LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Accession 8 66. .9.0 Class Main Lib. LIVE STOCK HANDBOOKS. Edited by JAMES SINCLAIR, Editor of " Live Stock Journal,' "Agricultural Gazette" S*c. No. II. LIGHT HORSES. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT BY W. C. A. BLEW, M.A, ; WILLIAM SCARTH DIXON; DR. GEORGE FLEMING, C.B., F.R.C.V.S. ; VERO SHAW, B.A. ; ETC. ZEUDITIOICT. ILLUSTRATED. VINTON & COMPANY, LTD., 9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.G. 18(38 I Main Lib. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. The Thoroughbred Horse ... ... .,- . x CHAPTER II. The Hackney Horse ... ... ... ... 23 CHAPTER III. Cleveland Bays and Yorkshire Coach Horses ... 51 CHAPTER IV. The Arabian Horse ... ... ... ... 81 CHAPTER V. The American Trotting Horse ... 94 CHAPTER VI. The Hunter ... ... ... ... ... 105 CHAPTER VII. The Hack ... 126 CHAPTER VIII. Ponies ... ... ... ... ... 136 CHAPTER IX. Asses and Mules... ..- ... ... ... 153 CHAPTER X. Management of Light Horses .- .... ... 159 CHAPTER XI. Diseases and Injuries to which Light Horses are Liable 188 86690 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Thoroughbred Horse, Orm .. ... ... ...To Face 6 Thoroughbred Mare, Plaisanterie... ... ... ... ,, n Thoroughbred Stallions, King Herod and Flying Childers ... ,, 17 Thoroughbred Stallion, Ruddigore ... ... ... ,, 21 Hackney Stallion, Danegelt ... ... ... ... ,, 27 Hackney Stallion, M. P.... ... ... ... ... 3 1 Hackney Stallion, General Gordon ... ... ... 37 Hackney Mare, Lady Wilton ... ... ... ,, 43 Hackney Mares ... ... ... ... . ,, 47 Cleveland Bay Stallion, Master Frederick ... ... ... 69 Cleveland Bay Stallion, Sultan ... ... ,, 63 Yorkshire Coaching Stallion, Prince of Wales ... ... ,, 77 Arabian Stallion, Kahalet ... ... ... ... 87 Anglo-Arabian, Khaled ... ... ... ... ... 91 Arabian Stallion, Speed of Thought ... ... ... 93 Thoroughbred Stallion Mambrino... ... ... ,, 95 American Trotter ... ... ... ... ... ,, 103 Group of Hunters ... ... ... ... ... ,, 109 Hunter Mare ... ... ... ... ... ... ,, in Hunter ... ... .... ... ... ... ,, 115 Hunter Sire ... ... ... ... ... ... ,, 117 Hack Hunter ... ... ... ... ... ... 129 Carriage Horses ... ... ... ... ... ,, 133 Tandem Team... ... , M ... ... ... ,, 135 Pony Mares ... ... ... ... ... ... ,, 144 Pony Stallion, Sir George ... ... ... ... ,, 149 Shetland Pony, Good Friday ... ... ... ... 151 Welsh Pony, Tommy ... .... ... ... ... ,, 152 LIGHT HORSES. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. CHAPTER I. THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. IT is by no means easy to frame a succinct definition of the thoroughbred horse. We know that no horse is accepted as thoroughbred unless he appears duly registered in the Stud Book, and so, to save trouble, we may take this as the criterion. The blood horse, however, like the fox-hound, is after all an animal of composite breed ; that is to say, time was when he did not exist ; and no horse presenting the features of the modern English thoroughbred was, at one period, to be found in England. To show this conclusively, would be to write in detail the history of the English horse an unnecessary task, inasmuch as this subject has already been fully dealt with in many books. It will, therefore, be sufficient for our present purpose, if we take the time of King Charles II. as an important landmark, and briefly trace the history of the English horse up to that reign, before entering into any sort of disquisition upon what we now call the thoroughbred horse. We need spend no time in enquiring what sort of horses they were which so excited the admiration of Julius Caesar ; 2 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. but they were good enough to induce the Conqueror to take a good many away with him. When the Romans established themselves in Britain, they found it expedient to send over a large body of cavalry to assist in maintaining order, and the horses of these soldiers were doubtless crossed with the native stock ; and so the British horse, no matter what it was like, received its first modification or cross. Whether this cross improved it or not, is not to the purpose ; we merely note the fact that it was, so far as known, the first step towards manu- facturing what we venture to describe as a composite breed, more especially as what we have generically termed Roman horses were collected, not only from Italy, but from Gaul and Spain. Then, again, it has been said that the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, saw the first importation of Eastern blood, as Severus is reported to have raced loonafidz Arabs at W T etherby, Yorkshire. This story, however, lacks verifica- tion, and may be passed over without any importance being attached to it. Rather more trustworthy, perhaps, is the statement that Hugh Capet, of France, while courting Ethelwitha, sister of King Athelstan, sent the latter a present of some German "running horses," partly, no doubt, in honour of the event which was soon to take place ; and partly by way of congratulation to the King on his having subdued the rebellious portions of the