’…Perhaps in no country is a horse better treated than in this; neither is there any people who understand better how to manage him. The great secret appears to be kindness; he is never beaten; consequently, his spirit remains unbroken, and affection for his master undiminished. Swimming, together with all the guerilla evolutions, in which he is to be an actor, are among his accomplishments; and in process of time he becomes as cunning and expert in eluding pursuit as a human being. I have frequently seen one lying at the feet of his master, when in ambush, perfectly quiet, or submitting without resistance to have his head adopted as a rest for the rifle’

‘After some time I got accustomed to it, and learnt to value its advantages as a war saddle. The Circassian turns on it with the greatest facility, shooting behind him, like the Parthian of old, with his horse at full gallop; and, hanging by the piece of wood in front, manages to throw himself almost beneath his courser’s belly, picking up anything, in full career, from the ground. Its appearance on the horse’s back, in comparison with the lumbering Turkish or even European saddle, is that of a toy; nor does it weigh half of the one, or a third of the other… in the fatiguing excursions and forays they made, a few pounds more or less made an object of importance’.