CONTENTS PART I FROM VERY EARLY TIMES TO THE CONQUEST CHAPTER I Rameses ; early Egyptian chariots — Horses of Babylon and of Libya — Erichthonius ; horse of Job ; horses of Solomon — Early circus riding — Dancing horses of the Sybarites ; the Crotonians* stratagem — Homer's " Iliad w ; Menesthus ; early wagering — Patroclus ; Achilles ; Euphorbus ; Hyperenor — Horses and chariots of the Thracians — Ancient Greeks and horsemanship ; de- cline in the popularity of war chariots ; inauguration of cavalry — Xenophon on horsemanship — White horses . . . 1 CHAPTER II Increasing interest in horses — Herodotus; Thucydides ; war chariots of the Persians — Horses represented on coinage—Wooden horse of Troy — The Parthenon frieze ; Greek art — Plato; white horses — The procession of Xerxes; horses and men sacrificed — The horse of Darius — Horse racing introduced among the Romans — Xenophon and Simo — Early horseshoes, bits and bitting ; ancient methods of mounting . . . 23 CHAPTER III Xenophon disliked the " American " seat — Cavalry organised by the Athenians — Cost of horses twenty-three centuries ago — Aristophanes ; Aristotle ; Athenians' fondness for horse racing — Alexander the Great ; Bucephalus — Story of Bucephalus ; his death — Famous painters of horses : Apelles, Pauson, Micon — Mythical flesh-eating horses of Diomed — Hannibal's cavalry of 12,000 horse — Coins — Posidonius ; horses of the Parthians, Iberians and Celtiberians . . . 45 CHAPTER IV Virgil on the points of a horse — Caesars invasion — Abolition of war chariots — Precursor of the horseshoe — Nero's 2000 mules shod with silver ; Poppaea's shod with gold — The Ossianic and Cuchulainn epic cycles ; Cuchu- lainn's horses — The Iceni on Newmarket Heath ; early horse racing in Britain — Horses immolated by the Romans ; white horses as prognosticators — Caligula's horse, Incitatus ; Celer, the horse of Verus ; the horse of Belisarius . . . 7 CHAPTER V Mahomet encourages horse-breeding — Procopius ; a misstatement — Early allusion to horse races — Figures of horses cut on cliffs — Roland and his horse, Veillantiff — Orelia, Roderick's charger — Trebizond, Alfana ; Odin's mythical horse, Sleipnir — Horse fighting in Iceland — Some horses of mythology : Pegasus, Selene, Xanthos, Balios, Cyllaros, Arion, Reksh — Arab pedigrees traced through dams — Influence of the horse upon history — Courage of Julius Caesar's horses . . .86 PART II FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE STUART PERIOD CHAPTER I The Conqueror's cavalry — Horse fairs and races at Smithfield — King John's foolish fed — The Persians and their horses — Relics of Irish art ; what they indicate — Simon de Montfort the first master of foxhounds — The king's right to commandeer horses — Sir Eustace de Hecche ; Battle of Falkirk — Marco Polo and white horses ; curious superstitions — Edward III. and Richard II. encourage horse breeding — Battle of Crecy . . . 107 CHAPTER II Richard II.'s horse, Roan Barbary — Thoroughbred English horses characteristic of the nation — Chaucer ; Cambuscan's wooden horse — Don Quixote's Aligero Clavileno — Horse race between the Prince of Wales and Lord Arundel — The Chevalier Bayard ; his horse, Carman — The Earl of Warwick's horse, Black Saladin — Joan of Arc — King Richard's horse, White Surrey — Charles VII I w of France's horse, Savoy — Dame Julyana Berners — Wolsey's horsemanship — Queen Elizabeth's stud 5 . . . 127 CHAPTER III Inauguration and development of the Royal Stud—Exportation of horses declared by Henry VIII. to be illegal — Sale of horses to Scotsmen pronounced to be an act of felony — Riding matches become popular — Ferdinand of Arragon's gift of horses to Henry VIII. — Henry's love of hunting — King Henry stakes the bells of St Paul's on a throw of the dice — Some horses of romance — Horse-breeding industry crippled in Scotland . . . 148 CHAPTER IV North America without horses when Columbus landed — Scarcity of horses at the Conquest of Mexico — Francisco Pizarro; his cavaliers terrify the Indians — Emperor Charles V; sends horses to King Edward VI. — David Hume, " a man remarkable for piety, probity, candour and integrity"; his practices in connection with horse racing — Queen Elizabeth fond of racing ; condition of the Turf during her reign — Stallions fed on eggs and oysters — Lord Herbert of Cherbury's antagonistic attitude towards the Turf — Some horses in Shakespeare's plays — Performing horse and its owner publicly burnt to death — Horses trained by cruelty . . . 168 CHAPTER V King Henry VIII: and Queen Elizabeth passionately fond of hunting — John Selwyn's remarkable feat in the hunting field ; the monument at Walton-on-Thames — Don Quixote and his steed, Rosinante ; Peter of Provence's wooden horse, Babieca ; Clavileno and the Cid's horse — Mary Queen of Scots' favourite horses — Queen Elizabeth's retinue of 2400 horses — Arundel, Aquiline, Brigadore — The horses of Anatolia and Syria — Sir Robert Carey's historic ride from London to Edinburgh in sixty hours — The horses of Napoleon I. . . . 