Beast

Sources : Horse

Aristotle [ca. 350 BCE] (De animalibus Book 9, 1.7): The anthus is the enemy of the horse, for it drives the horse from its pasture, for the anthus also feeds on grass; it is dim-sighted and not quick; it imitates the voice of the horse, which it frightens by flying at it, and drives it from its pasture; if the horse can seize upon it, he will kill it. - [Cresswell translation, 1887]

Herodotus [c. 484 – c. 425 BCE] (Histories, Book 1.80) Assembling all the camels that followed his army bearing food and baggage, he took off their burdens and set men upon them equipped like cavalrymen; having so equipped them he ordered them to advance before his army against Croesus' horse; he charged the infantry to follow the camels, and set all his horse behind the infantry. ... The reason of his posting the camels to face the cavalry was this: horses fear camels and can endure neither the sight nor the smell of them; this then was the intent of his device, that Croesus' cavalry, on which the Lydian relied for the winning of some glory, might be of no use. So when battle was joined, as soon as the horses smelt and saw the camels they turned to flight, and all Croesus' hope was lost. - [Godley translation]

Pliny the Elder [1st century CE] (Natural History, Book 8, 64-68): [Book 8, 64] The Sybarite horses also know beforehand when there is going to be a battle, and when they lose their masters mourn for them: sometimes they shed tears at the bereavement. [Book 8, 65] Some horses live fifty years, but mares live a shorter time; mares stop growing when five years old, the varieties of males a year later. The appearance of the horse that ought to be most preferred has been very beautifully described in the poetry of Virgil, but we also have dealt with it in our book on the Use of the Javelin by Cavalry, and I observe that there is almost universal agreement about it. [Book 8, 66] Gestation in this genus lasts eleven months and the foal is born in the twelfth month. Breeding takes place as a rule in the spring equinox when both animals are two-year-olds, but the progeny is stronger if breeding begins at three. A stallion goes on serving to the age of 33, as they are sent from the race-course to the stud at 20. It is recorded that a stallion at Opus even continued to 40, only he needed assistance in lifting his fore-quarters. But few animals are such unfertile sires as the horse; consequently intervals are allowed in breeding, and nevertheless a stallion cannot stand serving fifteen times in the same year. Mares in heat are cooled down by having their manes shorn; they foal yearly up to 40. It is stated that a mare has lived to 75. In the equine genus the pregnant female is delivered standing up; and she loves her offspring more than all other female animals. And in fact a love-poison called horse-frenzy [veneficium hippomanes] is found in the forehead of horses at birth, the size of a dried fig, black in color, which a brood mare as soon as she has dropped her foal eats up, or else she refuses to suckle the foal. If anybody takes it before she gets it, and keeps it, the scent drives him into madness of the kind specified. If a foal loses its dam the other brood mares in the same herd rear the orphan. It is said that a foal is unable to reach the ground with its mouth within the first three days after birth. The greedier it is in drinking the deeper it dips its nostrils into the water. The Scythians prefer mares as chargers, because they can make water without checking their gallop. [Book 8, 68] It is known that in Lusitania in the neighborhood of the town of Lisbon and the river Tagus mares when a west wind is blowing stand facing towards it and conceive the breath of life and that this produces a foal, and this is the way to breed a very swift colt, but it does not live more than three years. - [Rackham translation]

Augustine [5th century CE] (City of God, Book 21, 5): In Cappadocia the mares are impregnated by the wind, and their foals live only three years.

Aelianus [170-230 CE] (On the Characteristics of Animals, Book 2, 10; 3, 17): [Book 2, 10*] The horse is generally speaking a proud creature, the reason being that his size, his speed, his tall neck, the suppleness of his limbs, and the clang of his hooves make him insolent and vain. But it is chiefly a mare with a long mane that is so full of airs and graces. For instance, she scorns to be covered by an ass, but is glad to mate with a horse, regarding herself as only fit for the greatest of her kind. Accordingly those who wish to have mules born, knowing this characteristic, clip the mare's mane in a haphazard fashion anyhow, and then put asses to her. Though ashamed at first, she admits her present ignoble mate. [Book 3, 17] The mare also knows that with the birth of a foal she is producing love-spells; and that is why the moment the foal is born, the mare bites off the piece of flesh on its forehead. Men call it "mare's-frenzy". And wizards maintain that such things produce and excite impulses to unrestrained sexual intercourse and a lecherous passion. - [Scholfield translation]

