CHAPTER VIII 



THE HACKNEY 



The word '" Hackney" has long been in use in Great Britain. 

 The Norman invaders in the eleventh century brought from 

 France the term " haquenee," or " hacquenee," which is of uncer- 

 tain derivation. As early as 1303 this word is said to have come 

 into active use. This same century Chaucer in his writings refers 

 to the hakeney or haknay, spelling it both ways.^ Prior to the 

 eleventh century it is supposed that the word "nag" (which is 

 akin to the verb " to neigh") was the common term in reference 

 to the saddle horse of light type. Since those early days the 

 words "nag" and "Hackney" have been in common use. 



The native home of the Hackney is located in eastern and 

 northeastern England, in the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, and 

 York. The people in this region have for centuries greatly pat- 

 ronized the saddle horse or roadster. In the fifteenth century 

 trotting horses were highly esteemed, and a Berney of Norfolk 

 placed an estimate equivalent to $350 on one of his horses. 



The original Hackney stock was subjected to variable influ- 

 ences. The Romans no doubt introduced horses from southern 

 Europe, and these must have bred with the native English stock. 

 Following them came Scandinavian intruders, and it is assumed 

 that Norwegian ponies were used in the mixture, giving British 

 horse stock both speed and endurance. The abundance of trot- 

 ting horses in sections occupied by Danish settlers would indicate 

 the popularity of this type. Besides the commingling of different 

 strains of blood, some enactments on horse breeding and devel- 

 opment took place by royal decree as far back as 1495, when 

 Henry VII was on the throne. In 1558 Ralph Blundeville of 

 Norfolk produced the first English book on the horse, which 

 he designated "The Foure Chief est Offices belonging to Horse- 

 manship," now a rare and much-sought work. 



iThe Hackney Studbook, Vol. I, 1884; with a Historical Introduction by 

 Henry F. Euren. 



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