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    Horses Past and Present
    Horses Past and Present
    Horses Past and Present
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    Horses Past and Present

    By Walter Gilbey

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    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    Horses Past and Present

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      Book preview

      Horses Past and Present - Walter Gilbey

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of Horses Past and Present, by Walter Gilbey

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

      Title: Horses Past and Present

      Author: Walter Gilbey

      Release Date: August 27, 2013 [EBook #43580]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HORSES PAST AND PRESENT ***

      Produced by Julia Miller, Paul Clark and the Online

      Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This

      file was produced from images generously made available

      by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

      Transcriber's Note:

      Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible. Some changes have been made. They are listed at the end of the text.

      The illustration On Saddle and Pillion is the frontispiece, but the list of illustrations has it Face p. 28.

      HORSES PAST AND PRESENT

      SADDLE AND PILLION.

      (From The Procession of the Flitch of Bacon, by THOMAS STOTHARD, R.A.)

      HORSES

      PAST AND PRESENT

      BY

      SIR WALTER GILBEY, Bart.

      ILLUSTRATED

      VINTON & Co., Ltd.

      9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LONDON, E.C.

      1900

      CONTENTS.

      ILLUSTRATIONS.

      This brief history of the Horse in England to the close of the nineteenth century is a compilation which, it is hoped, may prove useful as well as interesting.

      So much has been done to improve our breeds of horses since the year 1800, and so many and important have been the changes in our methods of travel, in the use of heavy horses in agriculture, in hunting, racing and steeplechasing, that the latter portion of the book might be amplified indefinitely.

      It is not thought necessary to do more than touch briefly upon the more important events which have occurred during Her Majesty’s reign.

      The interesting and instructive work by Mr. Huth, which contains the titles of all the books written in all languages relating to the Horse shows that the number published up to the year 1886 exceeds 4,060: and since that date, works on the Horse, embracing veterinary science, breeding, cavalry, coaching, racing, hunting and kindred subjects, have been issued from the publishing houses of Europe at the rate of about two per month. During the ten years 1886-95 upwards of 232 such works were issued, and there has been no perceptible decrease during the last four years.

      Under these circumstances an apology for adding to the mass of literature on the Horse seems almost necessary.

      Elsenham Hall, Essex,

      November, 1900.

      HORSES PAST AND PRESENT.

      First among animals which man has domesticated, or brought under control to do him service, stands the horse. The beauty of his form, his strength, speed and retentive memory, alike commend him to admiration; the place he holds, whether in relation to our military strength, our commercial and agricultural pursuits, or our pleasures, is unique. Whether as servant or companion of man the horse stands alone among animals.

      There can be no doubt but that the horse was broken to man’s service at an early period of the world’s history. The art of taming him was first practised by the peoples of Asia and Africa, who earliest attained to a degree of civilisation; but whether he was first ridden or driven is a question which has often been debated with no definite result. The earliest references to the use of horses occur in the Old Testament, where numerous passages make mention of chariots and horsemen in connection with all warlike operations.

      BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

      From very remote times England has possessed horses which her inhabitants turned to valuable account, as we find occasion to note elsewhere[1]; and the farther she advanced on the path of civilisation the wider became the field for utility open to the horse. To the necessity for adapting him to various purposes, to the carrying of armour-clad soldiery, to draught, pack work, hawking, hunting, coaching, for use in mines where ponies are required, &c., we owe the several distinct breeds which we now possess in such perfection.

      In early times horses were held the most valuable of all property in Britain; we see evidence of the importance attached to them in the figures on ancient coins. The Venerable Bede states that the English first used saddle horses about the year 631, when prelates and other Church dignitaries were granted the privilege of riding. This statement needs qualification, for it is certain that riding was practised by the ancient Britons and their descendants; we shall no doubt be right in reading Bede’s assertion to refer to saddles, which were in use among the nations of Eastern Europe in the fourth century. The ancient Greek and Roman horsemen rode barebacked; but a law in the Theodosian Code, promulgated in the fifth century, by which the weight of a saddle was limited to 60 Roman lbs., proves that saddles were then in general use in the Roman Empire.

      The Saxon saddle was little more than a pad; this would give no very secure seat to the rider, and therefore we cannot marvel that the art of fighting on horseback remained unknown in Britain until it was introduced by our Norman conquerors. Even after that epoch only the heavily-mailed knights fought from the saddle; for some centuries subsequently the lightly armed horsemen dismounted to go into action, leaving their horses in charge of those who remained with the baggage

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