Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 363 



No better example of the English great horse of Elizabeth's 

 time can be found than the contemporary picture of the bay 

 horse with a white star in his forehead carrying his master, 

 Sir Walter Hungerford, reproduced by Sir Walter Gilbey in his 

 admirable little book 1 . Sir Walter Hungerford had challenged 

 any man in England, "not above his betters," "to show the 

 best horse for a man of arms, a greyhound for a hare, and 

 a haucke for the reyver to win ill hundred pounds." Sir Walter 

 Gilbey points out that " though the hair both of the mane and 

 legs has been manipulated to suit the fashion the tail still 

 shows the characteristic abundance. Sir Walter Hungerford's 

 horse is certainly of the type of Albert Durer's Great W T hite 

 Horse, though it shows more evidence of spirit and high action." 

 The explanation of its superiority is probably due to the 

 English horse having in his veins more North African blood, 

 as is indicated by his bay colour and star in the forehead. 



Thomas Blundeville, in the book so often cited in these 

 pages, gives us a valuable glimpse of English horse-breeding in 

 his own day : " some men have a breed of Great Horses meete 

 for warre and to serve in the field. Others have ambling 

 horses of a meane stature for to journey and travel by the 

 waie. Some again have a race of swift runners to run for 

 wagers or to gallop the buck. But plain country men have 

 a breed only for draftes or burden." Though after describing 

 the great horses and great mares, he adds, " but now to content 

 the country man his desire, which seeketh to breed horses for 

 draught or burden, where should I wysh him to provyde 

 hymselfe of Mares and Stallions better than here in England," 

 nevertheless in the second edition his patriotism yields to his 

 sense of truth and he adds " that he (the country man) maie 

 easilie find a number of strong jades more meet for that 

 purpose than for the saddle, and all for lack of good order 

 of breeding, which if it might be once observed in this realme, 

 I believe there would be so good and so fair horses bred heare as 

 in anie place in Christendom," and finally, he recommends in 

 the same edition, the breeder " that seeketh to have a race 



1 Op. cit. p. 29. 



