THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 3 



The Conquest, therefore, brought with it sundry strains of 

 foreign blood, which must necessarily have had its influence 

 in more or less changing the appearance of our native horses. 



As Eastern blood has admittedly been so potent a factor 

 in making our English thoroughbred the horse he is, we may 

 just pause to point out that in the reign of Henry I., we come 

 across the first recorded importation of an Eastern horse. 

 The story goes that Alexander I., King of Scotland, presented 

 to the Church of St. Andrew (inter alia) an Arabian horse. 

 Mention has already been made of the Arabs Severus is said 

 to have raced in Yorkshire, but we may search in vain for any 

 hint as to how they got here. 



That an opportunity was missed at the time of the Crusades 

 is tolerably certain ; and, if we make passing notice of the fact 

 that Richard Cceur de Lion is reported to have possessed two 

 horses he purchased from Cyprus, and which were probably 

 of Eastern origin, we may go on to the reign of Edward III., 

 for most of King John's exertions were so extended upon war 

 and heavy horses, though at the same time he did not neglect 

 the race course, as he imported many Eastern horses. 

 Edward III., however, bought fifty Spanish horses, believ- 

 ing that their blood would materially improve the native 

 breed, but he is said to have almost repented of his extrava- 

 gance on finding that they had cost him no less than 

 13 6s. 8d. per head. This King, who was unquestionably a 

 sportsman in his way, had running horses, and was fully alive 

 to the importance of trying to get a lighter and faster horse 

 than the ponderous animals which were required to carry the 

 armoured soldier in battle. 



One of Henry VIII.'s officials was styled Master of the 

 Barbary horses ; but whether this very arbitrary monarch had 

 any Barbs, or whether this was merely a generic term for 

 his race horses is, we venture to think, doubtful; we do 

 know, however, that he imported horses from Turkey, Spain, 

 and Naples ; while the Marquis of Mantua gave him some 

 high-class mares, and the Duke of Arbino presented him with 



