gains fat to a perceptible degree. When this result has been attained,
they begin to reduce his condition by gradually diminishing his rations
for forty days, until they have reached the minimum of nourishment.
During these forty days, they subject him to progressive exercise. At
the same time, and from the very first day from lowering his keep, they
cover the animal with seven _djellale_, or horse-cloths, one of which
they remove every six days. The sweating disperses all the fat, gets rid
of a useless weight, gives tone to the muscles, and leaves nothing but
hard flesh. By means of this treatment, a horse attains, according to
the stock he comes from, the highest degree of speed. Thus prepared, the
horse is brought on to the _djalba_ or race ground.
Horses arriving from all districts are led on to the _djalba_, and
crowds of people likewise flock thither. At no other time, except at the
period of the assemblage of pilgrims, is such a concourse of men to be
seen, and all the nobles and chiefs are present.
"We have taken part in the races, and, although it was yet early, the
crowd was as great as at the period of pilgrimages."
Horses properly trained are never suffered to run against those that are
not. They are placed in different classes, to each of which a different
goal is assigned. The trained horses have much the longest course to
run. The race-course in this case in called _el midmar_, and upon this
the learned Bokhari has remarked:
"The Prophet caused the trained horses to run by themselves, and fixed a
distance of seven miles to traverse, while for ordinary horses he fixed
a distance of only three miles."[52]
The horses are grouped together by tens, but before allowing them to
start and to prevent false starts, the following precaution is taken. A
rope is stretched across touching the animals' chests, the two ends of
which are held by two men. This rope is called _el mikbad_, and _el
mikouas_; and in reference to it the Prophet said: "The horse runs
according to his race, but placed before the _mikouas_ he runs according
to his chance of a rider." Or, in other words: "In ordinary
circumstances the speed of horses depends on the qualities of blood with
which they are more or less endowed; but in a race success depends
greatly on the skill of the rider, and not unfrequently a horse of the
purest blood may be outstripped by a less noble animal." To each of the
ten horses that have contended, a name is assigned indicative of his
degree of swiftness. Thus the one that arrives first at the goal is
called _Modjalla_, "taking away," because he takes away care from the
heart of his master. The second is named _el Mousalli_, from the word
_salouan_, "the extremity of the buttocks," because he follows the first
so closely that the point of his nose touches the other's hindquarters.
"I must positively be the _mousalli_, [that is, the second] if I consent
to thy carrying off the first prize." The third receives the surname of
_el Msali_, "Consoling," because he consoles his master, who is content
that there is only one horse between his own and the winner. The fourth
is _el Tali_, or "the Follower;" the fifth _el Mourtah_, "the fifth
finger of the hand;" the sixth _el Aâtif_; the seventh _el Hadi_, "the
Lucky one," because he has his share of success with the foremost; the
eighth, _el Mouhammil_, "one who gives hopes," because he caused his
master to hope that he might be among the winners; the ninth, _el
Lathim_, or "the Buffeted," because he has been humiliated and rejected
on all sides; and the tenth, _el Sokeït_, "the Taciturn," because his
master undergoes the lowest humiliation without uttering a word—shame
closing his mouth. Of these ten horses seven gain a prize, but the
others obtain nothing. At the further end of the course a vast tent is
pitched, into which the seven winners are admitted in order to shelter
them, while the three others are ignominiously driven away.
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE CLEMENT AND MERCIFUL.
"We took part in the horse races. Though it was early morning the crowd
was as dense as at the season of pilgrimage.
"Horses were brought from every quarter, but no one knows better than
ourselves how to rear and train them.
"We arrived at the peep of day with horses whose hoofs were as hollow as
cups. The stars had announced good fortune to them.
"They are drawn up according to the purity of their race. The noble is
placed by the side of the noble.
"Among them is a black horse with robust limbs and adorned with a white
mark on his forehead. When he feels the bit in his mouth, he dashes off,
clearing the lines traced to indicate the goal.
"The star that shines on his forehead equals the brilliancy of
Mirzam.[53]
"Then a dark bay with a black mane, endowed by nature with admirable
qualities, with a sleek skin, bearing also a star on his forehead, and a
white mark on the upper lip.
"Next a horse completely black without a white spot anywhere, but
participating in the excellent qualities of the preceding.
"They have been brought to excite the admiration of the spectators,
impatient to see them appear in the lists.
