horse worth over £5—Henry Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, on the manners
of the age—King William III.'s death due to a riding accident—The
Duke of Cumberland's breeding establishment in Queen Anne's
reign—Arrival of the Darley Arabian—The Godolphin Arabian—Royal
Ascot inaugurated by Queen Anne—“Docking” and “cropping”
condemned by Queen Anne; attempt to suppress these practices—The
story of Eclipse—Some horses of romance—Copenhagen and Marengo
Though James II. strove to emulate to some extent the example set
by his lighthearted predecessor on England's throne, he failed
almost from the outset to achieve popularity in any marked degree.
More partial to hunting than to racing, during his brief reign he
nevertheless gave his support to the Turf and strove to encourage
the breeding of blood stock. His interest in the chase, however,
evaporated almost completely as he became more and more engrossed in
the affairs of state.
Whether or no James II. was a finished horseman does not appear, but
it may be there is a hidden significance in the statement to be found
in several histories that he was “the only crowned head known to have
had a surgeon to attend him in the hunting field.”
Nor is there evidence of his having ever attended a race meeting after
his accession, with the exception of an important meeting held at
Winchester in 1685.
The stakes run for at about this time were of small value. Fifty
sovereigns were deemed to be a prize well worth winning, while a purse
of 100 guineas attracted many spectators and large fields and gave
rise to “heated and excited speculation as to the probable results of
the contest.”
At some of the small meetings valuable horses would be entered to run
for a paltry stake of thirty sovereigns, or even for five and twenty,
and it was quite common for insignificant races of this kind to be
“decided by vile persons.”
The weights carried in races run during the latter half of the
seventeenth century were out of all proportion. Thus we read of horses
carrying ten, twelve and thirteen stone in the final heats of short
flat races—in those days almost all races were run in heats. James II.
does not appear to have owned any exceptionally famous horses, nor
does the horse come prominently to the front during his brief reign of
four years.
* * * * *
Two events of national importance took place in 1689: William and
Mary ascended the throne of England, and the famous Byerley Turk, from
which so many of our thoroughbred horses are descended, was brought
over by his owner, Captain Byerley, who later was to serve in King
William's army and fight for him in the battle of the Boyne.
Some say that Captain Byerley had the Turk with him during that
battle, but probably this was not so.
From the standpoint from which we are passing the history of this
country in review, the arrival of the Byerley Turk was an event of
almost as great importance as William and Mary's accession, for as
the popularity of the Turf was still increasing year by year the
importation of so valuable a stallion as the Byerley Turk in a sense
served as a landmark.
And certainly this horse proved to be one of the greatest of all the
sires that were brought over in the seventeenth century. The king, a
good judge of a horse, was much attracted by “Byerley's Treasure,” as
some soon came to call it, and it is known that the king himself owned
at this time some of the finest thoroughbreds, probably, that had ever
been foaled. That he ran horses of his own at Newmarket is beyond
dispute, and the general impression amongst historical writers appears
to be that he ran horses also at several other meetings.
It was while attending a race meeting at Newmarket that the king
commanded the unjust Act to be put into force which rendered it penal
for a Roman Catholic to own a horse worth more than five pounds.
Trustworthy historians tell us that most likely the king would not
have acted so, but for the influence brought to bear upon him by his
queen, who apparently was anxious to vent her spite upon at least one
high-born Catholic by whom she had been affronted.
The ultra-bigoted among the king's subjects rejoiced openly at the
enforcement of the statute, but, whatever reason there may have been
for so severe a measure, the storm of indignation aroused throughout
the country caused the king considerable uneasiness.
As a natural result of the enforcement of the Act many Catholics
presently substituted teams of oxen, and with these clumsy animals
they would drive many miles to attend their church services on Sundays.
How rapidly the Turf must have continued to acquire popularity during
this reign is proved by the fact that ten years after the king and
queen had ascended the throne—namely, in 1699—more race meetings were
held throughout the country than in any previous year in England's
history. In this year, too, the King's Master of the Stud, Robert
Marshall, brought over from Arabia fourteen valuable stallions at a
cost of some £1100, and these were sent direct to Newmarket, where
the king was staying at the time.
* * * * *
That the reports of the evil that is said necessarily to follow in the
train of racing were in William's reign greatly exaggerated, as they
are to-day, may be gathered from a description of the manners of the
age to be found in the diary and state letters of Henry Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon.
Hyde, who died at Cornbury, in Oxfordshire, in 1709, at the ripe age
of seventy-one, tells us that towards the close of the seventeenth
century “a man of the first quality made it his constant practice
to go to church,” and that he could spend the day in society with
his family and friends “without shaking his arm at the gaming-table,
associating with jockeys at Newmarket, or murdering time by a constant
round of giddy dissipation, if not criminal indulgence.”
Other writers make statements practically to the same effect, so it
is safe to infer that the foregoing description forms a true account
of the style of living in the age when the Turf reached probably its
zenith. There are, however, historians who would have us believe
that at no period did horse racing flourish in this country without
bringing with it, as though by natural process, dissipation,
debauchery and general degeneration.
Indeed, as one writer exclaims in an access of unchecked emotion,
“from the period when the noble animal became debased and prostituted
in this country from the purposes for which he was intended by his
Maker—the purposes of war and agriculture—he has gradually sunk, and
those who have helped to debase him have at great length followed his
example.” Out of consideration for this writer's feelings—for it is
to be hoped that by now he has recognised the error of his judgment—I
refrain from mentioning his name.
William met his death through a riding accident. Mounted upon his
favourite “pleasure horse,” described as “a steed of mean stature,
named Sorrel, which had a blind eye,” the king, so it is said, for
some reason lost his temper and struck his mount a violent blow upon
the head with a heavy riding-stick.
Instantly the animal bounded forward, and William, thrown suddenly off
his balance, was unhorsed and fell heavily on his side.
Personally I think the story more likely to be true is that Sorrel
stumbled over a molehill, and, in trying to recover himself, fell on
to his side. The king, thrown violently, received an internal injury
from which he never recovered. Other stories of what took place have
also been handed down to us.
* * * * *
No less liberal a supporter of the Turf than William of Orange was
Queen Anne, his successor. A modern tautological historian quaintly
tells us that “Good Queen Anne had many horses, and they were numerous
and costly,” a phrase reminiscent of the newspaper reporter's
description of a bride's wedding gifts.
That Anne should have loved horses and been an enthusiastic “turfite”
is not to be wondered at when we bear in mind the sort of atmosphere
in which she had been reared.
The Duke of Cumberland's breeding establishment at Cumberland Lodge
in Windsor Great Park—where later on Eclipse and the almost equally
famous Herod were to be foaled—probably was the best known in England.
According to Mr Theodore Andrea Cook, our modern authority upon the
thoroughbred, its origin, and all that has to do with it, the finest
breed of horse ever produced was the result of the cross between the
pure Arab and the animal that was in England towards the end of the
seventeenth century.
The Darley Arabian, foaled about the month of March, 1702, and his
line of distinguished successors, in reality started the long and
baffling process which eventually ended in the production of the
beautifully shaped animal we see in the modern thoroughbred.
Probably less than fifteen hands, the Darley Arabian was a dark bay
descended from the race the most esteemed among the Arabs. Captain
Upton maintains that it was of the Ras-el-Fadawi breed, but the mass
of the evidence obtainable points rather to its having been a pure
Managni.
Certainly the Darley Arabian is one of the most historically
interesting horses that has ever been imported into this country. The
property of John Brewster Darley, Esq., of Aldby Park, near York, it
was bought at Aleppo by Brewster Darley's brother for comparatively
a small sum, and sent to England about the year 1705, where
subsequently it became the sire of Flying Childers and consequently
the great-great-grandsire of Eclipse—three names that stand out in
the history of the horse and his connection with the history of this
country perhaps more prominently than any other three it would be
possible to mention.
Flying Childers, like his sire, was a bay, and Mr Leonard Childers, of
Carr House, near Doncaster, who bred him in 1715, soon afterwards sold
him to the Duke of Devonshire.
About fourteen and a half hands, Flying Childers is described as “a
close-made horse, short-backed and compact, whose reach lay altogether
in his limbs.”
