Brehm's Life of animals - a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia (1896) (20419850541)

Title: Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia
Identifier: brehmslifeofanim1896breh (find matches)
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Brehm, Alfred Edmund, 1829-1884; Pechuel-Loesche, Edward, 1840-1913; Haacke, Wilhelm, 1855-1912; Schmidtlein, Richard
Subjects: Mammals; Animal behavior
Publisher: Chicago : Marquis
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive



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THE HORSES—HORSES PROPER. 407 herds, some of which are occasionally composed of thousands of individuals. They are a nuisance be- cause they not only consume good pasturage, but also lead away domestic Horses. Fortunately they do not come by night. The natives of the pampas eat the flesh of the Cimarrones, especially that of colts and mares. They also capture some with a view to taming them; the Spaniards, on the other hand, make no attempt to use them. Very rarely does a European capture a wild specimen and tame it. In Paraguay no wild Horses are found, but the con- dition of the domestic Horses of this country does not differ materially from that of the wild ones. The animals called Mustangs are so neglected that they really degenerate. They are of medium height, have with their mothers until they are three or four years old, and as long as they are not weaned the mothers are greatly attached to them and some- times defend them even against the Jaguar. When the animals are a little over two or three years old, one of the young male colts is selected and given some fillies, with which he has been accustomed to graze in one particular spot. The Horses belonging to one herd never associate with those belonging to others, and they keep so faithfully together that it is difficult to separate a grazing Horse from the main body of his clan or group. If two or more herds are put together, as for instance when collect- ing all the Horses belonging to one farm, they immediately seek their customary companions and
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THE ARABIAN STEED.—The Horse has been the most prized of animals with the Aral's from an early period. The Arabian Horse, though not very tall in stature, is of beautiful form. It is fleet, docile and of great endurance and is treated with great consideration by the Arabs. a large head, long ears and large heavy joints; only the neck and body are of tolerably regular build. The hair is short in summer, long in winter, and the mane and tail are always thin and short. The Domestic The Horses of South America live Horse in South out of doors all the year round. America. Every week they are collected, to prevent their going altogether astray; their wounds are looked after and cleansed, and the manes and tails of stallions are cut about every three years. Nobody thinks of improving the breed. "Usually," says Rengger, " the Horses live in small herds or groups in some locality, to which they have been accustomed from birth. Each stallion is given from twelve to eighteen mares, which he keeps together ind defends against strange Horses. The colts live divide themselves into their original groups. The animals not only show great attachment to each other, however, but also to their pasturage. I have seen some that returned to their old haunts from a distance of eighty hours' travel. Yet more strange is the fact, that sometimes the Horses of a whole region set out upon a migration, either singly or in troops. This happens most frequently when a violent rain falls after a season of dry weather, and they are probably actuated by the fear of hail, which often accompanies the first thunderstorm." Senses of Wild The senses, of these nearly wild Horses Highly animals seem to be more acute than Developed. those of European Horses. Their hearing is extremely delicate. At night the move- ments of their ears show that they hear the slight-