up and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee. 1. Chron. 22.16. THE PERFECTION OF HORSE-MANSHIP, drawn from Nature; Art, and Practise. By Nicholas Morgan of Crolane, in the county of Kent, Gent. Data fata sequatus. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nil tam facile, quam otiosum et dormientem de illorum labour, et vigilijs disputare. Hier. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imprinted at London for Edward White, and are to be sold at his shop at the Sign of the Gun, near the little north door of Saint Paul's, 1609. TO THE MOST HIGH, Puissant and Renowned King, JAMES by the grace of God King of great BRITAIN, FRANCE, and IRELAND, Defender of the Faith. etc. AMongst all Creatures which the high and mighty Creator of the World hath formed on Earth (most gracious and sacred Sovereign) those ever have been justly (by all virtuous and temperate Spirits) crowned with the Garland of Pre-eminence, by whom the knowledge & glory of the Creator, hath been best known and advanced: of which, only Man, by heavenly grace thereunto created, & also by like grace, to the rule and dominion over all other Creatures, as to his Birthright (purposely ordained) is above all others in superlative esteem. In like manner (amongst inferior Creatures) none may enter the Lists of compare, with those whom the omnipotent Creator hath enriched with greatest abylities for the use and glory of man. Name in quibus est cadem Ratio, similitudinis eorum debet idem ius existimari: For the Verdict of Reason must pass according to the Evidence of Proportion. And what scrutiny can find a Beast more behoveful to the greatness of persons of Estate, and necessary to men of inferior condition than the Horse, which besides (his serviceable obedience) is beautified with a chief Excellency of comely shape and courageous boldness. So that the glory of Princes can be by none more highly advanced, their Armies more invincibly fenced, or their Enemies more speedily subverted. Hence it is, that Antiquity, named them jumenta, as the chief Adiumenta or helps of human nature, that by the very name, the nobleness, necessary use and profit of them might be known, and the division betwixt the Noble and Worthy, Base and Unworthy, manifested in fit difference: Whereunto, none, only the Learned and general practice of all former Ages, but more particularly, the Statute-Lawes of this your Royal Kingdom of England do subscribe: recording them to be the maintenance of the strength & preservation of every Kingdom: Without them, the pride of the Enemy, wanting no boldness to attempt, cannot but bring dishonour and detriment to Prince and Country. So that man cannot be so much servant to his own conceit, or so injurious to such serviceable Deserts, but that he must acknowledge, not only the Excellency, but also the necessity of a Creature (by inseparable community) so linked unto him, that with it no Stratagem is unpossible, and without it, the least exploit hardly accomplished. Now, although this your Renowned and flourishing kingdom be so fortunate in blessings, as never to have deaffed any ears of foreign Countries, with supplication for assistance, yet forasmuch as all good Races and breed of Horses are therein so decayed, that neither the true shape of their primary creation, neither their perfect and right manner of their breeding, & preservation in perfection, neither the knowledge of their natural qualities (without proof & practice) is by few or none discerned, neither by writing or practise fore opened, (without which, that old Chivalry of our English Nation cannot be continued) & thereby Error and Ignorance (too inseparable Twins of this Age) through Custom (the Tyrant of all Ages,) more predominate, than was the palpable darkness of Egypt. Who is not afraid lest the idle delights and delicacies of this inverted & infected Age, (the first seeds of subversions of all Kingdoms) make your Subjects degenerate from their Ancestors happy care in this kind? seeing the Learned forbear to practise, and the Practisers forbear to study: each man respecting his bred-conceit and own private end, more than their Mother, the Commonweal: the truth whereof all men's eyes depose. The feeling, consideration hereof, being engrafted in the Temple of my memory, seeing the most excellent Horsemen, thunderstrucken with the fear, by viewing what heretofore was ill done, was drawn to the consideration of that was not done, and to acknowledge Paria esse nihil fieri, et inept aliquid fieri. Therefore, for the reviving of the dead senses in the living minds of such as shall desire knowledge how to refel all former Errors therein, I have perfected this work; being assured, that which is once true, remaineth true for ever, neither can by art or strength be changed into untruth no more then pure gold in deed, be no longer gold: Myself for the time of xxxv years past, (as to my fatal delight & period of desire) given to the reading & practice of the most learned and best experimented in this Subiet, was long imprisoned in the dark dungeon of their divisions (yet always gasped to suck the thinnest Air of true knowledge) at length perceived, that the searching out of truth, was engrafted in all men, according to that saying of Isocrat●s to Euagoras: Arts and Sciences receive their perfections, not by relying upon the sayings & opinions of men of former ages (of how great Authority soever) but in finding out the truth, to correct and change whatsoever is found untrue. This moved Aristotle for the discovery of high secrets of Nature in his natural and supernatural Philosophy, to confute the error of many excellent personages: & more when occasion was offered, spared not his Master PLATO, adjudging (as himself affirmeth in his first Book of Ethics) the honour of truth to be preferred before all duties: Yet far more easy shall I wring from Hercules his Club, than the deep apprehension of old error, suddenly lose the colour died in the thick brains of common people: for, Plaebis ignorantia periculi rationem sui non hebet: The ignorance of common people hath no apprehension of their own danger. Who can be ignorant, that all or the most part of your subjects, at the entry into this your kingdom, and ever sithence have acknowledged your sacred gifts beyond the reach of all invention, thereby sounding forth their joys, each man discovering his most hearty embracement of so gracious & blessed a Sovereign? How should