Nature is more beautiful than art, and in an animated being, the freedom of its movements makes its existence more perfect. Observe the horses in Spanish America, which have multiplied so fast and live in freedom; their motions seem neither constrained nor regular; proud of their independence, they fly the presence of man, and disdain his care; they seek and find for themselves proper nourishment; they wander and skip about in immense meadows, where they feed on the fresh productions of a perpetual spring. Destitute of any fixed habitation, without any other shelter than a mild sky, they breathe a purer air than those which are confined in vaulted palaces. Hence wild horses are stronger, swifter, and more nervous than the greater part of domestic ones; they have strength and nobleness, the gifts of nature; while the others have address and gracefulness, which is all that art can give. The natural disposition of wild horses is not ferocious, they are only high-spirited and wild. Though superior in strength to the greatest part of animals, they yet never attack them; and if attacked by others, they either disdain them as foes, and fly out of their way, or give a fatal blow with their heels. They unite themselves in troops, merely for the pleasure of being together, for they have no fear of, but an attachment for each other. As grass and vegetables are sufficient for their nourishment, they have quite enough to satisfy their appetites; and as they have no relish for the flesh of animals, they never make war with them, nor with themselves. They never quarrel about their food, they have no occasion to ravish prey from each other, the ordinary source of contention and quarrels among carnivorous animals. They live in peace because their appetites are simple and moderate, and having enough there is no object for envy. All these circumstances may be observed in young horses which are brought up and led together in droves; their manners are gentle, and their tempers social; they seldom shew their ardour and strength by any other sign than emulation. They endeavour to be foremost in the course, are animated to brave danger, in crossing a river or leaping a ditch: and those which in these natural exercises set the example, it has often been observed, when reduced to a domestic state, are the most generous, docile, and gentle.