222 



A HISTORY OF 



easy matter to give our horses all that grace 

 whichforeignersaresofondof; butit would cer- 

 tainly take from their swiftness and dura- 

 bility. 



But in what degree of contempt soever fo- 

 reigners might formerly have held our horses, 

 they have for some time perceived their error, 

 and our English hunters are considered as the 

 noblest and the most useful horses in the world. 

 Our geldings are, therefore, sent over to the 

 continent in great numbers, and sell at very 

 great prices; as for our mares and stallions, 

 there is a law prohibiting their exportation; 

 and one similar to this is said to have obtained 

 even as early as the times of Athelstan, who 

 prohibited their exportation, except where 

 designed us presents. 



Roger de Belegme, created Earl of Shreu s- 

 bury by William the Conqueror," is the first 

 who is recorded to have made attempts to- 

 wards the mending our native breed. He 

 introduced Spanish stallions into his estate at 

 Powisland in Wales, from which that part of 

 the country was for many ages after famous 

 for a swift and generous race of horses : how- 

 ever, at that time strength and swiftness were 

 more regarded than beauty ; the horses' shapes, 

 in time of action, being entirely hid by a coat 

 of armour, which the knights then usually put 

 upon them, either by way of ornament or 

 defence. 



The number of our horses in London alone, ' 

 in the time of King Stephen, is said to have 

 amounted to twenty thousand. However, long 

 after, in the times of Queen Elizabeth, the 

 whole kingdom could not supply two thousand 

 horses to form our cavalry. At present, the 

 former numbers seem revived; so that, in the 

 late war, we furnished out above thirteen thou- 

 sand horsemen; and could, if hard pushed, 

 supply above four times that number. How 

 far this great increase of horses among us may 

 be beneficial, or otherwise, is not the proper 

 business of the present page to discuss ; but 

 certain it is, that where horses increase in too 

 great a degree, men must diminish propor- 

 tionably ; as that food which goes to supply 



British Zoology, vol. i. p. 4. To this work I am in- 

 debted tor several particular! with regard to the native 

 animals of this island. 



the one, might very easily be converted into 

 nourishment to serve the other. Bm, perhaps, 

 it may be speculating too remotely, to argue 

 for the diminution of their numbers upon this 

 principle, since every manufacture we export 

 into other countries, takes up room, and may 

 have occupied that place, which, in a state of 

 greater simplicity, might have given birth and 

 subsistence to mankind, and have added to 

 population. 



Be this as it will, as we have been at such 

 expense and trouble to procure an excellent 

 breed of horses, it is not now to be expected 

 that we should decline the advantages arising 

 from it, just when in our possession. It may 

 be, therefore, the most prudent measure in our 

 legislature, to encourage the breed as an useful 

 branch of commerce, and a natural defence to 

 the country. liul how far this MM! is answered 

 by the breeding np of racers, is what most 

 persons, versed in this subject, are very apt to 

 question. They assert, thai the running-horse, 

 as the breed has been lor a long time refined, 

 is unfit for any other service than that of the 

 course, being too slight cither for i he road, the 

 chase, or the combat ; and his joints so deli- 

 cately united, as to render him subject to the 

 smallest accidents. They, therefore', conclude, 

 that less encouragement given to racing, would 

 be a means of turning us from breeding rather 

 for swiftness than strength; and that we 

 should thus be again famous for our strong 

 hunters, which, they say, are wearing out from 

 among us. 



How far this may be fact, I will not 

 take upon me to determine, being but little 

 versed in a subject that does not properly come 

 within the compass of natural history. Instead, 

 therefore, of farther expatiating on this well- 

 known animal's qualifications, upon which 

 many volumes might easily be written, F will 

 content myself with just mentioning the de- 

 scription of Camerarius, in which he professes 

 to unite all the perfections which a horse ought 

 to be possessed of. " It must," says he, " have 

 three parts like those of a woman ; the breast 

 must be broad, the hips round, and the mane 

 long : it must in three things resemble a lion ; 

 its countenance must be fierce, its courage 

 must be great, and its fury irresistible : it must 

 have three things belonging to the sheep ; the 

 nose, gentleness, and patience : it must have 



