Her Majesty's reign. The step taken by the Queen's advisers, with Lord
Melbourne, the Prime Minister, at their head, was deeply regretted by
all interested in horse breeding, as one seeming to imply that the
national sport would no longer receive the patronage of the Throne.
A respectful but strong memorial against the sale was presented by
the Jockey Club, but without avail, and on October 25, 1837, Messrs.
Tattersall disposed of the stud before a crowded audience, which
included buyers from France, Germany, Russia, and other foreign
countries. The catalogue included 43 brood mares, which brought 9,568
guineas; 13 colt foals, 1,471 guineas; 18 filly foals, 1,109 guineas;
and 5 stallions, including The Colonel and Actæon and two imported
Arabs, 3,556 guineas.
Actuated by patriotic motives and unwilling that so fine a horse should
go abroad, Mr. Richard Tattersall bought The Colonel for 1,600 guineas;
a price which was then considered a very large one. The total realised
by sale of the stud, including a couple of geldings, was 15,692
guineas. Thirteen years later, in 1850, the clear-sightedness of H.R.H.
the Prince Consort, saw that the dispersal had been a mistake, and that
year saw the foundation of a new stud which flourished until 1894, when
it was sent to the hammer. Regarding this second dispersal, it was
urged that the stud did not pay its expenses; and although it produced
The Earl, Springfield and La Flèche, good judges, including the late
General Peel, were of opinion that the ground, on which for so many
years Thoroughbreds had been reared, was tainted and therefore needed
rest.
In 1840 the fifth Duke of Richmond brought in a bill to repeal those
clauses of 13 George II. which still remained on the Statute Book
limiting the value of stakes, and this measure passed into law, not
without opposition (3 and 4 Vic. 5). Some interesting evidence bearing
on our subject was given before the Select Committee on Gaming which
was appointed in 1844. Mr. John Day gave it as his opinion that the
breed of horses had much improved during the twenty to twenty-five
years preceding, the improvement being apparent in riding and draught
horses. Mr. Richard Tattersall shared Mr. Day's opinion as regarded
improvement, but thought fewer horses were bred. About 1836 or 1837
farmers were in such a state that they could not, or did not think
it worth while to breed; by consequence the industry had fallen off
and there was a scarcity. Railways, in Mr. Tattersall's opinion, had
affected the market. "The middling sort does not sell in consequence of
railways; horses that used to fetch £40 now bring £17 or £18." Riding
horses sold better than the middling class, but hunters did not fetch
half the price they did in former years.
[Illustration: HUNTER SIRE COGNAC.
(From a Painting by J. E. FERNELEY, about 1826.)]
The result of this investigation, as far as the horse question is
concerned, was briefly summarised in the following passage of the Third
Report of the Lords' Committee. They thought it desirable that this
amusement should be upheld, "because, without the stimulus which racing
affords, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain that
purity of blood and standard of excellence which have rendered the
breed of English horses superior to that of any other country in the
world."
The last statement was borne out by Mr. Tattersall's evidence. He
said that he had sent horses to every part of the world except China.
America and the countries of Europe have been purchasing the best
stallions and mares money could buy in England during the last hundred
years and more.
In 1845 the number of Queen's Plates stood at 51; 36 in Great Britain
and 15 in Ireland. In 1861 the scale of weights was remodelled and made
applicable to all the Plates wherever run; and in the same year it was
enacted that "none of Her Majesty's Plates shall be run in heats."
Some few abortive attempts to control racing by law have been made
since Her Majesty's accession. In 1860 Lord Redesdale introduced into
the House of Lords a bill to stop light-weight racing by fixing the
minimum weight at 7 stone. This measure was withdrawn, Lord Derby and
Lord Granville, also a member of the Jockey Club and leader of the
Liberal Party in the House of Lords, promising on behalf of the Jockey
Club that that body was prepared to deal with the matter; but nothing
was done in the direction indicated.
