XV111 
THE HORSE. 
HISTORY. 
the South Britons, long harassed by the inroads of the barbarous tribes of the north, called to their assistance a rude nation of 
soldiers and pirates established in the country north of the Elbe, now termed Holstein. The Saxons appear to have possessed 
something of that love of the Horse which distinguished all the nations of the Gothic descent. During their long dominion in 
Britain, the culture of the Horse was not wholly neglected. Coincidently in time with the Saxons in England, the remnants of 
the Britons existed in Wales, and preserved a brave independence in the mountains and fastnesses of that country. They pre¬ 
served the native horse; but it does not appear that they ever made the least figure as horsemen, in which respect they resembled 
other Celtic nations who have occupied countries of mountains. Five hundred years after the Saxons had set foot in Britain, 
another nation still more devoted to the Horse occupied the country. William of Normandy brought with him a warlike cavalry, 
to whose superiority he was mainly indebted for the victory which gained him the crown. His own charger in the field of Has¬ 
tings, we are told, was a Spaniard. His barons and vassals, amongst whom the wretched kingdom was partitioned, carried their 
Norman passion for the Horse to their newly-acquired possessions, and the barbarous successors of King William have left us 
in innumerable records the evidence of this passion. War and the chase occupied the thoughts of these barbarians, and the Horse 
was the instrument by which their desires could be fulfilled. Then, too, was the age of heavy armour; and powerful horses fitted 
to bear the knights and men-at-arms were necessarily sought for. The communication with France gave new facilities to the ac¬ 
quiring of the horses of the Continent. King John, during his troubled reign, found time to devote his attention to the improve¬ 
ment of the native Horse. He imported at one time a hundred stallions from Flanders. Edward II. imported horses from 
Lombardy; and Edward III. took yet more active means to obtain the horses of foreign countries. The annals of his reign show 
that he was indebted in large sums to the Prince of Hainault and other powers for horses obtained for the supply of his cavalry. 
He devoted the sum, great in those days, of 1000 merks for the purchase of Spanish stallions. While eager to avail himself of 
foreign horses to improve the native races, and pursue his wars, he resolved that other countries should not reap a corresponding 
advantage. He prohibited the exportation of horses from England under heavy penalties, and succeeding princes continued the 
system. Even during the reign of Elizabeth, it was a felony to carry horses from England to Scotland. In these ages, then, 
it appears that not only were the larger horses fitted for heavy armour and the tournament brought into England, but by degrees 
the lighter and more active horses of the countries of the Mediterranean. The gradual decline in the use of heavy armour neces¬ 
sarily led to this result. Henry VIII. was the last of the English kings who maintained the usages of chivalry. But even he 
saw the superiority of the finer horses of the South and East, and imported them in some numbers from Turkey, Naples, and 
Spain, for the improvement of the royal stud. Yet, with all the inconsistency and stupid barbarity of his character, he deter¬ 
mined to keep up the size of the great horses of England. He enacted that all his prelates and nobles, “ whose wives wore velvet 
bonnets,” should keep stallions for the saddle at least fifteen hands high. He caused an act to be passed that all stallions found 
on commons below a certain size should be confiscated, and that any mare or filly not likely to bear foals of a reasonable size, or 
to do profitable labours, should, at the discretion of the drivers of the commons, be killed and buried. These monstrous edicts, 
could they have been carried into effect, would have thinned the numbers of useful horses in England, already reduced by the de¬ 
structive wars of the houses of York and Lancaster. So great had been the decline in the number of horses in England, that 
Queen Elizabeth could only muster about 3000 cavalry when the terrible Armada of Spain threatened her kingdom with de¬ 
struction. Contemporary writers give us no high idea of the English horses at this period. They are described as strong and 
sturdy indeed, but as fit only for draught. The coarse cart-horse form was the prevailing one even for horses employed in the 
chase. We see then that, up to this period, no very great change had taken place in the general character of the horses of 
England. By the foreign importations, indeed, a class of horses had been formed called Running horses. These were not exclu¬ 
sively devoted to the race, but were merely distinguished for a somewhat superior power of speed. During the reign of Elizabeth, 
the use of heavy armour went gradually into disuse, notwithstanding the jousts and sports of the tilting-yard, which were still 
eagerly pursued. When James I. ascended the throne, these sports were in the wane, and he afforded them little support. James 
had no fondness for warlike exercises. He is said to have observed that he loved armour, because it both prevented the wearer of 
it from being hurt himself and from hurting others. He, however, gave great encouragement to a sport which has exercised an 
important influence on the characters of the Horses of the country. This was the Horse-race, which laid the foundation of a system 
by which a breed of horses was formed solely for running. The system was perfected in the reign of Charles II., and from this 
period a vast care has been bestowed in breeding a race of horses exclusively devoted to the Course. This has been effected by 
mixing the blood of the horses of the warmer countries with that of the horses of England, and breeding from the best of the 
mixed progeny, or, in other words, by a system of crossing. The horses imported were chiefly from Africa, from Asiatic Turkey, 
and ultimately from Arabia. The Barbs came generally from Morocco and Fez, and the Turks from Smyrna and other ports of 
the Levant; the Arabs generally from the deserts adjoining Syria. From the reign of King James to that of Queen Anne, in 