I, though the least and last of all others (if no jealous JUNO hinder the flight,) possibly fear, (if unworthiness did not breed fear,) to leave this spark of my inward and loyal affection (to his natural ascension) to fly to the most High in highness, in whom the fullness of knowledge and practice of this Subject doth rest so far beyond the rest, as Knowledge and Practice doth or can add to Nature, to whom FAME itself dareth not call an Equal: whose shadow of perfection, by imputation maketh perfect the imperfection of this my perfection, as things below receive Light or Darkness from above. This Treatise I have drawn from the springs of Nature, Art and Practice, whereby shall evidently appear all perfection of breed, shape and exquisite action: First, to have Commencement from Nature. Then to be guided by general Precepts and universal grounds of Arte. Lastly, perfected and preserved by use and practise. And when these be truly understood, then, and not before, shall this, now wthiered & dead Art of Horsemanship blaze this MOTTO, Hijs radijs rediviua viresco. Your majesties performance herein cannot but tend to the immortal Fame of your Person, the terror of your Enemies, the strength of your Kingdoms, and the general applaud of your loving Subjects, whose eyes having seen the accomplishment, whatsoever they have heretofore seen, shallbe but as Stubble to lower grass. Now, with heart and Hands lifted up to the King of all Kings, I pray; That as he hath made you the greatest on Earth, so may your years be in this; and after, your place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Your majesties least and unworthiest subject: Nicholas Morgan. TO THE MOST HIGH and mighty Prince, HENRY Prince of great BRITAIN apparent. THe thrice worthy (and long decayed) Skill of Horsemanship (right Noble Prince) whether it stand more obliged to your Royal inclination, by which it is newly revived, or to your practical perfection, by which it is rarely beautified, I had rather the establishment of good Races and perfect Riders, than the rudeness of my Artelesse Pen should decide. And what fit Herald can there be to divulge your love to our Nation, or your victorious resolution against hostile invasions, than the maintenance of that whereby all your Hereditary Kingdoms must be walled and enlarged, your Foes daunted, & your victorious Name enthronised. Hereunto if by these my elaborate Directions and experienced Observations, your Highness may be happily incited, I make no question, but this little Island, will furnish you with so fit places for breeding, and so sufficient Riders for managing, that your men shall not complain for want of excellent Horses, nor your Horse's groan for want of worthy Riders. This pleasing Harmony, your forward beginnings have given us great cause to hope, and your answerable proceed will (I doubt not) afford us the happiness to see. By those was this naked Imp of mine first bred, and by these it looks to be still fostered, as being his first Fruits: who with his hearty prayers for your endless happiness, hath wholly devoted his unworthy self, to be Your highness most humble Servant, NICOLAS MORGAN. ¶ To the most honourable Lord, EDWARD Earl of WORCESTER, Lord Herbert of Ragland, Chopslow, and Gower: Master of his Majesty's HORSE, and Knight of the noble Order of the Garter. IT may seem strange, Right Honourable, (if not within the degrees of admiration that after many Editions of Horse-manship, published and practised in several Nations, aswell before the coming of Christ, assythence, with a general approbation of perfection, and thereby grown to so high esteem, that it is thought the whole world can not discover another such, there should be now (by one who hath drawn the longest Line of his life within the Lists and Limits of an Inn of Court) a Volume of new Inventions: The Tuscans do say, that Wits of in●ention are Goatish, because they take pleasure and delight to walk alone, and to approach near steep downfalles, and will not follow the beaten path with a Guide before them: But it behoveth that in human Arts, there be Goatish wits, who may discover understanding, through Secrets of Nature, and deliver Contemplations not heard off. After this manner, Arts take increase, & men daily know more & more: for, as Aristotle affirmeth, our understanding is like a plain Table wherein nothing is portrayed: Myself seeing all former Writers and Practisers never to have published the knowledge of Nature, Art & Practice of this Subeict, but successively to have trodden and traced each other in one path, not daring adventure to add any thing unto that Table, wherein (through want of perfect sight) they thought APELLES Pencil to have been, esteeming all the actions of Superiors to be Rules of action to Inferiors: et quod viros magnos sequi est pene sapere and that the paths of the ancient Philosophers are so worn out, and overgrowen with weeds that no tract or touch remained to trace or follow them and their labyrinths, so intricate, that no Ariadne's thread could wind him out that was once entered: never believing, that Nature had dealt liberally with all the world besides, thought it unpossible for other to ascend to any higher Contemplation of Nature: although the wise & learned will ever presume to race out that old envied Sentence, Plura latent quam patent: being written in capital letters, even by the hand of Nature in the forehead of every Creature. And knowing (Right Honourable) the true end of all men's labours and Studies to be the beginning of the public and common good of their Country wherein they breath and have their being, without searing PLATO his Proverb: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. NOTHERCULES himself against two: or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. the revenging eye that is never shut, (the necessity of the time enforcing thereunto) I have herein, not only discovered, the hidden Secrets of Horsemanship, but also the manifest Errors of the Art and Practice: And presuming upon your honours accustomed favours towards all lovers of this Art, having both the life of the true knowledge and practise thereof, as also the Seat of perfect judgement most worthily living in you, to inspire some life into these breathless Ghosts of mine, wherein if I have omitted any thing pertinent, or admitted aught that is superfluous, I hope the eye of your favour will wink at my missing: as for the malicious, seeing I cannot