• R UNNIXG HO RSES ' 111 



France and Spain was made to grant them safe con- 

 duct. By the time they arrived in this country they 

 were computed to have cost the large sum of 

 ^13 6s. 8d., equal to about ^160 of our present 

 money. During this reign mention is made of the 

 king possessing what were termed ^ running horses,' 

 the precise meaning of which is not very clear, but we 

 may conclude that reference is made to light riding 

 or harness horses, in contradistinction to the heavy 

 cavalry horses which were in use at that time. The 

 value of these horses was assessed at ^3 apiece. 

 Edward III. seems to have been a sportsman, and as 

 he is related to have possessed ' speedy horses,' it may 

 be reasonably concluded that he tried their speed 

 against each other — in other words, went in for racing. 

 In those days the knights in full armour averaged 

 some twenty-four stone, thereby necessitating the use 

 of horses of enormous strength, animals which must 

 have been very much of the class used by the brewers 

 of the present day. Very dreadful they must have 

 been as hacks, and very tiring to ride, especially at a 

 gallop. 



This state of things existed until the introduction of 

 firearms, when armour was no longer required to with- 

 stand the blows of the battle-axes and bludgeons 

 which had been previously in vogue. As a natural 

 result the horses used for cavalry purposes gradually 

 decreased in size and weight and increased in activity 

 and speed, and thus a better bred horse was necessary 

 and the old ponderous war-horse fell into disuse. 

 Edward forbade the exportation of a single horse 

 under the most severe penalties, and foreigners were 

 thereby unable to cross their own breeds with the 



