The Horses of the Sahara 18

The Horses of the Sahara 18

A man of a noble family of the Oued-Shelif[42] setting out for Mecca,

started in company with a few friends who wished to do him honour. He

was riding a blood mare, still in the possession of the family. Suddenly

she stumbled, and to punish her he gave her a smart cut with his bridle

end, which put her into such a state of agitation that for some minutes

she did nothing but rear and jump about from right to left. On his

return from Mecca he rode the same animal, and the friends who had

accompanied him on his departure went forth to meet him and give him

welcome. Scarcely had they reached the spot where the mare was beaten

than she began to rear and caper about, going through absolutely the

same movements as on the day she was struck. Every one was astonished at

this proof of extraordinary memory in an animal that had preserved for

a whole year the recollection of a punishment, and of the place where

she received it.

 

"Our noble coursers pass their time in vying with each other in

swiftness."

 

"The women wipe off with their veils the sweat that runs down their

faces."

 

"They balance their heads as if they would free themselves from the

fastenings that hold them captive, and are attentive to the slightest

command."

 

"On their backs are mounted fierce lions."

 

 

 

 

DIET.

 

 

If in the Sahara ewe's or camel's milk is frequently given to horses, it

must not be supposed that that is their only drink. It is more generally

a substitute for barley, which is a scarce commodity, than for water,

which is not usually difficult to find. The Arabs are convinced that

milk maintains health and strengthens the fibre, without increasing the

fat. It is needless to add that the rich who possess many she-camels are

less sparing of milk than the poor, who have hardly enough to satisfy

the wants of their families. The latter dilute it with water when they

can. In the spring time they make use of ewe's milk, to which at other

seasons they add camel's milk.

 

At Souf, Tougourt, Ouargla, Metlili, Gueleâa, and in the Touat, where

there are more camels than horses and where grain is scarcer than in the

first zone of the desert, dates oftentimes take the place of barley.

When they are dry they are given in a nosebag. In eating them the horse,

of himself, rejects the stones with considerable address. In certain

districts the stones are taken out and crushed in a mortar, and are then

mixed with the dates, which are likewise slightly bruised. Dates are

also given to horses before they are perfectly ripe, and are eaten

stones and all—being quite soft they do no harm. When it is desired to

mix the dates with the drink, the Arabs proceed after this fashion.

After the fruit is gathered they take three or four pounds of fresh

dates, and manipulate them in a large vase full of water until the pulp

of the date has become a sort of liquid paste. The skins and stones are

removed and the mixture after being well shaken is presented to the

animal. The date regimen makes fat, but does not harden the fibre.

 

In the first zone of the Sahara the ordinary diet of the horse is as

follows for each season:—In the spring the shoes are generally removed,

and the animals are turned out on the pastures, which at that period of

the year abound with a succulent and fragrant herbage known under the

generic name of _el âacheub_. They are clogged. Care is taken to avoid

the districts where the _ledena_ is met with, a velvety plant the leaves

of which resemble a rat's ear. It grows close to the ground and is

usually covered up and hidden in the sand. It brings on colics that for

the most part terminate fatally. Persons of distinction who keep many

servants, and experienced horsemen, never give green food to their war

horses. Rich or poor, no one gives barley, which is replaced by ewe's

milk, which in this season is very abundant, and preserves the horse in

perfect condition. The animals are watered only once a day, at two in

the afternoon.

 

In summer the Saharenes proceed to the Tell to lay in their provision of

grain. They are surrounded by unfriendly strangers, and sometimes by

enemies. They do not, therefore, care to send their horses out to graze,

as they would run the risk of being stolen. Nor are they sorry to have

them close at hand in case of any of the numerous accidents happening

which so often occur. Barley and barley straw are purchased from their

hosts: it is the period of the year when the animals fare most

liberally. I mention barley straw, because no Arab would ever consent to

feed his horses on fresh wheaten straw. They fancy it produces jaundice

if used before the winter. If, perchance, any thing should prevent them

from going to buy grain in the Tell, as the plains afford no herbage but

what is dried up by the sun, they make for the mountains of the Sahara,

where there is a better chance of coming across rivers, or ponds, or at

least marshes. If this resource fails them, they encamp in the

neighbourhood of the _Kuesours_[43] where straw can be had for money or

in the way of barter. In either case the mares alone are sent out to

graze, the horses being fastened in front of the tents. Whatever be the

temperature, the Arabs never give their horses that mixture of bran,

barley meal, and water which we call a mash, and of which we make such a

mistaken use. They accuse it of relaxing the tissues and of weakening

the system, while favouring the growth of fat, an evil they dread above

all things. When their horses are over heated they lessen their work,

and if they can procure it they give them green barley straw, and if

that is not to be had they have recourse to cooling baths. As to the

barley, they like it heavy, without any bad smell, and free from the

dirt which gets mixed with it in the "silos," as well as from the black,

withered, and blighted grains which have been struck by the South wind.

 

In autumn the horses are again turned out into the pastures, where they

find the _shiehh_, that invaluable resource of the Sahara, so that it is

said in praise of a man who is as capable as he is modest:

 

So-and-so is like the shiehh:

He has parts, but is no prattler.

