She soon saw a team of four sable (black) horses, snorting smoke out of their nostrils, and tearing their way out of the earth with a splendid golden chariot whirling at
their heels
To draw the reader into the story, in this excerpt the author is using...
The “snorting smoke”, “tearing their way”, “splendid gilded chariot whirling at their heels” are very descriptive depictions of a “horse running with a golden carriage.”