is never permitted to suck longer than six months. In certain countries
the Arabs are under the impression that a protracted suckling almost
always produces a bad disposition and a hard mouth. Everywhere, where it
is possible, and according to the season of the year, they give the foal
camel's, or cow's, or ewe's milk, which is supposed to render the coat
more soft and sleek.
"The best treasure of a man is a fruitful mare."
"Allah bade them multiply, and they have multiplied."
REARING AND BREAKING-IN
Though weaned, the foal accompanies its dam to the pasture. This
exercise is found necessary to its health and to the development of its
faculties. In the evening it comes home to lie down beside the tent of
its owner. There, it is to every member of the family the object of the
greatest care. The women and the children sport with it, and give it
_Kouskoussou_,[35] bread, flour, milk, and dates. This daily contact
leads to that docility which is so much admired in Arab horses.
Sometimes tushes grow out even in one-year olds, and the animal falls
away in condition until they are extracted, when it recovers its health.
Should the colt at the age of fifteen to eighteen months fail to promise
a fine free action of the shoulder, they do not hesitate to apply the
cautery to the scapulo-humeral joint. It is generally applied in the
form of a cross, the four extreme points of which are joined by a
circle. Previous to the operation care is taken to trace the design with
pitch if the animal be of a light colour, or with plaster if it be dark.
If, again, a colt's knees are ill-shaped, or indicate a predisposition
to bony tumours or to thickening, fire is applied in three parallel
lines. Lastly, if any apprehension is felt of the colt becoming too
straight either in front or behind, they fire the fetlock joint but only
on the front part, which shows that the Arabs understand the tendons and
treat them carefully. The fire is usually applied with a sickle. In
performing this operation they avoid as much as possible the great heats
of summer. The most favourable season is the end of autumn or the
beginning of spring: there are fewer flies then, and the temperature is
cooler.
The education of a colt should commence when eighteen months old,
because it is the only way to make him thoroughly docile, and also
because the development of the spleen is thus checked—a very important
point in the opinion of the Arabs. If he is first of all mounted at a
later period, he may look stronger to the eye, but in reality he will be
inferior in patience and in speed.
"Every horse inured to fatigue brings good fortune."[36]
And Heaven knows how the Arab horse is inured to fatigue! So to speak,
he is always on the march. He travels with his master who is one of the
greatest travellers on horseback in the world. He travels to seek his
food. He traverses long distances to find water; and this sort of life
renders him abstinent, not easily tired, and ready for anything. It must
be admitted that that is a method of training horses not easily
surpassed.
I repeat, for I cannot too strongly insist on this capital point, the
opinion of the Arabs is unanimous in favour of the education of the colt
beginning at a very early age. In acting otherwise, there is a risk,
they imagine, of having an unmanageable horse, or one heavy and clumsy.
Exercise, on the contrary, accustoms the horse to submission, gives
strength to the joints while rendering them supple, imparts firmness to
the bones, develops the muscles, and brings out that power of enduring
fatigue without which the animal is nothing more than source of outlay
without any return for it.
At the age, then, of eighteen to twenty months the colt is mounted by a
child who takes him to water, goes in search of grass, or leads him to
the pasture. Not to hurt the bars he guides him with a longe, or a
tolerably soft mule's bit. This exercise is good for them both. The
child grows up a horseman, and the colt acquires the habit of carrying a
weight proportioned to his strength. He learns to walk, to fear nothing,
and it is in this manner, say the Arabs, that "we contrive never to have
restive horses." The first time the child mounts the colt, he should
say, while in the act of bestriding him: "Glory to Him who has subjected
the horse to us! Without Allah we should never have accomplished it."
