300 



NEW ENGLAND FARiMER, 



A|.ril 9, 1830 



niBRART OF USEFUl. KXOWI>EDGE. i 



[Cintiniut/ /r«« pafe SK.J 

 CIIAPTER IV. 



Tin: DirrCllENT IMir.EDS of ENGLISH 

 HORSES. 



CAVALRY HORSE. 



This is llio j)ro|)er [ilacc to speak of tlie cavalry 

 hone. That iiol)li! iiniinal whose vaiielies we are 

 flescrihiiig, somliiiirably ailu|(te(l to coiitril)Ute to 

 our pleasure niul our use, was at a very curly age, 

 jierverted to the ilestriiclive piirposo.s of war ; and, 

 as if lie hail hecii destined to the ninrJcrous busi- 

 ness, seemed to exult and triumph in the work of 

 death. 



A sacred writer, more than three thousand years 

 ago, gives us n suhlinie arrount of tlie manner 

 in which the horse, at tliat time, as at present, en- 

 teral into the spirit of the battle (Jol) xxxix. 19 

 ft seq.) ' llasi thou given the horse strength ? hast 

 thou clothed his neck with thiuukM? Canst 

 thou make him afraid as a grassljnppL'r ? The 

 glory of his nostrils is terrible. Hi: ])awrth in 

 the valley, and rejoiceth in liis strcnijli : he goetli 

 on to meet the armed men. He mockclli at fear 

 and is not aflrighteil ; neither turiieth he bark 

 from the sword. The (piivcr rattletli against him, 

 the glittering spear and the shield. He swkIIow- 

 eth the ground with fnrcencss and riige. He 

 .saith among the trumpets Ha! hn ! He .«melleth 

 the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and 

 the shunting.' 



The cavalry horses contain a different propor- 

 tion of liloiid, according to the naline of the ser- 

 vice required, or the caprice of the commanding 

 officer. Those of the household troops arc frntn 

 halfto three fourths bred. Some of the ligliter 

 regiments have nion; bluoi,' in tlietn. Our cavalry 

 horses were formally large and heavy. To his 

 imposing size was added action as imposing. The 

 hor.se was traineil to a peculiar, ami grand and 

 beautiful method of going ; but he wasofien found 

 deficient in real service, for this very action di- 

 minished his speed, and added to his labor and fa- 

 tigue. 



A consiilerable change has taken i)lacc in the 

 character of onr war-horses ; lightness and ac- 

 tivity have sncceded to bulk and strength ; and 

 for skirmishing and sudden attack the change is 

 nn improvement. It is particularly found to beso in 

 long and rapid marches, which the lighter troops 

 scarcely regani, while the heavier horses, with 

 their more tliaii coni))aralive additional weight to 

 carry, are knockeil up. There was, however, 

 gome danger of carrying this too far ; for it was 

 fomiil that in the engagements previous to, and 

 at the battle of Waterloo, our heavy lioiiseh(>lil 

 troopj alone were aidi; to repulse the formidable 

 charge of the French guard. 



The following anecdote of the memory and dis- 

 cipline of tie iroop-horse is related on good au- 

 thority. The Tyrolese, in one of their insurree- 

 lions in 1800, took lifleen Bavarian horses, imd 

 mounled ihein with so many of their own men ; 

 but, in o skirmish with n sqmidron of the same 

 regiiiiont, no Hooner did these horses hear the 

 trumpet, and recognize the unif inn of their old 

 nia-iiers, then thi'y.iiet off at lull gallop, ami car- 

 ried thrir riders, in spile nf all llii-ir efforts, into 

 the Bavarian ranks, where they were made pri- 

 aiiners, 



IMinvrihites a curious story about the war-horse, 

 l)Ut, alihmigh an excellent naturalist and philoso- 



pher, he was either \ery credulous or too fund of I 

 the marvellous. The Sybarites trained their hor- ! 

 ses to dance. The inhabitants of Crotoua, with j 

 whom they were at war, had their trumpeters j 

 taught the tunes to which the horses were accus-i 

 turned to dance. When the opposing troops were ^ 

 in the act of charging upon each other, the Cro- 1 

 tonian trumpeters begun to play these tunes — the 

 Sybarite horses began to dance, and were easily | 

 defeated. | 



THE r.ACE IfORSF.. 



There is much dispute with regn.-d to the ori- 

 gin of the Ihorou^hbnd horse. By some he \a' 

 traced through both siro and dam to Eastern par- 

 entage ; others believe him tube the native horse, 

 improved and perfected by judicious crossing with 

 the Barb, the Turk, or the .\rabian. 'The Stud 

 Book,' whieb is an authority aeknowledged by' 

 every English breeder, traces all the old racers to, 

 some Eastern origin ; or it traces them until the 

 pedigree is lost in the uncertainty of an early pe- 

 riod of breeding. If the (lediurec of a racer of | 

 the [jresent day be required, it is traced back to n| 

 certain extent, and ends with a well-known racer ; 

 — or if an earlier derivation be required, that ends 

 cither wi;h an Eastern horse, or in obscurity. 



It must, on the whole, be allowed, that the pre- 

 sent English thorough-bred horse is of foreign 

 extraction, improved and i)erfected by the iiifli- 

 ence of the climate, and by diligent cultivation. — 

 There are some exceptions, as in the case of 

 Sampson and Bay-Malton, in each of whom, al- 

 though the best horses of tl.cir day, there was » 

 cross of vulgar blood ; but they are only excep- 

 tions to a general rule. In our best racing sta- 

 bles, and, particularly in the studs of the Earls ol 

 Grosvenor and Egremont, this is an ackowledged 

 principle ; an<l it is tiot, when propi-rly considered, 

 a principle at all derogatory to the credit of the 

 country. The British climate, and British skill, 

 made the thorough-bred horse what he is. 



