PART I
FROM VERY EARLY TIMES TO THE CONQUEST |
| CHAPTER I | |
| Page |
| 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”; Menesthus; early wagering—Patroclus; Achilles; Euphorbus; Hyperenor—Horses and chariots of the Thracians—Ancient Greeks and horsemanship; decline 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—CÆsar's invasion—Abolition of war chariots—Precursor of the horseshoe—Nero's 2000 mules shod with silver; PoppÆa's shod with gold—The Ossianic and Cuchulainn epic cycles; Cuchulainn'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 | 67 |
| 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 CÆsar's horses | 86 |
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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 fad—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 VIII. of France's horse, Savoy—Dame Julyana Berners—Wolsey's horsemanship—Queen Elizabeth's stud | 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 |
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PART III
FROM THE STUART PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY |
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