in some of the statutes framed in the latter part of the reign of King Henry VII. "The altitude and height prescribed by these statutes, thirteen handfulls for mares, and fifteen for horses, tell their own tale, and even this standard for horses was afterward lowered to thirteen hands in regard to certain 'marishes, or seggy grounds in Cambridgeshire and elsewhere." (Madden.) "The horses are small but swift," said Hentzner, who published a description of his journey through England in 1598; and Rathgeb, in 1602, wrote, "Horses are abundant, yet, although low and small, they are very fleet."
Little, however, was accomplished towards improving the breed, either by statute or by public agitation. "Master Blundeville's appeal," says Mr. Madden, "to the noblemen and gentlemen of England to turn their enclosures into practical use in improving the breed of horses, and the statutes which I have quoted, lead to the conclusion that horse breeding in England was in his time generally conducted after the haphazard fashion still in use in open and unenclosed countries."
The great horse market of London was West Smithfield, where the English showed themselves more proficient in selling a bad than in raising a good breed of domestic animal. Shakespeare in