Gaius Julius Solinus [3rd century CE] (De mirabilibus mundi / Polyhistor, Chapter 45.6-7; 45.18): [Chapter 45.6] Many examples have revealed that horses possess discernment, since several have been found which would recognize only their first masters. If ever they changed their accustomed master, they became forgetful of their tameness. So well do horses know those inimical to their side that in battle they attack and bite their enemies. [Chapter 45.7] But this is a greater thing: when horses have lost riders whom they held dear, they bring death upon themselves by starvation. These characteristics are to be found in the most outstanding type of horse, for those who are of inferior breeding have given no accounts of themselves. [Chapter 45.18] The fiercer and braver a horse is, the deeper he will plunge his nostrils into water when drinking. Male horses are never taken to the wars by the Scythians, because the females can empty their bladders in flight. Mares bring forth offspring sired by the wind, but they never live longer than three years. - [Arwen Apps translation, 2011]

Isidore of Seville [7th century CE] (Etymologies, Book 12, 1:41-47; 12, 1.56): [Book 12, 1.41] Horses [equus] are so called because when they were yoked in a team of four they were balanced [aequare]; those equal in size and alike in gait would be joined together. [Book 12, 1.42] The pack-horse [caballus] was formerly called a cabo, because when walking it hollows [concavare] the ground with the imprint of its hoof, a property that the other animals do not have. Whence also the ‘charger’ [sonipes] because it ‘clatters with its feet’ [pedibus sonare]. [Book 12, 1.43] Horses have a great deal of liveliness, for they revel in open country; they scent out war; they are roused to battle by the sound of the trumpet; when incited by a voice they are challenged to race, grieving when they are defeated, and exultant when they are victorious. Some recognize the enemy in war and seek to bite the foe. Some also respond to their own masters, and lose their tameness if their ownership changes. Some will allow no one on their back except their master; many of them shed tears when their master dies or is killed, for only the horse weeps and feels grief over humans. Also in the Centaur the nature of horses and of humans is combined. [Book 12, 1.44] People who are about to engage in battle are accustomed to deduce what the outcome will be from the dejection or the eagerness of the horses. [Book 12, 1.45] In well-bred horses, so the ancients said, four things were considered: form, beauty, quality, and color. Form, that the body should be strong and solid, the height appropriate to the strength, the flank long, very lean, with well-rounded haunches, broad in the chest, the entire body knotted with dense musculature, the foot firm and solid with a concave hoof. [Book 12, 1.46] Beauty, that the head should be small and firm, the skin clinging close to the bones, the ears short and expressive, the eyes large, the nostrils flaring out, the neck upright, the mane and tail thick, the hooves of a firm roundness and solidity. [Book 12, 1.47] Quality, that it should be daring in spirit, swift of foot, with quivering limbs, which is a sign of strength, and easily roused from the deepest repose and controlled without difficulty when urged to speed. Indeed, the alertness of a horse is made known by its ears, and its valor by its quivering limbs. [Book 12, 1.56] There are three kinds of horses: one well-bred, suited for battles and riders; the second common and ordinary, suited for draft work, not for riding; the third originating from a mixture of different species, which is called hybrid [bigener], because it is born from different species, like the mule. - [Barney, Lewis, et. al. translation]

