20 



the running geldings, their maintenance, 

 and that of the boys retained to ride them. 

 There is mention of " rewardes " to the 

 keeper of the running geldings, to the 

 " children of the stable," and also to the 

 11 dyatter " of the running geldings. This 

 last functionary's existence is worth notice, 

 as it indicates some method of training or 

 dieting the horses. Nearly seventy years 

 later in 1599 Gervaise Markham pro- 

 duced his book, " How to Chuse, Ryde 

 and Dyet both Hunting and Running 

 Horses." 



In the year 1514, the Marquis of Mantua 

 sent Henry VIII., from Italy, a present of 

 some thoroughbred horses ; these in all 

 probability formed the foundation stock of 

 our sixteenth-century racehorses. The Privy 

 Purse Expenses quoted above refer to ' ' the 

 Barbaranto hors " and "the Barbary hors," 

 which are doubtless the same animal. A 

 hint that it was raced occurs in the mention 

 of a payment to Polle (Paul, who as previous 

 entries show, was the keeper of this horse), 

 " by way of rewarde," i8s. 4d., and on the 

 same day (March 17, 1532), "paid in re- 

 warde to the boy that ran the horse, 

 1 8s. 4 d." 



That curious record, The Regulations of 



