HEAVY HORSES 179 



Shire horse, and there appears ample ground for believing that he is. In 

 support of this contention, there can be no doubt that the horses which 

 descended from those employed for the purposes of war by the ancient 

 Britons were crossed with heavier animals imported into England from 

 beyond the seas, and it is scarcely likely that, when the horse-breeders 

 of a nation were encouraged by their successive sovereigns to persevere, 

 the strain they were at work upon would be permitted to die out. 

 Besides, the persuasive powers of such monarchs as King Henry VIII 

 could hardly fail to render his subjects complaisant instruments in his 

 hands, and his predecessors upon the throne, moreover, do not appear 

 to have belonged to the class of ruler that would allow their subjects to 

 stultify their royal efforts to improve the equine race, without offering 

 the most vigorous remonstrances applied in a highly practical form. 

 Therefore it is reasonable to assume that until the days of King Henry 

 VIII, at all events, the blood of the Old English War-horse had not been 

 lost, but, on the contrary, had been improved by judicious crossing. 

 Subsequently to that period the Great Horse had become fairly established, 

 and the fertile pastures of the great inland shires were the localities in 

 which rhe breed was chiefly fostered and produced. The troublesome 

 times which preceded the restoration of the Stuarts may very probably 

 indeed have affected the progress of the animal, as it is only reasonable 

 to infer that Cavaliers and Roundheads alike were not over-particular 

 as to what means they took to get possession of suitable remounts for 

 their cavalry, and doubtless many an excellent stud was broken up in 

 consecpuence. Probably, therefore, a temporary check to the advancement 

 of the breed may have resulted, but it still survived; and in spite of the 

 unfavourable criticisms passed by the Duke of Newcastle upon the 

 breeders of that period, they could not have been so incompetent after 

 all, for no allusions are subsequently made by later writers to the de- 

 preciation in value or degeneracy of the Great Horse. On the contrary, 

 though a lighter variety of animal was being bred as well, the big ones 

 were at the same time being quietly improved. 



Although the horse-breeders of England during the past century do 

 not appear to have been benefited by any ultra-enthusiastic chroniclers 

 of their doings, at all events during the earlier portion of that period, 

 there are substantial grounds for assuming that they were working on 

 methodical lines, and, so far as time and opportunity would permit, were 

 manufacturing a breed of native horses. John Scott alludes to the fact 

 in the quotation given from his writings on a former page, and confir- 

 matory evidence is found in the statement that an imported Flemish 

 stallion, which was travelling some of the shires about the year 1820, 



