ROAN BARBARY 129 



upon which to ride to Westminster when he 

 went there to be crowned, has many times been 

 described, Shakespeare himself referring to the 

 incident in King Richard IL in the well-known 

 line, " When Bolingbroke rode on Roan Barbary, 

 that horse that thou so often hast bestrid." 

 Roan Barbary was a tall horse, well shaped and 

 well schooled, but of uncertain temper. The king 

 " could do with the steed whate'er he wished," 

 but some of the grooms hardly dared approach 

 to groom it "lest he sideways kick them." 



It is interesting to note here that the history of 

 early times, when it touches upon horses — which 

 it does frequently — alludes upon many occasions 

 to the partiality of particular horses for certain 

 persons, and to their equally marked dislike for 

 certain other persons. 



The inference naturally would be that these par- 

 ticular horses were partial to the men who treated 

 them humanely and disliked those who ill-treated 

 them. If the early historians are to be believed, 

 however, the horses' likes and dislikes for various 

 persons were irrespective of the way they had 

 been treated by such persons. 



Particularly does this appear to have been the 

 case with Roan Barbary, for we are assured that 

 all who had charge of him, or to do with him in 

 any way, treated him invariably " with kindness 

 and great cordiality " (!) the king having issued 

 strict orders that they should. 