look for favourable acceptance, I weigh not their verdict, only as the Poet saith, Equitem mihi plaudere curo. In which hope of acceptance of my tendered Duty, and pardon of your Honourable Lord ship for my boldness, I thrice humbly take my leave, and evermore rest, Your Honours, in all service: NICOLAS MORGAN. The Author, to the Gentlemen of great BRITAIN. IT appeareth by Varro and many learned Philosophers, that in the first Age, aswell men, as beasts did live of those things which the untilled earth naturally brought forth: and that in the second Age, men began with feeding of cattle, & after to blow the ground, to take the fruits, to plant Trees, to take wild Beasts to make them domestical: and that some Countries did naturally exceed others in diversity thereof, as Phrygia for wild Sheep, Samocrates for Goats, Italy for Hogs, Dardania, Media, and Thracia for Bulls, and Kine: Fusia, and Cacinia for Asses, and Spain for Horses. And after that they had made use of all Creatures, they affirmed that Inter cetera Animal●a, Equus sensetur nobiltor, et magis ceteris necossarius, tamregibuset alijs Principibus, tempore bellorum et pacis: Amongst other living creatures, the horse is esteemed more noble, & more necessary than others, aswell to Kings & other Princes, in the time of war and peace: So that sithence their first use, there is not any thing more probable than each man's necessary use, and inestimable estimation of Horses with all human society, necessarily comprehending, hath bound all men, o● only to endeavour truly to know (according to their original nature) but also to increase and preserve them in their greatest perfection: Yet such hath been the forgetfulness of latter Ages, that the true natural knowledge of every other creature increasing in perfection, this only lieth recorded in the Role of grieved memory: For if you behold the excelling knowledge & preservation of the Ox, the Cow, the Sheep, the Hog, the Dog, the Fish, the Fowl, the Fruit, and all other Creatures betfit●ing the use of man, how painfully sought forth, how lovingly entertained, how diligently preserved, how carefully increased, how painfully amongst all men nourished, and how providently bestowed: you must confess that the general good knowledge and preservation of all is become common to all: Again, if you consider the restitution of good Learning, the ornament of all Arts and Sciences, by the diligence of man's skill recovered; Hath not Grame● Poetry, Rhetoric, Logic Mathematical Sciences, Astrology, Cosmography, philosophy, Physic, Ar●e of Chivalry, Buildings, Paintings, Music, Eloquence, knowledge of Law, and Divinity, And all knowledge whatsoever, attained greater and far more amendment and preservation, & only the true knowledge of the Nature, Art and practice, with preservation of perfection of this Subject lest in darkness, and the men of Skill (who should ha●e beautified the same,) utterly forbear the dealing, setting their sovereign felicity otherways; so as the forbearing of the Learned to practise, and the forbearing of the practisers to study the true knowledge & practise thereof, being altogether unperfect without knowledge and practice, (most palpable Error) is (by * Matura calamitatum, molimentum consuetudinem in ●enit. cankered and corrupt Custom) both Mother & Nurse of all practice. And yet if you first consider the natural Valour of the Gentlemen of these Kingdoms, for fitness and aptness of Horsemanship, to undertake without rashness, and perform without fear: like sire inflaming their hearts to the execution of difficult deeds: Secondly, their true wisdom in material and weighty points, nor suffering their minds suspended in uncertainty, comprehendding nothing but certain and undoubted knowledge: Thirdly, their virtue of Temperance, to whom a Royal Sceptre appertaineth, keeping their appetites and unruly affections of nature, in awe and government, like unto the fixed Stars, who the higher they be, the less they desire to seem. Fourthly, their laborious practice, readily assisting the power of their will and understanding, Excercieus labour proficit o●●● consonosut. not standing upon what they borrowed of their Aunesteors, but working out their own honour. Fiftly, their comeliness of grace, in and to all and every their actions, with their sweet affability, that can no more be severed from them then life from the soul: and their studies such, as those that know ignorance, can neither purchase Honour nor wield it, but that Knowledge must both guide and grace them, the only fit & natural quallyties of good Horsemen. You Would believe, the Excellency of their Nature (with knowledge and practice) would make all men's hearts Idols of their delights, and to be honoured with their oblations, whereby the beholders wouldt either wish them not so excellent, or at least, tha● they could think them not so excellent, seeing Nature helping Nature, and Art so hiding Art, as the forces of delight would be without withstanding. Lastly, if you consider the aptnesle and fruitfulness of the Soil of these Kingdoms, for the maintenance of these beautiful Creatures, (whose praises the whole world doth celebrate with admiration, acknowledging their excellency, the renown of their Excellencies) you would presently acknowledge that the not acknowledging of our ignorance of Nature, and of our Errors in this Art, and the want of the practice, are the only efficient causes of the infinite number of jades, the utter decay of perfect Races and deprivation of true judgement; For until we shall acknowledge our own Ignorance, we cannot possibly assure ourselves of the true testimony of judgement, because we can not understand, or pierce into the Marrow or pith of a thing, but that we must stick in the bone: For * Quod Serbo dictum est, Gerbo sit negatum every humane proposition hath as much authority as another, if Reason make not the difference; because there is not a thing so vn●●ersall in Nature, as diversity, the which appeareth in that there is no one thing wholly like or dislike to another. So as it is manifest, that the reason of man hath many visages: It is a two edged Sword, a Staff with two Pikes: Ogni medeglias, ha il suo reverso. There is no reason, but hath a contrary reason, saith the foundest and surest Philosopher, And therefore, the want of the true reason and knowledge, of Nature, Art and Practice of this Subject, doth not only destroy all the Races of good Horses, but also to