The Quizzing Glass: Horse Breeds in Regency England

Article Written By Shannon Donnelly

It’s best to start off saying that in the Regency era, a horse’s breed often went unremarked. There also could be confusion about a horse’s breeding since records might not be well kept, or gossip just got the facts wrong. Even Wellington’s favored mount, Copenhagen, was sometimes noted as being half-thoroughbred when it was his dam, Lady Catherine, who was a half-bred mare but was entered into the General Stud Book (started in 1791). Copenhagen was sired by Meteor, a son of the great Eclipse (which is probably where he got his bad temper—some bloodlines are well known to produce great speed and poor manners). The portrait below shows Copenhagen in parade tack by Samuel Spode, c. 1820.

Breeds might also simply get a color or place designation such as Cleveland Bay (a bay horse bred in the Cleveland area of Yorkshire). Ann Hyland writes of this in The Warhorse in the Modern Era where she quotes a report from 1795 on cavalry mounts,  “The Breed of black horses formerly ridden by all the heavy cavalry is either extinct or completely reformed, the animals of that description in the market are suitable only for draught, and unfit to carry a soldier… the new type of horse bred chiefly for gentleman’s carriages is fitted to take the place of the blacks in the ranks.”

Advertisements of the era follow this pattern.

• The ‘Morning Post’ of June 22, 1803 has an ad for “…a pair of bay geldings, fifteen hands, one inch high, five and six years old; they have been driven in a light coach, in a charriot and in a curricle; they both go well in single harness…” No mention of breed.
• ‘The Morning Chronicle’ of June 13, 1812 lists, “To be SOLD, a very handsome Chestnut GELDING, thorough bred, five years old, fifteen hands high…” And, “LADY’S HORSE or CHARGER.—To be Sold a Bright Bay HORSE with long tail, six years old…”

In Thomas Bewick’s 1807 A General History of Quadrupeds, he lists breeds mostly by purpose: Arabian, Race-Horse, Hunter, Old English Road, the Black, Pony, Common Cart, Improved Cart, and Pack-horse. He does mention, “The Spanish Genette is held in great estimation: like the former [Arabian], it is small, but beautiful, and extremely swift.” William Youatt’s 1831 book, The Horse, With a Treatise on Draught, and a Copious Index is a little better with “The Different Breeds of English horses” listed in the table of contents, and he includes:

• Arabian
• Cleveland Bays
• Old Suffolk
• Clydesdale
• Heavy black horse
• Irish Horse

Youatt goes on to list purpose-name breeds, including: Roadster or hackney, Dray-horse (meaning draft or draught horse), Cavalry horse, Race-horse. He also lists a few ponies, including: Welsh pony, New Forester, Exmoor pony, Dartmoor, Highland, and Shetland.

He overlooks some older breeds, and foreign breeds that were just not that common in England. But here are the breeds that might be mentioned in Regency England:

CLEVELAND BAY – This breed has been around since the 1600s. It is generally a tall horse (16 HH) with the reddish-brown coat and black mane and tail and legs typical of a “bay”. With high action and good bone it was—and still is—very suitable as a carriage horse.

YORKSHIRE COACH HORSE – The breed did not get a stud book until 1886, but is noted as being around in the early 1800s, starting off as crosses of Cleveland Bays with Thoroughbreds, making for a strong, fast carriage horse.

OLD ENGLISH BLACK – This breed dates back to Norman time, and was also known as Lincolnshire Blacks. They were large and black, often with white markings, and suitable as a knight’s mount or as a strong farm horse. They were possibly of Friesian —a Dutch horse—descent, which had been bred for knights, and then had crosses with Spanish horses. This is also Youatt’s ‘Heavy Black Horse’, and the cavalry mount prior to the 1700s.

