The Horses of the Sahara 24

The Horses of the Sahara 24

The shoes are very light, of a soft, pliant metal. In the fore-shoes

only three nails are driven in on each side. The toes are free, and

never fastened. According to the Arabs, nails in the toe would interfere

with the elasticity of the foot, and would cause the horse at the moment

he sets his foot on the ground precisely the same sensation that a man

experiences from wearing a tight shoe. Many accidents thence ensue.

 

The feet are neither pared nor shortened. The hoof is allowed to grow

freely, the very stony ground and incessant work sufficing to wear it

off naturally as it tries to get beyond the iron. The necessity of

paring the feet is only felt when horses have been for a long time

fastened in front of the tent without doing any work, or have remained

long in the Tell. In such a case the Arabs simply make use of the

sharp-pointed knives which they are never without. This method has this

further advantage that if a horse casts a shoe, he can still proceed on

his journey, as the sole remains firm and hard. "With you," say they,

"and with your practise of paring the foot, if the horse casts a shoe

you must pull up, or see him bleeding, halting and suffering."

 

The shoes are joined at the heel. As the horse can only suffer in the

part that is quick, and not in the part that is hard, it is, of course,

the frog that should be shielded from accident. The shoes should

therefore follow the curvature of the frog. They give to the nail-heads

the form of a grasshopper's head, the only form, as they allege, that

allows the nails to be worn down to the last without breaking. They

approve of our method of driving the nails into punched holes and

clinching them outside, which prevents a horse from cutting himself; but

their scarcity of iron obliges them to content themselves, for their

part, with hammering the nails down upon the hoof, so as to render them

serviceable a second time by making a new head. If a horse overreaches

himself they cut away his heels and place light shoes on his forefeet,

but heavier ones on his hindfeet. They are careful not to leave one foot

shod and the other bare. If during an excursion a horse happens to cast

one of his fore-shoes, and his rider has not a fresh supply with him, he

takes off both the hind shoes and puts one of them on the forefoot; and

if the animal is shod only on his forefeet, the rider will take the shoe

off the other foot, rather than leave him in such a condition. Should a

horse, after a long journey such as the horsemen of the desert not

unfrequently make, require to be shod, it is no uncommon thing to place

a morsel of felt between the shoe and the foot.

 

The necessity, caused partly by the nature of the ground and partly by

the length of their excursions, of shoeing the horses of the Sahara, has

shown the expediency of accustoming the colt to let himself be shod

without resistance. They therefore give him kouskoussou, cakes, dates,

etc., while he allows them to lift his foot and knock upon it. They then

caress his neck and cheeks, and speak to him in a low tone; and thus

after a while he lifts his feet whenever they are touched. The little

difficulty experienced at a later period, thanks to this early training,

has probably given rise to the Arab hyperbole: "So wonderful is the

instinct of the thoroughbred horse that if he casts a shoe he draws

attention to it himself by showing his foot." This exaggeration at least

proves how easy these horses are to be shod, and further explains how

every horseman in the desert ought to have the knowledge and the means

of shoeing his own horse, while on a journey. It is a point of the

highest importance. It is not enough to be very skilful in horsemanship,

or to train a horse in the most perfect manner, to acquire the

reputation of a thorough horseman—in addition to all this, he must

likewise be able to put on a shoe if necessary. Thus on setting out for

a distant expedition every horseman carries with him in his _djebira_

shoes, nails, a hammer, pincers, some strips of leather to repair his

harness, and a needle. Should his horse cast a shoe, he alights,

unfastens his camel-rope, passes one end round the _kerbouss_ of the

saddle and the other round the pastern, and ties the two ends together

at such a length as will make the horse present his foot. The animal

stirs not an inch, and his rider shoes him without assistance. If it be

a hind shoe that has been thrown, he rests the foot upon his knee, and

dispenses with aid from his neighbours. To avoid making a mistake he

passes his awl into the nail holes in order to assure himself beforehand

of the exact direction the nails should take. If, by chance, the horse

is restive, he obtains for the hindfeet the help of a comrade who

pinches the nose or ears of the animal. For the forefeet, he merely

turns his hindquarters towards a thick prickly shrub, or extemporises a

torchenes with a nose-bag filled with earth. Such cases, however, are

rare.

 

The Saharenes declare that our shoes are much too heavy and in long and

rapid excursions must be dreadfully fatiguing to the articulations, and

cause much mischief to the fetlock joint. "Look at our horses," say

they, "how they throw up the earth and sand behind them! how nimble they

are! how lightly they lift their feet! how they extend or contract their

muscles! They would be as awkward and as clumsy as yours did we not give

them shoes light enough not to burden their feet, and the materials of

which as they grow thinner commingle with the hoof and with it form one

sole body." And when I have answered that we did not discover in our

mode of shoeing the inconveniences pointed out by them, they would

reply: "How should you do so? Cover as we do in a single day the

distance you take five or six days to accomplish, and then you will see.