them that are naturally good, bring alcontrary vices, unless some God lay his helping hand thereunto: Wherefore, you valorous Gentlemen, in whom all Heroical parts are begotten, bred and nourished, whose inward minds cannot be painted by any thing, but by your true shape of virtue: For although the body of Nobility consist in blood, yet the soul in the eminence of virtue: For as much then as God hath given us a King, such as the Subject neither wanteth justice, nor he obedience, whom all Nations find so hurtless strong, as they have thought better to rest in his friendship, then make trial of his enmity, who excelleth in nothing so much as in the zealous love of his people, whose knowledge and practice of this Subject is such, as he taketh away knowledge and practice, but such as he giveth back by his shadow. Cast not a mist over your own glory, but so kindle your desires and raise your affections, as the mean and base sort of people, may not by their ignorance or error, make you do amiss, whom God hath given hearts to do well: neither let your eyes degenerate from their creation, but do you endeavour the true knowledge of Nature, Art and practise herein; so as it may be said of you, that, as it is the greatest thing the world can show, yet the least thing may be praised in you. If there were a view of all the Races and breed of Horses within his majesties Dominions, I make no doubt, but to find a hundred Roils and jades, before one of true and perfect shape. But if a view were made of the general number of Horses that are kept within the same, it were much easier to find 1000 jades then one Horse perfectly, shaped, which were unpo stible if we did see our own 〈…〉. It is truly observed by the Learned, Nemo sibi 〈◊〉 erra, sed alijs erroris causa, et Author est, Error is not simply an Error to him that possesseth it, but it is the cause and Author of many other errors: And besides, whosoever believeth an error, thinketh it a work of charity, to persuade another to believe the ●●me, and that he may the better do it, he feareth not to add of his own invention, so much as he seethe necessary for his purpose, to supply that want and unwillingness which he thinketh to be in the concerpt of him to whom he telleth the same And therefore, whereas other Nations publish themselves the great Masters of this Subject, affirming that whatsoever they say, should be believed and received without judging and examining what they teach: Hold it for tyrannical justice: Name qut a semet ipso loquitur mendax est. It is said, that in the Country of Pharsalia, from whence came BUCEPHALE Alexander the great his Horse, that the Mare that was kept for that Horse, brought forth Colts always like the Sire: for which cause, Aristotle reporteth, she was called JUST: I will not inquire how many of our great Masters can express the natural and true reason thereof, (although I doubt not the same, and many more greater expressed in this Tractat) and yet the learned Philosophers and Physicians make great Dispute from whence the likeness of issue to their Parents proceed, considering their diversity of likeness: neither will I inquire of any man's particular Stable, where peradventure (Asinus subfreno currere docetur) some concealed Cart-Horses are finely clothed: Neither, at any time inquire where true practice of Horsemanship (I only speak of riding) his Majesty's Court excepted, is used. Who can make that clean that cometh of unclean seed Can a Kite bring forth a good flying Hawk? male Corum, malum owm: of an evil Crow, cometh an evil egg. The long and pitiful apprehension hereof (standing at the gates of my e●res) although in the winter of mine Age, hath mere then enforced me to this labour, and to present the same unto your view, as the most noble Air for such labour to fly in, who by consideration what as amisle done may ●●o the Springs of your wisdoms, as from the Beams of your virtues, be moved to the consideration of that is not done & by your generous endeavours, in short time, make both it & your selves in it, ●al famous parts & all his majesties Kingdoms and Dominions above all the Kingdoms of the world in greatest perfection, having at this day as famous Riders, as ever was Zenophon, Geovan Barardiu●, Colo Pagano, Frederick Gryson, John Pietro Puglano, Claudio Curto, or who soever. And therefore my principal labour herein, is principally to inform & guide the understanding with assured knowledge, undoubtedly to know from whence the perfection of shape and the natural goodness of every horse proceedeth: ut ipso unltu Ethiopem cognoscas: That by the only view of them you may know their goodness, & how to keep & maintain your Races in greatest perfection nearest their original and primary creation, & to set forth the same by probable reason, thereby to refel and confute all former Errors heretofore written or practised, never by any heretofore attempted, but the contrary successively defended. My desire therefore is, that you would be pleased diligently to read this my Tractat, wherein (I doubt not) you shall find sufficient contentment against the oppositions of any former Writer whatsoever, and to do your greatest endeavours to place within every Shire a sufficient understanding Rider according to the Rule of Themystocles, that will Impetraremelius quam impetrare, prevail by persuasion not by constraint: By whom all Horses fit for service may be made fit and apt for all services, because without such Riders, there is not one Horse of a thousand understandingly and truly broken or made perfect. Then shall your Horses be defence of the poor, preservation of the rich, laughter at fear, invincible power against force, honour of our most renowned King, and the life of the Common weal: The want whereof hath not only deprived all his majesties Dominions of good Horses, but also hath discouraged and dismayed many valorous and noble Gentlemen from the delight and pleasure therein, although the whole Art & every part thereof be without offence, scandal, Temperance the rule of all pleasure. damage, or prejudice of another: And without prejudice of themselves, their honours their healths, their leisure, their duty, or their function, if the same be taken as men do take Honuy, with the tip of the finger, not with a full hand, for the fullness of pleasure is the bait of iniquity. Degener at a robore ac●n●ute miles asiveiudine volupta tem. Tacit And you my native Country men of Northhampton Shire, as also