TURKS AND THEIR HORSES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 76, 29 March 1877, Page 4

TURKS AND THEIR HORSES.

First of all, a Turk is never wantonly cruel to any beast. He never strikes or spurs a horse in a rage, and all his movements are so quiet and collected that a horse soon forgets' all fear of him, and to find a restive horse is rare indeed. Pullers are very common, and most Turkish horses have bad mouths, owing to their having been riden with severe bits from tKe'time they are first mounted. This will always be so, for it is •« the custom," and it is as hard to ge t t a Turk to change a custom as an Englishman! A Turk never rides fast and his favorite pace on a long journey is either a jog or a tripple. The latter preferred, as it is faster and much easier to - the rider. Whenever he passes water, winter or summer, he lets hia horse drink as much as he wants; but When he has done so he rides it on fast at once— he never lets it stand still after drinking. It possible, he gives it its fill of water half an hour betore the end of its journey . Directly he dismdunths he loosens tbe girths, and leads the horse about till it is quite cool. It is then put in the stable with the saddle on, and this is not taken off for an hour or more. When this is done, and when it has 'had water oh its way home, it never " breaks out," and never refuses its feed of barley. Hay is unknown in Turkey, except in the shape of green grass this is not often used. In its plage the horse gets chopped wheat straw, and I may say that I never have seen horses in better condition, and in the' thirteen years I was in Tuikey I neyer knew but one that was brokenwinded, and tbat was one of my own that had been feeding on hay for a month. The horses have no bed to lie on, except in grand stables, where tbe manure is all collected dried to powder in the sun and then spread under the horse at night. This is not done for the comfort of the horse, but to make his coat shine, which it doea to perfection. A Turk despises a mare, and nearly always rides a stallion. Tbe latter aie such ineverate fighters that the groom never dares to leave the stable, and always sleeps by the side of his horse. It is a British prejudice, and a very cruel one, not to let a horse drink when it is thirsty; and if any of my readers has a horse that doeaVt feed when he comes in from a day's hunting, let him try the Turkish plan ; or ii he is selling his horse cheap for this fault, let him drop me a line, as I think we might " conclude a deal." — Barkleifs Bulgaria.