HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH HORSE. G3 



Tliere is notliing worthy of remai-k in tlie sliort I'eign of Edward VT., 

 excejot tlie constituting the stealing of horses a felony Avithout benefit of 

 clergy. 



In the twenty-second year of Elizabeth, the use of coaches was intro- 

 duced. It has been already remarked that the heads of noble houses 

 travelled ahnost from one end of the kingdom to the other on horseback, 

 unless occasionally they took refuge in the cars that were generally ap- 

 propriated to their household. Even the Queen rode behind her master of 

 the horse when she went in state to St. Paul's. The convenience of this 

 new mode of carriage caused it to be immediately adopted by all who had 

 the ineans ; and the horses were so rapidly bought up for this purpose, and 

 became so exorbitantly dear, that it was agitated in Parliament whether 

 the use of carnages should not be confined to the higher classes. 



This fashion would have produced an injtu-ious efi'ect on the character 

 of the English horse. It would have too much encouraged the breed of 

 the heavy and slow horse, to the comparative or almost total neglect of 

 the lighter framed and speedy one ; but, gunpowder having been invented, 

 and heavy armour beginning to be disused, or, at this period, having 

 fallen into almost perfect neglect, a lighter kind of horse was necessary 

 in order to give eSect to many of the manoeuvres of the cavalry. Hence 

 arose the hght cavalry — light compai-ed with the horsemen of former 

 days — heavy compared with those of modern times ; and hence, too, arose 

 the lighter horse, which, except for a few pai'ticular purposes, gradually 

 superseded the old heavy war and draught horse. 



An account has already been given of the occasional races at Smithfield. 

 They were mostly accidental trials of strength and speed, and there were 

 no running-horses, properly speaking — none that were kept for the pur- 

 pose of displaying their speed, and dedicated to this particular purpose 

 alone. Regular races, however, were now established in varioiTS parts of 

 England, first at Garterly in Yorkshire, then at Croydon, at Theobald's 

 on Enfield-chase, and at Stamford. Boucher, in his History of Stamford, 

 says, that the first valuable public prize was run for at that place in the 

 time of Charles I. It was a silver-gilt cup and cover, of the value of 81., 

 provided by the corporation. There was no acknowledged system as now 

 —no breed of racing-horses ; but hackneys and hunters mingled together, 

 and no description of horse Avas excluded. 



There was at first no coui'se marked out for the race, but the contest 

 generally consisted in the running of train-scent across the country, and 

 sometimes the most difficult and dangerous part of the country was selected 

 for the exhibition. Occasionally our present steeple-chase was adopted 

 with all its dangers, and more than its present barbarity ; for persons were 

 appointed cruelly to flog along the jaded and exliausted horse. This 

 perhaps requires a little explanation. A match was formed called the 

 ' Wild- Goose Chase,' between two horses, and a tolerably sure trial it was 

 of the speed and hunting properties of the horse. Whichever horse 

 obtained the lead at twelve score yards from the starting post, the other 

 was compelled to follow him wherever he went, and to keep within a cer- 

 tain distance of him, as twice or thrice his length, or else to be ' beaten 

 up,' whipped up to the mark by the judges who rode to see fair play. If 

 one horse got before the other twelve score yards, or any certain distance, 

 according as the match was made, he was accounted to be the winner ; 

 but if the horse which at the beginning was behind, could get before him 

 that first led, then the other was bound to follow, and so on, until one got 

 240 yards, the eighth part of a mile, before the other, or refused some 

 break-neck leap which the other had taken. 



By degrees, however, certain horses were devoted to these exhibitions, 