you Gentlemen of Kent amongst whom I live: (A Country object to the eyes of all foreign Nations,) because there is neither hearty desire nor true joy in that whereof the mind is unskilful & ignorant: Malerum esca Goluptain. Let the Coals of your affections be kindled with delight, & your actions to the ears of all people blown to a wonder, against which, let no excuse be sufficient Armour to set in a beautiful Sample, such Works of Horsemanship, Honus ●ere, 〈◊〉 nus est that may beeas a Glass to the blind eyes of all foreign Nations to see their imperfections, & your actions in such perfection, at you thereby may getthe first possession of the keits of all honourable and virtuous minds. But if you object that the journey of high Honor●ly eth not in plain way, and that you cannot eat the sweet without the sour, Nam qui addit Sciential, addit et labor●m, So may it be said on the contrary that laughter is mingled with tears, Qui serutatur est maiestatis apprim●etur of glerias. Et ipsa se●●cita●●se nisi temperate pramit: Yet I pray you be not dismayed, invit virtuti, nulla est via: there is no way unresistible to virtue: Nulla est praclusa o●● thus patet: Neither is the way forestalled, but open to all, neither is or can any thing be so hard or difficult, but pains and industry will effect. Be not as the standing Pools that gather only corruption: what moved P●r●ander, to undertake the digging down of the high Mountain Ischmus? Let it not be forgotten that the Learned have said, Dissacien●e aviwant The Divine power av●eth all virtuous endeavours. Certainly, there are so many Beauties and so many Gra●es in the face of Goodness, that no eye can possibly see i● without affection, without ravishment: otherwise, where had been the Glory of all the famous verinous & worthy Acts of Alexander, Themistool●s, Epiminodas, Hearcules, Persius. Theseus', Bell●o●●on, Hanntball, Seivio, Caesar, and of infinite others, if great and difficult Labours had swallowed then glorious encenours? Lober est materia untutis et gler●ae, ●une qui reij●●●● illas reijcis. The rewards of Labour are virtue, and glory, and he that refuseth Labour, refuseth the reward. This moved that worthy King Agesilaus upon his deathbed, to command, that no Image or picture of his resemblance should be made: for if I have, said he, any famous thing nobly done, it will bear witness enough for me: Talis post exilium fama est, qualis ante exilium vita. Such as the life is, such is the Fame in death. Viui● post funera Virtus: when a man is Dust his Virtue dieth not. And therefore I conclude, Q●i●u●it Molam, fugit Farivam: He that burneth the Mill, hath Ashes for his meal. Now, although in my Dedicatory Epistle, I have set open the Prison doors of my desires, I confess beyond the degrees of mediocrity, and offered them as an incense, upon that fire wherein my heart was sacrificed, yet so far did the Sparks of unslain Duty prevail in me, that I have reserved a poor remnant to live in the protection of your favours, The which, Sublime feriam Gerti●e sydera. with myself I consecrate to your service: wherein, (if such happiness I may find,) I shall acknowledge my contentment higher than the highest Reward that outward things can bring unto me. Add manum, et cum Minerva manummove: By him that wisheth all the degrees of Nature, Art and Practice to attend your desires to the highest. N. M. ¶ The Author in commendation of the worthy and renowned Rider, ROBERT ALEXANDER Knight, deceased. GReat Alexander dearly loved his Horse, The Horse loved him, and suffered none to ride Upon his back, by flattery or by force, But his dread Lord, that half the world did guide. This knight did bear that Alexander's name, Who brought the proudest Coursers to his beck, And with his hand, spur, voice and wand, did tame The stately Steeds that never brooked the check. He father was to Alexander's three, Which are for riding held in high respect: As they are highly praised, admired was he, That taught them first those Coursers to correct: Not only he in England was esteemed, But eke in foreign Countries for his Art, And yet to me (that honoured him) it seemed His fame's report was less than his desert. This knight (the mirror of all knights for riding) Had many men of worth and great renown That were his scholars, by whose happy guiding They in this art did put all others down: Ye gentlemen, ye knights, and stately Pears, That by his life reaped profit and delight, Come join with me in shedding solemn tears, And mourning for the death of this brave knight, As Art united with Experience long, Taught him those lofty Steeds in awe to hold, So nature framed his bodyfaire and strong, And heaven gave him a sptrit stout and bold: To him was I beholding for his love, My labours still were welcome to his sight, This stirreth up my heart, and doth it move, In what I may his friendship to requite. In Fame's sweet breath he lives, yet wants he breath, And thus he lives, and yet is lise is done, He road apace, yet is out-rid by death, And still he rides and yet his race is run: He rides indeed, but how? on Angel's wings, And is new knighted by the King of Kings. FJNIS. An abstract of the principal matters that are handled in this Book. THe cause wherefore the Art of Horsemanship was deu●sed: who are he to learn the same, And who are fi● to teach the same in perfection. 2. Th●t there must be a true knowledge of the nature of the subject, whereupon art & ●●actise doth work. 3. That the nature of all Creatures desireth restitution to their former natural perfection, and an innated hatred to the contrary 4. That the desire of knowledge of horsemanship & the knowledge itself i● naturally grafted in man. 5. That perfect horsemen, and perfect horses, are of such excellency, that a great honour and strength of the state of a kingdom dependeth upon them. 6. That the ancient writers, and practitioners of ●orsemanshippe do set forth the goodness of horses to proceed from the goodness of the Country, the Ar●e the witers, the ground, the Complexction, the Colour, the marks and the shape. 7. The demonstration of their errors there in and the confutation thereof, drawn from nature, reason, and experience. 8 That the natural goodness of all horses is only taken at the time that they are framed in the womb, and not otherwise, and therefore perpetual and not changeable. 9 That the artificial goodness of horses, is only accidental, gained by Art, and pre●●rued in vigour, by use and practise. 