Eclipse, as we shall see presently, was the reverse of this, for he
had great length of waist and stood over much ground.
According to trustworthy statistics, Flying Childers was the fastest
horse that ever ran at Newmarket, while it is stated, on what appears
to be good authority, that no faster horse has ever lived.
[Illustration: FLYING CHILDERS, BRED BY MR. LEONARD CHILDERS IN 1715,
IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN “THE FASTEST HORSE THAT HAS EVER LIVED”]
With only Eastern blood in his veins—his dam, Betty Leedes,
was a descendant of pure Eastern horses that had lived long in
England—Flying Childers' career upon the Turf was truly phenomenal. He
died in 1741.
* * * * *
Another historic sire of the early part of the eighteenth century was
the Godolphin Arabian, called also the Godolphin Barb, foaled in 1724.
His height was about fifteen hands, and his colour a dark brown.
We are told that he was sent to Louis XIV. by the Emperor of Morocco,
but it is known that when he died he belonged to the Earl of Godolphin.
Whether the pedigrees of all modern thoroughbreds can or cannot be
traced back to the Byerley Turk, to the Darley Arabian, or to the
Godolphin Arabian, is still a source of argument, and opinions upon
the point probably are about equally divided.
A romantic story attaches to the Godolphin Barb—to the last he was
pronounced by Lord Godolphin to be an Arabian—inasmuch as he was at
one period of his life driven in a water cart in the streets of Paris.
He died in 1753, and his remains lie under the stable gateway at Gog
Magog, near Cambridge.
* * * * *
After the race meeting known as Royal Ascot had been inaugurated by
Queen Anne, in 1712, the tone of the Turf in England greatly improved.
The rules of racing were revised, and more attention was paid to their
enforcement. Also steps were taken to prevent “undesirable and roguish
persons” from “indulging in their wicked and thievish habits”—in
short, a serious attempt was made to purify the Turf, as the process
is termed now.
To what extent this alleged purification proved effectual we are
not told, but a number of persons who probably were considered
“undesirable and roguish,” were, about the year 1718, ordered to
“abstain from attending the meetings,” a command that most likely
was the equivalent for being warned off the Turf, and apparently
is the first actual allusion to warning off the Turf that is to be
found mentioned in history. It has even been maintained that the
inauguration of the Jockey Club, believed to have taken place in
1750, was prompted by an urgent necessity for a body of responsible
Turf administrators with power “to order thievish persons to keep
away.”
I believe it is not generally known, except among persons versed in
Turf history, that prior to the inauguration of the Derby and the Oaks
it was quite exceptional for three-year-old horses to be raced at all.
Before that time the three-year-old was looked upon more or less in
the same way that to-day we look upon the yearling.
Indeed early in the eighteenth century but few horses were run
when very young. In William and Mary's reign some of the most
important races were won by six-year-olds, and we find allusion to a
six-year-old plate that must have been run for at about this time.
Nearly all the long races were still run in heats, and some of the
horses entered were nine, ten, twelve and even more.
* * * * *
The practice of cropping manes and docking tails was expressly
condemned by Queen Anne, also by one of the Georges, probably George
III. Berenger, in his “History and Art of Horsemanship,” published
in 1771, observes that “the cruelty and absurdity of our notions and
customs in 'cropping,' as it is called, the ears of our horses,
'docking' and 'nicking' their tails, is such that we every day fly in
the face of reason, nature and humanity.
“Nor is the existing race of men in this island alone to be charged
with this folly, almost unbecoming the ignorance and cruelty of
savages, but their forefathers several centuries ago were charged and
reprehended by a public canon for this absurd and barbarous practice.
“However, we need but look into the streets and roads to be convinced
that their descendants have not degenerated from them, although his
present Majesty in his wisdom and humanity has endeavoured to reclaim
them by issuing an order that the horses which serve in his troops
shall remain as nature designed them.”
Only a few years after the publication of the “History and Art of
Horsemanship” a determined attempt was made to suppress, once and for
all time, the practices referred to. For a while public interest was
greatly stirred, and it seemed as though the practices would at last
be put an end to by direct legislation, but eventually undue influence
was brought to bear, and nothing was done.
Indeed, as most of us must have noticed, the practice of docking the
tails of nearly all horses except race horses is so prevalent at the
present time that in many instances the tails are cut to within a few
inches of the root, while some of our ultra “fashionable” horse
dealers go so far as to pluck out most of the hairs left on the stump.
In the west of England the latter trick is indulged in more often than
in the northern counties or the midlands.
* * * * *
Of all the famous sires whose names stand out as household words in
the annals of the horse in history, but few bear comparison with the
world-renowned Eclipse.
[Illustration: MR. O'KELLY'S ECLIPSE, THE MOST FAMOUS THOROUGHBRED
STALLION EVER FOALED 1764
_After the painting by G. Stubbs_]
Bred, as already mentioned, by the Duke of Cumberland, he took his
name from the coincidence that the great eclipse of 1764 was in
progress at the very hour of his birth.
There does not seem to have been anything particularly striking about
the foal's appearance, and certainly none imagined for a moment that
he would be likely to grow into one of the most famous horses, if not
the most famous horse, the Turf has ever known.
Until the age of five, Eclipse was not run in public, but from the
time he won his first race, in May 1769, until his last appearance
upon the Turf, in October 1770, he was never beaten, or near being
beaten. The long list of his triumphs need not be given here, but Mr
Theodore Cook reminds us in his exhaustive work upon this horse that
it was Dennis O'Kelly's son of Eclipse that won the second Derby, and
that out of 127 races, including the first, Eclipse's descendants had
down to the year 1906 furnished no fewer than eighty-two winners.
Eclipse himself was sold as a yearling for less than 100 guineas. Of
his direct descendants, a yearling filly was bought not very long ago
for 10,000 guineas; a race horse in training has fetched £39,375 at
public auction; two sires have each produced stock that has won over
half-a-million sterling; and other horses tracing back to him in the
direct male line have won the “Triple Crown” nine times out of ten and
hold the record for the pace at which the Two-Thousand, the Derby and
the Leger have been run.
Upon one point all trustworthy authorities on thoroughbreds and their
performances, also the principal historians of the Turf, and in
addition the leading “turfites” of our own period, are in agreement,
and that is that since the time of Flying Childers the Turf, the world
over, has not known a horse faster than Eclipse was.
This in itself is exceptional praise, but Eclipse was to add
materially to his extraordinary reputation, for while at stud he
became the sire of 335 winners who between the year 1774 and the year
1796 won close upon £160,000 in stakes alone, exclusive of cups and
plates, and in addition his owner is known to have stated openly that
he was paid for the horse's services as a stallion upwards of £25,000.
Referring again to the later descendants of Eclipse, we find that
in the year 1894 they won between them over £421,400 in stakes, the
number of winners being 827, and the total number of races won, 1469.
Indeed there probably is not any other horse in the world, nor ever
has been, that has been the prime cause of so much money changing
hands.
Perhaps what most attracted attention to Eclipse in his racing days
was the apparent ease with which he won. His stride is said to have
been phenomenal. Did he, during the whole of his career upon the
Turf, ever fully extend himself? The question has many times been
discussed by experts, and the consensus of opinion seems to point to
the conclusion that he never did.
For even after making his greatest efforts he did not seem to be
distressed. The race-loving public seemed almost to worship him at
about the period he reached his zenith, and in the end it was to all
intents impossible to back him.
The interest the king was known to take in Eclipse was very great,
yet probably George III. was at heart less interested in the sport of
racing than any of his predecessors had been.
Thackeray insinuates this in his immortal satire of “The Four
Georges,” and with truth it may be said that of all the great horses
that have figured prominently either directly or indirectly in the
history of this country, Flying Childers and Eclipse take precedence.
* * * * *
Much that has been written on the subject of Queen Anne's alleged
fondness for horses would seem to be based on doubtful knowledge. The
more discriminating among our historians appear to think that too much
importance has been attached to many of the statements.
There are, I believe, letters extant from Queen Anne in which she
talks at length upon the subject of the horses that belonged to her,
but certain documents of the same sort are attributed to her which she
probably did not write.
