hind-legs. Scarcely does he touch the ground with his forefeet, than he
again rises. One hand in concert with the legs, soon trains to this
exercise a horse of fair intelligence.
_El Gueteâa_, "the bucking." The horse springs up with all fours off the
ground, the horseman at the same time throwing up his gun into the air
and cleverly catching it. To obtain this action, the rider marks certain
intervals of rest and works with his legs. He gives with the animal as
he rises, in order to hold him up when he comes down again. Nothing can
be more picturesque than this exercise. The horses quit the earth, the
guns fly into the air, and the ample folds of the burnous float and
unroll themselves in the wind, thrown back by the vigourous arms of the
children of the desert. It is, in truth, the charm and crowning act of
the fantasia.
Lastly, _El-Berraka_, "the kneeling." The rider remaining on his saddle
causes his horse to kneel down. This is the _nec plus ultra_ of the man
and the animal. Not every horse is fit for this exercise. The colt is
trained to it by tickling him on the coronet, pinching him on the legs,
and forcing him to bend the knee. After a time the horseman will reap
the benefit of these preliminary steps. He need only clear his feet of
the stirrups, stretch his legs forward, turn out the points of his toes,
touch with his long spurs the animal's fore-arms, and then as his piece
is fired at marriage feasts and other rejoicings, his horse will kneel
down amid the applause of the young maidens, piercing the air with
joyful acclamations.
After the horse is completely "suppled" by all these exercises, the
following feats are attempted:
_Laâb el Hazame_, "the girdle feat." When the horse is thoroughly
trained, at a family festivals and religious solemnities, the horseman
going at full gallop will pick up a girdle lying on the ground: the most
skilful grasping it at three different places.
_Laâb Ennichan_, "firing at a mark." The target is usually a stone, or a
mutton shoulder-blade. The performers start from a distance in order to
get a good seat, and when fifty or sixty paces off they discharge their
pieces. The Saharene will recall these lessons to mind when out hunting,
and going at full speed, he brings down an ostrich or a gazelle. It is
not of an inhabitant of the Tell that you must expect these prodigies of
address, skilfulness, and equestrian science. Nor will you see on him
the light apparel, the fine and beautiful wool of a child of the desert,
whom, besides, you will always recognize by his slender, long-bodied
horse, the ease with which he handles his gun, and that graceful forward
movement by which he quickens his courser's pace. How many are there in
the Tell who would ride a whole stage without dropping a piece of money
placed between the sole of the foot and the spur?[39]
"And you Christians! you go at a trot. And so do we, but only when time
is of no consequence and to breathe our horses. In war time we know
nothing but the walk and the gallop. If we are not in a hurry, the trot
is enough for us, but if there be danger it is the gallop that saves our
heads."
An Arab chief would not keep a horse whose pace was not formed. The
above exercises are not adopted by all Arabs. Each selects what is best
suited to his position, his fortune, and his tastes. But all conform
themselves to the principles we have laid down for the education of the
colt. These consist in first of all reducing the young animal to the
last degree of wretchedness, in order to handle him gently when between
three and four years old. After these trials, his real value is known.
These principles are, moreover, summed up in a familiar proverb that
shows the amount of interest attached to beginning by times the task of
training.
Let the one-year old colt do nothing but eat,
And he will not strain himself:
Mount him from two to three years old,
Until he is quite tamed.
Feed him well from three to four.
Then mount him again,
And if he does not suit you,
Sell him without hesitation.
Let it not be supposed, however, that it is only the Arabs of our
African possessions who are so mad, if I may be allowed the use of the
expression, about commencing the process of breaking-in at an early age.
The Arabs universally, no matter to what country they belong, profess
the same principles. If proof be wanted, read what has been said on the
subject by no inexperienced person, in fact by an inspector-general of
the Haras, M. Pétiniaud, who was commissioned by the French Government
to travel through Upper Asia to procure horses of pure Oriental blood.
He shall speak for himself:—
"After three years of wanderings among the tribes encamped from
Diarbekir and Aleppo to the confines of the Nedjed, I returned to Bagdad
last January. Among the papers that awaited me, I found a number of the
_Journal des Haras_, containing an article on the horses of the Sahara.
