64 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH HORSE. 



a little bony horse, of ordinary shape ; setting him down as almost worthless, 

 because, after being regularly trained, he seemed to be deficient in speed. 

 The opinion of the duke, probably altogether erroneous, had for nearly a cen- 

 tury great weight ; and the Arabian horse lost its reputation among the 

 English breeders. 



A south-eastern horse was afterwards brought into England, and purchased 

 by James, of Mr. Place, who afterwards became stud-master or groom to Oliver 

 Cromwell. This beautiful animal was called the White Turk ; and his name 

 and that of his keeper will long be remembered. Shortly after this appeared 

 the Helmsley Turk, introduced by Villiers, the first duke of Buckingham. 

 He was followed by Fairfax's Morocco barb. These horses speedily effected 

 a considerable change in the character of our breed, so that Lord Harleigh, one 

 df the old school, complained that the great horse was fast disappearing, and 

 that horses w r ere now bred light and fine for the sake of speed only. 



Charles I., however, ardently pursued this favourite object of English gentle- 

 men ; and, a little before his rupture with the parliament, established races in 

 Hyde Park and at Newmarket. 



We owe to Charles I. the introduction of the bit into universal use in the 

 cavalry service, and generally out of it. The invention of the bit has been 

 traced to as early as the time of the Roman emperors, but for some inexplicable 

 reason it had not been adopted by the English. Charles 1., however, in the 

 third year of his reign, issued a proclamation stating that such horses as are 

 employed in the service, being more easily managed by means of the bit than 

 the snaffle, he strictly charged and commanded that, except in times of disport 

 racing and hunting no person engaged in the cavalry service should, in 

 riding, use any snqffles, but bits only. 



It was feared by some that the love of hunting and racing was making some - 

 what too rapid progress ; for there is on record a memorial presented to Charles, 

 '* touching the state of the kingdom, and the deficiency of good and stout horses 

 for its defence, on account of the strong addiction which the nation had to racing 

 and hunting horses, which, for the sake of swiftness, were of a lighter and 

 weaker mould." 



The civil wars somewhat suspended the inquiry into this, and also the 

 improvement of the breed ; yet the advantage which was derived by both 

 parties from a light and active cavalry sufficiently proved the importance of 

 the change that had been effected. Cromwell, perceiving with his wonted 

 sagacity how much these pursuits were connected with the prosperity of the 

 country, had his stud of race-horses. 



At the Restoration a new impulse was given to the cultivation of the horse 

 by the inclination of the court to patronise gaiety and dissipation. The races 

 at Newmarket, which had been for a while suspended, were restored ; and, as 

 an additional spur to emulation, royal plates were given at each of the principal 

 courses. Charles II. sent his master of the horse to the Levant, to purchase 

 brood mares and stallions. These were principally Barbs and Turks. 



James II. lived in too unquiet a period to be enabled to bestow much time 

 on the sports of the turf or the field. He has, however, been represented as 

 being exceedingly fond of hunting, and showing so decided a preference for the 

 English horse as, after his abdication, to have several of them in his stables in 

 France. Berenger speaks of this with much feeling: " He expressed a pecu- 

 liar satisfaction in having them, and that at a time, and in a situation in which 

 it is natural to think that they were rather likely to have given him uneasiness 

 and mortification than to have afforded him pleasure." 



William III., and Anne, principally at the instigation of her consort, 

 George, Prince of Denmark, were zealous patrons of the turf, and the system 



