INTRODUCTION.



  The first domestication of the horse, one of the greatest
achievements of man in the animal kingdom, was not the work
of a day; but like all other great accomplishments, was brought
about by a gradual process of discoveries and experiments. He
first subdued the more subordinate aiinials, on account of their
being easily caught and tamed, and used for many years the
mere drudges, the ox, the ass, and the camel, instead of the fleet
and elegant horse. This noble animal was the last brought into
subjection, owing, perhaps, to man's limited and inaccurate
knowledge of his nature, and his consequent inability to control
him. This fact alone is sufficient evidence of his superiority
over all other animals.
  Man, in all his inventions and discoveries, has almost invari.
ably commenced with some simple principle, and gradually de-
veloped it from one degree of perfection to another. The first
hint that we have of the use of electricity was Franklin's draw-
ing it from the clouds with his kite. Now it is the instrument
of conveying thought from mind to mind, with a rapidity that
surpasses time. The great propelling power that drives the
wheel of the engine over our land, and ploughs the ocean with
our steamers, was first discovered escaping from a tea-kettle,
And so the powers of the horse, second only to the powers of
steam, became known to man only as experiments, and investi-
gation revealed them.
  The horse, according to the best accounts we can gather, has
been the constant servant of man for nearly four thousand
years, ever rewarding him with his labor and adding to his com-
fort in proportion to his skill and manner of using him; but
being to those who govern him by brute force, and know noth-
ing of the beauty and delight to be gained from the cultivation
of his finer nature, a fretful, vicious, and often dangerous ser.
vant; whilst to the Arabs, whose horse is the pride of his life,
and who governs him by the law of kindness, we find him to be
quite a different animal. The manner in which he is treated
from a foal gives him an affection and attachment for his master
not known in any other country. The Arab and his children, the
mare and her foal, inhabit the tent together; and although the foal
and the mare's neck are often pillows for the children to roll