The Horses of the Sahara 16

The Horses of the Sahara 16

"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.