Thomas of Cantimpré [circa 1200-1272 CE] (Liber de natura rerum, Quadrupeds 4.34): Horses, as Solinus says, are bred in almost all parts of the world; but those are especially good who are born in Scythia and Cappadocia. Among the horses, the one who is more active and more hopeful, sinks his nose deeper in drinking. Horses usually know the enemies of their party in battle. They rejoice at the sound of the bugle, and they boast in their gatherings. The lust of the horses is extinguished by shearing the mane. ... And horses in Scythia give birth to foals conceived by the winds; but these never live beyond three years. A mare is understood to be barren, if she does not conceive at the first copulation. But whatever is birthed by her before the completion of three years is weak; whatever after, stronger and better, until the age of twenty. A male mates until his thirtieth year, and a mare until forty years. A male lives up to 35 years, and a mare up to 40 years. They say that a horse once lived up to 70 years. In noble horses, as the ancients say, as Isidore says, four things are considered: form, beauty, merit, and color. The shape is such that the body is strong and solid, the height suitable for strength, the sides long, the hips well rounded, the whole body densely knotted with muscles, the foot dry and the horn solidified. Beauty is to have a small and dry head, the skin close to the bones, the ears short and pointed, the eyes large, the nose wide, the neck erect, the hair thick and the tail firm and rounded. It should be altogether bold, swift of foot, trembling of limb, which is an indication of courage. As the Experimentator says, Spanish and French horses have a shorter life; but Persian, Pyrian, Sicilian, and Dacian horses live longer. There are three kinds of horses: one of them is for war, another is fit for carriage and riding, and another is fit for ploughing. For the horse is the only one beyond man to weep and to feel the emotion of pain, says Isidore. And they are wont to infer from the horses, either by their meddling, or their eagerness, that they will fight in the future. As for those who were not of this nobility, they presented no evidence of their goodness. The horse, the cow, and the deer are the only animals that have cartilaginous bones in their hearts, and this because of their size, so that the heart is supported by the bones themselves, as it is in the other members. But the mouth of a deer is medicinal, but not of a horse or a cow. There is so much pity in female horses that if one of them dies in the herd, another mare associated with her will nurse the dead horse's offspring. When a horse is born, a small carbuncle is seen on the forehead, and it is most effective against poison, because it immediately extinguishes the poison. But the mother mare destroys it by licking it immediately after giving birth. Horses naturally love their appearance more than other beasts. - [Badke translation/paraphrase]

