HISTORY OF THH EXGLISII HORSE. 65 



by means of the bit than the snaffle, he strictly charged and commanded 

 that, except in times of disport — racing and hunting — no person engaged 

 in the cavalry service should, in riding, use any snafles, but hits only. ° 



It was feared by some that the love of hunting and racing was making 

 somewhat too rapid progTess ; for there is on record a memorial presented 

 to Charles, ' touching the state of the kingdom, and the deficiency of good 

 and stout horses for its defence, on account of the strong addiction which 

 the nation had to racing and hunting horses, which, for the sake of swift- 

 ness, were of a lighter and weaker mould.' 



The civil wars somewhat suspended the inquiry into this, and also the 

 improvement of the breed ; yet the advantage which was derived by both 

 parties from a light and active cavalry sufficiently proved the importance 

 of the change_ that had been effected. Cromwell, perceiving ^vith his 

 wonted _ sagacity how much these pursuits Avere connected with the 

 prosperity of the country, had his stud of race-horses. 



At the Restoration a new impulse was given to the cultivation of the 

 horse by the inclination of the court to patronise gaiety and dissipation. 

 The races at ISTewmarket, which had been for a while suspended, were 

 restored ; and, as an additional spur to emulation, royal plates were o-iven 

 at each of the principal courses. Charles II. sent his master of the horse 

 to the Levant, k) purchase brood mares and stallions. These were prin- 

 cipally Barbs and Turks, 



_ James II. lived in too unquiet a period to be enabled to bestow much 

 time on the sports of the turf or the field. He has, however, been repre- 

 sented as being exceedingly fond of hunting, and shoAving so decided a 

 preference for the English horse as, after his abdication, to have several 

 of them m his stables in France. Berenger speaks of this with much 

 feelmg :— ' He expressed a pecuHar satisfaction in having them, and that 

 at a time, and in a situation in which it is natural to think that they were 

 rather hkely to have given him uneasiness and mortification than to have 

 afforded him. pleasure.' 



William III., and Anne, principally at the instigation of her consort, 

 George, Prince of Denmark, were zealous patrons of the turf, and the 

 system of improvement was zealously pursued ; every variety of Eastern 

 blood was occasionally engrafted on our own, and the superiority of the 

 newly-introduced breed above the best of the original stock beo-an to be 

 evident. * 



Some persons imagined that this speed and stoutness might possibly be 

 further increased ; and Mr. Darley, in the latter part of the reicm oi 

 Queen Anne, had recourse to the discarded and despised Arabian.'^ He 

 had much prejudice to contend Avith, and it was some time before the horse 

 which he selected, and which was afterwards known by the name of the 

 Darley Arabian, attracted much notice. At length the value of his pro- 

 duce began to be recognised, and to him we are mainly indebted for a 

 breed of horses of unequalled beauty, speed, and strength. 



The last improvement furnished all that could be desired : nor was this 

 true only of the thorough-bred or turf-horse — it was to a very material 

 degree the case \vith every description of horse. By a judicious admix- 

 ture and proportion of blood, we have rendered our hunters, our hackneys, 

 our coach — nay, even our cart-horses, stronger, more active, and more 

 enduring, than they were before the introduction of the race-horse. 



The history of the horse in England is a very interestino- one. The 



original breed — that of which mention is first made in history seems to 



have been a valuable one. The Conqueror carried away many specimens 

 of it, and they were long held in repute in every country subjuo-ated by 

 the Romans. The insular situation of Britain, and its comparatively little 