In May, 1870, Mr. Thomas Hughes, the member for Frome, brought in a
bill to amend the laws relating to racing. This bill proposed to make
it unlawful to race any horse or mare under three years old, and to
make the Queen's Plates open only to horses four years old and upwards.
Mr. Hughes, in introducing his measure, said that between 1843 and 1868
the number of two-year-olds running had increased fourfold, while the
number of races of a mile and upwards had decreased, and urged that the
system which had grown up tended to cause deterioration in the breed of
horses. As was well known at the time, Mr. Hughes was indebted for his
facts and figures to Sir Joseph Hawley. This bill was read a first time
by 132 votes to 44, but was withdrawn in the following July.
Great and radical changes had come over the Turf during the twenty-five
years mentioned by Mr. Hughes, but they were only incidental to the
general process of Turf development which has been going on since the
advent of the railway.
In 1836 the travelling van was first used for conveying a horse from
training quarters to the race course. Lord George Bentinck, who managed
Lord Lichfield's racing stable, resolved at the last moment to run Elis
in the St. Leger, and astonished the betting fraternity by producing
him at Doncaster in time for the race; to do this he had borrowed a van
which had been constructed to carry fat cattle to Smithfield Show. The
fact that Elis won the St. Leger to which he had been brought in this,
then novel, fashion no doubt did something to stimulate the practice of
transporting race horses thus; but the van was gradually superseded by
the horse-box, which was first employed for the purpose about 1840.
Railways, as they spread over the country, did much to increase the
number of meetings held and to increase the numbers of entries. We find
that in the period between 1827 and 1837 the number of horses running
increased from 1,166 in the former year to 1,213 in the latter; while
during the period between 1860, when railroads had become numerous, and
1870, the number of horses running rose from 1,717 in the former year
to 2,569 in the latter.
The development of the daily sporting press and the spread of the
telegraph system have also contributed to the changes on the Turf. By
quickening the interest of the people in racing, these factors have
helped to increase the attendance on race courses, and at "gate money
meetings," to enhance the funds at the disposal of promoters, whereby
the latter are able to offer in prize money sums beyond the conception
of our grandfathers in the early years of the century.
With the increase in the number of meetings, of horses running and the
value of prizes, other changes have gradually crept in. The Challenge
Whip remains the solitary survival of the old four-mile races. The
Whip, it may be well to remind the reader, was originally the property
of Thomas Lennard, Lord Dacre, whose arms are engraved upon it. Lord
Dacre was created Earl of Sussex in 1674 by Charles II.: he was devoted
to the Turf, and it is believed that he left his Whip (a short, heavy,
old-fashioned jockey-whip with hair from the tail of Eclipse interwoven
into the ring on the handle) as a trophy to be run for at Newmarket. He
died in 1715, but the first race for the Whip does not appear to have
been run till 1756, when Mr. Fenwick's Match'em won from Mr. Bowles'
Trajan. Gimcrack, Mambrino, Shark, Pot-8-os, Dungannon, Thormanby,
and many other famous horses have run for the Whip. The course is the
Beacon, 4 miles 1 furlong 177 yards, and the weight to be carried is 10
stone.
The tendency for years has been in favour of short races at the expense
of long distance events. At the Newmarket Craven meeting of 1820 there
was one race of about three miles, five races of two miles or over,
twenty of about one mile and two of under one mile. At the Newmarket
Craven meeting of 1900 there were three races of about one mile and a
half, six of about one mile, and eleven of five or six furlongs. The
necessity for breeding race horses that could carry from ten to twelve
stone twice or thrice in an afternoon over a four-mile course has
disappeared altogether. In his place we have the animal which can carry
seven stone over six or seven furlongs at a pace that would probably
have left Eclipse hopelessly behind, but which is useless for any
purpose off the race-course.
The highly artificial existence to which our race horses are now
subjected, jealously protected from change of temperature, and "forced"
in preparation to take part in two-year-old races, has done much to
impair fitness to beget horses that will stand work in the hunting
field or on the road. This is a result of the changes which have come
over the English Turf during the century. We must, however, retrace our
steps and glance at the endeavours to improve our horses which have
been made within the last thirty years.
