The horse / by William Youatt. With A treatise of draught.

  • Youatt, William, 1776-1847.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The horse / by William Youatt. With A treatise of draught. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/600 (page 4)
    tlie frieze of their temples. Among the Greeks, however, chariots were never used for the purposes of war, but only in theu' public games *. The breeding of the horse, and his employment for pleasure and in war, were forbidden to the Israelites. They were commanded to hough or hamstring those that were taken in war. The sheep yielded them their wool, and the * It may not be useless to pause for a mo¬ ment, and study the form and character of these horses and their riders. There is considerable difference in tbe form and action of the two horses. The right-hand one, and the foremost of the two, is sadly defective in the portions of the fore-arms which we are permitted to see. The near one is poorly supplied with muscle. The off-horse is out of all keeping. The largo ears placed so low ; the clumsy swelling of the lower part of the neck; the bad union of it with the breast; the length and thinness of the barrel compared with the bulk of tbe fore parts, notwithstanding the natural and graceful position of the bind legs, show no (ittle want of skill in the statuary. The more animated head of the left and hinder horse, the inflated nostril, the opening of the mouth, the foim and prominence of the eye, and the laying of the ears, suflQciently confirm the accounts which wo have of the spirit —sometimes untameable—of the primi¬ tive horses. The neck, however, is too short even for one with these immense forehands; it springs badly out of the chest; the shoulder is very defective; but the fore-arms, their ex¬ pression and their position, are exceedingly good; the long fore-arms and short leg are excellent; and so are the off fetlock and foot; but the barrel is deficient, the carcase is lengthy, and the hind quarters are weak compared witli the fore-arms. The be.autiful execution of the riders can¬ not escape observation. The perfect Grecian face, tlie admirable expression of the counte¬ nance, the rounding and perfection of every limb, are sufficient proofs that the riders were portraits, as probably the horses were to a very considerable extent. These animals remind us of some of the heavy ones of the present day particularly ; they have the beauties and the defects of many of the modem Holstein horses; they are high, but perhaps heavy-actioned ; courage¬ ous, spirited, possibly fierce. They exhibit the germs of many future improvements, and, taken altogether, may be examined with con¬ siderable pleasure, remembering that they are horses of nearly 2300 years ago. Art has done much for the horse since that period, but the countenance and figure of the human being were at that time perfect. These horsemen have not even the switch to guide the animal; but they are holding by the mane with the left hand, and are evidently directing tbe horse by pulling the mane, or pressing the neck with the right hand a little higher up.