xt7ffb4whp2c https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ffb4whp2c/data/mets.xml Tozer, Basil, 1872-1949. 1908  books b98-34-40282666 English Methuen, : London : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Horses History. Horse in history  / by Basil Tozer. text Horse in history  / by Basil Tozer. 1908 2002 true xt7ffb4whp2c section xt7ffb4whp2c 


























































































































































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THE HORSE IN HISTORY

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-I HE K 41.IfT. IJIAIH AND TIIE DIEVII.

    F -Z rz l, I; .'llz "ll  S /, - fl t J)fi, r,

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               THE


HORSE IN HISTORY


                  BY

         BASIL TOZER
                AUTHOR OF
       "PRACTICAL HINTS ON RIDING TO HOUNDS" ETC.









         WITH TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS











            METHUEN & CO.
         36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
                LONDON

 
































First Published in 19o8

 




INTRODUCTORY NOTE



A  FTER directly helping on the progress of
     the world and the development of civilisa-
tion almost from the time when, according to
Nehring's interesting studies, the wild and primi-
tive horses of the great Drift began to exhibit
distinct differences in make, shape and individual
characteristics, the horse has reached the limit
of its tether.
  For with the dawn of the twentieth century,
and the sudden innovation of horseless traffic,
any further influence that it might have exercised
upon the advancement of the human race comes
rapidly to a close.
  That the horse's reign is over-though it is
sincerely to be hoped that horses will be with us
still for many years-the statistics issued recently
by our Board of Agriculture in a measure prove.
For in those statistics it is stated that the number
of horses in the United Kingdom decreased dur-
ing last year alone by no less than I 2,312, and later
statistics show that the decrease still continues.



V

 
vi       THE HORSE IN HISTORY
  In the following pages, therefore, the writer has
striven to trace the progress of the horse from
very early times down to the present day mainly
from the standpoint of the effect its development
had upon the advancement of the human race.
For this reason though a selected number of
the most famous horses that lived in the centuries
before Christ, and between the time of Christ
and the period of the Norman Conquest, and
that have lived within the last nine centuries,
have been mentioned, the horses of romance
and mythology have for the most part been
passed over.
  Every effort has been made to obtain informa-
tion that is strictly accurate, a task of no small
difficulty owing to the mass of contradictory
evidence with which the writer has found himself
confronted in the course of his researches. To
the best of his ability he has winnowed the
actual facts from the mass of fiction that he has
come upon in the writings of some of the earlier
historians, and to some extent in records, manu-
scripts and private letters of more recent times
to which he has had access.
                                     B. J. T.
  BOODLE'S CLUB, i908.

 








                  CONTENTS


                      PART I

FROM VERY EARLY TIMES TO THE CONQUEST

                     CHAPTER I
                                                    PAGM
Rameses; early Egyptian chariots-Horses of Babylon
   and of Libya-Erichthonius; horse of Job; horses of
   Solomon-Early circus riding-Dancing horses of the
   Sybarites; the Crotonians' stratagem-Homer's " Iliad ";
   Menesthus; early wagering - Patroclus; Achilles;
   Euphorbus; Hyperenor-Horses and chariots of the
   Thracians-Ancient Greeks and horsemanship; de-
   cline in the popularity of war chariots; inauguration of
   cavalry-Xenophon on horsemanship-White horses     I

                     CHAPTER II
Increasing interest in horses-Herodotus; Thucydides;
   war chariots of the Persians-Horses represented on
   coinage-Wooden horse of Troy-The Parthenon frieze;
   Greek art-Plato; white horses-The procession of
   Xerxes; horses and men sacrificed-The horse of
   Darius-Horse racing introduced among the Romans
   -Xenophon and Simo-Early horseshoes, bits and
   bitting; ancient methods of mounting              23

                     CHAPTER III
Xenophon disliked the " American " seat-Cavalry organised
   by the Athenians-Cost of horses twenty-three centuries
      Vii

