CHAPTER III 



Inauguration and development of the Royal Stud — Exportation 

 of horses declared by Henry VIII. to be illegal — Sale of horses 

 to Scotsmen pronounced to be an act of felony — Riding matches 

 become popular— Ferdinand of Arragon's gift of horses to Henry 

 VIII. — Henry's love of hunting — King Henry stakes the bells of 

 St Paul's on a throw of the dice — Some horses of romance — Horse- 

 breeding industry crippled in Scotland 



/ "T A HE accession of Henry VIII. to the throne, 

 A in 1509, marked the beginning of a great 

 development in the breeding and rearing of valu- 

 able horses, for that erratic monarch, whatever 

 his failings may have been — and that he had a 

 few failings we have reason to know — was at 

 heart a sportsman in the true meaning of the 

 now frequently misused term. 



We read that soon after ascending the throne 

 "he took steps to arrange for the importation 

 from Italy, Spain, Turkey and elsewhere, at 

 regular intervals, of the best stallions and some 

 of the best mares procurable." That done, he 

 set to work to establish at Hampton Court the 

 Royal Stud which later was to become so 

 famous, and among the many horses he received 

 as gifts — the majority from men anxious to keep 

 in favour with a monarch so all-powerful — were 

 the famous mares " perfect in shape and size " that 



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