54 The Book of the Horse. 



from Arabians and Barbs, and frequently resemble their sires in appearance, but differ from 

 them considerably in size and in mould, being more furnished, stout, and lusty ; in general they 

 are strong, nimble, and of good courage, capable of enduring excessive fatigue, and both in 

 perseverance and speed surpass all the horses in the world." But from the following remarks, 

 it is evident that in Berenger's time English blood steppers, the whole class of park hacks and 

 light harness horses, with " up to the curb chain action," had not been produced ; for he adds : 

 " It is objected to them that they are void of grace and that expression in their figure and 

 carriage which is so conspicuous in foreign horses, and so beautiful and attractive as even to be 

 essentially requisite on occasions of pomp and parade ; but, instead of displaying a dignity of 

 motion, and a conscious air of cheerfulness and alacrity, as if they shared in the pleasure and 

 pride of their riders, they appear in their actions cold, indifferent, and unanimated. The most 

 heedless and ignorant spectator who should see them contrasted with the horses of action 

 (Hanoverian, Spanish, Italian) would be struck with the difference, would be uninterested 

 with the lame and lifeless behaviour of the one, and ravished with the sensibility and well- 

 tempered fire of the other. . . . Besides this, the English horses are accused, and not un- 

 justly, of being obstinate and uncomplying in their tempers, dogged and sullen ; of having stiff 

 and inactive shoulders, and wanting suppleness in their limbs, which defects make their motions 

 constrained, occasion them to go near the ground, and render them unfit for the manage." 



A little farther on Mr. Berenger regrets that Charles I., who did by Order in Council 

 command his people to discontinue the use of snaffle and adopt curb bridles, did not follow the 

 recommendation of a memorial presented by Sir Edward Harwood, and enact that noblemen 

 and gentlemen, instead of running races for bells, should breed stronger horses fit for war. In 

 every age we find writers deploring the decline of our breed of horses, and imploring the 

 interference of the State, either by restriction or artificial encouragements. 



In 1826, George IV., according to Greville's Diary, made a little speech at a dinner he gave 

 to the Jockey Club, recommendmg "that the exportation of horses should be forbidden." 



My next authority in this sketch of the history of the English horse is John Lawrence,* 

 whose book, in quarto, magnificently illustrated by copper-plates exquisitely engraved after 

 pictures by George Stubbs, B. Marshall, and Gilpin, contains portraits of the Godolphin 

 Arabian, Eclipse, Shakespeare, King Herod, Flying Childers, and other famous race-horses. 



Lawrence's history of the British horse up to 1770 is chiefly compiled from Berenger's 

 book ; but he is an authority on his own time, for he was an enthusiast and a gossip, and 

 seems to have spared no pains to obtain authentic portraits of horses which were the founda- 

 tion of the best qualities of the English blood-horse. In one place he tells his readers that he 

 " has pried into, nay, devoured, every page and every line of Mr. Weatherby's then recently 

 published 'Stud Book.'f with all the enthusiasm of an amateur;" in another that "he would 

 willingly have ridden a hundred miles to ride a celebrated race-horse a sweat." His remarks 

 on the famous sires and race-horses mentioned by VVeatherby in his miscellaneous list become 

 most interesting, because he says that in 1778 he was "frequently in the habit of visiting old 

 Eclipse, then at Epsom." Lawrence gives dates to the list of Oriental horses collected by 

 Wcatherby. He says, " I know of no pedigrees traceable beyond Place's White Turk " (Place 

 was Master of the Horse to Oliver Cromwell) "and the Morocco Barb of the Lord General 

 Fairfax." During the reigns of Charles II. and James II., the most famous blood sires were 



* " History and Derivation of tlic Horse in all his Varieties." Hy Jolin Lawrence. 1S09. 

 t Kirst volume, 1791. 