It is at this age also they begin to shackle the colt. The clogs are at
first fastened very short, as without that precaution the young animal
might lose something of the steadiness of its balance and injure its
chest or shoulders either in lying down or getting up again. They ought
likewise to be attached loosely so as not to occasion the formation of
hard knots. This mode of shackling a horse is decidedly the best. With
it one never hears of a horse breaking loose, a misadventure that causes
such confusion in a bivouac, drives horsemen to despair, and is the
source of a thousand accidents. As the animal is forced to stoop and
lean forwards to graze, one would imagine that it could not fail after a
while to lose something of its uprightness. The fear is altogether
unfounded. The chest expands, the limbs acquire strength. All Barbs
stand well upon their legs and are admirably straight along the back and
loins. The Arabs are loud in their abuse of our mode of tying up horses
with a longe. They affirm that in addition to the vices and accidents it
may occasion, it has the great inconvenience of not allowing the animal
to lie down. Whereas with clogs a horse protrudes his head and neck and
when he wants to sleep places himself exactly in the position of a
greyhound basking in the sun. Besides, a great many stable vices
disappear when they are used. The animal can neither entangle itself in
the halter, nor slip it, nor get into the manger nor lie down beneath
it, nor scratch the earth with its foot, nor rub against the manger nor
contract any other bad habits of the kind: an indisputable advantage so
far.
The colt being thus shackled in front of the tent, a little negro with a
switch is placed near him to accustom him to remain still. It is the
duty of this young slave to correct him slightly if he attempts to lash
out at anything passing behind him, or if he bites at his neighbours. He
is watched in this manner until he is brought to the most perfect
gentleness. When he is sent to the pasture, the ligatures fasten
together a fore and hind foot at the same side, and the cord is
purposely made very short. It is observed that when the colt stoops to
graze, the shortness of the cord compels the vertebral column to remain
straight, and to become rather convex than concave. If, on the contrary,
the cord were too long, there would be nothing to support the vertebral
column, and it would easily become distorted.
When from twenty-four to twenty seven months old, the colt is for the
first time saddled and bridled, but with every precaution. For instance,
he is not saddled until quite used to the bridle. For the first few days
the bit is covered with undressed wool, partly with a view not to hurt
his bars, and partly to allure him to docility by the saltish flavour of
which he is so fond. When he begins to champ the bit, the task is nearly
accomplished. This preparatory exercise takes place morning and evening.
Thus sagaciously handled, the young animal will be ready to be mounted
in the early part of the autumn, when he will be less tormented by the
flies and heat. Wealthy owners, before they allow their colt to be
mounted by a grown-up man, sometimes have him led up and down gently for
a fortnight, with a pack-saddle on his back supporting two baskets
filled with sand. He thus gradually passes from the weight of the child
that first bestrode him to that of the man who is about to mount him.
Suppose the colt now to have completed two years and a half. His
vertebral column has acquired strength. The clogs, the saddle and the
bridle are familiar to him. A cavalier mounts on his back. The animal is
certainly very young, but he will be ridden only at a walking pace, and
his bit will be a very easy one. The main point is to accustom him to
obedience. The owner without spurs and holding only a light cane in his
hand which he uses as little as possible, rides him to the market, or to
visit his friends, his flocks and pastures, and attends to his affairs
without exacting anything more than submission and docility. This he
ordinarily obtains by never speaking to him except in a low voice,
without passion, and carefully avoiding anything likely to elicit
opposition that must result in a contest from which he might come forth
conqueror, but at the expense of his horse. Particular importance is
attached to keeping the young animal still and quiet for a few minutes
before letting him start. At a later period, his owner will not fail to
reap the benefit of this excellent practice.
The common people sometimes mount their colts before they are two years
and a half old, and if reproached for doing so, they answer: "You are
quite right; we know that, but how can it be helped? We are poor, and
have no choice but to act in this manner or go on foot. We prefer the
former alternative, notwithstanding its disadvantages. In the perilous
life we lead, the present moment is everything."
Seeing the Arabs employ their colts so early, mounting the two-year olds
and exacting from them considerable fatigue, and forced marches, and
using them even as pack-horses without regard to their age or strength,
many persons have concluded that this people knew nothing about the
proper mode of managing horses, and have even denied that they had any
love for the animal. Such persons, however, cannot have taken into
account that sometimes to save their families, sometimes their property,
and frequently to obey the summons of the holy war (_djehad_) these
Arabs are obliged to use whatever materials come to hand. They are
compelled to employ their horses through the necessities that beset
them, and through circumstances quite beyond their control, but they are
perfectly aware that it would be better not to do so.