Heptarchy. At any rate, whatever may have been the motive, we are perhaps justified in concluding that our native horses were crossed with these new comers. This, it may be noticed, is the first mention of " running horses," and the conclusion may be drawn that they were of a lighter build than our own native steeds, though we are still left in the dark as to what sort of an animal the German running horse was. Here, however, was the introduction of another strain of blood. William the Conqueror's own charger is said to have been a Spanish horse, and Roger de Boulogne, Earl of Shrewsbury, is reported to have introduced Spanish horses on his estates. THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 3 The Conquest, therefore, brought with it sundry strains of foreign blood, which must necessarily have had its influence in more or less changing the appearance of our native horses. As Eastern blood has admittedly been so potent a factor in making our English thoroughbred the horse he is, we may just pause to point out that in the reign of Henry I., we come across the first recorded importation of an Eastern horse. The story goes that Alexander I., King of Scotland, presented to the Church of St. Andrew (inter alia) an Arabian horse. Mention has already been made of the Arabs Severus is said to have raced in Yorkshire, but we may search in vain for any hint as to how they got here. That an opportunity was missed at the time of the Crusades is tolerably certain ; and, if we make passing notice of the fact that Richard Cceur de Lion is reported to have possessed two horses he purchased from Cyprus, and which were probably of Eastern origin, we may go on to the reign of Edward III., for most of King John's exertions were so extended upon war and heavy horses, though at the same time he did not neglect the race course, as he imported many Eastern horses. Edward III., however, bought fifty Spanish horses, believ- ing that their blood would materially improve the native breed, but he is said to have almost repented of his extrava- gance on finding that they had cost him no less than 13 6s. 8d. per head. This King, who was unquestionably a sportsman in his way, had running horses, and was fully alive to the importance of trying to get a lighter and faster horse than the ponderous animals which were required to carry the armoured soldier in battle. One of Henry VIII.'s officials was styled Master of the Barbary horses ; but whether this very arbitrary monarch had any Barbs, or whether this was merely a generic term for his race horses is, we venture to think, doubtful; we do know, however, that he imported horses from Turkey, Spain, and Naples ; while the Marquis of Mantua gave him some high-class mares, and the Duke of Arbino presented him with 4 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. a stallion. Still, partly perhaps owing to the restrictions placed by the King upon breeding operations, we are unable to gather from the records that the stamp of horses improved to any great extent in his reign. With Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, however, a better state of things com- menced. It is true that racing fell off; but, as a compensation, the breed was maintained to a great extent through Barbs, and Spanish horses descended from Barbs which were found on the ships captured by Lord Howard, of Efnngham, when he routed the Armada. Although James I. has often been sneered at on account of the manner in which he occasionally followed hunting and racing in some ways he may remind us of Colonel Thornton he was beyond doubt a sportsman somewhat in advance of his time. To confine ourselves, however, to the introduction of foreign strains of blood, it seems that a good many foreign horses were sent as presents to the English Court ; half-a- dozen Barbs are said to have been brought to England by Sir Thomas Edmonds, who, as ambassador and traveller, had many opportunities of seeing Eastern sires, and who no doubt imported others of which we know nothing. One imported horse, however, must be specially noticed the Markham Arabian. So far as we can judge, this seems to have been a private purchase of the King's, prompted solely by his own desire to try an experiment. Possibly he may have remembered the Arab said to have been presented to the Church of St. Andrew about five hundred years before ; and may have desired to try once more the effect of this blood. To put the matter shortly, the Markham Arabian appears to have been a failure. He was put into training, but could win no races ; nor could any of his stock run. Prior to this time, there were as we have shown, a great many Eastern horses of one kind and another imported ; but this Markham Arabian is the only one concerning which we have any details ; and these might probably not have been forthcoming had it not been that the Duke of Newcastle saw him, thought him " small potatoes THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 5 and few in a hill," and spoke of him in the most disparaging terms. During this time, however, there were in England horses which could hold their own against all foreign importations. For