50 THE HORSE. 



The Duke of In 1667 the Duke of Newcastle pub- 



Newcastle's ^ 



horseman- lished his work on horsemanship, which 

 * ^^" he dedicated to Charles II. ; and it was 



in great measure owing to the impres- 

 sion the contents of this book had upon 

 the mind of Charles and his courtiers 

 that agents were sent to distant coun- 

 tries to procure Oriental horses. The 

 Duke having been exiled during the Com- 

 monwealth, visited various countries, and 

 in so doing was enabled to note the pe- 

 culiarities of equine stock in individual 

 countries, and from amongst them he 

 selected the Barb as his ideal of what 

 a horse should be. He writes, '^ The 

 Barbary horses, I freely confess, are my 

 favourites, and I allow them the prefer- 

 ence as to shape, strength, natural air, and 

 docility. Mountain Barbes are horses of 



