Strength, beauty, and activity, are all combined in horses; their elegantly shaped head, with its long pointed ears, and large eyes, is carried high or thrown back; and while they rapidly glance into the horizon, to look for friends or foes, their well defined nostrils sniff fresh vigour from the passing breeze; but this is not all--these same ears laid flat back upon their head tell you that they have been affronted, and mean to be revenged for the insult; when they are upright they are listening to sounds, which their rider cannot hear, and when they are pointed forward they rejoice in the affectionate voices of those whom they love. Those full, hazel eyes denote passions of various kinds, are often turned full of parental love on the offspring which gambols by their side, or of gratitude upon their kind masters, following their benefactors with a melancholy look, when they take their departure. Those nostrils are dilated sometimes with anger, at others with the pleasures of the chase; and the arched neck, the broad muscular chest, the graceful, curving lines of the body, the well-shaped, sinewy limbs, sometimes slender and delicate in their proportions, bear these beautiful creatures over hill and dale almost with the swiftness of a bird; while their long mane and tail float in the air, as if the creature whom they adorn were about to soar to heaven. In a state of freedom, horses are swift, fierce, and inquisitive; they herd together in large numbers. The males evince the most faithful attachment to the females, and protect them and their offspring to the death. The latter are fond and devoted mothers. In activity, there is no animal which more decidedly takes its character from its early masters or instructors; their admirable qualities are heightened; their fierceness becomes courage; their wild actions are turned into play, and their attachment and sagacity are only surpassed by those of the dog. On the other hand, most of what are called their vices may be traced to their early training. Allowances must, of course, be made for natural disposition, which varies as much in the brute creation as it does in man; and I have met with ill-tempered horses, which have been so from the moment they were taken from their native forests; but generally speaking, the horse becomes the protector, the companion, the friend, of his possessor. When dead, every part of him is useful; and when living, all his energies make him one of the greatest blessings which a beneficent Creator has bestowed on the earthly lord of all.