io LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



ridden as a charger by Captain Byerly during King William's 

 campaign in Ireland. When this horse came to England is 

 not quite clear; but it was probably about the year 1689. 

 Then, during the first dozen years of the i8th century, Mr. 

 Darley, a Yorkshire gentleman, introduced the Darley 

 Arabian (the sire of Childers), and, lastly, came the horse 

 known as the Godolphin Arabian ; but which was probably a 

 Barb. He must have come to England about 1728; in 1730 

 and 1731 he was teaser to Hobgoblin, and might have 

 been unknown to fame had it not so happened that on the 

 refusal of Hobgoblin to serve Roxana, the Godolphin Ara- 

 bian had to take his place ; and the result was Lath, the 

 first of his get. 



It will, therefore, be seen from the dates of these horses that 

 races had been held very long before their time ; that Eastern 

 horses had run, and been beaten by English horses ; and that 

 Eastern blood had been used. Consequently, it is evident 

 that this illustrious trio of sires founded no new breed ; they 

 would only be crossed with the then living mares. And what 

 were these mares ? The female lines of race horses are too 

 often neglected by writers ; but if the matter be examined 

 closely it will be found that there is a good deal of blood 

 in the modern thoroughbred which is not of Eastern origin. 



This point is clearly and forcibly put by that high authority, 

 Mr. Joseph Osborne (" Beacon "), in the valuable introduc- 

 , tion to the " Breeder's Handbook." In protesting against 

 the oft-made assertion that the English thoroughbred owes 

 his origin to the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the 

 Godolphin horse, Mr. Osborne says : " But in the female 

 line there are undeniable proofs of important influence out- 

 side and anterior to the known Eastern sires ; and here I 

 maintain that, in considering the origin of the * thoroughbred ' 

 as distinct from his Stud Book genealogy, it is most un- 

 reasonable nay, even preposterous to set aside the female 

 sources. Indeed, if the investigation be pursued logically, 

 that side must be the more interesting in this instance 