 

So much for the day. At night are given handfuls of _seurr_, a species

of thorny shrub. It is cut down close to the ground, and beaten with a

stick to get rid of the dry prickles, which might injure the œsophagus,

or the membranous lining of the stomach. It contains many nutritive

elements. Another plant somewhat resembling the common bramble and

called _el âdem_ is prepared in a similar manner.

 

The horse is watered only once in the twenty-four hours, about two in

the afternoon. That time is thought the most favourable because the

water will have lost something of its coldness,—the temperature then

falling every day. Those who are well off give barley, but the poor

cannot always do so.

 

In winter the horses continue to be sent to the pastures, which are now

verdant in proportion to the rain that has fallen. The _shiehh_, the

_âdem_, the _derine_,[44] etc., are met with, and afford a very

sufficient diet. At night _bouse_ is thrown to them in quantities. It is

called by the Arabs "brother of the barley," so highly do they

appreciate its nutritive properties. _Bouse_ is in fact, nothing else

than the _alfa_,[45] which, at the moment of forming its ear, having

been pulled by its upper part has come away and got separated from its

sheath. Being gathered into small sheaves it is cut up in pieces and

answers the purpose of chopped straw. The _alfa_ is turned to account in

yet another manner. Its roots are laid bare with a mattock and being

freed from their reddish coating, are eaten with avidity by the animal.

This article of food takes the name of _gueddeine_ or _zemouna_,

according to the locality. It is nutritious, but not a substitute for

barley. Hay is unknown in the desert. The Arabs might, if they chose,

lay up an abundant supply of it for the winter, but they reject it as

having a tendency to make a horse heavy, to soften the fibre, and in

the long run to occasion inflammatory disorders. The animals are watered

only once a day as in autumn. It is a proverbial saying with the Arabs

that "The food of the morning goes out into the draught, while that of

the evening passes into the croup." They affirm, therefore, that if the

horse has drunk sufficient over night, and eaten heartily through the

night, there is not the slightest inconvenience in not giving him

anything on the morrow, especially if he has to set out early in the

morning. Thus in our camps, with fifteen to eighteen hundred Arab

horsemen making part of the expedition, what did we witness? Every

officer of the old African army can vouch for the truth of what I am

about to say:

 

Contrary to our habits, to the very last moment the most perfect

tranquillity continued to reign in the Arab bivouac. Not a minute was

taken from the rest of the animal. They gave him nothing either to eat

or to drink. The instant before starting they rubbed him down with a

nose-bag. The saddle replaced the covering worn through the night. The

bridle was put on, the tents struck, the morning prayer offered up, and

at the hour named they were on the march. More than once I have happened

to testify my surprise at such a system, but always received the same

reply: "Why wouldst thou do for thy horse what thou wouldst not do for

thyself? If thou leavest the table at ten or eleven at night, canst thou

sit down again to it on the morrow at the dawn of day?" With this

regimen the animals remain thin and slender. They are always ready to

march or gallop, or do whatever hard work may be required of them. They

pick up in an astonishing manner when instead, of a few handfuls of

barley and what they can graze off plains parched by a burning sun, they

fall in with the produce of the Tell. How would it be, then, if they

were placed on the diet of European horses? Instead of their flesh being

firm they would get quite fat, and so gain in our estimation, but they

would lose in that of the Arabs, who little appreciate that style of

beauty generally acquired at the cost of the best qualities of a war

horse.

 

However, if the Arab is too genuine a horseman not to attach the

greatest importance to vigour, he is on the other hand too fond of pomp

and distinction and the _fantasia_—to use a word already popular in

Europe—not to bestow upon himself, when he can, the luxury of a horse

for show and parade. It is therefore no rare thing to see Arabs of high

position leave their favourite mares for three or four months fastened

in front of their tents, without putting them to any work. They thus get

into good condition, and are employed only at festivals and marriage

feasts and on occasions when the chiefs are particularly anxious to

distinguish themselves. For the chace, for razzias, and for long and

arduous journeys, they keep horses of less apparent value, but of which

they are sure, and do not fear to fatigue them. The mares to which we

have alluded are equipped with great ostentation. The _stara_, or

cloths, and the bridles are embroidered with pure gold, the stirrups are

plated or gilt, and the felt saddle-cloths are as fine as cloth; the

most esteemed coming from Ouareglâa.

 

 

REMARKS OF THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER.

 

One of the Prophet's companions as he went out one morning found him

wiping with his cloak the head of his horse. "Why, with thy cloak?"

"What know'st thou?" replied the Prophet. "It may be that the Angel

Gabriel has been angry with me on his account last night." "At least let

me give him his food." "Ah!" cried the Prophet, "Thou would'st take for

thyself all the rewards, for the Angel Gabriel has told me that every

grain of barley eaten by the horse is accounted to me for a good work."

 

The Saharene gives his horse camel's milk to drink which has the

particular property of imparting speed, so that a man—according to what

is said by reliable persons who guarantee the truth of the statement—if

he takes nothing else for a sufficient time, will attain to such a degree of swiftness that he may vie with the camels themselves. In fact, camel's milk strengthens the brain and the tendons, and does away with fat, which produces a relaxation of the muscles.