"Horsemen mount them, hardy as bars of iron and short of stature. Their
voice is like the roaring of the lion.
"Seated on their coursers they look like starlings hovering over the
table-land of a mountain.
"At last they draw up in line. In the midst of the assembly of
spectators, a man, a Mussulman like the others, sits in the capacity of
umpire. He has been chosen by common accord as arbiter, and surely his
awards will not be tainted with partiality.
"The steeds let loose in the arena disperse immediately like pearls that
fall from a necklace, or like a covey of _ketâa_ (gray partridges)
discovered by a falcon that swoops down upon them, attacking them with
fury.
"The black, with a white mark on the forehead, comes in first.
"The bay with the dark mane is second, and the entirely black is without
reproach, for he runs in third.
The _Tali_ is the fourth, and follows the others. But how far is the
inhabitant of the Tahama from the inhabitant of Nedjed!
The fifth, _el Mourtah_, is not to be blamed, for he has done as well as
he could do.
The _Aâtif_ is the sixth. He comes in all trembling, and his fear well
nigh stopped him in mid-career.
"The seventh is the _Hadi_. The awarder of prizes will give unto him his
due.
"The _Mouhammil_, who gave such hopes to his master, has come in the
eighth. He was mistaken. The unfortunate one encountered on his path the
bird of ill omen. He suffered seven horses to pass before him and ran in
the eighth—but the eighth horse is not one of the winners.
"The ninth arrives at last. He is the _Lathim_, the buffeted one, and
receives blows from every one.
"On his traces follows, capering about, the _Sokeït_, the Silent one,
with trouble in his face and humiliation on his forehead. The horseman
who rides him at the tail of the others is the object of reproaches from
all sides, and still more so his groom. It is of little use to ask who
is his master,—no answer is to be had from those whom shame has made
dumb.
"Whoso does not take to the race-course the horses that are most noble
by birth ought to repent of it.
"In being present we have experienced the greatest gratification,
without speaking of the glory and advantages we have carried off.
"In exchange for the seven reeds planted at the end of the course and
carried off by the first seven as they arrived, we have received
magnificent presents, such as it is seemly to offer.
"Striped calico from Yemen, dyed of various colours, and _haïks_ of silk
and of wool.
"We carried off all these stuffs spread out over our horses, with
borders red as blood.
"In addition to all this they gave us silver coins by thousands, but
this silver we never keep for ourselves. We distribute it among the
servants who tend our horses, though we ourselves tend these with our
own hands far more carefully than they do.
"These are horses that never drink any but the purest water, and never
feed on any but the choicest food.
* * * * *
The Mussulman law distinguishes three ways of offering prizes for horse
racing. The first is positively permitted, the second is so
conditionally, and the third is utterly prohibited. In the first case,
some one entirely without interest in the result of the race offers a
prize, saying: "Whoever shall be victor in the race shall gain the
prize." Kings, chiefs, and great personages whose rank or fortune places
them in an exalted position, sometimes propose prizes in this manner,
which is sanctioned without any condition. In the second case, an
individual interested in the race, says: "I offer a prize which shall be
given to the one first in." This mode is allowed, with the condition
that if the donor himself is the first to arrive at the goal, the prize
shall be given to the assembly. The third manner is that by which every
one interested in the race offers a prize for the benefit of him by whom
he is beaten. This style of racing is nothing more than a wager, and
consequently is absolutely forbidden. Much more is betting by persons
not concerned in the race formally prohibited.
ABD-EL-KADER ON THE ARAB HORSE.
Having known the Emir Abd-el-Kader during the time I held the office of
French Consul at Mascara, from 1837 to 1839, and having again met him at
Toulon in 1847, whither I had been ordered on special duty at the time
of his first landing in France, I had full opportunity in my numerous
interviews with him to appreciate his intimate acquaintance with all
that related to the history of his country, as well as to all questions
of horse-flesh. I did not hesitate, therefore, to ask his opinion on a
subject of a purely scientific nature, which may nevertheless be of
great moment, not only for the future interests of our colony, but for
those of the country at large. The following is his reply, written under
date of the 8th November, 1851.
Glory to the one God, whose reign alone endureth for ever!
Peace be with him who equals in good qualities all the men of his time,
who aims only at what is good, whose heart is pure and his word abiding,
the wise, the intelligent, the Lord General Daumas, on the part of your
friend Sid-el-Hadj Abd-el-Kader, son of Mahhi-Eddin.
