THE HORSE. 



exceeded the originals introduced, in size, form, and 

 every valuable property. The domestication and care 

 of animals have immemorially, been a prime and fa- 

 vourite object of pursuit with the people of this 

 country ; and improvement had made, particularly in 

 size, considerable progress, as early as the reigns of 

 our Saxon and Norman Kings. Some export of 

 English bred, as well as a constant import of foreign 

 horses, had then taken place. The fine silken-haired 

 and delicate courser of the South East, and the jennet 

 of Spain were subsequently introduced; the war-horse 

 from Germany, the heavy draught-horse from Bel- 

 gium and the Low Countries : — such is the foundation 

 on which the supereminent and incomparable breed 

 of English horses has been reared. 



In the reigns of Henry the Seventh and Eighth, and 

 on the cessation of the long continued distractions 

 resulting from the contest between the, two Roses, 

 government showed a particular anxiety to promote 

 and extend the breeding of horses; but by arbitrary 

 regulations and restrictions, not well calculated to 

 answer the ends proposed. The ancient prohibition 

 to export horses, particularly stallions, was continued ; 

 which, the writer has been informed, remains yet 

 upon our statute book; although, from its antiquity 

 and impolicy, it has long since remained a dead letter. 

 In the reigns of Elizabeth and James, a considerable 

 number of writers appeared on the subject of the 

 horse and of farriery, then styled fernery, derived, 

 in probability, from the Latin, ferrum iron, of which 

 the horse-shoe is made. These writers evince that, 

 however rude the art in their days, it had been 