 

viii       THE HORSE IN HISTORY
                                                       FAGS
Chapter I I I-continued
   ago-Aristophanes; Aristotle; Athenians' fondness for
   horse racing-Alexander the Great; Bucephalus-Story
   of Bucephalus; his death-Famous painters of horses:
   Apelles, Pauson, Micon-Mythical flesh-eating horses
   of Diomed-Hannibal's cavalry of 12,ooo horse Coins
   -Posidonius; horses of the Parthians, Iberians and
   Celtiberians                                        45
                      CHAPTER IV
Virgil on the points of a horse Coesar's invasion-Abolition
   of war chariots-Precursor of the horseshoe-Nero's
   2000 mules shod with silver; Poppaxa's shod with gold
   -The Ossianic and Cuchulainn epic cycles; Cuchu-
   lainn's horses-The Iceni on Newmarket Heath; early
   horse racing in Britain-Horses immolated by the
   Romans; white horses as prognosticators-Caligula's
   horse, Incitatus; Celer, the horse of Verus; the horse
   of Belisarius                                       67

                      CHAPTER V
Mahomet encourages horse-breeding-Procopius; a mis-
    statement-Early allusion to horse races-Figures of
    horses cut on cliffs-Roland and his horse, Veillantiff-
    Orelia, Roderick's charger-Trebizond, Alfana; Odin's
    mythical horse, Sleipnir-Horse fighting in Iceland-
    Some horses of mythology: Pegasus, Selene, Xanthos,
    Balios, Cyllaros, Arlon, Reksh-Arab pedigrees traced
    through dams-Influence of the horse upon history-
    Courage of Julius Cxesar's horses                   86


                       PART I I

FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE STUART PERIOD

                       CHAPTER I
The Conqueror's cavalry-Horse fairs and races at Smith-
    field - King John's foolish fad - The Persians and

 

                     CONTENTS                          ix
                                                      PAGr
Chapter I-continued
   their horses-Relics of Irish art; what they indicate
   -Simon de Montfort the first master of foxhounds-
   The king's right to commandeer horses-Sir Eustace
   de Hecche; Battle of Falkirk-Marco Polo and white
   horses; curious superstitions-Edward I I 1. and Richard
   II. encourage horse breeding-Battle of Crecy       107

                      CHAPTER II
Richard II.'s horse, Roan Barbary- -Thoroughbred English
   horses characteristic of the nation-Chaucer; Cambus-
   can's wooden horse -Don Quixote's Aligero Clavileno
   -Horse race between the Prince of Wales and Lord
   Arundel-The Chevalier Bayard; his horse, Carman
   -The Earl of Warwick's horse, Black Saladin-Joan of
   Arc-King Richard's horse, White Surrey-Charles
   VI II. of France's horse, Savoy-Dame Julyana Berners
   -Wolsey's horsemanship-Queen Elizabeth's stud     127

                     CHAPTER III
Inauguration and development of the Royal Stud-Ex-
   portation of horses declared by Henry VIII. to be
   illegal-Sale of horses to Scotsmen pronounced to be
   an act of felony-Riding matches become popular-
   Ferdinand of Arragon's gift of horses to Henry VIII.
   -Henry's love of hunting-King Henry stakes the bells
   of St Paul's on a throw of the dice-Some horses of
   romance-Horse-breeding industry crippled in Scotland  148

                      CHAPTER IV
North America without horses when Columbus landed-
    Scarcity of horses at the Conquest of Mexico-Francisco
    Pizarro; his cavaliers terrify the Indians-Emperor
    Charles V. sends horses to King Edward VI.-David
    Hume, "a man remarkable for piety, probity, candour
    and integrity"); his practices in connection with horse
    racing--Queen Elizabeth fond of racing; condition of

 

x          THE HORSE IN HISTORY
                                                      PAGE
Chapter IV-continued
   the Turf during her reign-Stallions fed on eggs and
   oysters-Lord Herbert of Cherbury's antagonistic atti-
   tude towards the Turf-Some horses in Shakespeare's
   plays-Performing horse and its owner publicly burnt
   to death-Horses trained by cruelty  ;68

                      CHAPTER V

King Henry VIII: and Queen Elizabeth passionately fond
    of hunting-John Selwyn's remarkable feat in the
    hunting field; the monument at Walton-on-Thames-
    Don Quixote and his steed, Rosinante; Peter of
    Provence's wooden horse, Babieca; Clavileno and the
    Cid's horse Mary Queen of Scots' favourite horses-
    Queen Elizabeth's retinue of 24oo horses-Arundel,
    Aquiline, Brigadore-The horses of Anatolia and
    Syria-Sir Robert Carey's historic ride from London to
    Edinburgh in sixty hours-The horses of Napoleon I.  187