this statement Gervase Markham is our chief authority. He may possibly have been imbued with a certain amount of patriotic admiration for home products, but this is what he wrote : " Again, for swiftness, what nation hath brought forth that horse which hath exceeded the English ? when the best Barbaries that ever were were in their prime, I saw them over- runne by a black hobbie at Salisbury, yet that hobbie was more overrunne by a horse called Valentine, which Valentine neither in hunting nor running was ever equalled, yet was a plain bred English horse both by syre and dam." It is interesting, too, to note the description of the English horse as given by the same expert. " Some former writers," he says, " whether out of want of experience, or to flatter novelties, have concluded that the English horse is a great strong jade, deep ribbed, sid-bellied, with strong legges and good hoofes, yet fitter for the cart than either saddle or any working employment. How false this is all English horsemen knowe. The true English horse, him I meane that is bred under a good clime on firme ground, in a pure temperature, is of tall stature and large proportions ; his head, though not so fine as either the Barberie's or the Turke's, yet is lean, long, and well fashioned ; his crest is hie, only subject to thickness if he be stoned, but if he be gelded* then it is firm and strong ; his chyne is straight and broad, and all his limbs are large, leane, flat, and excellently jointed." A horse with a lean head, a good chine, and flat legs has certainly the attributes of a good one. As already mentioned, the Markham Arabian was invariably beaten on a race course ; and it is important to bear all these matters in mind now that * The practice of castrating horses is said to have been first practised in the time of Henry VII. 6 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. we are approaching a period at which the modern thorough- bred may be said to have been invented. Continuing our notice of imported Eastern horses, we find that in the reign of Charles I., Sir Edward Harwood laments the scarcity of strong horses, giving as the reason that light and swift horses were bred for the purpose of racing ; and, though Sir Edward may have been in error in supposing that strong horses fit for the cavalry soldier were scarce, his testimony to the existence of race horses helps us to under- stand that light horses were being bred with considerable care. In this reign (Charles I.) the Duke of Buckingham brought over to England a horse known as the Buckingham Turk, which, from being sold to Mr. Helmsley, acquired the better known name of the Helmsley Turk. He does not appear to have been raced; but, as will hereafter appear, to have left his name in the Stud Book. The sad events in this country, which culminated with the execution of the King, not unnatu- rally retarded the breeding of horses ; but Cromwell was clear enough to perceive that the country at large would benefit by the public attention being drawn to the importance of having suitable light horses for the cavalry ; and so he kept his own stud and race horses ; and, having at his elbow a Mr. Place, by reputation a skilful breeder and his stud master, he became possessed of the White Turk, imported by Mr. Place, in con- nection with whose descendants we shall have something to say presently. Without going at undue and unnecessary length into the history of the English horse and the history has been written by many pens an attempt has been made to show, in the first place, how the native horses were probably altered in type, by being crossed with the different foreign horses which have from time to time been brought over to England ; and, secondly, that there appears to have been in England a breed of horses, to wit, those described by Gervase Markham, which were, at any rate fast enough to beat the Eastern horses pitted against them. THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 7 How these "hobbies" were bred we have no means of know- ing, but many of them are said to have come from Ireland, and this is a rather curious circumstance in horse-breeding. Until the hairy-heeled cart horse was introduced into Ireland, the cart horse of the country was a clean-legged one, and it was from these that the famous Irish hunters came hunters up to weight, and by no means lacking pace. Is it not, therefore, very probable that the race horse of former days may have been bred on similar lines ? What has been written above has gone to show that up to the time of the Commonwealth a good many external strains of blood had been grafted on to the native stock ; even at this time the lightest and swiftest horse was a composite animal, more like our hunters he could not have been bred to type ; nor could he have shown the mark of any particular breed like the blood horse of to-day. Like our weight-carrying hunter, he must have been more or less a chance-bred animal, and in a kingdom of the blind where the one-eyed were kings, the fastest stood out from the rest of their composite bred brethren. How far pedigrees were kept generally we have little means of