[Illustration: THE HACK HUNTER.
(From a Painting by GEORGE STUBBS, R.A., 1793.)]
The year 1873 saw the appointment of the Select Committee generally
known as Lord Rosebery's Committee "to Enquire into the Condition of
the Country with regard to Horses, and its Capabilities of Supplying
any Present or Future Demands for them." This committee did not
consider the question of Racing; their labours during their sixteen
sittings were restricted to eliciting facts from the witnesses
concerning the breeding and supply of horses of the generally useful
stamp; and much valuable evidence was given before them. To summarise
them briefly, the main points of their Report were as follows:--
The Committee considered that so far as the Army was concerned it
seemed to be admitted that the mounted branches were never better
horsed than they were now: Mr. H. R. Phillips had given evidence that
Irish mares were chiefly used in the Army. They were not prepared to
recommend the formation of Government breeding studs on the Continental
plan, deeming it better that the military authorities should continue
to buy as private customers. They did not recommend any check on the
use of unsound stallions, though admitting this to be a great evil;
to restrain owners of unsound sires from offering their services for
hire would, they thought, be construed as interference with individual
liberty; but, if practicable, they would have prizes given at
agricultural shows to sound stallions which covered mares at a low fee.
They also recommended (and this was the only one of their
recommendations adopted by the House of Commons) the abolition of taxes
on horses which operated as a deterrent to farmers who would otherwise
pay more attention to breeding. The evidence given before them showed
that there appeared to be no scarcity of Thoroughbreds: high-class
hunters had increased in price and more in proportion than other
horses, but those who could afford to pay could generally find what
they required. There was a general decrease in the number of horses
in England; the evidence pointed to a great scarcity of agricultural
horses, and while the Cleveland Bay and old-fashioned Hackney or
Roadster had become extremely rare, we had been obliged of late years
to look abroad for supplies of harness horses.
The causes of deficiency in these breeds were (1) the export of mares;
(2) the increased profits accruing to sheep and cattle rearing, and (3)
the increased demand for horses, consequent on increased population and
augmented wealth, which produced a relative scarcity. The Committee
recorded great improvements during the few years preceding in Cornwall
and Devon, where formerly few horses had been bred.
The value of the work performed by this Committee was much qualified by
the disinclination of its members to hear any evidence which did not
bear directly upon Thoroughbreds and the production of saddle horses.
Perusal of the mass of evidence given by numerous witnesses shows that
the Committee would hear little or nothing in relation to the condition
of Harness Horse breeding, apparently holding that very important
department of the industry as without the scope of their inquiry. It
is difficult to understand why this attitude was adopted, but the
published minutes stand to prove that any witness who ventured to
comment upon harness horses and the advisability of stimulating their
production, was not encouraged to give information.
What little evidence was accepted in regard to harness horses showed
the existence of a growing demand for the best Roadster stock in
continental countries. French, Italian, German and Austrian breeders
were fully alive to the value of Hackney blood, and their agents
coming every year to England for the purpose since about 1840 had
purchased all the good stallions they could find to foster and promote
the breeding of horses eminently suitable for carriage artillery and
transport work.
Mr. J. East, of the firm of Phillips and East, said that the French
agents "buy the very best mares they can get; you cannot get them to
buy a bad mare." The late Mr. H. R. Phillips stated in course of his
evidence that his firm sent "from thirty to forty of these roadster
stallions every year to France and Italy and different countries;
they sent as many as they could procure." When asked how the number
of Hackney stallions exported at that date compared with the number
exported ten or fifteen years previously (say about the year 1858), Mr.
Phillips replied that the foreigners had always taken as many as they
could get.
Horses of roadster stamp are not less necessary to the efficiency of
the British army than to Continental armies; but while the Committee
displayed the greatest care and assiduity in their investigations
concerning the causes of dearth in saddle horses, they passed over the
not less important question of harness horse supply, as though holding
that a matter of no account.