Grand marches you make, you Christians, with your horses! As far as from

my nose to my ear!"

 

 

 

 

HARNESS.

 

 

I have stated that the Arab saddle furnishes the rider with such a firm

seat that he does not trouble himself at all about certain vices in a

horse that are apt to cause us uneasiness. I will therefore say a few

words on the subject, though it is one now familiar to every body.

 

The Arab saddle consists of a wooden saddle-tree, surmounted in front by

a long _kerbouss_ or pommel, and by a broad troussequin behind, high

enough to protect the loins. The whole is covered and held together,

without nails or pegs, by a plain camel's skin which gives it great

solidity. The bands rest on the animal's back, and are broad and flat,

with a proper regard for the freedom of the withers and loins, and

afford a roomy and commodious seat. This last is very hard, and it

requires long practice to get used to it. The chiefs cover it with a

woollen cushion; but the common horsemen make it a point of honour to

ride on the bare wood, pretending that the use of cushions is excessive

effeminacy, and by diminishing their points of contact cannot fail to

invite them to sleep during a long course, and consequently expose them

to injure their horses. This is all the more meritorious that for the

most part, and especially in summer they ride without trousers or

drawers.

 

The saddle-tree is concealed by a _stara_, or covering of red morocco,

without ornament, in the case of individuals who are poor or not very

well-to do; and by a _ghrebaria_, or covering of cloth or scarlet

velvet, embroidered with gold or silver thread, and ornamented with

fringes, in the case of rich people and chiefs. The _deïr_, or

breast-piece, is very broad and is placed like that of our French

saddle. Its extremities are provided with two strong buckles of iron or

chased silver, and are fastened to the saddle-tree by small

girth-leathers, so placed as to keep the saddle in its true position.

The Arabs will have nothing to do with a crupper. They say it interferes

with every forward movement by the restraint it imposes on the animal.

They use it only with bat mules and donkeys, and even then they do not

pass it under the tail.

 

The stirrups are broad and clumsy. Their lateral faces gradually

diminish so as to unite with the upper bar which supports the ring for

the stirrup-leathers. They are used very short, and the whole foot is

thrust into them, and thus shielded from balls or falls. These stirrups

are extremely painful for those who are not accustomed to them, because

in raising oneself on them the eye strikes against the bone of the leg.

After a time the skin hardens and an exostosis is formed that destroys

all sensibility. It is by these exostoses that a horseman is

distinguished from a foot-soldier, and so clearly, indeed, that in the

province of Oran a certain Bey, having resolved to inflict an exemplary

chastisement on a tribe that had revolted, put to death all who fell

into his hands, bearing these marks. He well knew that his anger was

vented only on the horsemen. The stirrups of wealthy individuals are

either plated or gilt, and in former times the great Turkish officers

had them made of solid silver or gold. The stirrups are suspended by

leathers placed behind the girth, which are simply twisted straps of

morocco or camel's skin—when doubled seven or eight times, they are of

great strength. The noble make their stirrup-leathers of silken cord;

but as these, let them be ever so solid, will not suffice when going at

a rapid pace with the whole weight thrown upon the stirrups, they add

what are called _maoune_, or stirrup-holders.

 

By way of horse-cloths the Arabs make use of pieces of felt fastened to

the saddle, to allow of the operation of saddling being quickly

performed. They are seven in number, and dyed blue, red, and yellow—the

blue being uppermost. An eighth one is added, but white and unattached,

so that it can be washed and dried in the sun if the horse has perspired

much. When these pieces of felt are well shaped, the different colours

lying one over the other and slightly projecting, form an ornament in

very fair taste, while they preserve the horse from wounds and sores.

Care is taken that they should partially cover the loins.

 

The saddle-girth is placed in front of the stirrups, and is narrower

than ours. The Arabs as a rule girth their horses loosely; and they can

do so without inconvenience, as their saddles never slip round.

 

The headstall of the bridle is very broad; blinkers are used, and

occasionally, but not often, a throat-band, loose and fastened to the

headband. The Arab of the Sahara, however, does not approve of it,

because if his horse, as may often happen, should be seized by the

bridle in a fight, it deprives him of his usual resource of slipping the

bridle over the head, and so escaping from the enemy, whose prize is

thus reduced to the bridle alone. The blinkers have the advantage of

preventing a horse from being disquieted by external objects, and are

perhaps partly the cause of his not fearing anything. The headstall and

the headband of the bridle are embroidered in silk for the commonality,

and in silver or gold for the rich. The bit is attached to the bridle,

and is never cleaned. The bars are broad, short, straight, and fashioned

_à la Condé_. The canons are flat, and the curb is a circular ring fixed

to the upper part of the mouth piece. The Arab bit allows no liberty to

the to