The perusal of this only too brief memoir which denoted such a perfect
knowledge of the Arab and his horse, inspired me with a desire to
possess the entire work. On my arrival in France, you were obliging
enough to send me a copy, for which I thank you. No one could take a
greater interest than myself in a work which you might safely have
entitled: "On the Arab horse of Asia and Africa;" for such is the spirit
of tradition among this peculiar people that at every line I recognized
in the customs of the Moghreb Arabs the customs of their ancestors of
the Koreish and the Nedjed, and that after a separation of many
centuries."
"In 1851 I descended the Tigris from Mosul to Bagdad, with a volume of
Herodotus in my hand. All his descriptions of men and things were still
strictly applicable. Thus, at a distance of two thousand three hundred
years he depicted the manners of the Arabs with the same truthfulness
with which you, General, have described in Africa the Arabs of Asia.
Time and space are impotent in the presence of the unchangeableness of
such habits: intestine feuds, the chace, _fantasias_, love of the horse,
etc., etc., I have witnessed in Asia exactly what you have written of
Africa."
"Your work which possesses the great merit of telling the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, is calculated, as I think, to exercise a
great influence on the education of the horse in France. This delightful
style of reading will develop an interest in the animal in those who
have never before given it a thought, while our breeders will derive
some useful hints from the numerous details you relate. They will learn
not to reserve their admiration for a horse that has no other merit than
that of being fat, and they will at last come to understand the
advantages that result from putting a colt to salutary work from his
earliest age. "The horse is a labourer"—let him, then, be accustomed to
it in good time."
"I observed that the Arabs used universally to fatigue without mercy
their two and three-year olds, but spared them from three to four years
of age. They say that sustained work at an early age strengthens the
chest, muscles, and joints of the colt, at the same time imparting a
docility that will remain with him until death. They also declare that
as soon as these rude trials have been got over, his constitution should
be developed by rest, care, and an abundant diet, because after this new
stage of life he will only be able to show himself exactly what he
really he is—good or bad. If good, they will keep him: if bad, they will
get rid of him without hesitation, for in their eyes a bad horse is not
worth the barley they give him."
I trust to be pardoned for this digression for the sake of the
reflections which it suggests. Is it not wonderful to behold a people
scattered over vast territories, from the Persian Gulph to the Atlantic
Ocean, without means of communication, without printing machines,
without telegraphs, without any one of the thousand appliances of modern
civilization, but still speaking the same language, living in obedience
to the same law, and preserving by simple tradition as well as we could
do by books, the usages, the manners, and even the precepts of their
ancestors? While seeing and interrogating the Arabs of Algeria, I saw
and listened to the Arabs of the primitive stock. Is not this oneness,
under such circumstances, a matter to create astonishment?
It may happen that after a horse's education is finished, vices will
occasionally break out. The Arabs, however, pay little attention to
these, because they consider that such faults proceed simply from too
long a period of rest which renders them of lazy habits, or subject to
caprice through excess of vitality. They correct them by work, the
fatigues of war and the chace. The convenient disposition of their
saddles enables them to keep their seat in spite of the obstinate
"defences" of the animal, they are consequently never taken by surprise,
nor frightened, and always end by mastering the animal completely. No
one ever thinks of getting rid of his horse because he rears or plunges
or is otherwise troublesome. On the contrary they take delight in these
proofs of spirit, for the time will come when they will find their
advantage in it. The Arabs have a saying that "The horseman who has not
known how to train his horse, bestrides death every day."
The individual to whom they attribute the honour of having been the
first to tame the horse is Ishmael, the common ancestor of all the
Arabs. Their authority is these words of the Deity: "We placed horses
under his dominion in order that he might ride them"—and the celebrated
invocation of Ishmael himself: "Horses, night, and space are my
witnesses, as well as my sabre, my pen, and paper." Always, always,
religious tradition.
As to the really bad vices of biting, plunging, and kicking, they are
almost unknown. In fact, all their efforts are directed to avert these.
