330 



Crrarfurg nf Natural ^f 



the Horse. The loins should be broad, the 

 quarters long, the thighs muscular, and the 

 hocks well bent and well under the Horse." 



Some peculiarity of breed distinguishes the 

 Horses of most civilized countries ; or, rather, 

 there is some particular breed for which one 

 country is more celebrated than others. 

 Thus there is the Spanish Genette, a small 

 but fleet and beautiful variety, which is 

 generally ranked next to the Barb : their 

 heads are rather large, their manes thick, 

 their ears long and well pointed, their 

 shoulders somewhat heavy, their chests full 

 and large, and their legs clean and handsome. 

 They move with great ease, and carry them- 

 selves very gracefully. They are usually 

 of a black or dark bay colour ; and some of 

 them, particularly s ( uch as come from the 

 province of Andalusia, are said to possess, in 

 a superior degree, high courage, docility, and 

 other estimable qualities France produces 

 a motley breed ; adapted rather for the pur- 

 poses of war than of the chase, and generally 

 considered as heavy- shouldered. But great 

 attention has of late years been paid to the 

 Improvement of them by crosses with the 

 best bred English varieties ; a remark, by 

 the by, which may in a great measure be 

 applied to the breed of Horses elsewhere 

 throughout the continent. And we may 

 safely assert, that whatever could be gained 

 from long experience and careful assiduity, 

 whatever wealth could procure, or skill effect, 

 in order to arrive at perfection in the various 

 breeds, and in the proper training, of this 

 noble animal, has been fully attained in 

 England. 



It is impossible to say at what early period 

 the Horse was first considered an object of 

 interest in Britain ; but we know that when 

 our rude and warlike ancestors had to 

 contend with the Roman invaders, they de- 

 pended much on their cavalry and war- 

 chariots, which they managed with great 

 skill and dexterity. We likewise know that 

 the Saxons paid great attention to the Horse, 

 and took considerable pains to improve the 

 natural breed. King Athelstan obtained 

 several German running-horses from Hugh 

 Capet of France ; and William the Con- 

 queror, with his Norman followers, intro- 

 duced the Spanish horse, in whose Veins ran 

 the blood of the swift- footed Barb. When 

 the Crusaders returned from the Holy Land, 

 they brought with them many a noble 

 Eastern steed ; arid from that time a greater 

 admixture of Arabian blood with the Horses 

 of Europe was a natural consequence. It 

 must however be apparent, when we re- 

 member with what a heavy load of armour 

 both horseman and horsfe were encumbered, 

 that our mail-clad warriors must necessarily 

 have required horses of prodigious strength, 

 and that fleetness was of far less consequence 

 to them than weight and mettle. King Jolm, 

 who appears to have devoted much attention 

 to the'breed of Horses, imported a hundred 

 choice stallions of the Flanders kind ; to 

 which act may probably be traced the foun- 

 dation of that character for size, strength, 

 and vigour, which English horses, whether 

 for draught or war, have since maintained. 

 Subsequent monarchs also evinced a strong 



desire for keeping up, undiminished, a race 

 of Horses which, in a national point of view, 

 had become so valuable, and their exporta- 

 tion was accordingly forbidden. At the 

 period to which we have been alluding, the 

 breeds of Horses most in repute for superior 

 weight and strength were those of Flanders 

 and Normandy. In course of time, the cum- 

 brous armour, the battle-axe and shield, 

 were laid aside ; and when the sword and 

 carbine, with the lighter dresses of our ca- 

 valry, were introduced, speed and elegance 

 were deemed of more account than size and 

 power. At length the sports of the field en- 

 gaged the attention and became the amuse- 

 ment of kings and princes ; the nobility of 

 the land vied with each other in keeping the 

 choicest studs, the English Hunter was un- 

 matched for ardour in the chase, combined 

 with the most persevering endurance ; and 

 the English Race-horse distanced all com- 

 petition. 



The RACE-HORSE. " Whether or not the 

 blood of our finest Racers be pure Eastern, 

 or a mixture of the Arabian or Barb with 

 the best of our English stock," Mr. Bell ob- 

 can scarcely, with all the accuracy 



of our turf genealogy, be positively ascer- 

 tained : but it is undoubted that the most 

 celebrated Horses that this country has ever 

 produced are traceable from son to sire back 

 to some or other of the well-known Arabian, 

 Barbary, or Turkish stallions which have at 

 different times been imported. The impor- 

 tance of the influence of the sire in breeding 

 Horses is in no point more clearly proved 

 than by the fact that the progeny of the 

 most celebrated Horses have generally sus- 

 tained the reputation of their sires. Thug 

 the descendants of Eclipse numbered no less 

 than three hundred and sixty-four winners." 

 " The Racer is generally distinguished by his 



beautiful Arabian head ; his fine and finely- 

 set-on neck ; his oblique lengthened shoul- 

 ders ; well-bent hinder legs ; his ample mus- 

 cular quarters ; his flat legs, rather short 

 from the knee downwards ; and his long 

 elastic pastern. From this perfect symme- 

 try, however, many celebrated Race-horses 

 have shown remarkable deviations ; and yet 

 they have not failed to enter into the excita- 

 tion and enjoyment of the sport, straining 

 every muscle, and evincing indescribable 



