The eighth Booke of 



had Apodfiillin hisplaee, andconduaed theiiVj and there fetcht three tUtnes toiihd about xht G 

 temple of lup/ter^Bm the grcateft of all was this which 1 (hall now tell^Thac the horfes oiRatume-^ 

 ms^^ho had woon the price in the horfe-running at Veijjthrew their maifter downj^ came from 

 thcncc,evcn out of Tufcane^as far asto the forefaid Capitolljcarrying thither thePalme branch 

 and chapelet oiViUorie woon by jR4^/^«;f»^f their maifter : of whom the gateRatumena took af- 

 terwards the name atRome.The Sarmatians minding to take a great journey, prepare their hor- 

 fes two daies beforCjand give tliem no meat at all : onely a little drink they allow them, and thus 

 they will ride them gallop 1 50 miles an end ^and never draw bridle .Horfes live many of them 50 

 yedr:cs,butthe mares not folongin five years theycome to theirfuU growth^whereasftone hor- 

 (es grow one yeerc longer.The making of good horfes indeedjand their beautie, fuch as a man 

 would chiife for the beS, hath beene moft elegantly and abfolutely defcribed by the Poec Vir- H 

 ^Ul , And fomewhai alfo have I written of that argument 3 in my booke which 1 lately put 

 foorth, as touching Tournois and fhootingfrom horiebacke rand in thofe points requirediand 

 there (etdowne, liecall writersin raanner to agree . But for horfes that muft bee trained to 

 runnethcracejfomeconfideratiQns aretobehad and obierved, different from horfes of other 

 ufe and fervice. For whereas to other affaires and emploiments they may be brought when they 

 ate twoyeere oldcolts^ and not upward ^ to the Lii^s they mufl: not beebrought to enter into 

 any maiftries there^before they be full five yeares of age.Thc female in this kind goe eleven nio- 

 neihscompleat with yong,and in the twelfth they folc.Commonly the ftalion and the mare are 

 put togethcrjwhen both of them arc full two yeares old : and that about the Spring iEquinocli'^ 

 ailjthat is to fayjin mid- march : but if they be kept afundcr imtill they are full three years of age, I 

 ihey breed {Wronger colts.The Stalion is able to get colts untill he be three and thirtieyeers old : 

 for commonly when they have ferved in the race^and runf ull twentie yearsjthey are difcharged 

 from thencCj&let goeabroadfortofervemareSrAndmen fay that they will hold to fortie years 

 with a little helpe put to the forepart of his bodie^that he may bee lifted up handfomely to cover 

 the mare. Few beafts befides are leffe able to engender and leape the female often, nor fboner 

 have y nough of ihem.For which caufe they be allowed fome fpacebetween every time that they 

 doe their kind. And in one yeare the mofl that the Stallion isable to doe that way ,is to cover fit- 

 teene maresjand that is fomewhat with the oftencft-If ye would coole the courage, and quench 

 the lull of a mare^fhareand clip her mane. And yet are mares fufficient to beare every yeare^un- 

 ■ till they come to fortie.It is reportedjthat an horfe hath threefcore and fiftecne yearesJNlares on- K 

 ly of all other femaleSjare delivered of their foIes,ff anding on their feet:but love them more than 

 any other doe their young. Thefe foles verily, by report, have growing on their forehead,wheii 

 they bee newly come into the world, a little blackc thing of the bignefle of a fig,called Flippo- 

 manes,and it is thought to have an etfeduall vertue to procure and win love. The dam hath not 

 lb fbone foled,but fhe bites it offhand eats it her felfe : and if it chance that any bodie preventeth 

 hcrof it,andcatcheihitfromher,fhecwili never letthefolefuckeher. The very fiiiell and fent 

 thcreof3 if it bee ftollen away,will drive them into a fit of rage and madneffe. If peradventure a 

 young foleloofe the dammejthe other mares of the common heard that are mjkhnurces, give ' 

 their teats to this poore orphan, and reare it up in common . They fay that f^tftrec daies aftet ^ 

 they be newly foled,the young colts cannot lay their mouth to the ground,and touch it. Moreo- ^ 

 ver,the hotter ff omacked that an horfe is,the deeper hee tht ufleth his nofe into the water as hee 

 drinketh.The Scythians chufe rather to ufe their mares in warre-fervice than their ffone-horfes : 

 thereafonisthis, that their flaling is no hinderance to their pace in running their catriere, as it 

 doth thehorfe, who mufl needs then fland ffill . In Portugall, along the river Tagus,and about 

 Lisboujcertaine it isjthat when the Weff wind bloweth, the mares fet up their taiies, and turne 

 them full againff it, and fo conceive that genitall aire in ffeedof naturall feed: in fuch fort,as 

 they become great withall,and quicken in their time, and bring foorth foles as fwift as the wind, 

 but they live not above three yeares. Out of the fame Spaine,from the parts called Gallicia and 

 Af^uria, certaine ambling jennets or nags are bred, which wee call Thieldones : and others of 

 Icfle feature and proportion every way,named Afbrcones. Thefe horfes have a pleafantpace by M 

 thcmfelves differing from others. For albeit they bee put to their full paGe,a man (hall fee them 

 fet one foot before another fo deftly and roundly in order by turnes, that it would doe one good 

 to fee it : and hereupon horfe-breakers(maiflers)have an art by cords to bring an horfe to the like 

 amble. A horfe is fubjed to the fame difeafes in raannei that a man is \ and bcSdes^to the turning 



of 



