CHAPTEE V. 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 



The real origin of the English, race horse in confusion Full list of the 

 "foundation stock" as given by Mr. Weatherby one hundred years ago 

 The list complete and embraces all of any note Admiral Rous' extrava- 

 ganza Godolphin Arabian's origin wholly unknown His history 

 Successful search for his true portrait Stubbs' picture a caricature The 

 true portrait alone supplies all that is known of his origin and blood. 



THE English Race Horse is the great central figure of all the 

 horse literature of the past two hundred years. Much has been 

 claimed for him and much has been written about him, in a hap- 

 hazard way, by people who know but little of the subject. A few 

 men of independent and real thought have written on this sub- 

 ject, but they have devoted their attention to the comparing of 

 family with family or individual with individual. Of the books 

 that have been written by brainless people on the English horse 

 there is no end, and they are generally mere repetitions, without 

 giving credit, of what somebody has said before. Among all the 

 books that have been written on this subject I have never yet 

 found one that even pretended to make a serious attempt at dis- 

 covering the real origin of the English Race Horse. They all seem 

 to agree with Admiral Rous that he is purely descended from the 

 Arabian horse, and without one drop of the blood of the indig- 

 enous English horse. The average writer for the two past cen- 

 turies has been content with just this much knowledge, and he 

 wants nothing more. Occasionally it is modestly suggested in 

 some magazine article that this exclusively Arabian origin may 

 not be true, and I am glad to note that these suggestions are be- 

 coming more frequent of late years. It has been claimed that 

 the pure Arabian origin of the race horse "is as solid as a 

 pyramid/' all of which may be accepted but, unfortunately for 

 the claimant, the "pyramid" is standing on its apex, and when 

 the facts breathe upon it, as gently as a zephyr, it will topple 

 over. The most convenient and the most authoritative collec- 



