Before the days of the tournaments in Eng land large horses were scarcely known, but the needs of the knights compelled the keeping of a sufficient number. so that by intermixture with smaller native animals the size of the British horse gradually increased; but the result proved that, although they were bigger. they did not nearly possess tlit• qualities of the smaller horse. During the Crusades the excellence of the Saraeen horses deeply impressed the British Crusaders. who brought many- Asiatic horses with them on their return to England. The Eastern horses were Baths, Turks, Arabs. and Persians, not more than hands high, and it is to them that the English horse owes in part its present conspicu ous Laws passed to promote the breeding of large horses by improving the type of British ponies. During the reign of Henry VIII. it was ordained by law that no stallion less than 15 hands and no mare less than 13 hands should run wild in the country. Coils two years of age and under Ill!, hands high were not permitted to run on any moors, forests, or commons where mares were pastured, and to guard against any mishaps it was further ordered that at mastide the magistrates of the neighborhood were to search the countryside, the forests, and the commons. for the purpose of destroying all stal lions under the required height, as well as "all unlikely tits. whether mares or foals." Prelates and nobles, and every one whose wife wore a vel vet bonnet, were compelled to do their "leaping and riding upon stallions not less than 15 hands high." There were two elasses of horses through out the country; the first a "very indifferent, strong, slow, heavy draught-horse." and the sec ond "light and weak." Private matches were often arranged, showing that speed was becoming a greater factor than size and weight, Although there had been public in Elizaheth's time. it was not until Janie, I. as cended the throne that horse-racing was legally established. He introduced into England the Markham Arab, which Was known to be a pure bred animal, and in many other ways did much to improve the breed of A distinction was d ra W11 between race-horses and ts an mon horses; the race-horses were trained for their competitions, and I In pounds was the average weight of a professional jockey. During the reign of Charles 1. a memorial was presented to the King bewailing the gradual disappearance of stout horses tit for the defense of the country, by stating that the loved of strong horses was likely to disappear unless measures were taken for their propagation. The tournament was no more. the pack-horse had practieally disappeared, the introduction of the coach had removed a large part of the pack from the horse's back, and every thing was done to encourage cross-breeding with foreign importations. From such ancestors the
modern thoroughbred ha< deseentletl. After the civil wars and during the reign of Charles II. the race-courses at Newmarket and at Hatchet Mead. near Windsor, were laid out, ;Ind the King himself became the first great supporter of the turf. The most conspicuous English horseman of this time was the Duke of Neweastle, who in 1667 published his celebrated work on horseman ship, the reading of which is said to have so inter ested Charles that he became the largest individ ual importer of foreign blood in the country. The Stuart kings maintained magnificent studs and constantly employed purchasing agents to secure the best Oriental blood; but, unfortunately, the pedigree of many of these animal, is largely a matter of tradition, owing to the fact that the Stud Book had not been issued. In spite of t he infusion of foreign blood. however, the Eng lish racehorse in the time of the Stuarts veils a. clumsy-looking animal in comparison with the 1111 re Oriental type, or with the race-horse of to day. Ile was strong and of large build, but neither as elegant nor as swift on the raee-eourse as was the Barb. The combination if native Eng lish stock and slid' horses as the Helmsley Turk, Byerly Turk, Pace's SVhite Turk. D'Arey's White Turk, Selaby Turk, and by such Bar bary stallions Dodsworth, ('amen, Hay Barb, Ore•hound, Compton Barb. and Toulouse Itarb, produced a horse remarkable for its well-pro portioned locomotive parts. legs, shoulders, •te., strong, carcass and deep ehest, the typical it/li ma' of speed and endurrinco.
Since the middle of the eighteenth century the practice of interbreeding with oriental blood has been discontinued, and although half-bred horses were raced until first part of the nineteenth century, the thoroughbred has ever since the foun dation of the `racing calendar' been the recog nized racehorse. and his pedigree has been strict ly and authentically kept. During the seventeenth century speed was not the sole qualification of a race-horse; it was required to have strength and endurance. From racing matured horses at long distances, it was an easy transition to shorten the length of the course and increase the speed of the horse. besides which, the element of gam bling entered into the sport, and it soon hap pened that three-year-old horses were used in the races. It was found. however. that they could not. 'stay' the old four-mile course, so that of necessity the distances had to be reduced to neemnmodate the horses. The result of this policy is seen in modern horse-racing in which two-year•old horses developed for speed alone take part in races over courses less than half a mile in length.