Bartholomaeus Anglicus [13th century CE] (Liber de proprietatibus rerum, Book18.39-41): [Book 18.39] Horses are called Equi, & have that name for they are joyned and coupled in cartes or in Chariots, even, and and not odde, and they be also coupled in shape and in course. Also the horse is called Caballus, and hath that name of his hollow féete: for he maketh therewith a cave or a pit in the ground there he goeth, and other beasts have no suche féete, as Isidore saith lib. 12. And among many men the horse is called Sonipes, for he soundeth with his féete. And horses are juyfull in fields, and smell Battayles, and be comforted with noyse of trumpets, to battaile and to fighting: & be excited to runne with noyse that they know, and are sorie when they be overcome, and glad when they have the masterie, and so feeleth and knoweth theyr enemies in battaile, so farre foorth, that they arise on their enimies with biting and smiting: and also some know theyr owne Lords, and forgetteth mildnesse, if their Lords be overcome: & some horse suffereth no man to ride on his backe, but onely his owne Lord. and manye horses wéepe when their Lords be dead: and it is sayd that horses weepe for sorrow, right as a man doth, and so ye kind of horse and of man, is medled in Centaures, such beastes. Also ofte men that shall fight, take evidence and divine gesse that shall befall by sorrowe, or by the joye that the Horse maketh. Horses of Persia, or of Cicilia, live long time, fiftie yeare and more: and horses of Gallia, of Inde, and of Spaine live lesse time. And héereto Isidore saith, that old men meane, that in gentle horses, noble men take héede of foure things: of shape & of fairenesse, of wilfulnesse and of colour. Of shape, that he be strong and sadde of body, and according to strength & might and height, and length, and breadth, that the side be long, and some deale small, that the loynes be great, and the thighs round and large, and broad breasted, and all the body full sad, and full of brawne, and the foote drye, and hoofe hollow and sad. Fairnesse is knowen by lytle head, and the skinne cleaving nigh to ye bone, if the eares be little and sharpe, if the eyen be great and the nosethrills large, if he beareth up the head, if the maane be thicke, and the tayle long, and if the hoofe be well pight and round. The wilfulnesse is knowen, if he be bold of hart, and swifte of féete, if ye members quake: it is token of strength, and if he be soone areared, and riseth soone from great rest: or els, if he be soone stinted in swifte course and running. The colour is knowen, for the coulour in them, is nowe red, now blacke, nowe white, and nowe graye, and now divers, and now speckeled. The divers colour beautifieth much or disfigureth an horse, and is a token to know strength and will of a horse: but to pursue by order, and to make processe orderly, it were long. Huc usque Isidorus. libro. 12. Libro. 7. capitulo. 43. Plinius speaketh of the Horse, and saith: That the Horses of Scythia fight for their Lordes, and eschewe to ingender with their owne damme, for in them is a manner knowledge of kinred. And Aristotle speaketh héereof libro. 8. and sayth, that a King of the North hadde a very fayre Mare, that foaled him a very faire horse: and the king would have had some Colte gotten of the same horse of his owne damme, and covered hir face: when the Mares head was uncovered, anone the horse knew hir, and fled, and fell downe from an high place, and dyed for sorrowe. Also in company of Mares, the horse goeth more gladly with the mare colts, than with his damme, and be glad with the noyse of Simphonie and of a trumpet, and starteth and réeseth on his enemies, and bodeth warre and fighting, & wéepeth for their friends and Lordes: and these horses are accounted best, in warre & in battaile, that thrust the head déepest into the water when they drink, for he meaneth, that such horses bée not let in running with heavinesse of urine. Also libr. 28. cap. 9. he sayth, that the gall of an horse is accounted among venim, and therefore it was not lawfull for Idolatrous Priestes to touche the horse: his fresh bloud and raw is venemous, as the bloud of a Bull: the Horse foame dronke with Asses milke slayeth venemous wormes. Also Aristotle and Avicen[na] meane, that ye horse casteth his téeth, and the elder he is, the whiter are his téeth. Also libro. 5. Aristotle saith, that the male horse lyveth xxv. yere, and gendereth from thrée yeare to xxv. And the Mare liveth longer, and gendereth to xl. yeare: and when the horse beginneth to gender, then his voyce is greater, and so fareth the Mares also, and they love the worke of generation more than other beasts, as he sayth libro 5. Also lib. 7. he saith, that sometime horses have the podagre, and loose the soales of theyr féete, and then groweth new: and the signe héereof is quaking of the right gendring stone, and horses that be fed in houses, have an evill that is called Illiaca passio, and the token therof is, that the hinder members crimpleth togethers, and be constrayned, and this horse is tyed from his meate, and if he be let bloud he shall be holpe. And also an horse hath shrinking of sinewes, and the token therof is, that all the veynes be straight uppon the head and the necke, and it grieveth him for to goe. Also horses gather venimme, and have another evill in the mouth that is called Forem, and the token of this evil is, that that matter falleth to the roofe of the mouthe, and his breath is hot, and this evill is without remedy, except it heale by himselfe. And somtime an horse is mad, and the token token thereof is, that his eares bend toward the necke, and this evill hath no medicine. And the horse hath sickenesse in the bladder, and the token thereof is, that he may not pisse, and also he draweth his loynes and soles. Also an horse is bitten grievously with a flye that is called Mugelis. The biting of that Flye, grieveth full sore both Horses & Mules: for he maketh to rise theron both blains, and whelkes, and oftentimes horses dye by venime thereof. And the horse knoweth his neighing, that will fight with him, and hath lyking to stand in medes and to swim in water, and to drinke troublous and thicke water, and if the water be cléere, the horse stampeth and stirreth it with his foot, to make it thick [also said of the camel]. Huc usque Arist[otle] lib. 6.