THE HORSE HISTORY. 473 



The Pedigree of Race-horse. The pedigrees of the 

 race-horse do not clearly trace to the time of James I; but from 

 his reign down to the present time there has been an increasing 

 carefulness as to the matter of breeding horses for speed and 

 endurance, as well as for intelligence and strength. From what 

 has been gathered from the writers on the horse, and from ex- 

 tended research among history arid literature incidentally detail- 

 ing items of interest about the horse, we see that what is now 

 known as the thorough-bred or race-horse had its origin in 

 England prior to the seventeeth century, and that the Oriental 

 horse, coming to England through Spain, Gaul, Italy, Arabia, 

 Barbary, and Thessaly, together with the more ponderous ani- 

 m ils of Normandy and Flanders, made the base on which the 

 English breeders of horses have builded, and by an intelligent 

 selection have, in the course of two centuries, produced a horse 

 far superior to any that contributed to the make-up of the 

 parent stock of the matchless thorough-bred. 



The Historic Trio. The breeders of the English thor- 

 ough-bred of this country have special pride in tracing the an- 

 cestral lines of the best race-horses to three animals, of which 

 history furnishes fairly intelligent and accurate accounts. First, 

 the Byerly Turk, used by Captain Byerly in King William's 

 war in Ireland ; second, the Darley Arabian, imported from 

 Aleppo, in the reign of Queen Anne (1700-1706) ; third, the 

 Godolphia Arabian, of which we spoke under the history of 

 Arabians. These horses, bred to English mares already infused 

 with Oriental blood, produced horses of rare speed, endurance, 

 and quality. The value of the Arabian blood became so es- 

 teemed that the proof of its presence became important. 



The Stud-book. In 1791 a Stud-book was established. 

 The first volume appeared in 1808. It traced pedigrees back 

 to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Of course it con- 

 tained inaccuracies; but it is now accepted as the most reliable 

 authority in matters of breeding of the race-horse or thorough- 

 bred. From our history it is evident the term thorough-bred is 

 a misnomer, as the breed of race-horses has, perhaps, as many 

 elements in its make-up as has any breed of animals of which a 