They make the horse live close to the tent, and receive him in some
degree as an integral part of the family. In the midst of the women, the
children, and the slaves, he can hardly fail to acquire habits of
gentleness and docility. For the rest, this care shown to the horse is
not merely the result of a sense of personal interest on the part of the
owner: it takes its origin in religion. The Prophet has said: "The
Believer who has trained his horse to shine in the holy war, the sweat,
the hair, the very excrement of this animal shall be placed in the
balance to his favour at the day of the last judgment."
However, notwithstanding all these bonds which attach man to the horse,
notwithstanding the solidarity formed by habit, religion, and interest,
no Mussulman will ever give to his horse the name of a man. Men's names
have been borne by saints; it would therefore be a deadly sin, a
sacrilege, in fact, to apply them to any animal, even though he should
be the noblest of all. Besides, names of any kind are given solely to
illustrious steeds, and only in the tents of the great. The following
are some of their designations:—
_Rakib_, the Scout; _Mansour_, the Victorious; _Sabeur_, the Patient;
_Salem_, the Saviour; _Kamil_, the Perfect; _Saâd_, Happiness;
_Maârouf_, the Known; _Aatik_, the Noble; _Sabok_, the Rapid; _Nadjy_,
the Persevering; _Moubarek_, the Blessed; _Guetrâne_, Pitch; _Messaoud_,
the Happy; _Safy_, the Pure; _Ghezala_, the Gazelle; _Naâma_, the
Ostrich; _Mordjana_, Coral; _El Aroussa_, the Bride; _Djerada_, the
Locust; _Ouarda_, the Rose; _Guemera_, the Moon; _Hamama_, the Dove;
_Yakouta_, the Ruby; _El Guetaya_, the Cutter; _Aâtifa_, the Docile; and
_Leïla_, Night. Very similar names are given to slaves.
A constant practice of the Arabs, and one that must have been remarked
by all who have served in Africa, is to cut the hairs of the forelock,
the neck, and the tail. The rules for this seem odd to Europeans. When
the colt is one year old they clip off all his hair except a tuft
between the ears, on the withers, and on the dock of the tail. At two
years old the operation is repeated, but this time the hair is entirely
clipped off. When three years old, in the third spring, a third clipping
takes place. From three to five years the hair is allowed to grow, but
only that the whole may be clipped off at the termination of the fifth
year. This final operation is called _el halafya_, and no instrument is
ever again raised against the hair. It would be thought sinful to do so,
as the only object could be to deceive one's brethren as to the age of
the horse. After each clipping they never fail to rub the parts thus
exposed with sheep's dung soaked in milk, or with Prussian blue diluted
with melted butter. These applications soften the skin and thicken the
hair. The practice of clipping is supported by several reasons. In the
first place, it indicates, at sight, the age of a horse up to eight
years, as it takes at least three years before the horse, having
recovered his full length of hair, can be styled _djarr_—one that trails
his tail along the ground. Secondly,—which is an important point in hot
countries,—it compels the animal to bear patiently the stings of flies.
And lastly it is supposed that the hair thus becomes thicker, longer,
and more silky.
If the Arabs explain and justify this method of clipping a horse's coat
until it is five years old, they do not attempt to do so for our fashion
of docking a horse's tail. In their eyes it is a barbarism that has no
name. It affords an inexhaustible theme for raillery. They rally us,
indeed, on this subject in the most serious conjunctures. I can
corroborate this assertion by an incident for the accuracy of which I
personally vouch:—
In 1841 the column commanded by Marshal Bugeaud marched to Taguedempt to
destroy the fort erected there at great expense by the Emir
Abd-el-Kader. We were encamped on the Ouad-Krelouk one of the
tributaries of the Mina. In the course of the night we were awakened by
the report of a musket shot fired in the middle of the camp. Every one
rushed out of his tent, hastened in the direction of the sound, and
inquired what was amiss. An Arab was lying on the ground, with his thigh
broken. He held in his hand a small knife with a very sharp edge and,
like all professional thieves in that country, he had nothing on save a
leathern girdle furnished with a pistol. The sentinel who had fired
explained that having observed a bush approach, halt, and then approach
still nearer, he had suspected some trickery and so fired at it at ten
paces distance, just as it was close to the horses of his captain. On
hearing the tale of the African veteran, his comrades in their fury were
about to massacre the Arab, but the officers who were present calmed
their not unnatural excitement and reported the case to the superior
authorities. The Arab was carried without delay to the ambulance and had
his wound dressed. On the morrow the expedition resumed its march. The
fellow had received a very severe wound, and it was useless to embarrass
ourselves with him. To have put him to death would only have hastened
his destiny, perhaps, by a few days, without doing us any particular
good, and, besides, the adventure could be turned to a better account.
