Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of AnimalsLee, R., Mrs.
General
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals
Lee, R., Mrs.
Animal behavior -- Juvenile literature
"The horses suffer more from thirst in summer than from famine in
winter; the heat is intolerable, there is no shade, and each horse tries
to protect itself by its neighbour's body. In the autumn the owners of
the herd call them in to thresh corn; the turf is removed, the ground
beaten till it is very hard, and a railing placed round it; the corn is
spread, and five hundred horses at a time are driven into the enclosure;
they are terrified by the crackling straw and the noise of the whip over
their heads, and the more frantic they are the sooner is the corn
threshed."
The attachment of Arabs to their horses, the extreme beauty of these
animals, which form part of the family, and are sometimes more precious
to their owners than wives or children, have become proverbial. They are
managed by kindness; and nothing can exceed the indignation of the
owners when they behold any attempt to manage a horse of any kind by
means of the whip. It is the Arabian which, imported through Spain, or
direct to England, has produced so much improvement in the European
stock. An Arab mare of pure descent, had, by means of the Moors, found
her way to the north western coast of Africa, where she was purchased by
an English officer. At first I was a little disappointed in her
appearance, for she was thin; but as her foal became independent of her,
and learned to eat, she recovered her condition, and I was never tired
of looking at her. To all who delight in admiring wild, unrestrained
action, there could not be a much greater treat than to have the gates
of the Government-House spur closed, and turn her and her child loose
into it, while we stood upon the veranda to watch them. At no time did
she ever walk; but went every where with a light, dancing step. And on
these occasions the frolics, the gestures, were past all description;
standing at one corner, her fore feet stretched out, she would appear
to wait for the pretty little son who trotted up to her; when, in a
moment, almost so as to elude sight, she would bound completely over
him, and take her stand at another corner; then back again, and round
and round, till it seemed to me that all the tricks taught by Ducrow,
the waltzing and quadrilling excepted, must have been suggested by
watching the movements of wild horses. A curious adventure happened to
that little foal, which is worthy of record. A year or two after this,
the groom took him to the river to wash his legs, and as he turned to
come out again, a crocodile bit him; he struggled for a moment and fell;
this frightened the crocodile away, and the poor young horse was dragged
from the water's edge; the formidable teeth of the reptile had nearly
separated the foot from the leg, and it hung by one tendon. There seemed
to be no alternative but to shoot him; however, a native suggested to
his owner, that there was a famous Moorish doctor then in the place, and
if any one could cure the horse, he could; at any rate it was worth the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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