12 



and as these wore chain mail, and had to 

 accompHsh long arduous marches over road- 

 less country, a big- and powerful stamp of 

 horse was just as necessary to them as it 

 would have been had actual fighting in the 

 saddle been the profession of the riders. 



It is conjectured that this early "mounted 

 infantry " system was copied from the 

 Danes, who used horses, acquired locally, 

 in this fashion when they made their descents 

 upon the east coast of England ; this, how- 

 ever by the way. The first mention in 

 history of a Master of the Horse occurs in 

 King Alfred's reign (871-901.) His Hors- 

 Tlieigu was named Ecquef. The bare fact 

 that such an office existed is worth mention, 

 as showing the existence of a royal stud in 

 those days. Richard Berenger gives parti- 

 culars of the curious and interesting laws 

 framed in the tenth century by Howel 

 Dda, the " Good " Welsh Prince. Space 

 considerations forbid their inclusion here ; 

 it must suffice to say that these laws prove 

 how great was the importance attached to 

 possession of horses. The first piece of 

 legislation that points to foreign apprecia- 

 tion of English-bred horses occurs in the 

 reign of Athelstan (925-940). That monarch 

 made a law forbidding the export of horses 