It is also when he is about thirty months old that the colt is taught
not to break loose from his rider when the latter sets foot to earth,
and not even to stir from the spot where the bridle has been passed over
his head and allowed to drag on the ground. Especial care is taken in
teaching this lesson, because it is one of great importance in Arab
life. The same means is adopted in this case, as in accustoming the colt
to the clogs. A slave stands beside him, who puts his foot on the bridle
whenever the animal is about to go off, and thus gives a disagreeable
shock to the bars of his mouth. After a few days of this exercise he
will stand stock still at the spot where he has been left, and will wait
for his master for days together. This practise is so universal
throughout the Sahara that the first thing an Arab does after killing
his adversary, if he wants his horse, is to pass the bridle quickly over
his head. The animal then remains perfectly still and allows the
conqueror time to despoil his fallen foe: without this precaution it
would have rejoined its _goum_.
Here is a scene we have all witnessed. An Arab arrives at the market,
and dismounts in the midst of a score of horses or mares. You suppose
that he is going to give his animal to some one to hold. Not so: he
passes the bridle over his neck, lets it fall on the ground, and placing
a stone upon it goes without disquietude to transact his business. Two
hours afterwards he returns, finds that his horse has not moved from the
spot where he left him—and to which he probably fancied himself
fastened—gets on the saddle and returns to his own people.
From the age of two and a half to three years the system already
indicated continues to be applied with a view to confirm the young
animal in the docile habits so essential in war time. Pains too are
taken to make him very quiet to mount, by using every precaution. In his
life of perilous adventure the Arab has need, before all things, of a
horse easy to mount. Lessons to this effect will be renewed day after
day until they are no longer necessary: but not too long at a time for
fear of tiring out the colt. At first the owner will be assisted by two
men, one of whom will hold the bridle and the other the stirrup, and
after a while he will succeed in producing a statue-like immobility.
Sick and ill-shaped horses, say the Arabs, alone prove unteachable.
From three to four years old more is expected from a horse, but at the
same time he is better fed. He is now ridden with spurs and, being
thoroughly grounded in the foregoing lessons, he gives proof of mettle
and learns to fear nothing. The cries of the animals living in the same
_douar_, the roaring of the wild beasts that prowl around during the
night, and the constant discharge of fire-arms, soon prepare him for
war.
However, if notwithstanding all the careful management we have
described, a horse takes to rearing either through laziness or vice, or
to plunging, or biting, or refuses to leave the tent or the other
horses, recourse is had to the potency of spurs. These are made very
sharp, and their point is bent in the form of a slightly rounded hook.
With these instruments the rider draws long bloody wheals along the
animal's belly and flanks, which inspire him with such terror that he
becomes as tame as a lamb and will track his master out like a dog.
Horses that have undergone this punishment rarely relapse into their
former faults. To increase the potency of the spurs, salt or gun powder
is rubbed into the still bleeding wounds. The Arabs are so convinced of
the efficacy of this chastisement that they do not look upon a horse as
thoroughly trained for war until he has passed through this terrible
experience. At the same time that the rider uses the spurs to chastise a
decidedly restive horse, he strikes him a little behind the headstall of
the bridle with a short thick stick, with which he is always provided
when he means to break in an animal of this kind.
In certain localities to prevent a horse from rearing they attach an
iron ring to his ear. If he tries to rise up a smart blow with a stick
is struck upon this ring, the pain thus caused soon sickening the animal
of his bad "defence." To cure a horse of plunging, he is mounted with
his tail towards a thick thorny shrub (_gandoule_). He is then urged
forward, but jibs, lashes out, and pricks himself. However, after a few
lessons of this kind, he breaks himself of his abominable habit.
