PREFACE. IN OFFERING the present volume to the public, I will briefly state, the object is to encourage a more general knowledge of and a deeper insight into the history of the horse in this country, more especially that relating to our standard breed called thoroughbred; to point out errors that have been committed in the breeding of our horse which have prevented, and ever will prevent, his attaining to a complete and satisfactory degree of excellence. I ask for a patient perusal of its pages, in the hope that many may see the subject in the same light with myself, and the necessity of action in the matter. Long and constant study of the horse and his history, which from early youth has been a labour of love, only increasing with years, added to considerable practical experience gained in many parts of the world, has convinced me of existing faults, and also led me to see the only way in which a true and useful breed of thoroughbred horses can be established. I more readily put forward the opinions I entertain, as I have been frequently urged by many, both at home and abroad, to publish in one volume certain essays and reviews on the subject of horses, which have appeared at different times in various magazines and papers. There have been also frequent demands for the reproduction, in a separate volume, of the Successional and Historic Review of the English Racer from 1689 to the Present Time,' to which, it was requested, tables of pedigrees might be added; but I was unwilling that should appear unless accompanied by the history of the Arabian horse, for 'as in geography we can have no just idea of the situation of one country without knowing that of others, so in history, it is in some measure necessary to be acquainted with the whole to comprehend a part.' So, rather than reproduce a number of letters and papers, in which there would be to some extent a want of connection, and necessarily a repetition, I have chosen to write a fresh work giving a history of the Arabian, a knowledge of which is indispensable to a thorough appreciation of the history of the English horse, and in which the whole subject has been enlarged and more fully discussed. It may perhaps surprise some to find the English Uhlan' to be one and the same with the author of the 'Successional and Historic Review of the English Racer,' whose letters in support of Arabian blood appeared about the same time, and although they were not recognised as coming from the same pen it was sufficiently gratifying to find that the views elucidated in the letters of the former were publicly admitted to be confirmed by the latter, and had led, at least in one instance, to a positive indorsement of the opinions urged by the English Uhlan.' For the completion of the First Part, 'The English Horse,' the pedigrees of Herod, Eclipse, and Trumpator have been given at full length, which it, is hoped, may be of great assistance to the reader; these, being traced back to the furthest extent, will enable any one to form a just appreciation of the breeding of the English racer, and at the same time will show conclusively how far short he is of being of pure blood. Trumpator, through horses of mixed and common blood (such as would now be called half-bred), inherited not less than 207 strains of impure blood-this is counting Turks and Barbs as of equally pure blood with Arabians, but which in reality cannot be allowed; therefore the strains of inferior blood are in excess of what is stated. Eclipse inherited at least 86, and Herod a similar number. The modern racer, being in every instance descended from one or all of the above-named horses, not only inherits these stains, but as often as these horses appear in his pedigree (which they do over and over again) are the original number of stains doubled or quadrupled, as the case may be, and, it must be remembered, faults more readily appear than perfections. Pedigrees of some, if not of all the horses and mares which, although foaled in England, appear to have been entirely of Arabian, Turkish, and Barb blood (these were racers, stallions, and brood mares in the beginning of the last century and the latter end of the preceding one), have also been added, as well as a catalogue of most; and I believe, as nearly as possible, a complete list of the Arabians, so-called Arabians, Barbs, and Turks, which were employed in the formation of the English stud, from the time of King James I. to the end of the last century. It will be seen the Arabians are in excess of either Barbs or Turks. It would be wrong to encourage the belief that Turks and Barbs were either Arabians or even altogether of unmixed Arab blood; and I think it more than doubtful whether all those horses styled Arabians were really so. Of the Darley Arabian we are quite sure, and what a brilliant example we had of his quality in his son Flying Childers! It cannot fail to be noticed, there were but few Eastern mares, and those were principally Barbs. With one exception, the royal mares can only be considered of uncertain origin. The Second Part, The History of the Arabian,' may, perhaps, be considered rather long, but it is a subject that might well be enlarged. My only regret is that it |