knowing. But when all domestic matters were turned upside down by that disastrous upheaval which put a stop to everything except ill-feeling, it is more than probable that many of the records which had unquestionably been kept during the reign of James I. were destroyed, just as many ecclesiastical records were destroyed at the Reformation. At this stage, at all events, we are justified in arriving at the conclusion that there were in England different kinds of horses, and that from time to time the native stock had been crossed with various foreign strains ; and in this state matters stood at the Restoration. King Charles II. may not have been in all respects an ideal monarch ; but it is to him that we owe the foundation of our present race of thoroughbred horses. It seems, however, to have been sometimes assumed that the thread of horse- 8 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. breeding was cut when Charles II. came to the throne ; and that what subsequently took place had no connection with what had gone before. In other words, the opinion seems to have been entertained that the stock which was in existence when Charles II. succeeded had nothing to do with the origin of the thoroughbred horse. To this doctrine we cannot subscribe, as there is no ground for thinking that the previously existing race horses were entirely tabooed by the " Merry Monarch ; " in fact, there is every reason to come to the opposite conclusion. Though James I. and Charles I. introduced Eastern blood, we do not read that they or any of their predecessors imported many Eastern mares ; though, of course, it is only reasonable to suppose that a certain number did come to England. King Charles II., however, commissioned his Master of the Horse, Sir John Fenwick, who was also a breeder on his own account, to go abroad and bring back some mares of the best blood he could find. This was no doubt a congenial task to Sir John, who was a well-known racing man of that time ; but whither he went, how many mares he bought, and what they were, are matters which cannot be stated with any certainty. According to some authorities Sir John Fenwick went to Tangier and returned with four Barb mares ; others say that eight were procured, while others again incline to the opinion that the new purchases included an Arab mare, and possibly a Turk. Be this as it may, these mares were known as Royal mares; but, inasmuch as some of their female offspring were also called Royal mares the exact number of the original stock cannot be ascertained by reference to any existing records. It is in the time of King Charles II. that the modern thorough- bred horse may be said to have been invented. Sir John Fenwick brought back with him not only the Royal mares, but some sires as well ; and from this period a constant stream of Eastern blood flowed into England. So far as can be made out we know very little of what success attended the importation of the Royal mares. One of THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 9 the Royal mares, however, was heavy in foal when she reached England, and soon after joining the King's stud, gave birth to the colt, afterwards known as Dodsworth, who was, of course, a pure Barb. Then, as now, private enterprise was largely expended upon horse-breeding ; and several of the King's subjects, Lord Cullen, and Lord Conway, for example, im- ported several Eastern horses. On the death of Charles II. the Royal mares and other horses appear to have been sold. Dodsworth's dam, bought by Mr. Child from the stud master for 40 guineas, and several of the others apparently passed into the possession of Mr. John D'Arcy who seems to have founded a breeding stud at Sedbury soon after the Restoration. This, at any rate, we may infer from the fact that we find the names of the D'Arcy Grey Royal Mare, and three other D'Arcy Royal Mares. Lord D'Arcy also imported two Eastern sires, known respectively as D'Arcy's White Turk andD'Arcy's Yellow Turk, and these, by being put to the Royal, and other good mares, left their mark upon the earlier stock of this country. We gather from the Stud Book that about 176 Eastern sires were imported from the time of King James I. ; and of these 24 found their way to England in the reign of Queen Anne. We would here again remind the reader that the thorough- bred race horse was not for the first time created by the im- portation of Eastern blood, though it unquestionably improved our native horses ; but, amid the many importations which began in the time of the Stuarts, we lose sight of the old English race horse as he existed before the Restoration. It would be mere plagiarism to discuss in detail all the Eastern horses the names of which are to be found ; it will, therefore, suffice for this description of the manufacture of the blood-horse to make short mention of three sires who may be said to have accomplished great things for the breed of race horses, though it is incorrect to say that they, between them, made the thoroughbred. The first is the Byerly Turk, so called because he was io LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. ridden as a charger by Captain