(1.) This is all over a horse. But I do not wonder horses have a record of being friends and helpers of men running back to century of centuries. Men rode before they wrote; they were horsemen before they were historians. Horses pranced and charged in Egyptian art. The Assyrians pained and carved equine portraits even before the Egyptians did and the acquaintance of the former with horses appears to have been derived from Aryan-Persians, a nation of horsemen
(2.) The dog, the cattle and the sheep were tamed and treasured by men of ancient times. But horses, when tamed, lifted men to a new plane of life. They gave men many times their own speed, many more times their own strength for work and added enormously to the distances they dared to venture. The animal has been a partner to man in his battles and daily toils for existence and won for him laurels in wars and sports. Man began to value the animal as dear to his heart and worthy of his love and affection. An Arab poet, who might have immortalised himself by writing on feminine graces, wrote on the qualities of a mare dear to his heart :
(3.) The above poem finds almost an identical echo in Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis.'