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national scandal at this time: Holinshed’s 
account, published eleven years before this 
Act was passed, shows us that no horse in 
pasture or stable was safe. 
Queen Elizabeth’s reign saw important 
changes. The application of gunpowder to 
hand-firearms destroyed the protective value 
of heavy armour, and with heavy armour 
gradually went the horse required to carry 
it. The disappearance of the Great Horse 
as a charger was very slow, however. In 
1685 the Duke of Newcastle published his 
famous work, 7he Manner of Feeding, Dress- 
ng and Training of Horses for the Great 
Saddle, and fitting them for the Service of 
the Freld in time of War. The book was 
probably of little use to posterity, for by 
that time the day of the Great Horse as a 
charger was very near its close, if not quite 
at anend. The introduction of coaches was 
another mark of social progress; and light 
horses, Arab, Barb and Spanish, were in 
demand to improve our native breeds. 
Until 1580, when carriages came into use 
in England, saddle horses were used by all 
of whatever degree. Though the side saddle 
had been introduced in Richard I].’s time, 
ladies still rode frequently on a pillion behind 
a gentleman or man-servant. Queen Eliza- 