Behold the reply to your inquiries:—
1st. You ask me how many days an Arab horse can march without rest and
without suffering too severely. Know, then, that a horse sound in every
limb, that eats as much barley as his stomach can contain, can do
whatever his rider can ask of him. For this reason the Arabs say: "Give
barley and over-work him." But without tasking him overmuch, a horse can
be made to do sixteen parasangs day after day.[54] It is the distance
from Mascara to Koudiat-Aghelizan on the Oued-Mina; it has been measured
in cubits. A horse performing this journey every day, and having as much
barley as it likes to eat, can go on, without fatigue, for three or four
months, without lying by a single day.
2nd. You ask me what distance a horse can accomplish in a day. I cannot
tell you very precisely, but it ought to be about fifty parasangs, or
the distance from Tlemcen to Mascara. However, an animal that has
performed such a journey ought to be carefully ridden on the following
day, and allowed to do only a very much shorter distance. Most of our
horses used to go from Oran to Mascara in a single day, and could repeat
the journey for two or three consecutive days. On one occasion we
started from Saïda about eight in the morning to fall upon the Arbâa,
who were encamped at Aaïn-Toukria, among the Oulad-Aïad near Taza, and
we came up with them at break of day.
3rd. You ask for examples of the temperance of the Arab horse, and for
proofs of his power of enduring hunger and thirst. Know that when we
were established at the mouth of the Melouïa, we used to make razzias
into the Djebel-Amour, following the route of the Sahara, and on the day
of attack pushing forward at the gallop for five or six hours at a
stretch—the entire expedition, going and returning, being completed in
twenty to twenty-five days at the outside. During this space of time our
horses had no barley except what they carried with them, about enough
for eight ordinary feeds. Nor did they find straw, or anything except
the _alfa_ and _shiehh_, and grass in the spring time. And yet, on
rejoining our people, we performed the fantasia on our horses, and some
among us burnt powder. Many, too, who were not fresh enough for the
latter exercise, were quite able to go upon an expedition. Our horses
would go a day or two without water, and once they found none for three
days. The horses of the Sahara do far more than that, for they go three
months without touching a grain of barley. Straw they meet with only
when they go to the Tell to buy grain, and for the most part feed on the
_alfa_, the _shiehh_, and sometimes the _guetof_. The _shiehh_ is better
than the _alfa_, but not so good as the _guetof_. The Arabs say:
The _alfa_ is good for marching,
The _shiehh_ is good for fighting,
And the _guetof_ is superior to barley.
In certain years the horses of the Sahara have gone the whole twelve
months without a grain of barley to eat, especially when the tribes have
not been suffered to enter the Tell. At such times the Arabs give dates
to their horses, which is a fattening food, and keeps them in condition
for marching or fighting.
4th. You ask why, seeing the French do not mount their horses before
they are four years old, the Arabs mount theirs at a very early age.
Know that the Arabs say that horses, like men, are more easily taught
when quite young. They have a proverb:
The lessons of infancy are engraved upon stone,
The lessons of ripe age pass away like birds' nests.
They likewise say:
The young branch is made straight without much trouble,
But the old wood can never be straightened.
In the very first year, the Arabs teach the colt to let itself be led by
the _reseum_, a species of cavesson. They call it then _djeda_, and
begin to fasten and bridle it. As soon as it has become _teni_, that is,
as soon as it has entered on its second year, they ride it a mile or
two, or even a parasang, and after it has completed eighteen months they
do not fear to fatigue it. When it has become _rebâa telata_, that is,
when it has entered on its third year, they tie it up, cease to ride it,
cover it with a good _djellal_, and get it into condition. They say:
In his first year, tie him up lest he should meet with an accident;
In his second year, ride him until his back bends;
In his third year, again tie him up, and after that, if he does not
suit you, sell him.
If a horse is not ridden before his third year, it is certain that he
will never be good for anything but to gallop, which he does not need to
learn, as it is his nature to do so: an idea thus expressed by the
Arabs: "The noble horse gallops according to his race"—that is, a
thoroughbred horse has no occasion to be taught to gallop.
5th. You ask me how it is, seeing that the foal derives more qualities
from its sire than from its dam, that mares are always higher priced
than horses. The reason is this. He who buys a mare does so with the
expectation that he will not only be able to make use of her for the
saddle, but will also obtain from her a numerous stock; while he who
buys a horse cannot hope to get any other advantage out of him than by
riding him.