The King of Denmark, upon one occasion made her a present of twelve
mares carefully chosen by himself, but for the rest the majority of
the stories told of Queen Anne should be accepted with reservation.
Indeed from the middle of the eighteenth to the middle of the
nineteenth century the horse again figured largely in romance, a fact
that may in a measure account for the stories that have been put about
of Queen Anne and her horses.
Smollett is but one of the writers whose works are prolific of
narratives of the kind, and some of these stories from being repeated
so frequently came at last to be believed by a mass of the people.
Thus the tales of Sir Launcelot Graves' adventures, and of the acts
that were attributed to Sir Launcelot's grotesque “mettlesome sorrel,”
Bronzomarte, were believed by some actually to be true.
In point of fact this Sir Launcelot must have been a sort of Don
Quixote who in the reign of George II. deemed it his mission to
roam about England “redressing wrongs, discouraging moral evils not
recognisable by law, degrading immodesty, punishing ingratitude and
reforming society generally.”
Fables were related too of Robert Burns' mare, Jenny Geddes, while the
poets also took possession of the palfrey which belonged to Madame
Chatelet of Circy—the lady with whom Voltaire lived for ten or more
years—and wove around it, also round its mistress, many romantic but
wholly fictitious narratives.
Its name was Rossignol, and, according to one poet at least, Madame
Chatelet fed the creature “on newly picked apricots, gave it milk to
drink, and rode with a silken rein.” Rossignol is mentioned also in
the history of Voltaire's life.
The story of Dr Dove's steed that was called Nobbs has the seal of
Southey upon it, which may account for the animal's having been
dragged into so many romances. At best, however, it was a foolish
beast. Dr Dove, it may be unnecessary to remind the reader, is the
hero of Southey's “Doctor.” The extent to which some of the famous
stories of romance came in course of time to be woven into other
stories is rather remarkable.
Thus we find Dr Dove described in three different stories as three
distinct and different individuals not one of whom is recognisable as
the same person and the original, while the horse, Nobbs, is spoken of
in one story as a bay, in another as a brown, in a third as a black.
Is it possible that the authors of those stories can have read
the original Southey? And if history of such small importance,
comparatively, is thus corrupted, can one place implicit belief in
many of the serious historical narratives? Rather one is tempted to
believe the assertion of Pitt, “the boy Prime Minister,” when he
declared in all seriousness that “nothing is so uncertain as positive
truth.”
* * * * *
Most historians make mention of the charger that carried Wellington so
well at Waterloo; yet the only statement with the impress of truth in
this connection is that the horse died in 1835, aged twenty-seven. It
was Wellington's favourite steed, and its name was Copenhagen. Of
his other horses we read but little.
Marengo, Napoleon's favourite mount, was, according to one historian,
a pure white stallion; according to another a cream-coloured gelding.
In Vernet's famous picture of Napoleon crossing the Alps we are shown
a snow-white horse, and Meissonnier shows us a snow-white horse too,
so most likely this animal actually was quite white. The resting-place
of Marengo's remains is the Museum of the United Services, in London.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AT WAGRAM
_From the famous painting by Vernet at Versailles_]
In an age when attempts are made to overthrow almost every established
historical record, and when we are even informed quite gravely that
Joan of Arc was not burnt at the stake at all, but that the victim was
some other woman—a lady of rank, who out of compassion for the poor
Pucelle was at the last moment prompted to sacrifice herself in her
place!—it is not surprising that sceptics should exist who would have
us believe that Napoleon's horse was not called Marengo.
What is it, precisely, that prompts this section of modern searchers
after “positive truth” to cast doubts upon so many of the minor
historical incidents? For, as a reviewer recently observed, it is
hardly worth the while of any serious historian to waste time in
refuting such misstatements.
Sir Charles Napier owned a mare that he prized greatly. Its name
was Molly, but it does not appear to have performed any exceptional
feats of prowess. Apparently the only point about it upon which our
historians lay stress is that the animal lived to the age of five and
thirty. As for Lord Nelson's connection with horses, so far as I have
been able to ascertain it was limited to his superstitious belief that
the possession of a horseshoe must bring him luck. At any rate he
always kept at least one horseshoe nailed to the mast of his ship, the
_Victory_.
The story of Siegfried's horse, Grane, is of course well known. In
William Combe's quaint tale of the simple-minded, henpecked clergyman,
Dr Syntax, we have a horse named Grizzle that was “all skin and bone.”
Written in eight-syllable verse, the narrative explains in rather an
amusing way how the eccentric old scholar left home in search of the
picturesque, and Grizzle figures largely in it from beginning to end,
in much the same way that the ill-starred pony, Fiddleback, figures in
Goldsmith's narrative.
[Illustration: WELLINGTON'S FAMOUS HORSE, COPENHAGEN]
CHAPTER V
A retrospective summary—The beginning of the end—Superstition
of the horseshoe—The Bedouins and their horses—Some classic
thoroughbreds of modern times—Horses hypnotised—The Derby and the
Oaks—Horse racing in Mongolia—Conclusion.
With the early years of our reigning sovereign's period the long story
of the horse's progress through history may be deemed to have come
practically to an end.
We have seen how the very early races of Asia, of Africa, and of
Europe were enabled to spread their power, and were assisted in
protecting themselves against the onslaughts of their numerous
enemies, by possessing many horses upon which they could depend
implicitly in the hour of strife.
The Egyptians, Medes, Persians, Syrians, Scythians, Libyans,
Carthaginians, Macedonians, Numidians—all owed their series of
successes in a great measure to the fact that they owned horses when
their antagonists either had none at all, or else only a few, and
those of an indifferent stamp.
Thus through the whole course of history the influence of the horse
can be traced.
Rome, until after the conquest of Gaul, was deemed a weak nation in
some respects, and when we study the history of Rome at about that
period we find the weakness to have been in a measure attributable to
Rome's shortage of horses during the greater part of that long spell.
* * * * *
Coming to what has been termed the Arabian period, history proves
beyond all doubt that the spread of Islam was due partly to the
Arabians having at about that time become possessors of many horses.
Indeed had the Franks not owned a great number of exceptionally fine
horses by about the beginning of the sixth century A.D., who can say
that the Saracens would not, after the year 732 A.D., have vanquished
the larger portion of Western Europe?
Again, what chance of victory would the Normans have had at Hastings
had Harold's forces been mounted on horseback? For when we remember
the valiant way that Harold and his men fought it is easy to believe
that the Normans would have been completely routed had they too been
fighting on foot and not on horseback, in which case the entire
history of this country would very likely have been different.
* * * * *
In the Middle Ages we find the horse playing if possible a more
important part in the making of history than it had done in the
previous centuries, for what would have become of England's power, and
her prestige, had she been deprived of those great war horses and the
almost invulnerable men-at-arms who bestrode them?
England's might spread steadily while the strength and size of her
horses went on increasing, and while the weight of the armour worn by
horses and men grew gradually heavier and heavier.
The limit in weight of armour would appear to have been reached when a
horse became compelled to carry a man and armour that weighed together
between thirty and three and thirty stone.
It was soon after this limit had been arrived at that the era of the
new and armourless cavalry-man mounted on a light and active horse set
in unexpectedly.
Coming to more recent years, what would Marlborough or any other of
the great and successful military leaders have done had they been
deprived of even a portion of their cavalry?
With the outbreak of the Boer War the wise-acres shook their heads,
declaring that in such a country as South Africa the mounted soldier
must prove useless; that the “punitive expedition,” as the campaign
was termed when first war was declared, would be conducted almost
solely by infantry; while reasons innumerable were advanced to prove
the “accuracy” of such wild forecasts.
And now when we look back upon it all we see that the war would most
likely still be dragging its way along had only infantry been employed.
* * * * *
To-day it seems likely, indeed almost certain, that the horse's
influence upon the world's progress—influence that we have traced back
into the dim ages—has actually come to a close.
Evidence that this is so is observable on every side. The discovery of
the strength of steam left the horse still in power, so to speak, for
the locomotive engine drove only coach horses out of existence.
