44 THE ORANGE COUNTY 



for the English horse soon began to be valued in other coun- 

 tries, and its exportation from our own shores was prohibited 

 under considerable penalties. 



Such was the importance which this monarch attached to 

 the Spanish breed, that he gave a thousand marks for fifty 

 horses, negotiating at the same time with the kings of France 

 and Spain for their safe passage by land. They all arrived 

 safely, at a cost of thirteen pounds, six shillings and eight- 

 pence each; equal to a hundred and sixty pounds of modern 

 money. Edward was also an eminent example to many stud- 

 owners in our day, viz., by going deeply in debt for his 

 horses; he having been at one time indebted to the Count of 

 Hainault in no less a sum than twenty-five thousand pounds. 

 The price of a running horse in his day was three pounds six 

 shillings and eightpence though we scarcely know what was 

 the true meaning of a running horse probably a hackney. 

 Edward was very jealous as to the quality of English 

 horses. A German dealer had imported some which did not 

 come up to the monarch's standard, and yet he would not 

 allow him to re-export them, without a stipulation that he 

 would not take them to Scotland ! 



Richard H. and the Henries were equally anxious for the 

 further improvement of the breed of English horses. 



Kaces were now regularly established in various parts of 

 the kingdom, and their regulation became a favorite object 

 with the higher classes, as the race itself was the favorite re- 

 creation of the common people. The earliest among the 

 regularly established race-courses were at Chester and Stam- 

 ford. But there was, at that time, no recognized breed of 

 running horses; all sorts were mingled together, none being 

 excluded. It was not until the last year of James I, that 

 rules and regulations as to the quality of the horses per- 

 mitted to enter were established, and from that period may 

 date the commencement of the present system of racing. 



In the reign of Henry VII. horses had become so numer- 

 ous as to be pastured over the waste lands by the common 

 people. Exportation was still forbidden, except in the case 

 of mares. In the reign of Henry VHL much attention was 

 given to breeding powerful horses, and statutes were enacted 

 which fixed the proportions of size and mold of horses and 

 mares which should be bred from. The thirty-second of 

 Henry Yin. enacts, that no person shall, upon any common 

 or waste, keep a stallion under fifteen hands; and if that any 

 person find such a horse, he may, on satisfying the constable 

 of the next town that the horse is under standard, keep him 