The engraving above is from Bewick’s 1807 A General History of Quadrupeds, and he writes of the ‘Black Horse’, that, “No other country has produced a breed of Horses  equal in size and strength to the larger kind of our draught Horses. The cavalry of England formerly consisted of this class of Horses; but their inutility being experienced in most situations, others of a lighter and more active kind have been generally substituted, except in a few regiments…. Considerable improvements have of late years been made in this kind of Horses, by Mr Bakewell, of Dishley, and others; who, by great ingenuity and attention, have acquired such celebrity, that they frequently sell stallions of their respective breeds for two hundred guineas….” That is a very successful breeding operation.

SHIRE – While there was no stud book for this breed during the Regency era, the term of “Shire horse” comes into use in the mid 1600s, and the horse was developed in the midlands from the medieval English ‘Great Horse’ or ‘War Horse’. This is sometimes also called the English Shire Horse, or the English Draught Horse. The ‘Packington Blind Horse’ of Leicestershire is considered one of the founding stallions of the breed, with direct descendants recorded from 1770 to 1832. They often look similar to Clydesdales in size, shape, and coloring, with light feathering on the legs. The painting below by James Ward is undated, but the artist died in 1859, and this is called “The Shire Horse Elephant” meaning the horse’s name is Elephant (he was big!).

CLYDESDALE –  The horse was around in the 1600s, but the first recorded use of the name dates to 1826. As with other breeds, this one got its name from where it began, the Clydesdale area of Scotland in this case. The breed spread through Scotland and into northern England, being strong enough to become popular with farmers. They are usually brown, but roans, blacks, and chestnuts also occur, and some have white markings on their face and body. The heavy “feathers” around the hoof and lower legs that are seen in the Budweiser horses show up in the modern breed. Period images only show light ‘feathering’ (or rough hair) around the fetlock and back of the cannon bone, as in the 1820 picture below of ‘A Clydesdale Stallion’ by John Frederick Herring.

OLD SUFFOLK – This breed has been around since the 1500s and is noted for its ‘chesnut’ color (as per tradition there is no ‘t’ in the middle) and flaxen mane. It is also called the Suffolk Punch  (punch meaning stout) or Suffolk Sorrel. This is another popular breed for farm work. They tend to be shorter than other draft horses, and like other horses that went into harness, often show up in period images with a ‘docked’ tail (cut off short to keep mud and manure out of the tail).

NORFOLK TROTTER – Also called the Yorkshire Trotter, or the Norfolk Roadster, or the Lincolnshire Trotter/Roadster. This breed began in the 1500s. Trotting horses were used for speedy communication, for trotting races under saddle or with gigs (very popular in the Regency era). They are Youatt’s ‘Roadster’ breed. It was said they could reach speeds of up to 17 miles an hour. They could come in any color. In an article, Jane Lane writes of this breed, “Soon young bloods wanted these speedsters. Iron feet and legs. Some had hooves so hard they could not be shod, as no nail could be driven in—the nail bent… While some were pony or galloway size, most were about the 15.2 – 16.2hh height.” The 1830 painting below is of ‘Rattler’, foaled in 1811 out of a Thoroughbred stallion and a Norfolk Trotter mare and is one of the foundation sires of the modern French Trotter. He is harnessed to a Skeleton Gig, often used for trotting matches.

HACKNEY – This breed has roots in the early 1700s when Norfolk Trotters were crossed with Arabians to create the breed. In the Regency, the name might not be a breed name, but a purpose name, as Youatt shows with his combination of Roadster/Hackney for a breed name. This horse is well know for high action that makes it a flashy carriage horse. A team of four would be light, fast, and attractive, and a pair would be perfect for a town carriage.

THOROUGHBRED – The breed was developed in England with horse racing in mind when that sport began to take off in the early 1600s. Local English mares were crossed with the three foundation sires: the Darley Arabian, the Byerley Turk and the Godolphin Barb (or Arabian). Thoroughbreds come in any size, ranging from 15 HH to 16 HH or so, and most colors. Very often in the Regency era, horses tend to be a little more on the smaller size due to the immediate crossings with the smaller Arabian horses. They also come in every type of temperament, with some bloodlines being well-known not being nice.

