Horses

In Utopia, Horses are few and serve principally to teach young people to sit and ride; the Utopians reserve plowing and carrying for Cattle. This division makes them a measure of the society’s practical approach to animal use: a horse’s strength does not by itself make it the preferred worker when another animal is judged more enduring and economical.

Number and Purpose

The Utopians breed very few Horses. They keep them for exercising the young in riding, not for routine agricultural labor. The account gives the animals a defined but limited place in the island’s system: they are used to cultivate riding skill rather than to pull ploughs or haul loads.

Work and Comparison with Cattle

Although Horses are stronger, the Utopians employ oxen for plowing and carrying. They consider oxen able to hold out longer, less liable to disease, and cheaper and less troublesome to maintain. The comparison therefore turns not on raw strength but on sustained usefulness and the costs of care.

Place in Utopian Life

Riding practice is the one explicit purpose assigned to Horses, linking their presence to the education of the young. The contrast with the oxen used in farm work distinguishes training from production: Horses have a specialized role, while the animals selected for labor are those the Utopians consider more dependable over time.