3O LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



Flotsham, in Norfolk, was published during the time she oc- 

 cupied the throne. The last-named writer was evidently an 

 enthusiast, and the completeness of his work is surprising, 

 when the difficulties under which he laboured come to be con- 

 sidered. He was a great advocate of scientific horse breeding, 

 and manfully maintained the rights of Englishmen to exer- 

 cise their own discretion regarding what variety of animal 

 they should keep. For breeding serviceable horses Blundeville 

 recommeded mares that were " of an highe stature, strongly 

 made, large and faire, and have a trotting pase," for as he 

 holds, "it is not meet for divers respects that horses for 

 service should amble." 



The size of the old-fashioned horse is a subject upon which 

 very little light has been thrown by writers, but the Duke of 

 Newcastle, who published a work upon equine subjects in the 

 reign of Charles II., expresses the opinion that "there is no 

 fear of having too small horses in England, since the coolness 

 and moisture of the climate and the fatness of the land rather 

 produce horses too large." Such assertions are, however, of 

 far too vague a nature to afford any reliable data for estimating 

 the stature of horses during the reign of the Merry Monarch, 

 but early in the seventies there is, fortunately, more reliable 

 information forthcoming to show the size of the stallions which 

 produced the mares which a few years later on formed the 

 foundation stock from which the modern Hackney was de- 

 veloped by the infusion of Arab blood. We learn from an 

 advertisement which appeared in the Norwich Gazette in 1725, 

 that a grey stallion, standing 14 hands, was at the service of 

 the public, whilst two years later an announcement appears 

 in the Norwich Mercury, giving the description of a large stout 

 coach gelding of 15 hands, which shows that the stallions, 

 though they appear to have averaged from 13 to 14 hands, 

 were still capable of getting something taller than themselves. 

 Later on, in 1729, one finds that a stallion " an Arabian," 

 but more probably a half-bred horse was in Norfolk, and 

 as the century advanced in age so the height of the horses 