The Governor General decided, therefore, that he should be left upon the
site of the encampment, and that a letter should be entrusted to him for
the powerful tribe of the Flittas, upon whose territory we then happened
to be. In this letter clear intimation was given to that hostile people
that their furious dislike to us would one day be fatal to themselves;
that it was useless to contend with us, that France abounded in warriors
and in wealth, that Abd-el-Kader by continuing the struggle would only
bring upon them unnumbered woes; and lastly that the best thing they
could do, was to draw off from that man, unless they preferred to see
their rich harvests destroyed and burnt before their very eyes.
At early dawn the column set out, and the rearguard was not a thousand
_metres_ from our bivouac when they observed some Arab horsemen arrive,
dismount, and carry off the wounded man. On the following day we
received the reply of the Flittas. It was addressed to "General Bugeaud,
Kaïd of the Port of Algiers," and was couched to the following effect:—
"You tell us that you are a strong and powerful nation, and that we
cannot contend against you. The powerful and the strong are just. And
yet you seek to take possession of a country that does not belong to
you. Besides, if you are so rich, what do you propose to do among a
people who have nothing but powder and shot to give you? Moreover, when
it pleases Him, the Master of the world humbles the strong and exalts
the feeble. You threaten to burn our crops, or to devour them with your
war horses and beasts of burden. How often already have we experienced
similar calamities! We have had bad seasons, we have had locusts and
drought, but Allah has never forsaken us; for we are Believers, we are
Arabs, and privations will not kill an Arab. We will never yield to you.
You are the enemies of our religion. It is quite impossible.
Nevertheless, if the Almighty, to punish us for our own sins and for
those of our forefathers, should be pleased to inflict upon us some day
that horrible malady, we confess we should be greatly embarrassed. With
us the mark of submission is the presentation of a horse to the victors.
We are aware that you care only for horses with short tails, and our
mares do not produce such."
Subsequently, however, the Flittas were compelled to give us such
horses as their mares did produce; but their resistance was
obstinate. Since then they have always been the first to raise the
cry of war and rebellion. It was they who slew the brave General
Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl.[40] It was they who supported Bou-Maza. It was
they, in short, who were the last reduced to submission.
After this episode so characteristic of our African campaigns, I cannot
better conclude this chapter on the education of the colt than by giving
some entirely novel details as to the manner of treating horses in
Arabia, which will not be at all out of place and may be interesting to
many as showing the part played by woman in the life of that noble
animal.
I have often heard it asked whence come the gentleness, the address,
the intelligence which, every one is agreed, are to be met with in Arab
horses. Are these qualities inherent in the Oriental stock? or are they
the result of education? A genial climate is undoubtedly favourable to
the development and improvement of the equine race. A rich and noble
stock is naturally more apt than any other to yield what is demanded of
it, but at the same time something must be done for it in return. The
most fruitful soil will produce nothing but briars and thorns if it is
not cultivated, and that in a proper manner. Starting from this standing
point the Arabs apply themselves with the greatest care and the utmost
tenacity to perfect, in their horses, the gifts of nature. A sustained
education, daily contact with man, with the other animals, with external
objects, that is their grand secret—it is that which makes the Arab
horse what he is, an object worthy of our unexceptional admiration. I am
aware that this feeling of admiration has not been altogether general.