IRISH DRAUGHT – These horses date back to the Normans, and tradition holds crosses with horses from the Spanish Armada that shipwrecked on the Irish coast in the 1500s. They are noted for good bone due to the limestone under the grass of Ireland, and size, and as being clever fox hunting horses. In the Regency era, this horse might simply be called an Irish hunter or Irish hack (meaning a riding horse). They tend to have good size to them, often with the larger head of a draft horse.

WELSH COB – The term ‘cob’ applies to a horse that is on the short side—bigger than 14.2 HH but smaller than 15.1 HH. (Every ‘Hand High’ or HH is 4 inches.) The breed didn’t get a stud book until 1901 but this type of cob existed in Wales at least as early as the Middle Ages. They come from a cross with native ponies that existed far back in time in Wales, and this would be an excellent mount for a young person.

ARABIAN – This breed is ancient, but it was rare to have anything but stallions in England until the late 1800s. This is due to the custom that mares were more prized than stallions in the countries where the breed originated. The earliest known importation of any Arabian mares to England was by Wilfrid and Lady Anne Blunt in 1878, and they went on to found the Crabbet Park Stud. The breed tends to be on the smaller side (only occasionally is an Arab larger than 15.3 HH), with a short back, the distinctive ‘dished’ face, and a high tail carriage. They are noted for endurance, intelligence, and speed. The 1796 painting below by George Stubbs shows Warren Hastings on his Arabian Horse, a stallion to judged by the thick crest, a typical indication of gender.

BARB – This is a horse with roots in the Barbary Coast of North Africa. The breed is similar to Arabians, but might be said to be less refined in the head. The Godolphin Arabian was sometimes called the Godolphin Barb, since he came from Tunisia originally and his actual breed is undocumented. Again, it is typically that stallions shows up in England, but there is no stud established. The breed is crossed with local mares to produce fast Thoroughbreds.

TURKOMAN – These were a known ‘exotic’ breed (the Byerley Turk, one of the founding sires of the Thoroughbred is though to be a Turkoman), and appeared in England mostly as a gift or by a military man who brought home such a horse. James I’s Master of Horse, Gervase Markham, is noted as rating the “Neapolitan” and the “steppe-bred Turk” very highly. The painting below is attributed to Thomas Spencer, c. 1763, and is titled, ‘The Byerley Turk, held by a Syrian Groom’. 

Other foreign breeds have old roots, such as the Andalusian of Spain, the Lusitano of Portugal, and the Lippizans of Austria (also bred from Spanish, Barb, Arabian and Neapolitan horses from Italy), but these weren’t common in England. However, a gentleman who has traveled might know of the breed and could have brought one or two home with him, or might have seen them mentioned in written accounts.

The Sportsman’s Dictionary; or, The gentleman’s companion: for town and country (1785) describes, “As the Neapolitan horse is known by his hawk nose, the Spanish by his small limbs, the Barbary by his fine head, and deep hoof, the Dutch by the roughness of his legs…” (That ‘roughness’ would be long hair.) By the 1800 edition, the Neapolitan Horse is remarked as, “This horse is highly esteemed for his strength and courage, which, together with his gentle dispositions, make him more valued…  He may be known by his head, which is long, lean, and slender, bending from the eyes to the nostrils, like a hawk’s beak; he also has a very full eye, and a sharp ear.”

From 1790 to 1830 Friedrich Johann Bertuch published Bertuch’s Bilderbuch fur Kinder (Picture Book for Children) including a 12-volume encyclopedia for children illustrated with engraved plates that included different breeds of horses. He identified the breeds basically by where they came from, and included if they were light or heavy, or small, and they mostly look different due to the riders having different costumes. All this means is that exotic horse breeds of the era are typically known by where the breed originates.