                      PART III


FROM THE STUART PERIOD TO THE PRESENT
                          DAY

                       CHAPTER I

Arrival of the Markham Arabian, the first Arab imported
    into England-Newmarket village founded by James 1.
    -Decline of the " great horse "-The Royal Studs-
    James I. organises a race meeting on the frozen River
    Ouse-Superstitious beliefs concerning horses-James
    I. meets with a grotesque riding mishap-Prosperity of
    the Turf-Riding match between Lord Haddington and
    Lord Sheffield-The Turf vigorously denounced as "an
    evil likely to imperil the whole country's prosperity"  202

 


                     CONTENTS                         xi
                                                     PAGE
                     CHAPTER II

First races of importance run at Newmarket-Races in
    Hyde Park-The Helmsley Turk and the Morocco
    Barb-Racing introduced into Holland-Importation of
    Spanish stallions into England-Prince Charles's riding
    master, the Duke of Newcastle Increasing cost of
    horses Marshal de Bassompierre; his loss through
    gambling,  500,000 in a year; Sir John Fenwick-
    Sir Edward Harwood's pessimism-Cromwell's Irou-
    sides-Armour discarded.-The opposition to stage
    coaches; Mr Cressett's theory; Charles II. favours
    their adoption .     .     .     .      .     .   222

                     CHAPTER III

The Commonwealth's "ordinance to prohibit horse racing"!
   -Revival of racing under Charles II.-The King a
   finished horseman-The figure of Britannia-The Royal
   Mares-Formation of the thoroughbred stud-Thomas
   Shadwell's cynical description of life at Newmarket-
   Spread of horse racing in Ireland-Jockeys at New-
   market entertained by Charles II.-Sir Robert Carr;
   the Duke of Monmouth's connection with the Turf-
   Annual charge for horses of the Royal household,
   _ 16,64o-Newmarket under the rqfre of the Merry
   Monarch; the Duke of Buckingham   .     .     .   242

                     CHAPTER IV

Arrival of the Byerley Turk-Roman Catholics forbidden
   to own a horse worth over Z5-Henry Hyde, Earl of
   Clarendon, on the manners of the age-King William
   III.'s death due to a riding accident-The Duke
   of Cumberland's breeding establishment in Queen
   Anne's reign-Arrival of the Darley Arabian-The
   Godolphin Arabian-Royal Ascot inaugurated by
   Queen Anne-" Docking" and     "cropping"   con-
   demned by Queen Anne; attempt to suppress these

 

xii       THE HORSE IN HISTORY
                                                   PAGE
Chapter IV-continued
   practices-The story of Eclipse-Some horses of
   romance-Copenhagen and Marengo                  26i

                     CHAPTER V

A retrospective summary-The beginning of the end-
   Superstition of the horseshoe-The Bedouins and
   their horses-Some classic thoroughbreds of modern
   times-Horses hypnotised-The Derby and the Oaks
   -Horse racing in Mongolia-Conclusion            281
INDEX                                              295

 









      LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Knight, Death, and the Devil     .      . Frontispiece
   From an engraving by Albert Durer.
                                                 FACING PAGE
Combat between Amazons and Attic heroes. Fourth
  century, B.C.              .      .      .      .     19
  From a Greek vase in the British Museum.

Greek coins showing horses in the early centuries
  before Christ      .       .      .      .      .    27

The Emperor Trajan, showing Roman style of riding  .   33
   From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship. "

The Emperor Theodosius, showing saddle     .       .    33
   From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship."

A Parthian horseman, showing Parthian style of riding
  bareback    .      .       .      .      .           33
  From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship. "

Sarmatian horse and warrior, meant to represent horse
  and rider in armour made of plates of bone or of
  horsehoof          .      .       .      .           33
  From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship."

A portion of the Parthenon Frieze, executed by Phidias
  about the year 440 B.C.    .      .      .      .    39
       xiii

 

xiv         THE HORSE IN HISTORY

                                                 FACING PAGE
Roman soldier about to adjust "stocking" used in
  place of shoes             .      .                   45
  From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship. "

Roman soldier about to mount on off side   .       .    45
   From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship."

A Mauritanian horseman, showing how the Mauritanians
  and Humidians rode without saddle or bridle     .    45
  From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horse-
     manship. "

Alexander the Great on horseback, about 338 B.C.
  The figure is believed to represent Bucephalus  .       5
  From a bronze in the British Museum.