187 PART III FROM THE STUART PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY CHAPTER I Arrival of the Markham Arabian, the first Arab imported into England — Newmarket village founded by James I. — Decline of the " great horse " —The Royal Studs - James I. organises a race meeting on the frozen River Ouse — Superstitious beliefs concerning horses — James I. meets with a grotesque riding mishap — Prosperity of the Turf — Riding match between Lord Haddington and Lord Sheffield — The Turf vigorously denounced as " an evil likely to imperil the whole country's prosperity" . . . 202 CHAPTER II First races of importance run at Newmarket — Races in Hyde Park — The Helmsley Turk and the Morocco Barb — Racing introduced into Holland — Importation of Spanish stallions into England — Prince Charles's riding master, the Duke of Newcastle — Increasing cost of horses — Marshal de Bassompierre ; his loss through gambling, £500,000 in a year; Sir John Fenwick — Sir Edward Harwood's pessimism — Cromwell's Ironsides — Armour discarded — The opposition to stage coaches; Mr Cressett's theory; Charles II. favours their adoption . . . 222 CHAPTER III The Commonwealth's "ordinance to prohibit horse racing" — Revival of racing under Charles II. — The King a finished horseman — The figure of Britannia — The Royal Mares — Formation of the thoroughbred stud — Thomas ShadwelTs cynical description of life at Newmarket — Spread of horse racing in Ireland — Jockeys at New- market entertained by Charles II. — Sir Robert Carr; the Duke of Monmouth's connection with the Turf — Annual charge for horses of the Royal household, £16,640 — Newmarket under the regime of the Merry Monarch ; the Duke of Buckingham . . . 242 CHAPTER IV Arrival of the Byerley Turk — Roman Catholics forbidden to own a 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 11 condemned by Queen Anne ; attempt to suppress these practices — The story of Eclipse — Some horses of romance — Copenhagen and Marengo . . . 261 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 . .281 Index . . . 295 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Knight, Death, and the Devil . . . Frontispiece From an engraving by Albert Durer. Combat between Amazons and Attic heroes. Fourth century, b.c. . . . 19 From a Greek vase in the British Museum. Greek coins showing horses in the early centuries before Christ . . . 27 The Emperor Trajan, showing Roman style of riding . . . 33 From Richard Berenger's "The History and Art of Horsemanship." The Emperor Theodosius, showing saddle . . . 33 From Richard Berenger's "The History and Art of Horsemanship." A Parthian horseman, showing Parthian style of riding bareback . . . 33 From Richard Berenger's "The History and Art of Horsemanship." Sarmatian horse and warrior, meant to represent horse and rider in armour made of plates of bone or of horsehoof . . . 33 From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horsemanship." A portion of the Parthenon Frieze, executed by Phidias about the year 440 B.C. . . . 39 Roman soldier about to adjust "stocking" used in place of shoes . . . 45 From Richard Berenger's " The History and Art of Horsemanship. " Roman soldier about to mount on off side . . . 45 From Richard Berenger's "The History and Art of Horsemanship." A Mauritanian horseman, showing how the Mauritanians and Humidians rode without saddle or bridle . . . 45 From Richard Berenger's "The History and Art of Horsemanship." Alexander the Great on horseback, about 338 B.C. The figure is believed to represent Bucephalus . . . 55 From a bronze in the British Museum. Persians fighting with elephants against the Romans, about the time of Pyrrhus, 280 b.c. This picture has been wrongly attributed to Raphael . . . 63 From an engraving. Caligula on horseback. About 37 a.d. . . . 79 From a figure in the British Museum. Bayeux tapestry supposed to represent the Battle of Hastings, 1066 . . . 109 Statue of Colleoni by Verrocchio in Venice . . . 203 From a photo by R. Anderson, Rome. Van Dyck's famous picture of Charles I. on horseback in the National Gallery, London . . . 225 From a photo by Franz Hanfstaengl. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Oliver Cromwell on horseback . . . 233 After the painting by Van Dyck. Horses of the Cavaliers, seventeenth century. From a painting in the possession of his Majesty King Edward VII . . . 243 From a photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl. The Duke of Schonberg on a typical charger of the early seventeenth century . . . 257 After the painting by Sir G. Kneller. Flying Childers, bred by Mr Leonard Childers in 1715, is said to have been " the fastest horse that has ever lived" . . . 269 From a photograph by A. Rischgitz. Mr O'Kelly's Eclipse, the most famous thoroughbred stallion ever foaled, 1764 . . . 273 After the painting by G. Stubbs. Napoleon at Wagram . . . 297 From the famous painting by Vernet at Versailles. From a photo by Neurdein freres. Wellington's famous horse, Copenhagen . . . 281 From an engraving (Photo by A. Rischgitz). Flying Dutchman, foaled 1846 . . . 285 From a life-size painting by Herring. By kind permission of the Earl of Rosebery. From a photograph by W. E. Gray. Digitized by Google.

Bibliography: p. xvii-xix

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