ations concerning
their food. They are eminently vegetable feeders; grains and dried
grasses, such as hay and straw, also clover, being preferred when they
are in constant service. The more valuable sorts are seldom much used
while they are feeding entirely on green grass. They are extremely fond
of the niceties which are so often bestowed on pets, such as bread,
apples, cakes, etc.; and some are passionately fond of sugar. M.
Frederic Cuvier taught one he constantly rode, to play certain tricks,
rewarding him for them with sugar; and, if the provision contained in
his pocket were not sufficient, he would stop at a road-side inn, and
procure some more for the horse. Accordingly, when the sagacious animal
came again to these houses, he would perform the same antics which had
before procured him the sugar, and then stand still, as if again to
receive his reward. While speaking of this creature, I may as well
mention, that he delighted in pulling down his own hay, and feeding the
goats, which lived on the other side of his palings, with it; and once,
when he was fed with straw, on account of some malady, his companions,
who ate at the same manger, were so concerned at what they thought his
inferior fare, that they pushed their hay to him.

Horses have not the least objection to animal food; and it has been
often given to them when they have been obliged to perform immense
journeys, or to undergo any very great exertion. It, however, excites
them very much, and, if not judiciously bestowed, makes them fierce and
uncontrollable. Stories are told of poor men, who, when the despots of
the East have ordered them to give up their favourite horses, have fed
them on flesh, and rendered them so unmanageable, that the tyrants have
no longer desired what they once thought a prize. Horses will also drink
strong ale, etc., with the greatest relish; and oat gruel, mixed with
it, has often proved an excellent restorative for them after an unusual
strain upon their powers. They will not refuse even spirits or wine,
administered in the same manner; but it is very questionable if these
are equally efficacious. There is no telling, however, what strange
inconsistencies domestication will produce in the matter of food; for
cats have been known to refuse everything for boiled greens, when they
were to be had.

The following account is abridged from Mr. Kohl's description of those
Asiatic horses, which are bred in the steppes, and are private