We first learned of the British horse from Julius Caesar, when he talks about the skills with which the native essedarii maneuvered their war chariots. However, a fuller description of the horse in question, is sadly lacking.
Strangely, there was an absence of horse images from Egyptian monuments before the end of the I8th century B.C. There were references to the horse in Hebrew (Judges v. 22, 28; cf. Josh, xi. 4), but nothing prior to that. Perhaps the horses came from Iran. Also no trace of the horse in Arabia before the beginning of the 5th century a.d., although references are found in poetry of the pre-Islamitic period. There few horses, even in Mahomet's age.
The connection between the Arab breed and English stock, remains a mystery, as far as I am aware. According to a chap named Ridgeway and I quote:
"The original source of the finest equine blood is Africa, still the home of the largest variety of wild Equidae".
He concludes that thence it passed into Europe at an early time, to be blended with that of the indigenous Celtic species, and thence into western Asia into the veins of an indigenous Mongolian species, still represented by " Przewalsld's horse , not till a comparatively late period did it reach Arabia, though the " Arab " now represents the purest form of the Libyan blood.
The controversy depends upon the consideration of a wealth of detail, which should be studied in Ridgeway's book; but zoological authorities are sceptical as to the suggested species, Eqmis caballus libycus."
Moving forward, to the time of the Romans, in Great Britain, it seems the Roman cavalry horses, may have bred with the native horses, which produced a new breed, consisting probably of strains from every area from which Roman horses were taken.
The effects of this cross breeding are not fully understood. Also, we do not know the extent to which the Jutes and Saxons may have introduced new breeds into England. Even near the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, mentions of the horse were rare.
We know, from an early high court official, that a law was passed prohibiting export of English horses, except as gifts, this suggests that the English horse was superior to many overseas breeds.
This brings us forward to 1066 and the Norman Conquest, which marks an important pointmark in the history of the British horse. William the Conqueror's own horse was Spanish. Many similar forms were introduced by the french barons. Norman horses included many varieties, and there is no doubt that to the Conquest the inhabitants of Britain were introduced to several new horse varieties.
A, Roger de Bellesme, a knight of William I., who was later made earl of Shrewsbury, imported Spanish stallions into England. Strange, that agriculture seemed to be the last use of the horse. An agricultural horse was shown on the Bayeux tapestry, where it was shown drawing a harrow. An unusual case, as oxon were the main stay of agriculture. In fact, in in Wales a law existed forbidding the use of horses in agriculture. For ploughing, at least.
Apart from defeating the Moslems, another good result of the crusades, was to introduce fresh horse strains into England. The Spanish jennet arrived about 1182. King John encouraged horse-breeding. He imported a hundred Flemish stallions, thus paving the way to improve the breed of agricultural horses.
Edward III. also a horse admirer, imported fifty Spanish horses, most probably, jennets.
In this era lighter and speedier horses, were being bred; but, the original breed was still mostly used, as the combined weight of horse and human armour was considered too much for the lighter horses.
Because of England's undoubted skills at breeding an improved horse, Edward III. banned exports of these horses, after which, they improved so quickly that Richard II. forced dealers to limit their maximum prices to a fixed amount. Prior to the nineth year of his reign, Edward received a present from the king of Navarre of two valuable, running horses.
The wars of 1346 checked the improvement of horses, and undid much of what had been previously accomplished, for we read that the cavalry taken into France by Edward III. were but indifferently mounted, and that in consequence he had to purchase large numbers of foreign horses from Hainault and elsewhere for remounts. The reign of Richard III. does not seem to have been remarkable for the furtherance of horse-breeding; but it was then that post-horses and stages were introduced.
Information is scarce, until the reign of Henry VII., who continued banning the exporting of stallions, but relaxed it in the case of mares, who were two years, or older. His plan was to keep the best horses in England, and keep the price down by increasing the supply, whilst limiting the demand. Gelding horses originated during his reign, because of horses belonging to different owners grazing together, especially at harvest time.
The writer of this article, Ray Cunningham lives, at present, in central Florida. To learn much more about history of horses, go here: http://shmyl.com/ninnson, then to his web site, "Horses? Of Course!", for the complete story, at: http://raygc1.com/horses
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