Thoroughbreds 5J 



were then in high repute in Europe, and which were undoubtedly 

 descended from the Libyan horse, the ancestor of the Arab. King 

 John also imported many good stallions, and the native breed was 

 improved from time to time during the reigns of the Plantagenet 

 kings and their Tudor successors, so that in early Stuart days we 

 find that prolific writer, Gervase Markham, speaking with enthu- 

 siasm of the English hunting horse and courser. 



The history of the modern Thoroughbred may be said to date 

 from the time of Charles II, and the Royal mares, which were pur- 

 chased for that monarch in the East, are at the foundation of the 

 General Stud Book. But the Royal mares and the three great 

 Eastern sires which founded the great families into which modern 

 Thoroughbreds are divided, to wit, the Darley Arabian, the Godol- 

 phin Barb, and the Byerley Turk, found some good English material 

 to unite with. And this English material must have had some 

 affinity to the Eastern racer or the result would not have been so 

 satisfactory. The modern Thoroughbred could never have been 

 developed from two distinct breeds. 



If the pedigrees of some of the older horses are carefully ex- 

 amined it will be seen where this English blood is to be found. Let 

 us take Eclipse for example. It is unnecessary to go into minute 

 detail. Snake, Grey Hautboy, Smith's son of Snake, Woodcock, 

 and Miss D'Arcy's Pet Mare all figure prominently in his pedigree, 

 and of not one of them does even an approximation to a full pedi- 

 gree survive. The late Joseph Osborne, who was one of the leading 

 authorities on Thoroughbred breeding, sums up the case admirably. 

 After analysing the pedigree, in which there are no fewer than 

 thirteen unknown sources, he says: " What, then, are the deductions 

 to be drawn from this analysis? They are surely too obvious to need 

 pointing out. The thirteen unknown sources affect nine out of the 

 sixteen divisions, leaving the natural inference that the amount of 

 English blood in the pedigree of Eclipse is almost as large as that 

 of the Eastern sires, and it is impossible to tell the relative value of 

 either blood in the descent." 



There is, I think, reason to believe that this same blood under- 

 lies to a considerable extent the whole of our light horses, and cer- 

 tainly our ponies, but that it has been developed on different lines. 

 This is a very important factor, and to it, perhaps, may in some 

 measure be attributed the acknowledged superiority of English- 

 bred horses. Another thing which goes to establish the predomi- 

 nance of the English horse is the climate and the natural grasses of 

 the country, which are especially favourable to the development of 

 the equine race. 



