BRITISH TURF. 23 



ble, as the King gave 100 shillings to the person 

 who brought them. 



This warlike prince was particularly fond of 

 horses, and procured supplies of them from dis- 

 tant countries, with the view of improving the 

 national breed. It appears, from the annals of 

 this reign, that this prince was indebted at one 

 time to the Count of Hainault 25,000 florins, 

 besides large sums to other foreign powers, for 

 horses ; but we are inclined to think the great- 

 est number of these were intended to fill up the 

 ravages the constant wars of this epoch had pro- 

 bably occasioned among the horses of the army. 

 In this reign, horses were divided into the ma- 

 naged, or those disciplined for war, and into 

 coursers, amblers, palfreys, nags, and ponies. 



Henry VII . — The custom of gelding horses, 

 now in general practice, took its origin about 

 the reign of Henry VII. At that period, nu- 

 merous herds of horses, belonging to the landed 

 proprietors, grazed together when the harvest 

 was gathered in, on which account the horses 

 were castrated. 



Henry VIII. 1509.— This King who was 

 remarkable for his attachment to manly sports 

 and exercises, took great pains to improve the 

 royal stud ; and Sir Thomas Chaloner, a writer 

 in the commencement of the reign of Queen 