The utility of the electrically driven motor, and of the motor driven
by petrol power, has been proved to be almost ubiquitous, and the
rapidity with which the motor has already ousted horses in almost
every direction is little short of phenomenal.
For the ultra-conservative little body of the community to maintain
that this is not so because it hates to speak or think of
automobiles comes near to being grotesque. We are confronted by hard
facts that cannot be avoided, and whether we like them or not they
nevertheless must force us to realise what is happening.
[Illustration: FLYING DUTCHMAN. FOALED 1846
_From a life-size painting by Herring_]
Shall I be charged with indulging a flight of imagination if I venture
to declare that, before three decades more have passed, the horse will
have become so completely dethroned that it will be with us only for
racing purposes and to assist us in the artificial chase?
If about the year 2030 some student of past history shall come upon
these lines I trust that he will quote them with appropriate comment.
* * * * *
Horses famous in history other than that of the Turf occur but
rarely in the records of the last century or so. Lord Cardigan had a
chestnut thoroughbred that carried him unscathed through the memorable
Balaclava Charge, but there does not appear to be any story of
interest attaching to the animal—it had two white stockings and its
name was Ronald.
I have tried to trace the origin of the superstitious belief that
the possession of a horseshoe must bring luck, but without any very
satisfactory result. The superstition reached its height apparently
towards the middle of the eighteenth century, or a little later, and
by the middle of the nineteenth it was steadily dying out.
A horseshoe nailed to a house door was in the first instance supposed
to keep away witches, a belief which gradually developed into the
supposition that the possession of the shoe would in some way bring
good fortune to the owner. According to several writers, most of the
houses in the west end of London at one time had a horseshoe on the
threshold, and it is said that in the year 1813 no less than seventeen
shoes nailed to doors were to be seen in Monmouth Street alone.
Also it is asserted that as late as the year 1855 seven horseshoes
remained nailed to different doors in that street alone.
* * * * *
In his interesting book, “Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,” Mr Blunt
has something to say upon the subject of the treatment of horses by
the Bedouins.
The Bedouin, it seems, as a rule does not use either bit or bridle,
but controls his horse by means of a halter to which a thin chain is
attached that passes round the nose.
Apparently stirrups are unknown to the Bedouin, while in place of a
saddle he uses a stout pad made of cotton which he binds on to the
horse's back with the help of a surcingle.
Among the many interesting statements in this book is one to the
effect that the Bedouin cannot ascertain a horse's age by examining
the teeth, and that he has no knowledge of the trick so often resorted
to by unprincipled European horse dealers of making false marks on
teeth.
Many Chinamen, on the other hand, claim to be able to tell a horse's
age from its teeth up to the age of thirty-two.
A point omitted by Mr Blunt is that the Bedouin being, so to speak,
born a horseman, is unable to understand how any race of men can exist
that cannot ride. Were we to be told that a race of men exist who
have never learnt to walk we should be about as much surprised as the
Bedouin is.
Our leading authorities upon the history of the thoroughbred are
unanimous in asserting that until about a century and a half ago the
thoroughbred was unknown in America.
Yet among the famous descendants of the first thoroughbreds imported
into the United States we find horses of world-wide renown, such
animals, for instance, as Iroquois and Foxhall. These two horses are
especially worthy of mention, inasmuch as they achieved success that
came near to being phenomenal.
How remarkable the development of the thoroughbred has been in our
own country may be gathered from our knowledge that whereas the fee
charge for the services of Herod at stud was but ten guineas, and
for Touchstone only sixty guineas, to-day the fee for the use of a
“fashionable” stallion is frequently from 500 to 600 guineas.
The Committee of the House of Lords that met in the year 1873 to
discuss the question of horse breeding did much to encourage the
rearing of the very best stock obtainable. The famous race horse,
Common, by Isonomy out of Thistle, bred in 1888, made his first
appearance as a three-year-old and won for Lord Arlington and Sir
Frederick Johnson—his joint owners—the Two Thousand, the Derby and
the Leger, a performance that at once places him in one of the most
important niches of fame in the latter part of the last century.
Another of the “immortals” who won the three great races is
Gladiateur, a name that recalls to mind a host of thoroughbreds
whose fame will be handed down to posterity—Blue Gown, Blair Athol,
Harkaway, Ormonde, St Gatien, Robert the Devil, Hermit, Persimmon,
Flying Fox, Donovan—the names come tumbling into one's thoughts pell
mell; but as the triumphs of these and many other giants of the turf
of comparatively modern times have been described in detail again
and again in the many volumes devoted to the thoroughbred and his
history, they need not be repeated here.
Yet it is worthy of mention that though some few years ago the famous
thoroughbred sires in this country included 260 direct descendants
of Eclipse, and sixty direct descendants of the Byerley Turk, they
included only thirty-six direct descendants of the greatly glorified
Godolphin Arabian.
* * * * *
I believe I am right in saying that the cream-white horses which,
until comparatively a recent date, were used by the king on state
occasions, are directly descended from the celebrated white horses
formerly in the royal stables at Hanover.
Allusion to these animals recalls to mind a method of controlling
horses that is said to be in vogue still in parts of Austria, where it
is spoken of as “the Balassiren” of horses, and that in reality is a
method of mesmerising horses before shoeing them.
According to Obersteimer, whose words are quoted in Hudson's “Psychic
Phenomena,” the process takes its name from a cavalry officer named
Balassa, who was the first to introduce or to attempt it.
Under the circumstances it is interesting to read that among the early
Egyptians there were men who could, or who professed to be able to,
obtain complete control over horses and other animals by the exercise
solely of will power, and that such men were sometimes called in upon
occasions when a horse had to be bound.
It therefore seems possible that some at least of the horses
sacrificed in the ages before Christ may first have been dazed, if not
rendered unconscious, with the aid of some such agency as hypnotism.
* * * * *
Though the Derby and the Oaks were not inaugurated until the last
quarter of the eighteenth century—when, as Lord Rosebery tells us, “a
roystering party at a country house founded two races and named them
gratefully after their host and his house”—horse racing has now for
many years been popular in nearly every civilised country, while in
some of the uncivilised countries it has long been included among the
favourite pastimes of the people.
Thus Mr C. W. Campbell, H. M. Consul at Wuchow before 1904, mentions
in the report of a journey that he made through Mongolia that the
Mongols are extremely fond of racing. He adds, however, that the
practice of betting upon horse races was almost unknown there at the
time he wrote, and goes on to say that in the Chahar country an ounce
or two of silver—worth at most from two shillings to half-a-crown—was
in some instances the only prize offered, though plenty of the races
were run over a ten-mile course!
According to Mr Campbell, the Derby of Mongolia is held near Urga,
under the direct patronage of the Bogdo. The course is thirty miles in
length, and much of it rough steppe, and “the winners are presented
to the Bogdo, who maintains them for the rest of their lives in
honourable idleness.”
The jockeys are the smallest boys able to ride the distance. “A
saddle or seat aid in any form is not allowed. The jockeys simply
roll up their loose cotton trousers as high as they can, clutch the
pony's ribs with their bare legs, and all carry long whips. The
bridles—single snaffles with rawhide reins—have each a round disc of
burnished silver attached to the headband.”
* * * * *
What will happen in the future when the horse shall have become
practically extinct in the civilised countries? The question is
exercising the minds of many as these lines are being written. There
are some who cling still to the belief that the horse's day is not
over, indeed that it never will be over, but unfortunately they are
visionaries able to believe that which they so ardently wish.
For as Mr W. Phillpotts Williams, the energetic founder of the Brood
Mare Society, pointed out in June last (1908), the idea suggested
recently of giving to farmers in this country a bonus for the
possession of young horses suitable for artillery mounts would never
have the effect of keeping horses in this country. All it would do,
as he says, would be to collect the horses at the English tax-payers'
expense for the foreigner to buy. The horses would be kept by the
English farmer through the risky years of youth, only to be bought,
when matured and fit, by the buyers for the foreign armies.
