1 34 , The Book ot the Horse. 



the course of tlie year I managed to have eight horses in my stable. My stingy guardian 

 protested, and that was all the satisfaction he got." * This was in 1764. 



In answer to inquiries by the writer about the present condition of Roman liorses : — 



" The old Roman coachman was no coachman at all, he could only whip, whip, and when 

 that would not do he knew nothing more — the old Roman horse would stand it. 



" The San Spirito had a cross of blood from a stallion brought into the country by the 

 Fathers, and thus they became in one way the best breed. 



" The Chigi breed was the best for high steppers — the two wheelers in the Pope's carriage 

 used to be Chigis. 



" The old Roman horse was not fast, but a good traveller, working day after day. Now 

 all the breeds have been crossed with the English blood several times, and the best carriage- 

 horses are large and nearly thoroughbred. The breeders give great prices for English stallions. 



" All the cardinals' horses were of the old Roman breed ; but after the first English races at 

 Rome all the breeders began to cross to get quicker animals. 



" The Roman Campagna is a great place for breeding horses, but the English horses will not 

 live if turned out there to run like the Roman breed. It is therefore necessary not to cross too 

 fast, but to get them accustomed to the climate and the mode of treatment before following it up. 



" The Roman horses are now fast improving. The crosses of English blood often go well over 

 the stiff fences of the Campagna with the fo.x-hounds ; and in 1871 I saw between twenty and 

 thirty perfectly well-appointed carriages, beautifully horsed, following a grand funeral. 



"When I first went to Rome it was difficult to get a horse with hind and fore legs to correspond- 

 The mediaeval statues represent a breed of slow, lasting, high-stepping horses."t 



THE ANDALUSIAN HOR.SE. 



The Spaniards have been famous for their horses from the earliest historical times. The 

 Andalusian horse was acknowledged to be the best in Europe until the English produced the 

 thoroughbred. Spain still possesses breeds of horses remarkable for quality and for stately action ; 

 but those which might appear likely to be of value crossed with the English blood-horse are in 

 the hands of a few noble families, and only to be obtained at fabulous prices. 



The marcs of the Spanish genet breed (famous since the wars recorded by old Froissart) are 

 kept and much valued as riding-horses for long distances by wealthy Spaniards. The genet, a 

 light, slim, blood-like animal, is the evident descendant of the Barbs brought into the country 

 by the Moors, when they conquered the greater part of Spain. 



The horse of the country, familiarly known as the horse of the contrabandista, is a hardy, 

 enduring, useful animal, which occupies much the same place as the Devonshire pack-horse did 

 before roads spoiled his trade. He is probably the descendant of the horses on which Hannibal 

 mounted his Spanish cavalry, when he fought the battle of Cannae, and nearly conquered Italy. 

 He is, in fact, an animal which a traveller would use in the country, but not often care to take 

 out of it. 



The third race is that of the ancient Spanish war-horse, the true destrier, whose form has 

 been handed down to us in the equestrian portraits of Velasquez, and whose praises fill the pages 

 of every writer on horsemanship up to the period when armour-wearing knights and high-school 



• " AuUibio(,'rapliy of Count Victor Alfieii." 



t E.\tracts from letters from Lieut. -Colonel Frederick Winn Kniglit, M.P., of E.\moor, and his brother Ch:irles, an ex-Master 

 of iliL- Roman l''o.\-houiids. 