10 That the natural qualities of horses in their first and primary Creation, were in all perfection, and what t●ose qualities were, & the cause why the same became unperefct. 11. That those natural and primary qualities are not utterly deprived (notwithstanding man's transgression) but only observed and therefore by man's diligence may be restored to the full sufficiency of man's use. 12. That the natural goodness and quallityes of every horse, how young or old so ever he be, may be knowle, and is herein perfectly let forth how to be known, without proof or practice, only upon the view. 13. The true description of such Horses and Mares, as are to breed perfect Colts, nearest to the first creation. 14. The age that such Horses and Mares are by nature fit to beget, & bring forth colts in perfection. 15 The means how to prepare and keep them before they come to the action of begetting, so as their Col●s may be in perfection of natural goodness, and that without such observation they bring forth jades. 16 The time when, how and where they are to do the action. 17 The manner how to keep the mare after conception, and how to preserve the Colt in the womb in perfection of natural goodness, until it be so●led. 18 The manner how to use them when they are foaled, and still to continue and preserve them in natural goodness. 19 The manner how to teach a Colt to amble without handling. 20 The description of a perfect stable. 21 The manner of perfect shoeing. 22 The manner of taming Colts. 23 The art of stiding. 24 The true and perfect diet of Horses for preservation of health and continuance. 25 The definition of sickness, the cause of all sickness and death, and the causes of long life. 26 The means how to keep them from inward diseases, and outward Sorances. 27 The manner of curing of all diseases, the signs to know them, and the causes thereof. From the judicial reading and consideration of the whole discourse of this work, there appeareth the knowledge of these causes. viz: 1. Wherefore one Horse is better than another in his action. 2 Wherefore two Colts begotten and brought forth by one Horse, and one mare the one is better than the other. 3 Wherefore all Horses in their young, middle, declining, and decrepit age, do differ in quality of action. 4 Wherefore some Horses are of unperfect shape, and some of perfect shape. 5 Wherefore some Horses are of long continuance for service, and some for a short time. 6 Wherefore Horses of one and the same proportion and colour, the one is good and the other had. 7 Wherefore there are so many jades and so few good Horses. 8 Wherefore there are so many differences of good and bad actions of horses. 9 Wherefore Horses do evermore decline to imperfection, notwithstanding nature's resistance and man's aid. 10 Wherefore horses cannot always live, though there were no sickness allotted unto them. FINIS. Admonitions to the Reader. FIrst read, but not with preindicate opinion, remembering that he which hastily judgeth, speedily repenteth: Tamen si judicare velis, sic judica, quasi mox ab alioiudicandus. 2. Secondly, read all from the first word to the last, and do it not cursorily or speedily, but advisedly and with deliberation: for a cursory and tumultuary reading, doth ever make a confused memory, a troubled utterance, and an incertain judgement: and therefore he that will mount high, must ascend by degrees. 3. Thirdly, read not with much intermission of time, neither at any time much, lest when ye read the last part, you have forgotten the first. Nam quo se plus recepit animus, hoc se magis laxat: for the more the mind suddenly receiveth, the more it looseth and fre●eth itself. 4. Fourthly, read it often although you find parvum in magno, when it should have been magnum in parvo: because Ars long, vita brevis, a great task but a short time: which done, make practice of your knowledge, for everyman must first study before he begin to dispute. 5. Fiftly, esteem not yourself to know all when you know a little: for the Synecodoche & figurative knowledge (taking part for the whole) is no other than to have the tongue only tipped with the words of Art, but no judgement in the Art, for it fareth with men's fantasy, as it doth with their eye sight in an unequal distance from the object, which being far removed from their gross and narrow capacity, it cometh into their conceit as things of little moment; which if their dim & weak sight were able in the visial line to behold in the divine nature, they would confess the surpassing excellency, & exceeding difficulty: but the not acknowledging their own ignorance, is the deprivation of the true testimony of their i●dgement. 6. Sixtly, because this whole work taketh his grounds from nature, how to know the perfection of the primary creation, how to breed them accordingly, & to preserve them in their perfection, & thereby refelleth the errors in the whole Art and practice of Horsemanship, I have purposely omitted to add any marginal directious to stand as Mercury's statues in high ways of old pointing the finger to consequents, or to make any Index or table thereof: therefore raise thy hopes (thy only sweet and firm Companion) it is the last thing that leaveth thee and the highest things it promiseth thee: it maketh all labours supportable, and all difficulties conquerable, and will evermore remain unto thee a sweet Nurse to suckle thy memory till it be strongin itself to carry about it the beautiful burden of knowledge. 7 Seventhly and lastly, it may seem that I have made too large a discourse herein; the cause thereof is, for that no former writer hath ever unfolded the true secrets of Nature. The same being dark & enigmatical to common sense, I was enforced to manifest the same by reasons, the which being manifested, bringeth understanding, & then understanding settleth opinion, the which opinion being able to definecertainty of truth, there followeth true judgement, without which all reading is unprofitable. Pro capta lectoris habeat sua fata libellis. THE Perfection of Horsemanship, drawn from Nature, Art and Practice. CHAP. 1. Notwithstanding the excellency of man's Creation, yet must Art be used to gain obedience of the creature. Although the Omnipotent Creator after he had made this visible world, made man, placing him king & Emperor over the same, and of all things therein contained, where, by contemplation of the excellency of the work, he might not only admire and reverence the