Page:A General History of Quadrupeds.djvu/21

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A GENERAL

HISTORY

OF

QUADRUPEDS.


(Equus Caballus, Linnæus.—Le Cheval, Buffon.)

THE HORSE.


THE various excellencies of this noble animal, the grandeur of his ſtature, the elegance and proportion of his parts, the beautiful ſmoothneſs of his ſkin, the variety and gracefulneſs of his motions, and, above all, his utility, entitle him to a precedence in the hiſtory of the brute creation.

The Horſe, in his domeſtic ſtate, is generous, docile, ſpirited, and yet obedient; adapted to the various purpoſes of pleaſure and convenience, he is equally ſerviceable in the draught, the field, or the race.

There are few parts of the known world where the Horſe is not produced; but, if we would ſee him in the enjoyment of his native freedom, (unſubdued by the reſtraints man has impoſed upon him) we muſt look for him in the wild and extenſive plains of Africa and Arabia, where he ranges without controul, in a ſtate of entire independency. In thoſe immenſe tracts, the wild Horſes may be ſeen feeding together, in droves of four or five