Byerly during King William's campaign in Ireland. When this horse came to England is not quite clear; but it was probably about the year 1689. Then, during the first dozen years of the i8th century, Mr. Darley, a Yorkshire gentleman, introduced the Darley Arabian (the sire of Childers), and, lastly, came the horse known as the Godolphin Arabian ; but which was probably a Barb. He must have come to England about 1728; in 1730 and 1731 he was teaser to Hobgoblin, and might have been unknown to fame had it not so happened that on the refusal of Hobgoblin to serve Roxana, the Godolphin Ara- bian had to take his place ; and the result was Lath, the first of his get. It will, therefore, be seen from the dates of these horses that races had been held very long before their time ; that Eastern horses had run, and been beaten by English horses ; and that Eastern blood had been used. Consequently, it is evident that this illustrious trio of sires founded no new breed ; they would only be crossed with the then living mares. And what were these mares ? The female lines of race horses are too often neglected by writers ; but if the matter be examined closely it will be found that there is a good deal of blood in the modern thoroughbred which is not of Eastern origin. This point is clearly and forcibly put by that high authority, Mr. Joseph Osborne (" Beacon "), in the valuable introduc- , tion to the " Breeder's Handbook." In protesting against the oft-made assertion that the English thoroughbred owes his origin to the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin horse, Mr. Osborne says : " But in the female line there are undeniable proofs of important influence out- side and anterior to the known Eastern sires ; and here I maintain that, in considering the origin of the * thoroughbred ' as distinct from his Stud Book genealogy, it is most un- reasonable nay, even preposterous to set aside the female sources. Indeed, if the investigation be pursued logically, that side must be the more interesting in this instance THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. II because, the sires being admittedly Eastern, it becomes imperative to trace, if possible, the blood of their mates. If a potent average of the dams at the roots is found not to be Eastern, then it becomes obvious that any restrictive claim for purely Arab descent has no authentic basis in fact." We may find much proof of what is advanced by Mr. Osborne by referring to the pedigree of the famous Eclipse. Marske was the sire of Eclipse, and in Marske's pedigree we find that Snake was by the Lister Turk, out of a mare by Hautboy ; but the name of the mare which threw Snake's dam to Hautboy is not to be found. This is of itself pre- sumptive, though not conclusive, evidence that the mare was English bred. Had she been an Eastern matron her identity would certainly have been established. Then, again, Grey Wilkes was by Hautboy, out of Miss D'Arcy's Pet Mare ; but who was the sire of this Pet Mare cannot be ascertained. The inference is that the sire was an English horse ; and this is all the more probable because Lord D'Arcy, as already pointed out, was one of the foremost breeders of the day ; and as he mentions all his Eastern horses, he would certainly have kept record of this mare had he known her lineage. Of Coneyskins we have no knowledge beyond the fact that he was a son of the Lister Turk ; his dam was probably an English mare ; while we may search in vain for the breeding of the Old Clubfoot mare, except that she was by Hautboy ; and yet she was the property of Mr. Crofts, who bred largely, as the term was understood in those days. Not to labour the matter out to an undue length, it may be shortly stated that there are flaws in the pedigree of Bay Bolton's sire ; and it is curious to note that the identity of so many mares which were sent to Hautboy has been lost. Grey Hautboy, sire of Bay Bolton, was by Hautboy. In the pedigree of Spiletta, the dam of Eclipse, we find sundry other blanks which cannot be filled in ; and in each case the probability is that English blood should claim the honour of a place. Mr. Osborne says : " The thirteen un- 12 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. known sources affect nine of the sixteen divisions, leaving the natural inference that the amount of English blood in the pedigree of Eclipse is almost as large as that of the Eastern sires ; and it is impossible to tell the relative in- fluence of either blood in the descent The Eastern blood is unaffected, so far as Bartlett's Childers (son of the Darley Arabian), and no further ; for his son, Squirt, inherits the unknown blood in two distinct lines from his dam, Sister to Old Country Wench ; whilst Marske, the son of Squirt (and sire of Eclipse), has a far greater admixture of the unknown (but, as I assume, English) element through his dam, the daughter of Blacklegs, who has no fewer than seven blanks, or, in other words, only one of eight lines of descent can be traced to a purely Eastern source. What equitable claim, therefore, can be made to a purely Eastern descent on his sire's side, if both his sire and