Imperfect knowledge has led many to accuse the Arabs of being ignorant
and even of acting like butchers in the matter of horses. They rode them
badly, and did not bestow upon them the sort of care so prized in
Europe; they abused them from their most tender years, and were
constantly drawing blood from the flanks or from the mouth, etc., etc.
But truth at length began to dawn, and when it was ascertained that all
their horses were intelligent, obedient to the hand and leg, quiet to
mount, and inaccessible to fear, there was no choice but to acknowledge
that these were great qualities which could only have been produced by a
sound and logical education.
Our horses, on the other hand, are nothing more than animals more or
less tamed. They bear with man as a conqueror who disposes of them, but
they have neither confidence nor affection for those who employ them.
Slaves of mankind in general, they do not attach themselves to any one
man in particular, because no man especially attaches himself to his
horse, which is merely tended and valued like any other agricultural
product that is sold as soon as possible, or like an article of
commerce, or a piece of furniture that is bartered for profit or
exchanged from caprice. Our dogs, it may be, are only attached to us
because we do not part with them for a price.
The Arabs desire to find, in their horse, a devoted friend. With them he
leads, so to speak, a domesticated life, in which, as in all domestic
life, women play a conspicuous part—that, in fact, of preparing by their
gentleness, vigilance, and unceasing attention, the solidarity that
ought to exist between the man and the animal. On a journey or a
campaign, far from the dwelling place, it is the rider who occupies
himself with his horse. But at the encampment, under canvas, and in time
of repose, it is the wife who directs, superintends, and feeds the noble
companion in arms who so frequently augments the reputation of her
husband while supplying the wants of her children. In the morning it is
the wife who brings him his food, and tends him, and if possible washes
his mane and tail. If the ground on which he stands happens to be
uneven, broken, or covered with stones, she removes him to a spot more
convenient for his repose and the just disposition of his weight. She
caresses him, passes her hand gently over his neck and face, and gives
him bread, or dates, or kouskoussou, or even meat cooked and dried in
the sun. "Eat, O my son!" she says to him in a soft and tender tone.
"One day thou shalt save us out of the hand of our enemies and fill our
tent with booty."
It is in the morning also that the Arab wife goes forth to the pastures
to gather for the animal she cherishes an ample supply of herbs esteemed
in the desert for their tonic and nutritive properties. On her return
should she see any children, as yet too young to reason, amusing
themselves by teasing or ill using the horses tethered in front of the
tent, she will cry to them as soon as she can make herself heard:
"Children, beat not the horses. Wretches! it is they who nourish you. Do
you wish that Allah should curse our tent? If you begin again, I will
speak to your father."
On this subject the Arab wife is so intractable that she would not spare
her own husband if he took no care of his horse. The horse is his
honour, his fortune. She is proud and jealous on those points, and deems
herself affected by whatever affects him. If it ever came to pass that
her remarks and suggestions were passed over with neglect, she would not
hesitate to carry her complaints to the chief of the tribe: "O my lord!
you know that our horse is all we have, and yet my husband takes him on
idle journeys, ill uses him, overrides him, and taxes him beyond his
strength. It would be something if he looked after him when at home; but
no, his covering is full of holes, he is never certain of being fed, and
even goes in want of water. Scold my husband, I beseech you in the name
of Allah. Lead him back into the ways of our forefathers. Above all, do
not tell him that it was I who suggested this to you."
The Arab chief, whose interest it is in the course of his adventurous
career to be followed only by well mounted horsemen, never fails to make
use of the information thus given. He will summon the delinquent before
him, reprove him, and warn him that if he does not change his conduct he
will take his horse from him and make him walk like a common
foot-soldier. At last he will discharge him with these words: "Thou
understandest me; go thy way; but bear in mind that in this world honour
begins at the stirrup to be completed in the saddle." A lesson of this
kind always produces a great effect, not only on the offender but on all
who might be tempted to follow his example. And in this manner,
sometimes through self-love, sometimes through the fear of punishment,
the Arabs apply themselves to inculcate, voluntarily and compulsorily,
on all characters and dispositions a love for the horse.