Persians fighting with elephants against the Romans,
  about the time of Pyrrhus, 280 B.C. This picture
  has been wrongly attributed to Raphael   .       .   63
  From an engraving.

Caligula on horseback. About 37 A.D.       .       .    79
    From a figure in the British Museum.

Bayeux tapestry supposed to represent the Battle of
  Hastings, io66     .       .      .      .      .   I09

Statue of Colleoni by Verrocchio in Venice  .     .   203
    From a photo by R. Anderson, Rome.

Van Dyck's famous picture of Charles I. on horseback
  in the National Gallery, London   .      .      .   2 25
    From a photo by Franz Ilanfstxngl.

 


            LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS                         xv

                                                    FACING PAGE
Oliver Cromwell on horseback                              233
   After the painting by Van Dyck.

Horses of the Cavaliers, seventeenth century. From a
  painting in the possession of his Majesty King
  Edward VII.         .                                  243
  From a photograph by Franz Hanfstengl.

The Duke of Schonberg on a typical charger of the early
  seventeenth century         .       .      .       .   257
    After the painting by Sir G. Kneller.

Flying Childers, bred by Mr Leonard Childers in 1715,
  is said to have been "the fastest horse that has ever
  lived"       .      .       .       .       .      .   269
  From a photograph by A. Rischgitz.

Mr O'Kelly's Eclipse, the most famous thoroughbred
  stallion ever foaled, 1764   .      .      .       .   273
  After the painting by G. Stubbs.

Napoleon at Wagram     .      .       .      .           297
   From the famous painting by Vernet at VersailleE.
   From a photo by Neurdein freres.

Wellington's famous horse, Copenhagen         .      .   28i
   From an engraving (Photo by A. Rischgitz).

Flying Dutchman, foaled 1846          .                  285
    From a life-size painting by Herring. By kind permission
       of the Earl of Rosebery.
    From a photograph by W. E. Gray.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 






SOME WORKS CONSULTED



O  F the many volumes the writer has consulted
     whilst engaged in compiling this book, the
following are among the more important. The
list is arranged alphabetically, according to the
authors' names. To the authors or editors, as
the case may be, and to the publishers of these
works, the writer here begs to acknowledge his
very deep indebtedness for the assistance he has
derived from consulting the volumes named.

    ARRIAN (F.)-" The Anabasis of Alexander."
    AUREGGIO (E.)-" Les Chevaux du Nord de l'Afrique."
    AZARA (F. DE)-" The Natural History of the Quadrupeds
       of Paraguay and the River La Plata."
   BERENGER (R.)-" The History and Art of Horseman-
        ship."
    BLOUNT (T.)-" Antient Tenures."
    BLUNT (W. S.)" Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates."
    BOUSSON (M. A. E.)-" Etude de la Repr6sentation du
        Cheval."
    CHARRAS (J. B. A.)" Histoire de la Campagne de I815."
    CHOMEL (C.)-" Histoire du Cheval dans l'antiquit6 et
        son r6le dans la civilization."
    CHURCH (A. J.)-" Roman Life in the Days of Cicero."
    COOK (T. A.)-'" The History of the Turf," and " Eclipse
        and O'Kelly."
    DARWIN (C. R.)-" Variation of Animals and Plants."
      b                 xvii

 
Xviii    THE    HORSE     IN  HISTORY

   ERMAN (A.)-" Life in Ancient Egypt."
   EWART (J. C.)-" The Multiple Origin of Horses and
       Ponies"; "A  Critical Period in the Development
       of the Horse "; and "The Penicuik Experiments
       on Breeding between Horses and Zebras."
    FITZWYGRAM (Sir F. W. J.)-" Horses and Stables."
    FLOWER (Sir W. H.)-" The Horse."
    GAST (E.)-" Le Cheval Normand et ses Origines."
    GREENWELL (W.)-." British Barrows."
    GILBEY (Sir W.)-" Horses Past and Present," and " The
       Great Horse, or War Horse."
   HADDON (A. C.)-" The Study of Man."
   HALL (H.)-The Horses of the British Empire."
   HAYES (M. H.)-" Points on the Horse."
   HOLM (A.)-"The History of Greece."
   HORE (J. P.-" History of Newmarket."
   HUME (D.)-"Imperial History of England."
   HUME (D.)-" The History of the House of Douglas."
   JOWETT (B.)-" Thucydides."
   JONSON (B.)-" The Alchemist."
   LODGE (E.)-" Illustrations of British History."
   MAYNE (C.)-" Odes of Pindar."
   MONTFAUCON (B. DE)-" Antiquities."
   MORGAN (H.)-" The Art of Horsemanship."
   MURRAY (D).-" Life of Joan of Arc."
   MITCHELL (T.)-" The Comedies of Aristophanes."
   NEWCASTLE (DUKE OF)-" Observations on Horses."
   PETRIE (F.)-" History of Egypt."
   PIETREMENT (C. A.)-" Les Chevaux dans les Temps
        Historiques et pr6-Historiques."
    PLUTARCH-" Life of Alexander the Great."
    PRESCOTT (W. H.)-" The Conquest of Mexico."
    REYCE (R).-" Breviary of Suffolk."
    RIDGEWAY (W.)-" The Origin and Influence of the
        Domestic Horse," and "The Early Age of Greece."