Give a farmer £5 a year. The foreigner has only to add £5 to the
horse's value, and away it will go. What is needed, as Mr Williams
truly remarks—and none knows better the existing condition of affairs
in this respect at the present time—is drastic action at the ports for
horses bred under such a grant, while in any and every scheme that may
be tried all the government-bred stock ought to be ear-marked and kept
strictly in the country.
One of the Belgian officers who visited England officially some months
ago incidentally mentioned that the Belgian government has dealers
in Ireland who are commissioned to send over to the Belgian army a
large supply of horses annually. “Practically all our army horses are
Irish,” he said. From this statement we may well assume that it would
be possible to breed at a profit, in Ireland, a very large number of
horses annually. Probably no country in the world is better suited
than Ireland for horse breeding. Yet the shrinkage in the reserve
of horses in Great Britain continues practically unchecked, and,
according to statistics, a month or two ago one of the largest of the
omnibus companies in London was selling off its horses at the rate of
a hundred or so a a week!
As a natural result of all this, the demand for oats has recently
fallen by more than twenty per cent. The Board of Agriculture believes
that the retention of colts is all that matters, while the Royal
Commission, to judge from their annual report, apparently labour under
the mistaken impression that the supply of thoroughbred sires must
solve the difficulty of keeping up the supply of horses.
Without in the least wishing to be pessimistic, therefore, one must
look facts in the face, and, looking them in the face, one cannot do
otherwise than admit regretfully enough that the long and glorious
career of the horse in its direct and indirect bearing upon the
development of the world and the progress of civilisation has at last
come somewhat abruptly to a close.
INDEX
Aahmes I., 2
Acheans, the, 15-17, 20, 72
Achilles, 12, 15, 49, 99
Acropolis of Mycenæ, the, 6
Admiral Guarinos and “Trebizond,” 93
Æthe, 9
Agamemnon's mare, 9
Ailments of horses, 146, 213, 214, 221
Alcibiades, 25
Alexander the Great, 54-61
Aligero Clavileno, 133
America, cruelty unknown in, 105;
introduction of thoroughbreds in, 287
Arab horses, a royal gift, 76;
arrival of Markham Arabian, 203, 204;
commencement of fame, 77;
dams, 100;
in the sixth century, 82;
size of, 244;
stallions, 76, 203, 264;
unimportant before time of Mahomet, 87
Arabs, the, 48, 281
Archangel Gabriel, the horse of the, 87
Armenia, 31
Armour, 44, 112, 134, 140, 225, 234
Ascot, 270
Asia Minor, 14, 17
Assyrians, 9, 19-20
Athenians, the, 24, 46, 51
Automobiles, 183, 238, 285
Babylon, horses of, 4
“Balassiren,” the, 289
Barb horses, 178, 183, 184, 230, 243, 244
Barbary horse, the, 181, 216
Barrows in Scotland, 91
Bayard, the Chevalier, 134;
his horsemanship, 135;
mistaken for mythological horse “Bayard,” 136;
his horse Carmen, 135
Bayeux tapestry, the, 108, 110
Bedouins, the, 286, 287
Belgian government, the, 293
Belisarius, the white-faced horse of, 84
Bells as race prizes, 177, 205, 208, 245
Bells of St Paul's melted down, 163
Bevis of Southampton and “Arundel,” 194
Bit, the, 18, 19, 201;
discovered at Athens, 40;
flexible, 18, 40;
found in tombs, 91;
not used by Bedouins, 286;
of the Greeks, 51;
Xenophon's advice on, 45
Black or “great” horse, 233
Black Prince, the, 125
“Black Saladin,” 136
“Blair Atholl,” 288
Bleeding horses, 221
“Blue Gown,” 288
Boadicea, 76, 77
Board of Agriculture, 293
Bogdo of Mongolia, the, 291
Books on horses and hunting, 124, 139, 204, 206, 271
Brazen steed of Cambuscan, the, 132
Breeds, improvement in, by Charles II., 242, 250;
by Cromwell, 243, 244;
by the Duke of Buckingham, 225;
by the Duke of Cumberland, 267;
by the Duke of Newcastle, 227, 251;
by Edward III., 125, 130;
by Elizabeth, 144, 153, 222;
by Henry VIII., 148, 167;
by importation from Italy, 180;
by James I., 202, 221;
by James II., 261;
by King John, 114;
by Mahomet, 87;
by the Persians, 114;
by William III., 263;
Committee in the House of Lords on, 288;
enforced by law, 149, 152;
from 1660-1685, 196;
in Athens, 51;
in England, 108;
in Ireland, 252;
in Middle Ages, 114;
in the sixteenth century, 141;
the seventeenth century, 257;
Cardinal Wolsey's interest in, 143
Bridles, 51, 64, 135, 237, 286, 291
Bronze Age, the, 4, 6, 16, 17
Bronze of Alexander, 61
Bronze horse in British Museum, 64
Brood Mare Society, 292
Bucephalus, 54, 61
“Byerley Turk,” the, 215, 263, 289
Caligula's horse—a priest, 79
Carey's ride, Sir Robert, 197, 198
“Carmen,” 135
Cart horses, 207, 236
Cauldrons and tripods, 11
Cavalry, 16, 22, 23, 46, 199, 283, 292;
Assyrian, 9;
British, 67, 68;
Cromwell's, 233, 234;
described by Julius Cæsar, 70, 71;
first use of, 7;
Greek, 9, 22;
Hannibal's, 64, 65, 69;
Henry II.'s, 111;
Iberian, 65;
Persian, 114;
Richard II.'s opinion of, 131;
superseded chariots, 74;
Theodosius', 81;
twelfth century, 112;
William the Conqueror's, 107, 109
Celts, 23, 72
Chargers, 109, 111, 120, 125, 131, 160, 199, 207, 233, 278, 279
Chariot races, with Æthe, 9;
at the thirty-third Olympiad, 16;
at Delphi, 23;
won by Alcibiades, 25;
of Philip II., 27;
won by Exænetus of Agrigentum, 32;
in first century A.D., 77;
of the Romans, 172
“Charioteer, A finished,” 10
Chariots, 3-21, 24, 65;
Julius Cæsar's description of, 70, 71;
in Ireland, 115;
of the Acheans, 20;
of the Ancient Britons, 20, 68, 69;
Assyrians, 20;
Early Irish, 20;
Egyptians, 3, 14, 20;
Erichthonius, 5;
Gauls, 20, 72;
Greeks, 20;
Hittites, 20;
Libyans, 20;
Persians, 20, 25;
Romans, 72;
Syria, 25;
Thracians, 14, 15;
Vedic Aryans, 20;
with scythes, 25, 26
Charles I. institutes horse racing in Hyde Park, 224;
interest in horses, 233;
picture in National Gallery, 225;
present of horses, 225;
price of horses, 229;
racecourses in time of, 245
Charles II., a good whip, 240;
encouraged horse-breeding, 240;
encouraged use of stage coaches, 240;
horsemanship of, 227-229;
love of horse-racing, 246, 259;
restores horse racing, 245
Charles V. of Germany, 161, 171
Charles VIII. of France, 138, 139
Chaucer, 130-132
Chester Meeting, the, 208;
Charles II. at, 247;
rule for winning owner, 208, 209;
silver bells run for, 208, 245
Circus riding, 7, 80, 184, 185
Cobs, 111, 205, 215
Coins, horses represented on, 26, 27, 65, 75, 103
