8 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



breeding was cut when Charles II. came to the throne ; and 

 that what subsequently took place had no connection with 

 what had gone before. In other words, the opinion seems 

 to have been entertained that the stock which was in existence 

 when Charles II. succeeded had nothing to do with the origin 

 of the thoroughbred horse. To this doctrine we cannot 

 subscribe, as there is no ground for thinking that the previously 

 existing race horses were entirely tabooed by the " Merry 

 Monarch ; " in fact, there is every reason to come to the 

 opposite conclusion. 



Though James I. and Charles I. introduced Eastern blood, 

 we do not read that they or any of their predecessors imported 

 many Eastern mares ; though, of course, it is only reasonable 

 to suppose that a certain number did come to England. King 

 Charles II., however, commissioned his Master of the Horse, 

 Sir John Fenwick, who was also a breeder on his own account, 

 to go abroad and bring back some mares of the best blood he 

 could find. This was no doubt a congenial task to Sir John, 

 who was a well-known racing man of that time ; but whither he 

 went, how many mares he bought, and what they were, are 

 matters which cannot be stated with any certainty. 



According to some authorities Sir John Fenwick went to 

 Tangier and returned with four Barb mares ; others say that 

 eight were procured, while others again incline to the opinion 

 that the new purchases included an Arab mare, and possibly 

 a Turk. Be this as it may, these mares were known as Royal 

 mares; but, inasmuch as some of their female offspring were 

 also called Royal mares the exact number of the original stock 

 cannot be ascertained by reference to any existing records. 



It is in the time of King Charles II. that the modern thorough- 

 bred horse may be said to have been invented. Sir John 

 Fenwick brought back with him not only the Royal mares, 

 but some sires as well ; and from this period a constant stream 

 of Eastern blood flowed into England. 



So far as can be made out we know very little of what 

 success attended the importation of the Royal mares. One of 



