During the Crimean War I was located for a short time at Abydos in Asia
Minor, on the shores of the Dardanelles, and had daily opportunities of
seeing the horses and studying the manoeuvres of some 3,000 mounted
Bashi Bazouks and Armenian troops who were encamped there under General
Beatson in readiness for summons to the Crimea, whither they were
eventually dispatched.
The horses on which these troops were mounted ranged from 14 hands to
14.3; all had a strong strain of Arab blood, and had come with the
troops from the Islands of the Archipelago. They were perfect horses for
light cavalry work. The economy with which they were fed was surprising:
their feed consisted principally of chopped straw with a small daily
ration of barley when the grain was procurable, which was not always the
case; and on this diet they continued in condition to endure long
journeys which would have speedily broken down the best English charger
in the British army.