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.
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.
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Transcriber's Note: │ │ │ │ The original spelling, hyphenation, and punctuation have been │ │ retained, with the exception of apparent typographical errors │ │ which have been corrected. │ │ │ │ Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. │ │ │ │ Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant │ │ form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. │ │ │ │ Italicized words are surrounded by underline characters, _like │ │ this_. │ │ │ │ Mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved between paragraphs │ │ and some illustrations have been moved closer to the text that │ │ references them. The List of Illustrations paginations were │ │ changed accordingly. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