grandsire inherit so many strains to which no Eastern origin can be assigned ? " Mr. Osborne continues : "The origin of Eclipse traced on the side of his dam, Spiletta, is even more convincing as to the extravagant conclusions which have been made. Even the best influence of the Godolphin has commenced with the unknown element in his son Regulus, whose dam, Grey Robinson, is, of course, affected by the remarks above, concerning the Sister to Old Country Wench ; whilst Mother Western, the maternal granddam of Eclipse, is conspicuously wanting in Eastern credit, since nothing is known of the dam of her sire, besides the discrepancies in Snake, and the ' unknown quantity ' in her dam, the Old Montague mare, through the maternal descent of Merlin. I need say no more about this great pedigree. The evidences which have in- fluenced my own judgment are before the reader in a way that enables him to form his own judgment independently. There is nothing revolutionary in what I have stated. The best authorities have referred, though only en passant, to the Eastern sires as improvers ; but they have left the assumption that the old English influence was at once obliterated by THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 13 them ; and that to them alone is due the credit of the whole development." Eclipse was foaled in 1764, and the above-quoted remarks show that there was in his veins a considerable amount of, to say the least, unknown blood ; and as Pot-8-os, Waxy, Whalebone, Camel, Touchstone, Orlando, and Teddington were amongst his direct descendants, it follows that what Mr. Osborne designates the " unknown quantity," existed in those famous horses. What has been said above justifies, we venture to think, the statement previously made that the race horse of to-day is a composite animal ; while it is not to be denied that the admixture of Eastern blood materially benefited our native stock. Then the time came when Eastern sires were no longer used to develop the thoroughbred ; and the volumes of the Stud Book now tell their own tale. In order to give the reader who may not care for deep re- search into the Stud Book, a general idea of the families and roots, we may just run quickly through some of the lines. Of the Helmsley Turk, we have already made mention, and it is only necessary to say here, that it is as the sire of Bustler his memory has chiefly been held in veneration, as Bustler's blood is of importance in the older pedigrees. Here, again, Place's White Turk is entitled to honourable mention, as he not only sired some good racehorses, but at the stud helped breeders with some of his female descendants, while the strain has been handed down to us through Matchem and Woodpecker. As already pointed out, the three sires, the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arab or Barb did not found a new breed : they were merely fresh infusions. They are, however, commonly spoken of as the fountain heads from which our best known horses have mainly sprung, the Byerly Turk through Herod, the Darley Arabian through Eclipse, and the Godolphin horse through Matchem. If the male lines alone be considered, the modern racehorse has more of the 14 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Eclipse blood in him than he has of that of either Herod or Matchem, for from Eclipse have proceeded very many families. In the same way it can be shown that, with reference to the male line alone, Herod is next represented, and Matchem least of all. When, however, we come to take the female lines into consideration as well, the complexion of the case is somewhat changed, and it will be found that, with scarcely an exception, the foremost horses of to-day have more of the blood of Herod in their composition than of Eclipse, that is to say, they represent the Byerly Turk to a greater extent than they do the Darley Arabian. In a most learned and carefully thought out article on " The Blood of our Thoroughbred Horses," which appeared in the Field for the 8th and 2gth of May, 1886, and in the Rural Almanack for 1887, all this and much more is cleverly shown by carefully prepared tables, and the writer there remarks "the representation of the Godolphin line of descent (Mat- chem) is ' nowhere ' in comparison with the representation of the Darley line (Eclipse) as regards the number of direct male descendants ; but the descendants, in respect to pro- portion of blood, do not derive from the Darley Arabian one half as much as they do from the Godolphin. And it is even more marked in the line of Herod, for in that sire there was not one drop of Godolphin blood, whereas Herod's descen- dants in the present day derive from the Godolphin three times as much as from the Byerly Turk which they are con- sidered to represent." The reader, therefore, will understand that, although certain horses are described as being de- scendants of one of the three Eastern sires, or of Herod, Eclipse, or Matchem, this does not mean that they do not include much blood of the others, for, as time has gone on, the three strains have become commingled. As the Byerly Turk came to England before either the Darley Arabian or