Creator, but also acknowledge his clemency towards him his creature, and although in the creation by his instance of word, he made all things in their perfection, & that in the Creation of man, he made greater deliberation, for having created all other creatures with bodies and faculties of life together, yet to make the excellency and dignity of the creation of man greater, he fashioned the body of man only apart, to plant therein the soul by inspiration, showing that the soul that he inspired in the body of man is not taken of the earth, or of the elements, to die as the body doth, but in his creation he breathed in his face the breath of life, Gen. 2.7. whereby man was made a living soul: & although all other creatures were subject to corruption, & man to a perpetuity of felicity to eternal life, & that the excellency of the creation of other creatures, hath ravished the admiration of former ages, and that great imagination is to be made of man, for that under his feet all are subjecteth, & for his only use and service created and still preserned, & that although his habitation be on earth, yet by his understanding the course of the firmament, the depth of the Sea, and the uncredible height of the Sky, he contemplateth as near unto him, Insita sunt nobis omnium artiam ac virtutum semina, magisterque ex oc ulto deus producit ingenium. neither doth the darkness of the air confound his mind, the thickness of the earth-let his affection, nor the profoundness of water hinder his desire, and that the knowledge of all things remaineth in man, so that man cannot but acknowledge man the finder out of the cause of all things, and his diligence the consummation of all arts: yet nevertheless, man must consider that by his disobedience, he hath lost all obedience, which by original creation was subject unto him, & that now the obedience of all creatures must be attained by Art, and the same preserved in vigour by use and practise, Dissinition of Arte. Nam ars infaecunda est sine usa & usus temerarius sine arte, & all Art is no other than a habit, working by true reason, consisting of many things gathered by experience, profitable to the use man, not inheritable to man being obscured by the scourge of his own transgression, although the virtues thereof are planted in his original Nature, so as he shall evermore desire the true knowledge and practise thereof, because nature still desireth restitution to his prymary perfection. CHAP. 2 Who are fit to learn Horsemanship. IT shall be worthy consideration to understand that to attain to the perfection of this Art requisite for the best use of the commonweal, Nisi in us sit qui doceat in vanum doctoris lingua laborat. Gregory. it is fit that he that shall exercise the same, bear a natural inclination thereunto, which if Art and practice be reaved from the science is little worth, but being united and conjoined, there shall reside the rarest Artists of the world, and their works of greatest perfection, & so have all the ancient Philosophers found by experience, that where nature doth not dispose an Artist, it hath been a superfluous labour to toil in the rules of Art, Quia natura nihil agit sine aeternis consiliis, because nature doth not work but by the Author of nature: and this advice Galen reporteth to have been given to his father, when he first set him to the study of physic, and Plato when he was to teach grave doctrine, always made choice of such Scholars, as by nature he reputed most fi● thereunto: for although there be many differences of wit in mankind, yet unum semper adunum destinasse, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One instrument to one use one wit is always fatal to one thing: Ei una ars vn●ingenio satis est, and one art is sufficient to one wit, & one only wit with pre-eminence can fall but to one man's lot: for God being the Author of nature, hath not given to each man more than one difference of wit, being a miracle if he give more in an eminent degree: Nusquam deveniet qui quot Giderit sequitur calls Varro: for as that man that runneth into every path he seethe, shall never come to his journeys end: so he that striveth to know all arts, shall never attain the perfection of any one, wherefore this natural difference must be discerned, if you will reduce Horsemanship to perfection, which otherwise will be as unpossible as for a Midwife to make a woman to be delivered that is not with Child: for man's wit holdeth his proportion with knowledge, as the earth doth with seed, wherein is a natural disposition, because every earth cannot without destruction produce every sort of seed: and nature is conditioned like unto a Stepmother, which is only careful to bring up those children herself breedeth, which moved Cicero to say, what else is it (to resist nature) but after the manner of Giants, to fight with the Gods, the which who so laboureth to overcome, shall rest vanquished by her. CHAP. 3. Who are fit to teach Horsemanship. IT is to be considered, that the Master which teacheth the Art, have both manner and method in teaching, whose understanding must be sound and firm, lest it befall the Scholars as it did certain Physicians, whom Galen convinced by many reasons and experiments, showing their practice false and prejudicial to man's health, in whose presence their tears fell from their eyes, cursing their hard hap in having so bad masters when they were learners: so is it also requisite that the study of Art be in order, beginning at the principles, and passing through the midst to the end, not to have many lessons at one time of divers matters, & to carry them fartheled together, whereby a mass of things being in the understanding, afterwards coming to practise, they have not a use of their precepts of art to assign them a place convenient: for in the same manner every thing is learned, so is it preserved in memory: which moved Galen to write a book to teach the manner how to read his works, lest the Physicians might be entangled in confusion: and therefore it behoveth every Artist not only to approve his natural inclination, and the natural capacity of the Scholar, but also that knowledge have his due digestion to take deep root: for as the body is not maintained by the quantity it eateth, but by that which the stomach digesteth, even so the knowledge of this Art is not attained by much teaching or much reading in a little time, but by that practice joined thereunto, which by little and little it conceiveth