The beautiful tales of Eastern counlrie.o, and 

 somewhat romotei: days, iriay lead us to imagine 

 that the Arabian horse possesses marvellous pow- 1 

 ers ; but it caimot admit of a doubt, that the En- 

 glish trained horse is more beautiful, and far swil- 

 tcr and stouter than the justly-famed coursers of 

 the desert. -In the burning plains of the East, 

 and the frozen clinuite of Russia, he has invaria- 

 bly beaten every antagonist on his native grunnd. 

 .\ few years ago, Ur.cRDiT, an English horse ol 

 moderate reputation, easily bent Pvramis, the 

 best Arabian on the Bengal side of India. 



It umst not be objected, that the number of 

 Eastern horses imported is far too small to (iro- 

 (Ince .so numerous a progeny. It will be recollect- 

 ed, that the thousands of wild horses on the plains 

 of South America descended from only two stal- 

 lions and four marcs, which the early S|ianish ad- 

 venturers left there. 



Whatever may be the Irulh as to the origin of 

 the race-horse, the strictest atteniion has (or the 

 last fifty years been paid to the pedigree. In ihe 

 deseent of almost every modern racer, not the 

 slightest fli.w can be ili.scoveriid : or when, with 

 the splendid uxeeption of SampsoTi and Bay-!Mal- 

 ton, one ilro^ of eoumiori blood has mingled with 

 ilie pure slreani, it has been iiumediately deteeled 

 ill the inferim-ity of form, and ih^ficieiiey of bol- 

 lom, anil it has required two or three generations 

 to wipe away the slain, and gel rid of its conse- 

 qlleliees. 



The racer is generally distinguished by his benu- 



lifol Arabian head; — his fine and finely-sii-o | 

 neck ; his oblique, lengtheiie 1 slionidcrs: v-. 

 bent hinder legs ; — his ample, muscular qiin' 

 — his flat legs, rather bhort from the knee di... , 

 ward, altiiougb not always so ilcep as they sliuiil 

 be .; — and his long and clastic pastern. These ai 

 he|iaratcly considered where the structure of th 

 liurse is treated of 



The racer, liowev<-r,with the most beautiful forr 

 is occasionally a sorry animal. There is sonn ^ 

 times a want of energy in an apparently faiilile 

 shape, for which there is no accounting ; but ihei ti 

 arc two points among those just eniimeruted, whi« |is 

 will rarely or never dec,.-ivo, a well-placed sliou gr 

 dcr, anil a well-bent hinder leg. 



THE nARLr.Y ARABIA.V. 



The Darley Arubian was the parent of o 

 best racing stock. He was purcliaNeil by J 

 D.irley's brother at Aleppo, and was bred in tl 

 neighborii.g desert «f Palmyra. 



The iminediatc descendants of this invilnat 

 borse, were the D'-vonsbire or Flying Childer 

 the Bleeding or Bartleli's Childers, wlio was nev 

 trained ; Ahiianzor, and others. 



The two Childers were the means through whi 

 the blood and fame of their sire were widelv c 

 ciliated, and from them defcendcil another Cliil 

 ers. Blaze, Siiaji, Sampson, Kclipse aud a host 

 excellent horses. 



rLTI.NO CHII.DF.RS. 



The Devo.'ssrire or Fi.vi.vo Childers, 

 called from the name of his breeder, Mr Chi 

 ers, of Carrllonsc, and the s.ile i.f blm i,. 

 Duke of Devonshire, was tin tlcetcst hur^f cf 

 day. He was at first trained as a hunter, but 

 superior speed and courage which lio discove 

 caused him to be soon transferred to the imf 

 Common report atlinn^. thnl 'lO flOUlli r" . o 

 in a miniito, but tbeie is ho' uuWitcudO ''W.I 

 this. Childers run m. r ihe round cAursw i . N. 

 marke*. (three mih - ' ' 'iiieiv;li 



yards) ni six minul' .1 



Beacon course (fom ^ .ml 



linndred and thirtyeiglil VHTils) in teveii mini 

 and thirty seconds. In 1772, a mile was run 

 Firelail, in one minute and four seconds. 



In Oeiober 1711, at the Ciirra};h meeting 

 Ireland, Mr Wilde engaged to ride one hiiiiil 

 and tw'eiuys«'vcn miles in nine hours. He 

 formed it in six hours and twtMityone minutes 

 employed ten horses, and, allowing for moiini 

 and ilisiiioimtin:;. and a moment for refreshin 

 he rode lor six hours at the rate of twenty in 

 un hour. 



Mr 'I'hnrnhill, ill 17-45, exceeded this, for 

 rode from Stillmi t.i London and back, and n| 

 to Stilton, being two hundred and thirteen 

 in eleven hours and tliirtyfour minutes, which 

 after allowing the least [lossible time for cliaiif 

 horsts, twenty miles an hour for eleven hours. 

 Ion the turnpike road and uneven ground. 



Mr Shafioe, in 17tJ2, with ten horses, anil 

 I of lliem ridden twiee, accomplished fifty n 

 I aud a quarter, in one hour and foriynino inini 

 I III 170:), Mr Shafioe won a more extracrdii 

 match. He was to procure a person to rule 

 hundred miles a day, on any one liorso each 

 fur tweiit) nine diijs together, and to have 

 number of horses not e.\ceediiig iwentMiin 

 He accomplished il on fourteen horst's ; and 

 one day he rode one hnmlred and sixty iiiilw 

 Rceoiml of the tiring of his first hortie. 