 
SOME WORKS CONSULTED



xix



   RUSKIN (J.)-" The Queen of the Air."
   SCHLIEBEN (A.)-" The Horse in Antiquity."
   SIDNEY (S.)-" The Book of the Horse."
   SOTHERBY (W.)-" Georgics of Virgil."
   SOUTHEY (R.)-" Iliad of Homer."
   STREET (F.)-"The History of the Shire Horse."
   STRUTT (J.)-" Sports and Pastimes of the People of
       England."
   TASSO (T.)-" Jerusalem Delivered."
   TAUNTON (T.)-" Famous Horses."
   TRIMMER (Mrs M.)-" Natural History."
   TWEEDIE (Mrs ALEC.)-" Hyde Park: Its History and
       Romance."
   TWEEDIE (W.)-" The Arabian Horse."
   UPTON (Capt. R. D.)-" Newmarket and Arabia."
   VAUX (Baron C. M. de)-" A Cheval. Etude des Races
       Franaises et Etrang&es."
   WHITE (C.)-" History of the Turf."
   WITT (C.)-" The Trojan War."
   YULE (Sir H.)-" Marco Polo."

   Standard classics consulted have for the most
part been omitted from this list. The writer
wishes in addition to thank his friend, Dr
William Barry, the distinguished classical scholar,
for the trouble he has taken in helping to revise
some of the earlier of the proof sheets; Professor
William Ridgeway, of Cambridge, the famous
historian and archeologist, for letters containing
advice that has proved of use; Mr Theodore
Andrea Cook, the most trustworthy authority
we have upon the history of the Turf and the

 
xx       THE HORSE IN HISTORY
modern thoroughbred, for letters of introduction,
etc.; and the Directors of the British Museum
and the Directors of the National Gallery for
allowing photographs to be taken for reproduc-
tion. For the sake of convenience the centuries
B.C. are alluded to in the same way that centuries
A.D. are alluded to, that is, one century in ad-
vance. Thus 550 B.C. is spoken of as the fourth
century B.c.; 250 A.D. as the third century A.D.,
and so on.

 







  THE HORSE IN HISTORY


                    PART I

FROM VERY EARLY TIMES TO THE CONQUEST

                 CHAPTER I

 Rameses; early Egyptian chariots-Horses of Babylon and
 of Libya-Erichthonius; horse of Job; horses of Solomon-Early
 circus riding-Dancing horses of the Sybarites; the Crotonians'
 stratagem-Homer's "Iliad"; Menesthus; early wagering-
 Patroclus; Achilles; Euphorbus; Hyperenor - Horses and
 chariots of the Thracians-Ancient Greeks and horsemanship;
 decline in the popularity of war chariots; inauguration of cavalry
 -Xenophon on horsemanship-White horses

 T   HOUGH     according to the more trustworthy
     of our naturalists hoofed animals do not
occur until the Tertiary Period in the history of
mammals, there can be no doubt that from an
epoch almost "so far back that the memory
of man runneth not to the contrary," in the
literal meaning of that legal phrase, the horse
has played a prominent part in the development
of the human race.
  Reference is made incidentally to " the horses
of Abraham" by the author of a historical novel
published recently; but then even the most pains-



A



I

 
THE HORSE IN HISTORY



taking of writers of fiction is apt to err in minute
points, and can one blame him when the lands
over which he travels, and the subjects of which
he treats, are so numerous and vary so widely
For we know from Genesis-also from certain
other later sources that may be depended upon
for accuracy -that though the prophet had
creatures of divers kinds bestowed upon him,
yet the horse probably is one of the few animals
he did not receive.
  Many of the important and famous victories
won by Rameses-Sesostris as the Greeks termed
him-and by other monarchs of the eighteenth
and nineteenth dynasties, most likely would have
proved crushing defeats but for the assistance
they obtained from horses.  As it happened,
however, Rameses-whom recent writers declare
to have been a very barefaced " boomster "-
succeeded with the help of his horses in march-
ing triumphant through many of the outlying
territories in Africa as well as in Asia.