The Arabs declare that spurs add one-fourth to the rider's horsemanship,
and one-third to the spirit of the animal, and illustrate their
assertion by the following fable:
"When beasts were first created, they had the gift of speech. The horse
and the camel took an oath never to harm one another but to live, on the
contrary, with a perfect mutual understanding. An Arab placed in a
critical position by one of the chances of war, saw with despair the
flight of the camel on which he had hoped to save his property. There
was no time to lose. 'Bring my horse!' he exclaims, and leaps on his
back. He scolds him, beats him, gives him the heel. All in vain. The
horse stirs not a step, remembering the promise made to his friend. The
Arab then puts on his spurs, which he carried in his _djebira_,[37] and
the horse, smarting with his torn flanks, springs forward, and speedily
overtakes the runaway. 'Ah! traitor!' cried the camel, 'thou hast
violated our compact; thou tookest an oath never to do me any harm, and
yet thou hast replaced me in the power of my tyrant.' 'Accuse not my
heart,' replied the horse, 'I refused to move, but "the thorns of
misery" have brought me up to thee.'"
It is not an easy task to use the spurs properly. Horsemen who possess
that talent are cited even among the Arabs. Some are only able to urge
on their steed by constantly tickling his flanks without wounding him.
Others are acquainted only with the _tekerbeâa_, or the art of clashing
their iron spurs against their iron stirrups in order to frighten the
animal. The most skilful alone know how to raise those bloody wheals to
which we have already alluded. When it is said of a horseman that he
marks his horse with wheals from the navel to the vertebral column, the
highest compliment has been paid to him. During my residence at Mascara,
how often have I heard the Arabs assert, by way of vaunting the
horsemanship of their Emir: "Abd-el-Kader! why, he crosses his spurs on
his horse's loins!"
These spurs are dangerous for inexperienced horsemen, who sometimes
prick the animal on the kneepan and so lame him if the wound be deep.
And if a horse comes down, the spur is very apt to run into him. For
this reason the Arabs generally have the leathers of their spurs
tolerably loose, in order to obviate by their slackness, their own
awkwardness. It also enables them to disembarrass themselves more
quickly in battle if their horse happens to be killed and they are
compelled to flee on foot to save their lives. On the same grounds they
prefer in a serious combat loose-fitting shoes to boots. Our spurs they
look upon as utterly inefficient. "What benefit, in a case where your
life is at stake do you expect to get from them with a horse already
knocked up? They are good only for tickling a horse and to make him
restive. With our spurs we draw every thing out of him. As long as there
is life in him, we will get it out of him: they lose their effect only
in presence of death."
Every Arab trains his own horse. In the Sahara the only riding masters
are practice, tradition, and example. A reputation as a good rider is
only acquired after many proofs of skilfulness. It is not sufficient to
be competent to manage a horse on level ground. It is necessary, gun in
hand, to make the most of him at a rapid pace over a broken, wooded, and
difficult country, "Such a one," say they, "is a horseman of the gun,
while so-and-so is only a horseman of the heel." Perfection implies
equal skill with the gun and the heel. They even go so far as to
institute a difference between one who rides well over dry ground, and
one who rides boldly over slippery ground. They distinguish between the
horseman of summer and the horseman of winter.
What experience must not such an apprenticeship lay up! There is one
point, however, which they entirely overlook—they never trouble
themselves as to which leg the horse puts foremost. An Arab horse as
always power and well formed shoulders which, owing to his practice as a
colt of grazing on mountains, in woods, and on broken ground, have
become far better developed than they would have been by means of the
plate-longe and the riding school. He is also easy in his paces because
the rider yields to all the movements of his body and never sets himself
against them. I may add that the Arab has a perfect seat, and though he
rides very short he makes up for that disadvantage by wearing very long
spurs which, by the slightest movement of the leg, catch the horse on
the flank, compel him to bring his hind-legs under the centre of
gravity, keep him in hand, and place his head as correctly as if he had
acted upon our best system of horsemanship.[38]
Arab horses have always a good mouth. A proverb says:
The horseman makes the horse,
As the husband makes the wife.
