The Horses of the Sahara 26
If, in war time or in hunting, your horse is in a lather, and you happen
to come across a stream, have no fear of allowing him to swallow half a
dozen mouthfuls with the bridle on. So far from doing him any harm it
will enable him to continue his course.
When you dismount think of your horse before thinking of yourself. It is
he who has carried you, and is to carry you again.
After a long journey, either unsaddle your horse immediately and throw
cold water over his back, at the same time leading him up and down; or
else leave the saddle on until he is perfectly dry and has eaten his
barley. There is no middle path between these two courses.
When after a long journey in winter, through rain and cold, you at
length regain your tent, cover your horse well, and give him parched
barley and warmed milk, but do not let him have any water that day.
Suffer not your horse to have anything to eat or drink directly after a
journey of unusual length, or you will produce inflammation.
Put not your horses to speed, unless positively compelled to do so,
during the great heats of summer. The animal himself says:
Put me not to speed in the summer,
If thou would'st that I should one day save thee from the sabre.
In a case of life or death if you feel your horse's wind failing, take
off the bridle if only for an instant, and strike him on the croup with
a spur sharply enough to draw blood.
If after a rapid gallop you are able to give a little respite to your
horse, you will know when to start again by the drying up of the mucus
that issues from his nostrils.
If you would know, at the end of a day of excessive fatigue and hard
riding, how far you can yet depend upon your horse, get off his back and
pull him strongly towards you by the tail. If he remains unmoved as if
rooted to the ground, you may still rely upon him.
On an expedition when, after great fatigue, you have only a moment for
repose, take for your pillow some of the bridles of your brethren, and
you will not be abandoned or forgotten, happen what may.
A horseman ought to study the habits of his horse and obtain a thorough
knowledge of his character. He will then know whether, when he alights,
he can have any confidence in him and can leave him in the midst of
other animals, or whether he must keep an eye upon him and hobble him.
Not one of these details is a matter of indifference in the presence of
an enemy.
The proper season for calling on a horse to do great things, is the
spring, before the great heats; or the autumn, before the intense cold.
The horse is what his work is.
Yes, give the heel to your steeds,
Learn and teach them what will be of service to you.
In this world it is certain that, one day or another,
Every man has to face him who demands his life.
REMARKS BY THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER.
The Arabs have preserved the practice of racing their horses against one
another, in which they indulged so far back as in the times of idolatry,
prior to Mohammed. The new law has in no way altered this usage. On the
contrary it has consecrated its lawfulness, and, by impressing it with
the seal of religion, has attached additional importance to it.
For racing, the Arabs subject their horses to a preparatory regimen,
which is called _tadmir_, or training. Thank to this treatment, a horse
acquires a wonderful speed. The _tadmir_ is in this wise.
They begin by increasing the animal's allowance of food, so that he
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
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