Colour, attention to, by Elizabeth, 111, 175;
by Henry II., 111;
by John, 111, 112;
by Richard III., 139;
by Romans, 84;
white and dun horses disliked for, work, 67 (see also
“White horses”)
Colton, John, 127
Commandeered horses, 119, 126
“Common,” 288
Commonwealth abolishes horse racing, 241-243;
sets back horse breeding, 241-243, 245;
the race horse extinct under, 245
Cortes' sixteen horses, 169
Coursers, 207
Cream-white horses, the Royal, 289
Cromwell, cavalry of, 233, 234;
favours horse-breeding, 243,
racehorses of, 243
“Cropping,” 271, 272
Cross-country matches, 218
Croton, 8, 22
Crotonians, 8, 22
Croydon Race Meeting, 210, 245
Cruelty, cause of partiality among horses for certain human
beings, 129;
of “cropping” and “docking,” 271, 272;
unknown in America, 105
Cuchulainn Saga, 74
Cumberland, Duke of, 267
Cyrene, 21;
famous for steeds and chariots, 31
“Darley Arabian,” the, 267, 268
David Hume, 173
Dead weight, 220
Declining interest in horses, 182, 183, 291, 292
Delphi, chariot-race at, 23;
museum at, 32
Derby, the, 274, 288, 290;
of Mongolia, 291
Derby, Lord, 11
Diomed, King, 62
“Docking,” 42, 271, 272
“Dodsworth,” 250, 251
Don Quixote, 133, 189-191
Doncaster Race Meeting, 175
“Donovan,” 288
Driving horses, 144
Dun-coloured horses, 15, 17, 24, 67, 95, 96, 137
Echepolus of Sicylon, 9
“Eclipse,” 267, 268, 273-276, 289
Edward I., 120
Edward II., 124
Edward III., 124, 125
Edward VI., 171
Egyptians, 3, 19, 281, 289
Elizabeth, Queen, 111, 144, 153;
at Doncaster, 175;
at Newmarket, 175;
barbs, the special property of, 178;
fondness for the chase, 187;
her stud, 111, 144;
interest in horses, 111, 153, 206;
love of the Turf, 153, 175;
retinue when travelling, 193;
value of horses in reign of, 178
Emperor Justinian, the, 83
Erichthonius, King, 4, 5
Exænetus, 32
Exportation of horses forbidden, 149, 150
Eyes, 55, 139, 214;
china eye, 55;
wall eye, 55, 214, 266
Falkirk, battle of, 120
Fenwick family, the, 231
Ferdinand of Arragon, 158-159
Fictitious horses, 163, 164, 178, 189, 190, 194, 196, 276, 278, 280
Fines paid in horses, 114
Fitz Stephen, 113
“Flying Childers,” 268, 269, 274, 275
“Flying Fox,” 288
Food of horses, 54, 156, 178, 246
Four-in-hand, 5, 7
Foxhounds, first master of, 118
Foxhunting, 118, 161, 162, 179, 180, 253, 260
Francisco Pizarro, 170
Funeral of Frederic Casimir, 36;
Li Hung Chang, 36;
Scythian King, 35;
Tartars, 36
Future of the horse, 183, 284, 285, 291
Gambling, Aristophanes on, 52;
by David Hume, 175;
Elizabeth, 176;
Henry VIII., 162, 163;
Wolsey, 144;
denounced, 180, 211, 212, 265;
Marshal de Bassompierre's love for, 231;
under Charles II., 254;
James I., 205, 210-212
Gauls, the, 20, 70, 72, 75
Geldings, 207
Gentleness of horses, 104
George III., 271
Girth, the, 63
“Gladiateur,” 288
“Godolphin Arabian,” 269, 270, 289
Gradasso and Alfana, 94
“Great Horses,” 111, 127, 141, 206, 232, 237
Greek soldier, 19, 28, 46
Greeks, the, 21;
esteemed horses highly, 29;
had chariots with wheels, 20;
harness of, 51;
hogged manes patronised by, 48;
horse breeding by, 14;
horsemanship among, 7, 9, 16;
horses of, 30, 102;
horseshoes explained to, 73;
race horses kept by, 49;
taught to ride by the Libyans, 17;
used horse-cloths, 19
Haddington Race Meeting, the, 172
Halters, 18, 286
“Hands,” 133, 227, 228
“Harkaway,” 288
Hector, 10
“Helmsley Turk,” 225, 257
Henry II., 110-113
Henry III., 119, 161
Henry VII., 141-147
Henry VIII., 148, 167, 187, 206, 250
Heraclios, 10
“Hermit,” 288
Hiero II. of Syracuse, 31, 37
Higher Criticism, 9
Hittites, the, 6, 20
Hogged manes, 42, 48, 271
Hoof, the, 41, 47, 72, 214
Hooper, Letter of Bishop, 171
Horse-bread, 156, 179, 246
Horse breakers, 41, 146
Horse-cloths, 19, 38, 59, 72, 155
Horse breeding north of the Tweed, 152, 166
Horse doctors, 40;
ignorance of, 213;
veterinary surgeons, 221;
Wolsey as a, 145, 146
Horse fairs organised, 231-232
Horse-fighting in Iceland, 95;
in Siam, 95;
picture of, 96
Horse hoof, 44
Horsemanship, 7, 10, 12, 16;
Alexander the Great's, 57-58;
Bayard's, 135;
Charles II.'s, 226-227, 246-257;
Charles VIII. of France's, 139;
clever riding of Elizabeth, 193;
Duke of Newcastle's, 227-228;
early instruction in, 134;
feats in, 197;
influence of, 183;
James I.'s opinion on, 206-207, 217;
James II.'s, 261;
John Selwyn's, 188;
of Anglo-Saxons, 108;
of Bedouins, 287;
of Earl of Shrewsbury, 107;
of the Gauls, 70;
of Irish, 166-167;
Mary Queen of Scots', 192;
of the Scotch, 167;
Spaniards', 224;
Swedes', 83;
training in, 29, 32;
Wolsey's, 141-143
Horse racing, at Chester, 208-209, 245, 247;
at Croydon, 210;
at Newmarket, 124, 175, 205-209, 217, 222-224, 247, 248, 254, 258,
259, 263-265;
at Salisbury, 177;
at Smithfield, 113;
at Winchester, 262;
attack on judge of, 219;
between Duke of Suffolk and the Seigneur Nicolle Dex, 154-156;
Charles II.'s love for, 246-257;
Commonwealth suppresses, 241-242;
denounced, 180-181, 211, 212, 219, 241-243, 265, 266;
Philip of Macedon's devotion to, 27;
excess of, 176, 179;
first allusion to wagers on, 11;
first authentic record of, 75, 76;
first taught to the Romans, 37;
fixtures abandoned under Commonwealth, 219;
Hengist and Horsa's interest in, 91;
in Athens, 51;
in France, 255, 256;
in Holland, 226;
in Hyde Park, 224, 225;
in Ireland, 252;
in Scotland, 172-174;
in fourteenth century, 133;
in time of the Romans, 76, 172;
in time of Wolsey, 144-145;
inaugurated, 16;
James I.'s love for, 202;
Mongols fond of, 290;
on the ice, 211;
popular pastime, 52, 53, 210, 219, 251, 264, 290;
Queen Anne's love for, 267;
revival of, 246;
ruins breeding
of “great horses,” 232, 233;
rules revised, 270;
under Edward II., 124;
under Elizabeth, 144;
Henry III., 116, 117;
Henry VIII., 154-160;
Richard I., 113;
Richard II., 133;
under William III., 263, 264
Horse rearing, 52, 114, 125, 130, 143, 144, 148-154, 165-166
Horses, ailments of, 146, 213-214, 221;
annual charge for Charles II.'s, 257;
antiquity of, 1;
at Crecy, 125, 126;
average life of, 53;
bleeding of, 221;
breeds, 62;
vicious and gentle, 104;
commandeered by kings, 119, 126;
courage of 105, 106;
cream white, 289;
dapple, or dun-coloured, 15, 17, 24, 67, 95, 96, 137, 138;
declining interest in, 182, 183, 291-292;
defects of, 47;
divination of the future attributed to, 78;
English, the best, 230;
exportation of, forbidden, 149, 150, 152;
eyes, 55, 139, 214;
flat-nosed, 24;
fleabitten, 50;
food of, 54, 156, 178, 179, 245, 246;
fossilised remains of, 4, 51;