[Book 18.40] The Mare is called Equa, & that name commeth of the name Equus. And li. 7. Arist[otle] saith, that if a Mare being with foale smelleth the snuffe of a candle, she casteth hir foale. Item, Idem Mares go in léese together, and if one of them dye, and leave hir Colte alive, another Mare feedeth and nourisheth him, for the kind of Mares loveth beasts of ye same kinde. Also libro. 8. cap. 42. Plin[y] saith, That a Mare foaleth standing, and loveth hir Coltes passing other beastes: and if a Colte léeseth his damme, another Mare feedeth and nourisheth him, and loveth him as it were hir owne. Also he sayth that in the forehead of the Colte bréeddeth a blacke skinne, of the quantitie of a Sedge, and the Mare lycketh it with hir tongue, and taketh it away, and receiveth never the Colt to suck hir teats, except it be first taken away. And Plyn. calleth that skinne Veneficium amoris, for women that be witches, use that skinne in their charmings, when they will excite a man to love. Also Aristotle sayth, that the Mare is proude, and hath joye of hir mane, and is sory when it is shorne: and when hir maane is short, hir lyking of lechery is quenched: as though the vertue of love, wer in the maane. Also lib. 8. Arist[otle] saith, that a Birde that is called Ibis, fighteth with the horse, because the horse driveth hir out of hir pasture and léese, for Ibis is féeble of sight, and hath a voyce as an horse, & when he flyeth above an horse, he stonieth him, and maketh him flye, & slayeth him somtime. [Book 18.41] A Colte is called Poledrus, and Pullus equinus, also: and is a Mares sonne, and hath that name while he sucketh. And li. 7. Arist[otle] saith, that in his forhead when he is foaled, is found Icounnemor, that is called also, Amoris veneunficium, and the Mare licketh it off with hir tongue, and taketh it away, and hydeth or eateth it: and women Witches have proverbes thereof as he saith. Also li. 13. he sayth, that the hinder part of the Colte is more than the former part, and when the Colte wexeth, the former part wexeth upward, and therefore in manye horses, the former part is higher than the hinder: and therfore while he is a colte he maye touch his head with his hinder foote, and maye not so when he is of age: and all the while he is a Colte, he loveth his damme with wonderfull great affection, and followeth hir, whereever she goeth, and if it happeneth that he léeseth hir, he presently neigheth. The Colte is not lyttered with strawe, nor curried with an horse combe, nor arayed with trapping, and gaye harnesse, nor smitten with spurs, nor sadled with a saddell, nor tamed with bridle: but he followeth his dam fréely, and eateth grasse, and his féete be not pearced with nayles, but he is suffered to runne hether and thether fréely, but at the last he is set to worke and to travayle, and is helde and tyed, and lead with halters and with raynes, and taken from his damme, and may not sucke his dammes teates, but he is taught in manye manner wise to goe easely and softe, and as Isi[dore] saith li. 18. he is set to cartes, charyots, and chaires, and to travell and bearing of horsemen in chivalry. The filly horse colte is foaled to divers happes of fortune: for Isi[dore] saith in cod. libro, that horses were sometime hallowed in divers usage of the Gods: for chariot horse were ordayned and hallowed to the Sunne, for foure chaunges of the Sunne in one yeare. In Springing time, in Summer, in Harvest, and in Winter, the which times chaungeth by vertue of the Sunne. And carte horses were hallowed to ye Moone, that is séene in double time by night and by daye. Therefore they that worship ye Moone, couple alway two horses, a white and a blacke: and thrée horses that drew in one carte, they hallowed to the Gods of hel, for fiends draw to them men in thrée ages, in childhood, in youth, and in age. And these men coupled togethers horses of divers colors, and durst not well couple togethers past seaven horses at once, and lykened that number to the seaven starres, by the moving of the which starres they supposed generally that the world is ruled: or els to the number of seaven dayes, for by the passing about of the seaven Circles, they saye, that this lyfe passeth and endeth: and describeth therefore wonderfully the colours of horses, as Isid[ore] sayth there. For they hallowed red horses to the Fire, or to the Sunne: and white to the Aire: and browne to the earth: and blew to the Water and to the Sea. And they rode red horses in Summer, for then all thing héateth: & white horses in winter, for then all thing whiteth by colde & by frost: and graye in springing time, for then all thing wexeth gréene: and browne and blacke in Harvest, for then all thing dryeth, & fayleth as it were, of the first fairnesse. And also ther he saith, ye they halowed red horses to Mars, that is named God of battayle & of warre, or for the banners of the Romanes wer dressed with redde silke, or for Mars had joye and lyking in bloud. And they hallowed white horses to the West countrey, or to the fayre weather: and gréene to the flowers of the earth: and blewe to the sea and to the water, for water is blewish of coulour: and they hallowed yeolow horses, and horses of divers colours and purpured, to the Rain-bowe, that they call Arcum, for the Raine-bow hath many colours: and this cursed doing men used somtime by procuring and inticing of fiends, about the Elements of the world, as Isidore saith. Therefore this world is to be dispised, for manie hath fulfilled the lykenesse of Sathanas. Huc usque Isidorus libro. 8. And now at the last, take héede of the horse colte: for the going and pace, hard or softe, easie or uneasie, that he useth in youth, unneth he may leave it in age. - [Batman]