148 MY HORSE ; MY LOVE 



who loved nothing better, can be traced the unchecked 

 progress of the taste for, and delight in, horse-racing in 

 England. 



When, by the judicious intermixture of imported blood 

 with the best bred mares, English breeders had succeeded 

 in producing an animal superior to both his dam and 

 sire, they took the greatest care to ensure accuracy, in 

 matters relating to the pedigree of their horses. This 

 pedigree could then be traced without dispute, not only 

 to Barley's Arabian — who laid the foundation of the best 

 racing-stock in the time of Queen Anne — but also to 

 numerous foreign horses imported during the time of 

 Charles the Second, to Place's White Turk, to the 

 Helmsley Turk, and to Fairfax's Morocco Barb. 



Breeders were then, as now, careful to avoid a cocktail 

 stain, and each breeder kept an accurate record of the 

 pedigrees. Although a cocktail horse is not thorough- 

 bred, yet he is so near it as to beat any half-bred horse, 

 being bred from a dam having a very slight stain in her 

 pedigree. There was an object in this, which was to get 

 a breed of horses having great staying power, or bottom, 

 or, as it was quaintly called, 'great goodness.' The 

 breeding of the half-bred was such, that the flaw in the 

 pedigree was accidental. That is, he became a racer by 

 accident, having been bred for a hunter, but showing 

 good speed, was entered for races. 



The climate also added to the success of breeding. 

 The cross of the Arabs, Turks and Barbs ensured success, 

 while the skill and perseverance of those devoted to this 

 scientific way of breeding, aided in some measure by 

 phenomenal luck in mating, produced horses superior to 

 any the world had ever seen. 



