354 EACING, WAGERS AND GAMING. 



geldings or mares to any parts beyond the sea, without the 

 king's licence, should forfeit forty shillings for every 

 poll((?). It appears, however, that notwithstanding these 

 enactments, good horses continued to be scarce, and the 

 breed of "good, swift and strong horses" was supposed 

 to have decayed on account of "little horses and nags 

 of small stature and value being suffered to depasture and 

 also to cover mares and felys of very small stature." To 

 remedy this, an Act was passed in a.d. 1535, compelling 

 the owners and occupiers of deer-parks of a mile or 

 upwards in circumference, to keep a certain number of 

 foal mares, in proportion to the extent of their grounds, 

 such mares to be at least thirteen hands in height, and to 

 be covered by horses of fourteen hands or upwards (r). 

 This Act did not extend to the counties of Westmore- 

 land, Cumberland, Northumberland and the bishoprick of 

 Durham (s). 



The breed, however, still continued to decay and di- 

 minish ; and it was supposed to be in consequence of " little 

 stoned horses and nags, of small stature and of little value, " 

 being suffered to depasture in " the forests, chases, moors, 

 marshes, heaths, commons and waste grounds in the realm," 

 and also to cover mares feeding there. The legislature, to 

 remedy this evil, passed another Act in a.d. 1540, which 

 prohibited any stoned horse, under fifteen hands, being 

 pastured on such lands throughout the greater part of 

 England and the whole of Wales, or under fourteen hands 

 elsewhere {t). Any person, on measuring a horse which 

 was under the lawful height, might seize and retain it for 

 his own use (u) ; the pastures were to be driven once a year, 

 and any unlikely looking beasts were to be killed {v) ; and 

 the owner of every horse, mare or gelding infected with the 

 scab, at any time pasturing on these grounds, was to forfeit 

 ten shillings (iv). An Act was also passed prescribing the 

 number of stoned trotting horses for the saddle each man 

 was to keep, according to his degree (a;). However, these 

 enactments do not seem to have had the desired effect, as 

 the breed of horses had sadly degenerated ; for Blundeville, 

 who wrote in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, tells us that 



(q) 22 Hen. 8, o. 7. (u) 32 Hen. 8, c. 13, s. 3. 



(r) 27 Hen. 8, c. 6, ss. 2, 4, re- {v) Ibid. ss. 6, 7. 



pealed by 26 & 27 Vict. c. 125. (iv) Ibid. s. 9. 



(s) 27 Hen. 8, c. 6, s. 5. (x) 33 Hen. 8, c. 5, now TirtuaUy 



[t) 32 Hen. 8, c. 13, s. 2, repealed repealed by 21 Jac. 1, c. 28. 

 by ]9 & 20 Vict. c. 64. 