But it is not enough to have softened and tamed the horse. Although by
means of kind treatment, daily intercourse, and punishment judiciously
applied, he has become docile, and a good action has been secured, his
education is still incomplete. It still remains to perfect him, and to
do so they train him to the following exercises:
_El Feuzzâa_, "setting off suddenly at full gallop." To accomplish this
they pursue nearly the same method as ourselves, with this difference
that they avail themselves of the aid of the _tekerbeâa_, which we have
already described, so that a horse must be altogether impracticable if
he does not act as he is required to do.
_El Kyama_, "going free." They rush the animal at a wall, or tree, or a
man, and pull him up short. By degrees he will learn to halt abruptly in
the middle of a rapid career, on the bank of a river or on the edge of a
ravine or precipice—a valuable accomplishment, oftentimes most
advantageous in war. If a young horse is not a free-goer, but capers
about and obstinately refuses to separate from the other horses, a fault
of the last consequence to an Arab, he is cured by the following
process. The owner's friends get on horseback and draw themselves up in
two lines, facing each other and two or three paces apart. The horse is
then ridden between these two hedges. If he stops, the horsemen beat him
with sticks, while his rider plies him vigourously with the spur. A
fortnight of this lesson is more than enough for the most obstinate.
_El Lotema_, "the wheeling round." This exercise consists in turning
suddenly to the right or left, but more frequently the latter, as soon
as the rider has fired off his piece. The principle is this, the trigger
being pulled, the horseman strikes his horse sharply with the left hand
behind the saddle, and at the same moment with his right hand on the
neck. The animal understands what is meant, and in a very short time
learns to obey merely the movement of his rider's body. This instruction
is inculcated with the greatest care, being of great importance to the
Arab, who is so often exposed to single combats.
_El Djery_, "the race." They first of all make the animal go at a swift
pace by itself over a level plain, stimulating it with whip and spur,
but only for a short distance. After a while they match the colt against
an old horse of some renown. The young one becomes excited, and does his
utmost to maintain the contest. These exercises being frequently
repeated serve likewise to give the owner an exact knowledge of his
horse's capabilities, and of what he may safely undertake with him in
the future. They are not unattended with danger, but "the angels have
two special missions in this world: to preside at the racing of horses
and at the union of man with woman." It is their duty to preserve
horsemen and horses from all accident, and to see that marriages are
fruitful.
_Teneguize_, "the leap." Moreover, the colt must be taught to leap. This
teaching is progressive and demands much patience. The lesson is not
repeated more than twice or thrice in the course of one day. At first
they begin with small obstacles, so as not to disgust the animal, nor is
he brought face to face with any of a serious nature until he is quite
docile and fully developed. Unquestionably, the Arabs regard the leap as
the necessary complement of a colt's education, but they are far from
attaching to it the same importance that Europeans do. Their country is
for the most part difficult, full of ravines, strewed with huge stones,
and covered with prickly bushes. They assert, therefore, that if they
were to jump over every obstacle they encounter either in war or in
hunting, they would be always jumping, which would fatigue their horses
terribly and in the long run ruin them. Consequently, they go round any
very rough ground, ride down almost perpendicular places, and go
straight up the steepest slopes, and practice renders their horses so
adroit that in a long journey they reach the end more quickly than if
they had jumped over everything that came in their way.
_El Nechacha_, "the exciting." The horse is taught to throw himself upon
that of the adversary, and bite either the rider or the animal. The
rider pulls up his horse, while he pushes him with his legs, and all the
time keeps on repeating the cry of _sheït_, and success is the more easy
because the animal is naturally excitable. The Arabs declare that horses
trained in this manner have often unseated an enemy in single combat.
Sometimes, too, in razzias, they quicken the pace of the camels that
have been captured. I myself have seen a Makhzen horseman thus hurry on
animals that had fallen behind. His horse rushed at them and bit at them
with apparent pleasure.
Horsemen of renown do not, however, confine the education of their
horses to these manœuvres so necessary in battle, but they also teach
them to shine at feasts and fantasias by the following accomplishments: