PAi^MERS' RJ2GISTEII— tllfi ENGLISH IIORSE. 



665 



send them to Scotland. Nay, so jealous were 

 tliese sister- kingdoms of each other's prosperily, 

 that so laie as llie time of Elizabeth, it was felony 

 to export horses fz'om England to Scotland. 



The English horse was advancing, although 

 slowly, to an equality with, or even superiority over 

 those of neighboring countries. His value began 

 to be more generally and highly estimated, and 

 his |)rice rapidly increased — f o much so, that breed- 

 ers and the dealers, then, as now, skillijl in im]:os- 

 ing on the inexperienced, obtained from many of 

 our young gi'andees enorn)ous prices tor them. 

 This evil Tnagnified to such an extent, that Richard 

 II. (1386) interlercd to regulate and determine the 

 price. The proclamation which he issued is in- 

 teresting not only as proving the increased value 

 of the horse, but showing what were, four hundred 

 and filly years ago, and Avhat are, still, the chief 

 breeding districts. It was ordered to be published 

 in the counties of Lincoln and Cambridge, and the 

 East and North Ridings ot Yorkshire: and the 

 price of the horse was restricted to that which had 

 been determined by Ibrmer sovereigns. A more 

 enlightened policy has at length banished all such 

 absurd interlerences with agriculture and com- 

 merce. 



We can now collect but little of the history of 

 the horse until the reign of Henry VII., at the 

 close of the fifteenth century. He continued to 

 prohibit the exportation of stallions, but allowed 

 that of mares when more than two years old, and 

 under the value of six shillings and eightpence. 

 This regulation was, however, easily evaded, for 

 if a mare could be found worth more than six shil- 

 lings and eightpence, she might be lieely exported 

 on the payment of that sum. 



Henry VIII., a tyrannical and cruel prince, but 

 fond of show and splendor, was very anxious to 

 produce a valuable breed of horses; and the means 

 which he adopted were both perlectly in unison 

 with his arbitrary disposition, and very little calcu- 

 lated to effect his object. He affixed a certain 

 standard, below which no horse should be kept. 

 The lowest height for the stallion was fifteen 

 hands, and for the mare thirteen hands; and even 

 before they had arrived at their full growth, no 

 stallion above two years old, and under fourteen 

 hands and a half, was permitted to run on any 

 forest, moor, or common, where there were mares. 

 At "Michaelmastide" the neighboring magis- 

 trates were ordered to "drive" all tbresis and com- 

 mons, and not only destroy such stallions, but all 

 ''unlikely tits," whether mares or geldings, or 

 foals, which they might deem not calculated to pro- 

 duce a valuable breed. He likewise ordained, that 

 in every deer-park a certain number of mares, in 

 proportion to its size, and each at least thirteen 

 hands high should be kept; and that all his prelates 

 and nobles, and "all those whose wives wore vel- 

 vet bonnets," should keep stallions for the saddle 

 at least fifteen hands high. These ordinances 

 perished with the tyrant by whom they were pro- 

 nuilgated. 



The reign of Henry VIII. produced the eailicst 

 English treatise on agriculture, and the manage- 

 ment of horses and cattle. It was written by Sir 

 A. Fitzherbert, Judge of the Common Pleas, and 

 contains much useful information. It is entitled, 

 "Boke of Husbandry;" and, being now exceed- 

 ingly rare, an extract from it may not be unaccep- 

 table. It would'seem that the mare had been but 



Vol. II— « 



lately emjdoyed in husbandrj^, for he says, "A hus- 

 bande may not be without horses and mares, and 

 specidly if he goe with a horse-ploughe he must 

 have both, his horses to draive; his mares to 

 brynge colts to upholde his stocke, and yei at many 

 times they may draive well if they be well han- 

 dled." The learned judge shared the connnon 

 fate of those who have to do with the horse. 

 "Thou grasyer, that mayst fortune to be of myne 

 opinion or condition to love horses, and young 

 coltes and Ibles to go among thy cattle, take hede 

 that thou be not beguiled as 1 have been a hun- 

 dred tymes and more. And first thou shalt knowe 

 that a good horse has 54 proj^erties, that is to say, 

 2 of a man, 2 of a badger, 4 of a lion, 9 of an oxe, 

 9 of a hare, 9 of a Ibxe, 9 of an asse, and 10 of a 

 woman."* 



The tyrannical edicts of Henry VIII. had the 

 eflect which common sense would have anticipated 

 — the breed of horses was not materially im- 

 Ijroved, and their numbers were sadly diminished. 

 When the bigot, Philip of Spain, threatened 

 England, in the" reign of Elizabeth, with his In- 

 vincible Armada, that princess could muster in 

 her whole kingdom only three thousand cavalry to 

 oppose him; and Blundeville, who wrote at this 

 time a very pleasant and excellent book on the art 

 of riding, speaks contemptuously of the qualities 

 of these horses. The secret of improving the 

 breed had not been then discovered; it had been 

 attempted by arbitrary power; and it had extend- 

 ed only to those crosses from which little good 

 could have been expected: or, rather, it had more 

 reli?rence to the actual situation of the country, 

 and the heavy carriages, and the bad roads, and 

 the tedious travelling which tlicn prevailed, than 

 to the wonderliil change in these which a few cen- 

 turies were destined to effect. 



Blundeville describes the majority of our horses 

 as consisting of strong, sturdy beasts, fit only for 

 slow draught, and the lew of a lighter structure 

 being weak arid Avithout bottom. There were, 

 however, some exceptions, for he relates a case of 

 one of these lighter horses trri veiling eighty miles 

 in a day — a task which in later times has been too 

 often and cruelly exacted from our half-bred nao;s. 



An account has been given of the racing trial 

 of the horses in Smithfield market. Regnkr races 

 were now established in various parts of England. 

 Meetings of this kind were first held at Chester 

 and Stamford; but there was no acknowledged 

 system as now; and no breed of racing horses. 

 Hunters and hackneys mingled together, and no 

 descri|)tion oi' horse was excluded. 



There was at first no course marked out for the 

 race, but the contest generally consisted in the 



*Later writers have pirated from Sir A.; but have 

 not improved upon him. The following description 

 of the horse is well known. "A good horse should 

 liave three qualities of a woman,— a broad breast, 

 round hips, and a lon<5 mane; — three of a lion, — coun- 

 tenance, courage, and fire;— three of a bullock, — the 

 eye, the nostril, and joints,— three of a sheep,— the 

 nose, gentleness, and patience;— tliree of a mule, — 

 strength, constancy, and foot; — three of a deer,— head, 

 legs, and short hair;— three of a wolf;— throat, neck, 

 and hearing; — three of a fox, — ear, tail and trot; — 

 three of a serpent, — memory, sight, and turning;- and 

 three of a hare or cat,— running, walking, and supple- 



