228 RIDING 



his great work, ' The Royal Manege,' published in 1623, several 

 years after the author's death. 



Pluvinel visited Poland and Holland, and his work was 

 translated into German, Portuguese, and other tongues ; so 

 that he may be considered to have had a strong influence in 

 forming the schools of various countries. 



The Germans have given much attention to horsemanship, 

 and their methods, while not so thorough or so complete as 

 those found in France, are excellent. Their most esteemed 

 writer upon the art is Herr Plinzner, Equerry to the Emperor. 



In England, Blundeville l published ' The Fower Chiefest 

 Offices belonging to Horsemanshippe,' between 1565 and 

 1580. 



Blundeville does not claim originality for his work, but 

 confesses that it was ' paynefully collected out of a number of 

 authours,' and it was, indeed, a translation from the Italian, 

 chiefly from the treatise by Grisone ; nor was this the only book 

 of Blundeville's that owed its origin to Italy. 



In 1593 appeared 'A Discourse of Horsemanship,' by 

 Gervase Markham, which was also a translation from the 

 Italian. This author was, according to Sir S. E. Brydges, ' a 

 general compiler for the booksellers,' and it appears that he had 

 little originality, but Wrote upon a great variety of subjects, 

 including agriculture, archery, horsemanship, &c., exhibiting 

 as much versatility as certain 'standard' writers have shown 

 in our day. Sir William Hope, in his translation (1696) of 

 Sollisel's work (1691), intimates that neither Blundeville nor 

 Markham was a practised horseman. 



In 1639 Thomas de Gray issued his * Compleat Horseman 

 and Expert Farrier,' 2 under royal patronage. This work, founded 

 upon that of Vegetius, shows us the veterinary art in a very 



1 The Fower Chiefest Offices belonging to Horsemanshippe, by Thomas 

 Blundeville. Imprinted at London by William Seres (no date). Another 

 edition appeared in 1597. 



2 The Compleat Horseman and Expert Farrier. Dedicated to his most 

 Excellent Majestie. Nicholas Fussell, 1639. 



