Overview
INTRODUCTION.
The first domestication of the horse, one of the greatest achievements of
man in the animal kingdom, was not the work of a day; but like all other
great accomplishments, was brought about by a gradual process of
discoveries and experiments. He first subdued the more subordinate
animals, on account of their being easily caught and tamed, and used for
many years the mere drudges, the ox, the ass, and the camel, instead of
the fleet and elegant horse. This noble animal was the last brought into
subjection, owing, perhaps, to man's limited and inaccurate knowledge of
his nature, and his consequent inability to control him. This fact alone
is sufficient evidence of his superiority over all other animals.
Man, in all his inventions and discoveries, has almost invariably
commenced with some simple principle, and gradually developed it from one
degree of perfection to another. The first hint that we have of the use of
electricity was Franklin's drawing it from the clouds with his kite. Now
it is the instrument of conveying thought from mind to mind, with a
rapidity that surpasses time. The great propelling power that drives the
wheel of the engine over our land, and ploughs the ocean with our
steamers, was first discovered escaping from a tea-kettle. And so the
powers of the horse, second only to the powers of steam, became known to
man only as experiments, and investigation revealed them.
The horse, according to the best accounts we can gather, has been the
constant servant of man for nearly four thousand years, ever rewarding him
with his labor and adding to his comfort in proportion to his skill and
manner of using him; but being to those who govern him by brute force, and
know nothing of the beauty and delight to be gained from the cultivation
of his finer nature, a fretful, vicious, and often dangerous servant;