It is to be regretted that the Committee did not ask questions as to
the enormous number of mares purchased for France, Germany, Russia and
Austria, and also enquire concerning the use to which the mares are put
in those countries. The answers would have been instructive, for it is
now well known that fifteen out of every twenty of them were medium and
heavy weight hunter mares--many of them stale for riding to hounds, but
in every other respect suitable for breeding. These foreign buyers had
no prejudices: they bought the mares with the view of breeding stock
of the type most suitable for the requirements of their respective
countries: the mares had plenty of thoroughbred blood in their veins,
and it remained for breeders to select stallions of the right stamp.
Hence the demand from all continental countries for Hackney sires which
began sixty years ago and which has continued ever since.
How urgent was the necessity for attention to this department of
horse-breeding was very fully demonstrated by Earl Cathcart in
a paper[17] which was published in the _Journal_ of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England about ten years afterwards. Lord
Cathcart adopted the practical method of obtaining from friends who had
long experience, their opinions on the condition of the breeding of
horses other than thoroughbreds; and the communications sent by these
gentlemen make up the bulk of the paper referred to.
There was but one opinion among Lord Cathcart's correspondents who,
it must be noted, wrote quite independently of one another. To
briefly summarise their statements, they deplored the disappearance
of the old-fashioned thoroughbred with bone and stamina, and the
disappearance of the Cleveland breed and the Hackney of the 'thirties.
Many influences had been at work to bring about the regrettable change
in the stock of the country.
The spread of railways had put an end to the demand for coach horses
and roadsters, and the men who used to ride everywhere in the old
days had given up their hardy and enduring saddle horses for the more
luxurious seat in the train. At the same time buyers from France,
Germany, and other Continental countries, having discovered the
willingness of English breeders to part with their breeding stock if
sufficiently tempted, purchased every good mare money could command.
Again, the craze for height had done something to impair the merits of
what roadsters the foreigners left us. The Clevelands were ruined by
crossing with leggy inferior thoroughbreds, whose sole recommendation
consisted in their height at the shoulder and which were wanting in
every useful quality.
The value of the half-bred hunter was also insisted on by Lord
Cathcart's correspondents--all of them men who had right to form an
opinion. Mr. Sax Maynard, who for fifteen years was Master of the
North Durham Hounds, laid stress on the "wear and tear" qualities
of the hunter got by the old stamp of thoroughbred out of the
Cleveland mare, and conversely of hunters got by Cleveland sires out
of thoroughbred mares. The superior speed of the thoroughbred was
admitted; but the greater endurance of the half-bred hunter in hilly
country was a quality which gave him a value which did not attach to
the pure thoroughbred.
Nothing more convincing could have been compiled than this essay from
several horse-breeding correspondents. It shows clearly how very great
is the change which has come over the principal breeding grounds of
England during the present reign.
In regard to the disappearance of horses of the useful stamp for
harness and saddle it is not necessary to require evidence for the
reasons. When we remember how enormous was the network of coach route
that spread all over the kingdom in pre-railway days; and consider
how vast were the studs necessary to horse the mail and passenger
coaches, to say nothing of the post-chaises preferred by people of
means; and when we think that the road-coach survives now only in
a few out-of-the-way corners of the country, and is regarded as an
interesting relic of by-gone days where it does exist, we can form
perhaps a vague idea of the extent of the change. About the year 1830
upwards of 1,040 coaches were running daily out of London alone.
We need not, thanks to "Nimrod" and other chroniclers of the coaching
age, remain content with a vague idea of the number of horses then
in use on the roads. It is easy to take a single route and reckon up
the stud required to work a coach running thereon. The usual "stage"
for a team was from eight to ten miles, and making due provision for
rests, accidents, &c., the proprietors estimated the needs of a coach
at one horse per mile "one way." Therefore a coach running from London
to York, 200 miles, and back, required about 200 horses; from London
to Edinburgh, 400 miles, and back, about 400 horses; from London to
Exeter, 175 miles, and back, about 175 horses.