  We have it on the authority of Professor
Flinders Petrie and other distinguished historians
that Aahmes I. -a king of the seventeenth
dynasty who drove out the Hyksos-reigned
from 1587 to I562 B.C., and chariots do not appear
to have been used in Egypt prior to his accession.



2

 
EARLY EGYPTIAN CHARIOTS



  Indeed, as Professor Owen himself has pointed
out, horses are not found represented on any of
the monuments of the very early Egyptians, so
that apparently the Egyptians of the eighteenth
dynasty, whose monuments probably are the first
to show horses and chariots, must have been the
first to turn their attention seriously to the em-
ployment of horses for useful purposes.
  And yet from further statements made in
Genesis it seems certain that a native Egyptian
king who flourished somewhere about the time
of Jacob - that is to say between i80o and
1700 B.C.-owned many horses and chariots. The
Egyptians apparently did not mount horses until
a very late period in their history, and even the
chariots they constructed were, until many years
had passed, used only in time of war. The lower
classes, if one may call them so, used only the
ass, a beast that must have been popular amongst
the Egyptians for centuries before horses were
even heard of in Egypt.
  From Genesis we gather too that Pharaoh
made Joseph drive in his second chariot; but the
Egyptians who bought corn from Joseph and
gave horses in exchange for it belonged probably
to the well-to-do class that in time of war was
compelled to provide the king with almost as
many horses and chariots as he needed, or at any
rate as many as he asked for.



3

 
THE HORSE IN HISTORY



  In the records of Babylonia it is stated that
horses were first employed in the great city about
the year I500 B.C. The Libyans, however, must
have broken horses to harness some centuries
before this, and indeed learnt to ride them with
some skill, for it is proved beyond all doubt that
the women of Libya rode horses astride at any
rate so far back as the seventeenth century B.C.,
and that in addition to this horses were at about
that time being driven in pairs by the Libyans, to
whom even the four-horse chariot cannot have
been quite unknown.
  It has not been proved, from what I have been
able to ascertain, that in Neolithic times horses
were already tamed, but some remains of horses
discovered at Walthamstow, in Essex, are said
to date back approximately to that period and to
indicate for that reason that horses were domesti-
cated in the Neolithic Age.
  Evidence does exist, however, that in the
Neolithic and Bronze Ages horses of a type that
closely resembled that of the horses of the
Paleolithic Age were to be found in several parts
of Europe. The Trojans, as most of us know,
bred horses very largely indeed, so much so that
we read of King Erichthonius, who in the
thirteenth century B.C. was in his heyday, that
he became "richest of mortal men " and the
possessor of "three thousand mares which



4

 
ERICHTHONIUS



pastured along the marsh meadow, rejoicing in
their tender foals," a statement that indirectly
recalls the fine lines in Longfellow's "The
Minnisink ":

        "They buried the dark chief-they freed
          Beside the grave his battle steed;
          And swift an arrow cleaves its way
          To his stern heart! One piercing neigh
          Arose,-and on the dead man's plain
          The rider grasps his steed again."

  Erichthonius, according to Virgil, was the first
to handle a four-in-hand, for in the third book of
his " Georgics " we are told how

        "Bold Erichthonius first four coursers yok'd
          And urg'd the chariot as the axle smok'd."

  Rather a risky proceeding and one from which
we may conclude that bold Erichthonius would
have flouted the axiom promulgated recently by
the more prudent members of a well-known coach-
ing club that " no team ought to be driven faster
than ten miles an hour, upon an average"!