“great horses,” 111, 127, 141, 206, 232-237;
Herodotus on, 24, 31;
Homer on, 7-18, 28, 122;
Horace on, 72;
ill-treatment of, 104-105, 129, 271, 272;
influence of on history, 96-97, 103, 104, 183, 281-284;
in romance, 161-164, 178, 189, 190, 194-196, 276-278, 280;
in the sixth century, 82;
Joan of Arc's, 137, 138, 279;
likes and dislikes of, 129;
“leeching,” 221;
longevity of, 102;
management and care of, 14, 215;
Mary, Queen of Scots', 192;
monuments erected to, 32,61;
mythological, 10, 62, 94, 97-100, 136;
naming, 157, 194;
North-American Indians' terror at sight of, 171;
of Abraham, 1, 2;
Acheans, 15-17;
Agrigentum, 32;
Anatolia 196, 281;
Anglo-Saxons, 88-90;
Armenia, 31;
Athenians, 24;
Babylon, 4;
Bedouins, 286-287;
Britain, 17, 24;
the Egyptians, 2, 3, 19, 281;
Erichthonius, 4, 5;
Flanders, 141;
France, 141;
Friesland, 141;
Gauls, 70, 72, 75;
Germany, 141;
Greece, 14, 15, 29, 30, 48-49, 102;
Hittites, 6;
Ireland, 17, 74-75, 115, 252;
Libyans, 4, 16, 17, 48, 54, 103, 104, 281;
Macedonians, 46, 281;
Niseans, 31, 34;
Numideans, 64, 281;
Parthians, 53, 66;
Persians, 31, 33, 114-115, 281;
Romans, 70, 78, 80, 102, 282;
Russians, 123;
Scandinavians, 95;
Scythians, 34-36, 281;
Sicilians, 27-28;
Solomon, 6;
Spain, 53, 65, 66, 75, 168, 171;
Swedes, 83;
Syria, 196, 281;
Tartars, 123;
Thessaly, 21, 50, 54, 61, 62;
Thracians, 12, 14, 15;
Trojans, the, 4, 28;
Turkish, 215, 243, 244;
Philip II.'s love for, 27;
pictures of, 61-62, 137, 225, 279;
points of, 40, 41, 47, 50, 66, 68, 80, 140;
prices of, 55, 125, 177, 178, 203, 214, 229, 235, 274;
represented on coins, 26-27, 65, 75, 103;
on vase painting, 51;
on panels in Ireland, 115;
sacrificed, 33-36, 78, 97, 104;
scarcity of at Crecy, 125;
among the Romans, 282;
Shakespeare's, 181, 182;
shire horses, 140, 144;
Spanish Armada, 222;
“starling-coloured,” 53;
starvation of, 146, 147;
stolen, 214;
strength of, 105, 111, 112;
superstitions about, 78, 79, 121, 123, 213;
three-years-olds, 271, 288;
trained to music, 8;
transported to Cuba and Hispaniola, 169;
unshod, 24;
war horses, 104, 109-111, 131, 136-138, 199, 200, 283, 292;
wealth expressed by number of, 81;
with white star, 17, 54
Horse thieves, 120
Hunters, 183, 207
Hunting 118, 161, 162, 179, 180, 187, 192, 218, 241, 253, 261
Huntingdon, race at, 220
Hyde Park Meeting, 224
“Hyksos, The,” 2
Hypanis, the (River Bug), 21
Hyperenor, 12
Hypnotism of horses, 289-290
Iceni, the, 75, 117
Ill-treatment of horses, 100, 105, 129, 271, 272
India, 36
Influence of the horse on history, 96, 97, 103, 104, 183, 281-284
Ireland, 17, 18, 74, 75, 115, 116, 252
Iron Age, the, 15, 17, 19, 22
“Iron Horseman, An,” 227
“Isokelismos,” 30
James I., at Lincoln, 219;
encouraged gambling, 210;
improvement of horses under, 203;
liked tall horses, 215;
love of racing, 202, 209, 210;
made Newmarket “a royal village,” 205;
present of horses from Naples, 207;
Royal studs of, 207;
trained his horses, 220;
wrote on horses, 220
James II., as a sportsman, 261;
at Winchester races, 262
Joan of Arc, 137, 138, 279
Job, the steed of, 5
Jockey Club, the, 174, 270
Jockeys, 113, 209, 220, 253-254, 265, 291
John Selwyn, 187, 189
Julius Cæsar describes battle, 70, 71;
horses in time of, 105;
reference to the Iceni, 75
“Kantake,” 21
King Arthur, 82
King John, 111, 113
King's Master of the Stud, 264
“Lamri,” 82
Law commandeering horses for kings, 119;
forbidding exportation of horses, 149-154;
forbidding Roman Catholics to keep valuable horses, 264;
maintenance of horses, 151-154
“Leger,” the, 288
Libya, 16
Libyans, the, 4, 7, 17, 20, 21, 29
Lincoln Race Meeting, 219
Lord Arundel (1377), 133
Lord Cardigan's “Ronald,” 285
Lord Herbert, 179, 180
Louis XIV. arranges races at St Germains, 255, 256
Love for horses, Adhils', 83;
Alexander the Great's, 59;
Anne's, 267, 276;
Boadicea's, 77;
Charles II.'s, 246-257;
Elizabeth's, 187;
Gradasso's, 94;
Henry VIII.'s, 165;
Mahomet's, 88;
Mary Queen of Scots', 189;
of the ancients, 97;
Richard II.'s, 128;
Roderick's, 93;
William the Conqueror's, 108;
Xenophon's, 38, 48
Macedonian soldier, 19
Macedonians, the, 46
Mahomet, encourages horse breeding, 86;
goes to heaven on Alborak, 89;
the mule of, 87
Marathon, 46
Mares' milk as food, 37
Mares, the Royal, 250, 257
“Marocco,” 184, 185
Marquis of Mantua, 157
Mary, Queen of Scots, good horsewoman, 192;
her horses, 192;
love of horses, 191
Mary II., 153
Maximilian, the Emperor, 141, 142
Menelaus, 10
Menesthus, 10
Mesmerising horses, 289, 290
Mexico, 169, 170
Monmouth, the Duke of, 255-257
“Morocco Barb,” 225
Mounting, 43, 59, 64, 66
Mounting block, 64
Mycenæ, the, 6
Mycenean Greeks, 20;
period, 6, 19
Mythological horses, 10, 62, 94, 97-100, 136
Naming horses, 157, 194
Napier's “Molly,” Sir Charles, 279
Napoleon I.'s horses, 200;
“Marengo,” 279
Neolithic Period, 4
Netherby races, 76
Newcastle, the Duke of, 226-228, 235, 247, 249, 257
Newmarket, 144;
at end of seventeenth century, 258, 259;
Charles II.'s favourite meeting, 247, 248;
described by Shadwell, 251, 252;
early history of, 222;
Edward II. stops a tournament at, 124;
Elizabeth at, 175;
famous flat race arranged at, 220;
first important races at, 223;
fox hunt near, 253;
historic race meeting at, 248;
horses of, 117, 118;
Iceni at, the, 75;
incident at, 254;
James I. present at, 206, 209, 217;
Marocco, foaled at, 184;
rebuilding of race stand at, 247;
Spanish Armada horses at, 222, 223;
the royal village, 205;
under William III., 263-265
Newspaper account of races, the first, 224
Normans, 20
Northern America, no horses in, 168
Nose bands, 18, 286
Numidians, the, 64, 281
Oaks, the, 290
O'Byrnes, the, 127, 128
Oliver Cromwell, 233, 234
Olympic games, the, 25, 27, 31, 32, 37
O'Moores, the, 127, 128
Opposition to coaches and railways, 237, 238
“Ormonde,” 288
Oxen used by Roman Catholics, 264
Pale, the, 127
Parthenon frieze, the, 29, 30, 39, 64
Patroclus, 12
Pausanias, 44
Pedigree through dams, 100, 101
Pegasus, 16, 98
Peloponnesian War, 24
Persia, 36, 37, 43
Persians, the, 20, 31, 33, 36, 46
Persimmon, 288
Phallas, 10
Phrenicus, 37
Pictures of horses, 61, 62, 137, 225, 279
Pictures of races, 220
Plinth of North Cross, Ireland, 115
Points of horses, 40, 41, 47, 50, 66, 68, 80, 140
Priam, 10
Prices of horses, 55, 125, 177, 178, 203, 214, 229, 235, 274
Prizes, 11, 111, 205, 208, 245, 254, 255, 262, 275, 291
Pylian breed, the, 10
Queen Anne, a “turfite,” 267;
condemned tail-docking, 271;
