24 
law was to provide for the defences of 
the kingdom, and there is nothing in its 
clauses that would indicate desire to promote 
horse-breeding ; on the contrary, geldings 
are frequently mentioned as alternative to 
horses. 
ELIZABETH (1558-1603). 
Queen Elizabeth, herself an admirable 
horsewoman, was as fully imbued with the 
necessity for encouraging the breeding of 
horses as her father, Henry VIII., and she 
lost little time in dealing with the whole sub- 
ject after her accession. Energetic measures 
were evidently much needed, if we may 
accept the statements made by Sir Thomas 
Chaloner, in a Latin poem written when he 
was ambassador at Madrid, in 1579. He 
observes that if Englishmen chose to devote 
attention to breeding, with all the advan- 
tages their country offered, they could 
rear better horses than they could im- 
port. England, he averred, had none but 
“vile and ordinary horses,’ which were 
suffered to run at large with the mares. 
In the first year of her reign Elizabeth 
renewed Henry VIII.’s Act forbidding the 
export of horses to Scotland. Her next 
important step was taken in the fourth year 