the Godolphin, we will speak of him first. The famous horse, Herod, was great grandson of Jigg, who was son of the Byerly Turk ; and until Partner, one of his THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. Ijj sons, was six years old, Jigg was merely a travelling stallion in Lincolnshire. Among Herod's best sons were Highflyer Woodpecker, Florizel and Phenomenon. From this strain we have Highflyer, Sir Peter Teazle (commonly called Sir Peter), Selim, Pantaloon, Partisan, Bay Middleton, Gladiator, Glaucus, Sweetmeat, The Flying Dutchman and Wild Day- rell. From two mares by the Byerly Turk there are descended in the female line, as the new edition of the first volume of the Stud Book tells us, Bend Or, Robert the Devil, Uncas, Speculum, Blue Gown, Craig Millar, Paradox, The Bard, Minting, &c. From the Darley Arabian was descended Eclipse, and also King Fergus, Pot-8-os, Waxy, Whalebone, Orville, Whisker, Sir Hercules, Touchstone, Irish Bird-catcher, Lanercost, Blacklock, the Baron, Rataplan, Stockwell, King Tom, and Newminster, whose son was the famous Hermit. Lastly comes the Godolphin Arabian, said to be really a Barb, and in some ways the most important of these three Eastern sires. From him we get Matchem, Conductor, Hum- phrey Clinker, Melbourne, West Australian, Prime Minister, Knight of the Garter, Knight of Kars, &c. Such, then, is a necessarily imperfect outline sketch of the manner in which the modern thoroughbred has been built up or manufactured. In the course of his development there is one fact which everyone admits he has increased in size ; and having said this, we have said everything on which men are universally agreed. Some people say that the modern race horse is not as stout as he was. Of this opinion is Mr. Joseph Osborne. In the " Horse Breeders' Handbook " he says that the Irish-bred horses, Byron, Paladour and Napoleon " found it no trouble to run four miles under eight minutes," while on a subsequent page he quotes the Earl of Stradbroke as follows : " My firm belief is that there are not four horses in England now that could run over the Beacon Course (4 miles i furlong 135 yards) at Newmarket within eight minutes, which in my younger days I used to see con- stantly done." l6 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Of course, in making these comparisons much will depend upon the credit attaching to the old records. About 1721 Flying or Devonshire Childers is said to have run a trial over the Round Course (3 miles, 4 furlongs, 93 yards) at Newmarket, in 6 mins. 41 sees., that is to say, at an average rate of speed of i min. 50 sees, for a mile, though he was carrying 9 stone 2lbs. On a subsequent occasion Childers is said, when carrying the same weight, to have run the Beacon Course (4 miles, i furlong, 138 yards) in 7 mins. 30 sees. In this instance we find that each mile took Childers less time to cover than when he was running the shorter course, for the average over the four miles is no more than i min. 47 sees. and a fraction of a second for each mile. Matchem is credited with having even surpassed this per- formance, the report being that he ran the Beacon Course in 7 mins. 20 sees., or a mile in i min. 44 sees. ; but then his weight was 8 stone 7lbs. instead of 9 stone 2lbs. Now if these times be compared with those of more modern horses over shorter courses, it will be to the disadvantage of the moderns, as the following figures will show, and a few of the best times have been selected as given in Ruff : In 1846, the first year in which the time is given in Ruff,. Pyrrhus I. won the Derby in 2 min. 55 sees. ; and if we take the Derby Course at a mile and a half, Pyrrhus I. ran at the rate of a mile in i min. 56! sees. The average of the Flying Dutchman (1849), Daniel O'Rourke (1852), and Ellington (1856), in still slower, as they took 3min. ; 3 min. 2 sees. ; and 3 min. 4 sees, respectively to get over the mile and a-half. Kettledrum, Blair Athol, Merry Hampton, and Ayrshire show better time, as they covered the distance in 2 min. 43 sees., that is to say, at an average rate of speed of i min. 48! sees, for a mile. The St. Leger Course is given in Ruff as i mile, 6 furlongs, and 132 yards; and in 1888 Seabreeze's time, the fastest on record, was 3 min. nf sees., which gives an average of i min. 45i sees. tTBRAftp 1 or rum UNIVERSITY *- 5 OLE MANUFACTURERS * ^ =r ~" ' "^ -'""' ~--=~^ .R AN D5 = & J E CKELLTT I P SWICH .~- --^^ THE "DUPLA" SHELTERING CLOTHS. *' The Flockmaster's Friend." 20 yards long, 6 feet deep, with Brass Eyelets and Cords for fixing to Hurdles. Is., 1/6 & 2s. per yard. Rot Proof 3s. per yard. Carriage Paid on Orders above 2; 5 per cent. Discount for Cash. WRITE IMMEDIATELY FOR NEW PAMPHLET ON " SHELTER FOR SHEEP AND LAMBS," Post Free on application to J. RANDS & JECKELL, IPSWICH, Sack, Rick-Cloth and Tent Manufacturers by Special Royal Warrant to //./?,//. The Prince of Wales. OF THB UNIVERSITY OF 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLY TEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. MAR 2 1969 i) # LD 21A-40m-2,'69 ( J6057slO) 476 A-32 General Library University of California Berkeley