6th. You ask me if the Arabs of the Sahara keep registers to establish
the descent of their horses. Know that the inhabitants of the Algerian
Sahara do not, any more than those of the Tell, concern themselves with
these registers. The notoriety of the fact suffices them; for pedigree
of their blood horses is as well known to every one as that of their
masters. I have heard it said that some families possessed these written
genealogies, but I cannot answer for the fact. Such books, however, are
kept in the East.
7th. You ask me which are the tribes of Algeria the most renowned for
the pure breed of their horses. Know that the best horses of the Sahara
are unquestionably those of Hamyân. They possess none but excellent
animals, because they never employ them to till the ground, or as beasts
of burden. They employ them solely on expeditions and in battle. These
are superior to all others in endurance of hunger, thirst, and fatigue.
Next in order come the horses of the Harar, the Arbâa, and the
Oulad-Naïl. In the Tell, the horses in the first rank for nobility of
race, for height and beauty of mould, are those of the Shelif,
especially those of the Oulad-Sidi-Ben-Abd-Allah, near the Mina, and
those of the Oulad-Sidi-Hassan, a section of the Oulad-Sidi-Dahhou, who
dwell in the highlands of Mascara. The fleetest in the race-course, and
at the same time of a beautiful shape, are those of the Flittas, the
Oulad-Sherif, and the Oulad-Lekreud. The best for traversing stony
ground, without being shod, are those of the Hassasna in the Yakoubia.
The following words are ascribed to Mulay-Ishmael, the celebrated Sultan
of Morocco.
May my horse have been reared in the Mâz,
And watered in the Biaz.
The Mâz is a district of the Hassasna, and the Biaz is the stream known
by the name of Foufet, that flows through their territory. The horses of
the Oulad-Khaled are also famous for the same qualities. In reference to
this tribe Sidi-Ahmed-Ben-Youssel has said: "The long locks and the long
_djellals_ will lie seen in the midst of you to the day of the
resurrection," thus eulogising their women and their horses.
8th. You say that people maintain against you that the horses of Algeria
are not Arabs but Barbs. It is a theory that turns against its own
authors, for the Barbs were originally Arabs. A well-known writer has
said: "The Berbers inhabit the Mogheb. They are all sons of
Kaïs-Ben-Ghilan. It is likewise stated that they spring from two great
Hemiarite tribes, the Senahdja and the Kettama, who came into the
country at the time of the invasion of Ifrikesh El Malik." According to
both these opinions, the Berbers are decidedly Arabs. Historians,
moreover, establish the descent of most of the Berber tribes from the
Senahdja and the Kettama. The arrival of these tribes was anterior to
Islam. Since the Mussulman invasion the number of Arabs who have
emigrated into the Mogheb is beyond computation. When the Obeïdin [the
Fatimites] were masters of Egypt, immense tribes passed into Africa,
among others the Riahh, and spread themselves from Kaïrouan to Merrakesh
[Morocco]. It is from these tribes that are descended the Algerian
tribes of the Douaouda, the Aïad, the Mâdid, the Oulad-Mahdi, the
Oulad-Iakoub-Zerara, the Djendel, the Attaf, the Hamïs, the Braze, the
Sbeha, the Flittas, the Medjahar, the Mehal, the Beni-Aâmer, the Hamian,
and many more. Without doubt the Arab horses were dispersed through the
Mogheb in like manner with the Arab families. At the time of
Ifrikesh-ben-Kaïf, the empire of the Arabs was all powerful. It extended
as far west as the confines of the Mogheb, just as in the time of Shamar
the Hemiarite it extended eastward to the frontiers of China, as it is
related by Ben-Kouteïba in his book entitled "El Marif."
It is quite true, however, that although the Algerian horses come of
Arab stock, many have degenerated from their nobleness from being
employed much too often in the plough, in carrying and drawing heavy
loads, and in other kinds of labour, and from other causes which did not
exist among the Arabs of the olden times. It is sufficient, they say,
for a horse to have walked over ploughed land to lose something of his
excellence, and by way of illustration they relate the following
anecdote:
"A man was riding one day, mounted on a thoroughbred, when he met his
enemy also mounted on a noble courser. The one turned and fled, while
the other gave chace. The latter was distanced, and despairing to
overtake the former, cried out to him:
"I demand of thee in the name of Allah, has thy horse ever been in the
plough?"
