470 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



the flower of the race, and the modern civilizations have felt 

 and further developed the power of the well-bred animals, that 

 had made the history of the horse brilliant all along the line of 

 progress of the human race. 



The Arab Element. The history, then, of the thorough- 

 bred is so linked to that of the Oriental horse as to be really 

 lost in antiquity. James I bought of Mr. Markham the first 

 Arab stallion, early in the seventeenth century. Either from 

 national prejudice or lack of merit, this horse, called Markham 

 Arabian, failed to become popular. Charles I gave some atten- 

 tion to the importation of ancient blood ; but little was done till 

 Charles II imported, for breeding purposes, animals afterwards 

 known as the "royal mares of the Stud-book." 



The Barb Element. James II continued importations 

 from the South. The "royal mares," "to which nine-tenths of 

 our modern thorough-bred horses trace," Herbert claims, "were 

 Tunisian or Tangier barbs. But the horse of England, before this 

 time, probably, had been improved by ancient blood, brought to 

 the island in the course of the invasions by the Gauls, who 

 ravaged Upper Greece and Northern Italy. Herbert argues that 

 the horses of the earliest times of England were probably im- 

 proved by specimens of an Oriental race, that came by way of 

 Thessaly, and improved later by waifs from the Numidian cav- 

 alry, employed by the Carthaginian Barcas, long before the 

 invasion of Brittany by Caesar in his Gallic campaigns. Youatt 

 affirms that Caesar thought the British horses " so valuable that 

 he carried many of them to Rome." Of course, during the oc- 

 cupation of England by the Romans, the British horse was im- 

 pressed by the influence of the cavalry of Caesar, which had 

 been collected from the various parts of the Roman Empire. 



The German Element. After the Romans left England 

 we find the Saxon conquerors giving attention to the improve- 

 ment of horses, and after Alfred " running horses were imported 

 from Germany." 



Herbert says, " This is the first intimation we have of run- 

 ning horses in England." It is a fair inference that the Gor- 

 man horses presented by Hugh Capet to Athelstan, together with 