On roads where the passenger traffic was heavy, coaches were numerous:
as many as twenty-five ran daily in the summer during the 'thirties
from London to Brighton. The distance by road is about sixty miles,
whence it would seem that no fewer than 1,500 horses were used by the
coach proprietors on that route alone; probably more, as competition
was keen and the speed maintained was hard upon horseflesh.
The average working life of a horse in a fast road coach was about
four years, according to Nimrod. Hence the coach proprietor found it
necessary to renew one fourth of his stud at a cost of from £25 to £45
per head every year. Mr. Chaplin, who owned five "yards" in London in
the 'thirties, had upwards of 1,300 horses at work in various coaches
on various roads, and would therefore have been obliged to purchase
about £11,375 worth of horses every year.
When the railway banished the coach from the highroad, which it did
with considerable rapidity, these great coaching studs were necessarily
given up, and a market for horses of the most useful stamp disappeared.
An eminent proprietor gave the qualities required in a road coach-horse
for fast work as follows: "First requisite, action; second, sound legs
and feet, with power and breeding equal to the nature and length of
the ground he will work upon; third, good wind, without which the
first and second qualifications will not avail in very fast work for
any length of time. The hunter and racer are good or bad, chiefly in
proportion to their powers of respiration; and such is the case with
the road-coach horse."
The practical disappearance from our country of such horses as those
used in the mail and ordinary coaches and in post carriages was nothing
short of a national calamity. They were horses of the essentially
useful stamp, sound, hardy and enduring, just such animals as are
indispensable for cavalry, artillery, and transport work on a campaign.
And though the full importance of the loss which had befallen us was
evident, the difficulties in the way of retrieving our position as
breeders was not less evident. The breeding of horses had ceased to
be remunerative, and as a natural consequence men had ceased to breed
them, preferring to devote their energies and capital to stock of a
stamp for which they could depend upon finding a market. Any horses of
the useful class that were produced found their way, if worth having,
into the hands of foreigners, as we have seen.
[Illustration: NORFOLK PHENOMENON (Foaled 1824).]
In March, 1887, Lord Ribblesdale took the matter up and in a very able
speech drew the attention of the House of Lords to the question of
the "Horse Supply for Military and Industrial Purposes." He rendered
a tribute to the work that was being done by private persons and by
societies and associations, thanks to whose endeavours the breeders of
Shire horses and Clydesdales were prospering. The brisk foreign demand
for British stock proved its merit, but so long as halfbred horses
suitable for remounts and all useful purposes were as scarce as they
were, while we were importing horses to the value of over a quarter of
a million sterling annually, including harness-horses and match pairs
of carriage-horses, we had evidence that we were not breeding high
class horses up to the demand for our own daily increasing needs.
He urged that the money given in Queen's Plates be diverted from its
then use and devoted to subsidising approved stallions, which should
serve at low fees; and that large prizes should be offered from the
public purse for foals, yearlings, and two-year-olds. As regarded
military horses he advised the purchase of two-year-olds to be kept at
maturing _depôts_ till old enough to take in hand; and in recommending
the system of direct purchase from the breeder referred to the fact
that direct purchase was approved by Baron Nathansius, the French
Inspector General of Remounts, in a letter which that officer had
addressed to the present writer.
Lord Ribblesdale paid me the compliment of seeking my assistance in his
task: and in order to obtain the actual views of the horse-breeding
interest in England, Colonel Sir Nigel Kingscote, Sir Jacob Wilson and
the writer met in February, 1887, and drew up a series of questions.
These questions were printed and sent out to between three and four
hundred of the best known horse-breeders in the Kingdom; to all, in
point of fact, whose experience would lend weight to their views and
whose addresses could be secured. The principal questions put were as
follows:--
"_Q. 1._ Assuming that an annual Grant from the Government of
£5,000 be made for the encouragement of the breeding of halfbred
horses, to whom in your opinion ought such grant to be entrusted
for distribution? Whether to a specially constituted Board of
Trustees or to any other body?