  Though allusions to the horse are made re-
peatedly in the Bible, they give us little or no
insight as to the horse's influence upon the nations
and their development. The notorious steed of
Job that when among the trumpets exclaimed



5

 
THE HORSE IN HISTORY



" Ha! Ha! " and then winded the battle afar off
and fretted itself unduly upon hearing "the
thunder of the captains and the shouting" has
been described by several writers, but no two de-
scriptions appear to tally.
  Solomon, according to the " Book of Kings,"
must have owned quite a large stud, for we read
that he had horses brought out of Egypt, and
that a chariot came up and went out for six
hundred shekels of silver, a horse for a hundred
and fifty, " and so for all the kings of the H ittites,
and for the kings of Syria, did he bring them
out. " The Hittites, whom  Professor Jensen
assures us were Indo-Europeans, are also shown
to have had horses when they made their way
into Northern Palestine, probably at some period
prior to I400 B.C., but trustworthy information
about the horses and how the Hittites treated
them is not obtainable.
  As for the horses in the Mycenean Period-
the Bronze Age of Greece-the monuments of
that epoch bear testimony to the esteem in
which they were held. The indigenous people
of Greece were presumably the Pelasgians, and
these monuments remain to bear testimony that
such a people once existed.
  In a like manner do the gravestones of the
Acropolis of Mycenae bear indisputable evidence,
for upon three of them at least are to be seen
sculptured in low relief a chariot, a pair of horses,



6

 
EARLY CIRCUS RIDING



and a driver, the date of this particular sculpture
being approximately the fourteenth century B.C.



  It seems practically beyond dispute that before
the year IOOO B.C. no people rode on horseback
except the Libyans, though chariots must have
been used quite 2000 years before that. Yet by
the time Homer wrote his poems horsemanship
was becoming common amongst a section of the
Greeks.
  Indeed by that time feats of skill on horseback
upon a par with the antics we see performed to-
day in circuses were at least known, and prob-
ably they were often watched and greatly liked.
Listen, for instance, to the following Homeric
simile-the translation is almost literal:-
  " As when a man that well knows how to ride
harnesses up four chosen horses, and springing
from the ground dashes to the great city along
the public highway, and crowds of men and
women look on in wonder, while he with all
confidence, as his steeds fly on, keeps leaping
from one to another."
  There are two references at least in Homer
to "four male horses yoked together," but the
practice of driving four-in-hand certainly was not
common in the eighth century B.C., or probably
until long after. The above reference, however,



7

 
THE HORSE IN HISTORY



to feats of skill performed on horseback, recalls to
mind a story, probably more or less true, that has
to do with the luxurious people of Sybaris, in
Southern Italy.
  In the early centuries before Christ, so it is
related, this people trained all its horses to dance
to the sound of music, to the music of flutes in
particular. The inhabitants of Croton having
heard of this, and being sworn enemies of the
Sybarites, determined to take advantage of the
information and attempt to conquer their foe
with the aid of strategy.
  For this reason they provided all the musicians
in their own army with flutes in place of trumpets
and the other instruments they had been in the
habit of using, and then without delay declared
war upon the Sybarites.
  The latter, to do them justice, responded at
once, in spite of the condition of lethargy to
which the life of luxury they had been leading was
supposed to have reduced them. No sooner did
they approach the Crotonian lines, however, than
It a great part of the army," as we are told, "set
up a merry tune," which had the effect of stamped-
ing the Sybarites' horses, for " they instantly
threw off their riders and began to skip and
dance. "
  As a natural consequence the Sybarite army
was taken at a disadvantage and quickly routed
with great slaughter, "very many horses being



8

 
HOMER'S " ILIAD "



killed during the engagement, to their owners'
dismay and grief."



  This strange story may be in a measure
exaggerated, but probably it is based on truth,
in which case it proves that the Greeks of Magna
Graxcia at any rate made use of cavalry before
the rest had attempted to do so. Also we know
that in the year 510 B.C. the Crotonians destroyed
Sybaris entirely.
  The Assyrians too, at about this period, evi-
dently had well-appointed cavalry, for Ezekiel
speaks of their being "clothed in blue, captains
and rulers, all of them desirable young men,
horsemen riding upon horses," and goes on to
give particulars which, in so far as they relate to
the mode of life in vogue with these desirable
young men, are calculated to shock the suscepti-
bilities of prudish persons, and to amuse others.
  In the light of the Higher Criticism Homer's
"Iliad " is believed to have been written by
various hands, and incidentally the Criticism
throws useful light upon the horse in his rela-
tion to the history of the nations known to have
flourished in the very early centuries before Christ.
  One need not here describe such steeds as
Agamemnon's mare, swift /Ethe, that was