founded Ascot, 270;
love of horses, 265, 276;
revived racing rules, 270
Queen Elizabeth, 111, 114, 153, 175, 178, 187, 193, 206
Racecourses as pleasure grounds, 245
Race horses, 33, 49, 160, 199;
ages of, 271;
development of, 173, 202-205, 289;
Elizabeth's interest in, 144;
Edward III.'s interest in, 124;
fondness of the Greeks for, 53;
from Spanish Armada, 222, 223;
James I.'s love for, 205, 206, 208;
naming, 157;
nineteenth century, 288;
present to King Athelstan of, 91;
present to Edward III., 125;
present to Henry VIII., 158;
reinstated by Charles II., 245;
Richard I.'s, 113;
Richard II.'s, 129;
sold at a loss, 242;
tails of, 272;
training of, 156
Rameses, 2
Rarey, 12
Richard I., 111, 113
Richard II., 128-130, 246
Richard III., 138, 139
Riding bareback, 29, 38, 59
Riding masters, 41
Riding matches, 154, 176, 218, 220
“Roan Barbary,” 128, 129
“Robert the Devil,” 288
Roderick and “Orelia,” 93
Roger de Bellesne, Earl of Shrewsbury, 107
Roguery on the Turf, 174, 175
Roland and “Veillantiff,” 92, 93
“Rowley, Old,” 246;
Rowley Mile, 247
Royal Ascot, 270
Royal cream-white horses, 289
Royal Mares, the, 250, 257
Royal Stud, 148, 149, 207, 216
Russia, 123
Saddle-cloths, 59, 63, 82, 155
Saddles, 59;
among early Greeks, 38;
among the Romans, 63, 81;
in Ireland, 110;
in races, 155;
of the Mongols, 291;
of the Normans, 110;
scorned, 40, 64;
used by Angles, 88, 89
“Saga of Burnt-Njal,” the, 95
“St Gatien,” 288
St George's Cup, 208
Salisbury, race gathering at, 177
Sarmatian, 44
“Savoy,” of Charles VIII. of France, 138, 139
Scandinavian barrows, 91
Scandinavians, the, 95
Scythians, the, 34, 36, 281
Seius' horse, 27
Severus Alexander, 75
Shakespeare's horses, 181-183
“Shibdiz,” 82
Shields, 20, 115
Shire horses, 140, 144
Shoes, ancient objection to, 42;
found in tomb of Childeric, 42, 83;
in lieu of rent, 119;
leather caps used by Romans as, 73;
made of reeds, 42;
regularly used, 83;
silver and gold, 73;
sixteenth-century, 146, 155;
superstitions about, 280, 286
Shortage of horses, 125, 282
Sicilian coinage, 27
Sicilians, 31, 36
Sicily, 22
Sigynnæ, the, 15, 24
Simo, 38, 50
Simon de Montfort, 118
Sir Eustace de Hecche, 120
Smerdis, death of, 37
Solomon, 6
Spanish Armada survivors, 222
Spartans, the, 25
“Spumador,” 82
Spurs, in time of Henry II., 113;
Irish, 110;
John Selwyn's, 188;
of “Blanche Rose,” 155;
of the Greeks, 57;
of the Wife of Bath, 131;
of the Romans, 65
Stage coaches, 238-240
Stakes, at Newmarket, 254;
in Mongolia, 291;
Louis XIV.'s Plate, 255;
St George's Cup, 208;
silver bells as, 177, 205-208, 245;
snaffle as, 177;
under James II., 262;
won by descendants of Eclipse, 291;
won by Seigneur Nicolle Dex, 154, 156
Stallions, adapted for coach use, 240;
Arabian, 76, 203, 204, 264, 267-270, 289;
celebrated seventeenth-century, 257;
celebrated eighteenth-century, 267-270, 273-276;
colour of, 111;
Dutch purchase racing, 226;
Eastern breed of, 114;
fed on eggs and oysters, 178;
importation of, 76, 114, 116, 148, 203, 204, 207, 212, 226, 264;
law against exportation of, 166;
shire, 144;
Spanish, 107, 227, 230;
thoroughbred, 288
Staying power, 105, 111
Stirrup leathers, 228
Stirrups, 40;
in Ireland, 110;
regularly used, 88;
standing in, 220;
unknown to Bedouins, 287
Stud, 274, 288;
Charles II.'s, 250, 257;
Cromwell's, 243;
Cumberland Lodge, 267;
Duke of Newcastle's, 251;
Edward III.'s, 125;
Elizabeth's, 144;
established by William the Conqueror, 114;
King's Master of the, 264;
Marquis of Mantua's, 157;
modern forms, 116;
Royal stud, 148, 149, 207, 216;
Wolsey's, 144
“Sumpter horses,” 193
Superstitions, 78, 79, 121, 123, 213-215
Superstitions about horseshoes, 280, 286
Tarentum, 22
Tartars, the, 36, 123
Theobald's, race meeting at, 245
Thessalians, the, 21
Thessaly, 50, 54, 61, 62
Thetford Race Meeting suppressed, 219
Thomas à Becket, 113
Thoroughbreds, 114, 197, 199, 230, 251, 274, 275, 288, 293;
development of, 288;
Dodsworth included in royal stud, 250;
English, introduced into France, 231;
fed on eggs and oysters, 78;
in Richard II.'s reign, 130;
introduced into America, 287;
management of, 215;
Mr T. A. Cook on, 267;
nineteenth century, 288;
of William III., 263;
sold at a loss, 242
Thracian horses, 14
Thracians, the, 12, 14, 122
Three-year-olds, 271, 288
Thurii, 37
Trainers, 156, 220, 221, 230
Trappings, 13, 14, 34, 159, 237, 257
Trickery in racing, 174, 176, 205, 209, 270
Tripods, 11
Trojans, the, 4, 28
Troy, 28, 29
Tryers and gentlemen tryers, 177, 218, 220
Turf, the, 145, 157, 173-176, 205, 231, 245, 251, 255, 261, 264, 265,
273-275, 288
Turkish horses, 215, 243, 244
Two Thousand, the, 288
Valerian, the Emperor, 43
Varni, the, 89
Vedic Aryans, the, 20
Veneti, the, 36, 101
Verus, the Emperor, 80
Veterinary surgeons, 221
Vicious breeds, 104
“Villiers Arabs,” 204
Wagers, at Newmarket, 205;
between Charles II. and Sir Robert Carr, 254;
by David Hume, 174;
first allusion to, 11;
in reign of Henry II., 113;
in reign of Henry III., 116, 117;
on flat racing, 218;
on Lord Haddington's race, 220
“Warned off the Turf,” 174, 270
Washing horses' legs, 45
Wealth expressed by number of horses, 81
Weights, 262
Wellington's “Copenhagen,” 278, 279
Wheels of chariots, 20
White animals sacred, 33, 36
White hoof, a, 214
White horse, the, 21, 31, 32;
banner of, 69, 91, 92;
beloved of the gods, 33, 122;
criminal act to wound a, 123;
divination by sacred, 79;
Joan of Arc's, 137, 138;
Mahomet's Alborak, 89;
Napoleon's, 279;
not liked for work, 67;
of Chinghas Khan, 121-123;
of the Scandinavians, 95;
of Selene, 98, 99;
sacrificed, 33, 36, 50, 78, 123;
superstitions about, 123;
stud of Richard III., 139;
“White Surrey” of Richard III., 139;
“White Turk,” of Cromwell, 279
William the Conqueror, 97, 103, 108-110, 114
William III., Acts against Roman Catholics possessing horses, 264;
for development of horses, 153;
court of, 259;
interest in horses, 263-266;
statue in Dublin, 236, 237
William Stephanides, 110
Winchester Meeting, the, 262
Windsor Great Park, 267
Windsor, stud at, 125
Wolsey, Cardinal, 141-145
Wooden Horse of Troy, the, 28
Xenophon's advice to riders, 44, 45;
early life of, 45;
kindness to horses, 38, 49;
rules, 39, 40
Xerxes, procession of, 34, 50
Zeus, car of, 34
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH.
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│ Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant │
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