"He has ploughed for four days."
"Ah! mine has never been in the plough. By the head of the Prophet, I am
certain to overtake thee."
"He then followed up the pursuit and towards the end of the day the
pursued began to lose ground and the pursuer to gain upon him. At last
the latter succeeded in coming up with and combating him whom he had at
first despaired of overtaking."
"My father—Allah be merciful to him!—was in the habit of saying: 'There
was no blessing for our land since we converted our coursers into beasts
of burden and tillage. Did not Allah create the horse for riding, the ox
for the plough, and the camel for the transport of burdens? There is
nothing to be gained by changing the ways of Allah.'"
9th. You ask me further what is our practice with regard to the keep and
maintenance of our horses. Know that the master of a horse gives him
very little barley to begin with, and goes on increasing the quantity
little by little, until he fails to consume it all, when the quantity is
reduced and afterwards maintained at the exact measure of his appetite.
The best time of day for giving barley is the evening. Unless on a
journey, it is useless to give it in the morning. The best way is to
give it to the horse saddled and girthed, just as the best way of
watering him is with the bridle on. There is a saying.
Water with the bridle,
And barley with the saddle.
The Arabs greatly prefer a horse that eats little, provided he does not
lose strength. Such a one, say they, is a priceless treasure. To water a
horse at sunrise, makes him lose flesh. To water him in the evening,
puts him into good condition. To water him in the middle of the day,
keeps him as he is. During the great heats which last for forty days,
the Arabs water their horses only every second day: a custom, they
assert, attended with beneficial effects. In summer, autumn, and winter
they throw an armful of straw to their horses; but the substance of
their keep is barley, in preference to every other kind of food. They
say: "Had we not seen that horses come from horses, we should have said
that it is the barley that produces them." Again:
"Of forbidden flesh, choose the lightest," that is, choose a horse that
is light and nimble—horse-flesh being forbidden to Mussulmans.
"No one becomes a horseman until he has been often thrown."
"Thoroughbred horses have no vice."
"A horse in a leading-string is an honour to his master."
"Horses are birds without wings."
"No distance is far for a horse."
"Whoso forgets the beauty of horses for that of women will never
prosper."
"Horses know their riders."
The pious Ben-el-Abbas—Allah be good to him!—hath said:
Love horses and take care of them,
Spare no trouble;
By them comes honour, by them comes beauty.
If horses are forsaken of men,
I will receive them into my family,
I will share with them the bread of my children;
My wives clothe them with their veils,
And cover themselves with the horse-cloths;
I ride them every day
Over the field of adventures;
Carried away in their impetuous career
I combat the most valiant.
I have finished the letter which our brother and companion, the friend
of all men, the Commandant Sidi-Bou-Senna [Boissonnet], will cause to be
delivered into your hands. Peace!
THE WAR HORSE.
AN ARAB CHAUNT.
My steed is black as a night without moon or stars;
He was foaled in vast solitudes;
He is an air-drinker, son of an air-drinker.
His dam also was of noble race,
And our horsemen of the days of powder have surnamed him Sabok.[55]
The lightning flash itself cannot overtake him:
Allah save him from the evil eye!
His ears vie with those of the gazelle,
His eyes are the eyes of a woman with wiles,
His forehead resembles that of a bull,
His nostrils the cavern of a lion.
His neck, shoulders, and croup are long,
He is broad in the seat, in the limbs and flanks,
He has the tail of a viper, the thighs of an ostrich,
And his vigorous heels are lifted above the ground.
I reckon upon him as upon my own heart.
Never has mortal mounted his equal.
His flesh is firmer than that of the zebra;
He has the short gallop of the fox,
The easy and prolonged running of the wolf;
He accomplishes in one day a five days' march;
And when he stretches out at full speed,
he strikes the girts with his hocks.
You would say that it was a dart hurled by fate,
Or a thirsty pigeon that precipitates itself
Upon the water preserved in the hollow of a rock.
Yes, Sabok is a war horse!
He loves the chace of savage animals,
He sighs only for glory and booty,
And the cries of our virgins excite his ardour.
When I urge him into the midst of dangers,
His neighing summons the vultures
And makes my enemies tremble;
On his back, death cannot overtake me,
It fears the sound of his hoofs.