every kind of creature has reproduced itself......birds have chicks, cows have calves, horses have foals, and so on, and the little darlings are chirping, mooing, bawling, and whinnying their absolute joy at being alive!  

Young things come here knowing that it is a joy to be alive.  It is an instinct that the Creator of all has instilled in all His creation.  I think the beauty of spring and the babies are just His way of reminding us of it every year.  

Of course, in my opinion the most glorious of all the babies of the season are the foals.  Just watch as the mares and their babies run across the fields........it is mesmerizing to look upon such loveliness.......for indeed God did bestow upon the horse a most unusual and noble loveliness...... and this month’s article is about the glory of the horse, the animal that the Bible says God "clothed in thunder."

The horse is indeed God’s glory creature.  In one contemporary translation it says God created the horse to "prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts."  What an awesome creature!  

The horse is one of the proudest of creatures as he was created to be, yet for man’s benefit the horse is also one of the most forgiving and intelligent of beings.  He has been a gift and partner to man throughout the ages.  It has been said, "a dog may be a man’s best friend, but history was written by the horse."  

Since man first domesticated the horse, this ally has proved invaluable in war and in peace.  In military campaigns of bygone years, the mounted troops overwhelmed foot-bound infantry thus insuring victory to the culture with the most "horse power" so to say.  In times of peace, the culture with the most "horse power" had the swiftest trans-portation and communication available.  In fact, the actual term of horse-power was coined by an English engineer named James Watt as he compared the power of the manmade engine with the power of the horse.  An 18th-century historian named John Moore once wrote, "Wherever man has left his footprint in the long ascent from barbarism, we will find the hoof print of the horse beside it."

The horse’s ability to "fly" across the ground without the use of wings caused many cultures through the ages to covet the animal.  Due to victory in wars, horses quickly became associated with power and prestige, and their beauty as well caused them to be the coveted possessions of kings.  There is a tale of a king who once built a city for his warhorse, and indeed it is not just a tale, it is history.  Alexander the Great was one of the greatest conquerors in history..........he was also one of the greatest horsemen that ever lived.  His skill with horses and how he used them to conquer most of the known world in his time is the stuff of legend, and yet Alexander’s love for horses and their abilities is well documented in the annals of history.  

In fact, the celebrated charger of Alexander the Great was named Bucephalos.  Alexander was the only person who could mount him, and Bucephalos always knelt down to take up his master.  Bucephalos was thirty years old at his death, and Alexander built a city for his mausoleum, calling it Bucephala.  A city built by a king for his beloved horse, his war charger who had helped him win many battles........now that is the stuff of glory indeed.

Whether it is by the beauty of the foals arriving in the springtime, the glory bestowed upon the horse by its Creator, or the glorious gift of partnership of man and horse through history, there is no doubt that the horse has been endowed with glory.  It is probably not better said than in the Bible in the book of Job, chapter 39 verses 19-25: "Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess and adorned him with a shimmering mane?  Did you create him to prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts?  He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited, then charges into the fray.  He laughs at danger, fearless, doesn’t shy from the sword.  The banging and clanging of quiver and lance don’t faze him.  He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast races off at a gallop.  At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily, smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off, catching the rolling thunder of the war cries."

Once again I would really like to know what horse people want and need to know about their animals.  Please feel free to send suggestions, questions, and comments to the mailing address: Cooperative Farming News, P. O. Box 2227, Decatur, AL 35609-2227, or fax: 256-560-2605, or email  jima@alafarm.com.