226 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



sums he paid for these horses were consider- 

 able, but the excellent effect the good blood 

 had upon the breed fully repaid him for the 

 incidental outlay, also for the great trouble to 

 which he had been put to secure such excellent 

 stallions. 



Shortly before this some English officers serving 

 in the Dutch army had introduced horse racing 

 into Holland, and the popularity of the new sport 

 began to spread there quickly. Soon a number 

 of race meetings came to be organised, and in 

 a short time Dutch emissaries were sent over to 

 England for the express purpose of purchasing- 

 blood stock here. 



Being comparatively ignorant of horses — 

 ignorant, that is to say, of the requirements 

 essential in a racing stallion — these emissaries 

 were at first cheated in the most barefaced 

 manner by some of the very men who only a 

 short time before had been their guests in 

 Holland! 



Later, however, they succeeded in importing 

 some very valuable blood stock, and in several 

 respects the race meetings they presently 

 organised were better arranged than many of 

 the English meetings of that period. 



In 1637 we find the Duke of Newcastle ap- 

 pointed Governor to Prince Charles — later to 

 become King Charles II. — with special injunc- 

 tions to teach him to ride well. 