PONIES

To touch briefly on ponies—meaning a horse that is 14.1 HH or less—these were often used in mines to pull ore carts, or for carrying goods, as mounts for children, and also for pulling such things as pony phaetons. The native breeds date far back in history and include: Dales Pony, Dartmoor Pony, Exmoor Pony, Fell Pony, and New Forest Pony. (The late Queen Elizabeth took up riding a Fell Pony as she aged, since it was easier to mount and large enough for a good ride.)

The Shetland Pony was brought to the islands from the mainland in prehistoric times, and evolved there, and the Highland Pony is one of the larger of the mountain ponies, along with the Eriskay Pony. Bewick also mentions the Shetland, calling them “the smallest” of the Scottish ponies (they can also be stubborn, smart, and not really ideal for a child), and he brings up the very useful mule and ass.

The term ‘garron’, or in Scottish ‘gearran’, was sometimes used in Scotland for the cross of a Highland pony with a Clydesdale for use in the Highlands as a sturdy, easy keeper farm or cart horse, but was not technically its own breed. (In Portugal they have the ‘Garrano’ as a breed of small horses.) Similar to this, the Connemara Pony was also being developed in Ireland in the 1800s, but really was not recognized yet as its own breed (it was simply an Irish pony).

Pony breeds mostly got stud books in the late 1800s and early 1800s when the breeds fell into danger of dying away due to how technology was changing the jobs they’d once held, and so they had to transition from work into pleasure animals.

Finally, a quick mention that after the Napoleonic wars ended, and the army began to wind down in 1814, horses glutted the markets in England (and France), driving down prices. In his article ‘The British Mounted Arm and Domestic Horse Trade 1814-1818: Cast offs and Reductions’ Anthony Dawson writes that, “Mr Aldridge of London sold on behalf of the Royal Horse Guards 25 ‘goodsized, seasoned, active, long-tailed Geldings’ (mostly blacks) ‘in very high condition’ in June 1814. The 2nd Life Guards sold via Tattersall of London ‘Twelve very-useful horses…fifteen hands and two inches upwards, of great strength and endurance’ on 5th September 1814…. The Inniskilling Dragoons sold ‘twenty very capital young, fresh horses’ 4 October 1814 via Mr Dixon in London. They were all  ‘16 hands high, with a deal of bone and substance.’ They were described as being ‘the finest and largest horses in the Kingdom’ sold ‘on account of the reduction.’

REFERENCES

• The Warhorse in the Modern Era by Ann Hyland
• The Horse – Breeds of the British Isles by David Low
• British Horse and Pony Breeds and their future by Clive Richardson
• A General History of Quadrupeds (1800 edition) by Thomas Bewick – https://archive.org/details/generalhistoryof00bewi/page/10/mode/2up
• The Horse, With a Treatise on Draught, and a Copious Index by William Youatt – (1831) https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Horse/5QMIxwEACAAJ?hl=en
• ‘Old Fashioned Horses’ – https://walerdatabase.online/old-fashioned-horse/
• ‘Horse breeds in the UK: native ponies to heavy horses and all types in between’ by Carol Phillips – https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/horse-breeds-uk-794266
• ‘The Ultimate Guide to British Horse Breeds’ by Graham Skinner – https://www.strathornfarm.co.uk/horse-breeds/british/
• ‘The British Mounted Arm and Domestic Horse Trade 1814-1818: Cast offs and Reductions’ Anthony Dawson –  https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/organization/Britain/Cavalry/Miscellaneous/DisposingofHorses.pdf

AUTHOR BIO

Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including the Indie BRAG Gold Medallion, a nomination for Romance Writer’s of America’s RITA award, the Grand Prize in the “Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer” contest, judged by Nora Roberts, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: “simply superb”…”wonderfully uplifting”….and “beautifully written.” Her Regency romances have been awarded the Indie BRAG Gold Medallion and the Bookseller’s Best award for best novella. Her latest Regency, Lady Lost, set in Paris 1815, finishes the ‘Regency Ladies in Distress’ series and is available at multiple online bookshops.