CHAPTER IV 



North America without horses when Columbus landed Scarcity 

 of horses at the Conquest of Mexico Francisco Pizarro ; his 

 cavaliers terrify the Indians Emperor Charles V. sends horses to 

 King Edward VI. David Hume, " a man remarkable for piety, 

 probity, candour and integrity" ; his practices in connection with 

 horse racing Queen Elizabeth fond of racing; condition of the 

 Turf during her reign Stallions fed on eggs and oysters Lord 

 Herbert of Cherbury's antagonistic attitude towards the Turf- 

 Some horses in Shakespeare's plays Performing horse and its 

 owner publicly burnt to death Horses trained by cruelty 



pHE continent whose history and progress 



have been the least influenced by horses 



probably is Northern America, for it seems 



beyond doubt that when Columbus discovered 



it horses were unknown there. 



How then did they come to be there in such 

 immense herds in later years ? 



This question has been asked many times, and 

 the reply generally is that the horses subsequently 

 introduced there by the Spaniards must have bred 

 with great rapidity. 



Other solutions to the problem that have been 

 put forward are hardly worth considering seriously. 

 So enormous did these herds become, however, 

 that down to half-a-century or so ago horses in 

 their thousands ran wild over the vast prairies 

 of the western states. At the present day such 

 herds are practically extinct. 



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