to man a knowledge of its
habits, and thus, by slow degrees, was it brought to share its master's
labors. Ages would pass away in the joint education of man and beast
before even this slight advance would be made. The stories, therefore,
told of the “ horse-tamers” and others, which represent the animal being
originally caught in its adult state, and subdued by a single individual,
are contrary to nature. So, also, are the stories which speak of the
original horse-breakers, as taking to the pursuit after they had attained
to manhood, for it is only by constant practice from childhood that a
firm “ seat” can be obtained. The primitive wild horse was never caught
and ridden. Before this could be done, man would have to be perfect in the
equestrian art.
The history of Egypt is the
earliest record of the human family, and in it we find frequent notice of
the horse. By many it has been supposed that Egypt was his original
home, but this is certainly not the case. The horse was
only