and chueth upon: for the wit of man doth daily better, by process of time, and attaineth to that which formerly it neither understood nor conceived. CHAP. 4 That the nature of the horse that is to be taught be truly understood. LAstly it behoveth that the nature of the Horse (being the subject whereupon Art and practice doth work) be sufficiently known, because the knowledge of all things is such, Potentia a natu●a actu● a ●o●untate. that unless the nature of them be known, they cannot be truly and perfectly known, being a sundry diversity of natures, as the things be sundry whereof they be, because as that is only natural in them, as it is of them, so doth it declare the nature and natural quality of them, nam ex arena nullum funiculum nectes, neque ex pumice oleum ant aquam ulla arte exprimes, For art cannot make ropes of sand, neither draw oil or water out of ●●ints, Et nulla ars humana & licitapossit contra naturam essicere quicquam: and no lawful and humane Art can effect any thing against nature, neither can the Offices and duties of Art be performed, because all Art worketh by true reason, Definition of reason. and reason hath his work and being, from nature, and is the perfection, centre, and the limits of all mediocrity, beyond which it is not lawful to decline neither in too much nor too little: Nam quicquid moderamine caret, Quid natura nisideus, et di●ina ratio tot● mundo & ●ar tibus cius enserta. id in pessimam degenerat speciem, whatsoever doth want the mean doth degenerate into the worst kind. I then conclude that the natural inclination of the Rider, the sufficiency of the teacher, and the nature of the subject, truly understood with the progress use and practise therein, the full perfection of this Art will be approved. CHAP. 5. An incytation to all men to love Horsemen and Horses, and thereby the Arte. NOw for as much as the sinews of wisdom are not to beleene lightly, Qui 〈…〉 est 〈◊〉. because wisdom comprehendeth nothing but certain & undoubted knowledge, which proceedeth from the beginning and cause to the knowledge and effect of the thing, and from the effect and event into the knowledge of the cause; let no man be persuaded that hath true knowledge, that a thing is otherwise then he knoweth it to be, the which being grosted in man, they rob and deprive themselves of it, who without judgement allow, and approone the opinion of the Elders, and do suffer themselves like sheep to be led by others directions, who at the only hearing of Ancients and Elders, think it not possible for them to know more, or for the other not to err: whereupon Aright in his first book of Pol●●t●ues saith, As they have ●eft to pose itie that which they have sound false, why should not those that have sound our the truth, leave their better things to them that sha●● come after? and seeing the omnipotent Creator created man upright, directly tending to heaven, and all Plants opposite with their heads, and roots within the earth, and horses, and all other beasts in the middle betwixt man and Plant, going as it were athwart, so that man (the universal king of these lower parts) walking with an upright countenance as a master in his house, ruling all beasts with obedience and following will to man their commander; springing from their natural affection to account the mind being the efficient cause of their affection to action: (the mind being the efficient cause of their affection) it is a consequent in reason, that man by his knowledge and practice for the obtaining of the motion of their affection, labour by art & practise to gain the mind and natural disposition of the subject, to endure their being, which the god of nature hath given, whereunto every creature desireth restitution. All which principally consisteth in the true knowledge of nature: for who seethe not that where nature is bound, how it desireth to be loosened, The works of nature and wherein it is decayed how it laboureth to be restored, and how all creatures in the world rejoice at their returning again to nature, and how the ordinance of all things is to have joined the end to the beginning, & to make the course of it stable? Not to change from his proper & origionall kind, do we not see the tree, bird, sea, Sun, Stones, Fire, and every creature preserve themselves in the natural course of their first and primary creation, and have an ynated hatred of all things that be enemies to the same? Therefore whatsoever creature is to remain for durable, must now, by man's industry and the help of his own nature (so far as lieth in the power of man) be brought to his former restitution, and for this cause hath nature hid the knowledge and truth of all things in the heart of man, which moved Plato to say, That whatsoever men learned, they do but record them as things forgot: Shall man then (so divine a Creature) so much degenerate, to become so slimy and earthy, not to awake his thoughts from the sleep of idleness, to embrace the true knowledge of nature, Art and practice of Horsemanshippe, tending somuch to the honour of the King, and preservation of the whole body of the commonweal? can any calling be more noble than a good Horseman? are they not tryumphers both in Camps and Courts? doth any earthly thing breed more wonder, and hath not the same from all beginning been hereditary in the most noble persons? how then, Fascientia nobilior quae Gersatur circa nobilius subiectum: shall not that action be accounted most best and honourable, that is evermore performed by the best? wherefore let the pleasure in the excercise of your minds be so cherished, that without persuasion of the excellency of the knowledge, yourselves may be persuaded by knowing the fruits of knowledge, Patente indisposito, frustra intitur vis agentis, None will be taught if he be not moved with desire to be taught: and as Aristotle saith, It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be the fruit, and how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can be without being moved to practise, is not hard to consider, but no doubt that man which seethe the virtue cannot but be ravished with the love of her beauty: for as the Image of such actions stirreth and instructeth the mind with desire to be worthy, so it informeth with knowledge and practice how to be worthy: have not Horsemen from all beginning been accounted egregia et imidiate regni membra. The most excellent & principal members of the kingdom, and such as the Majesty both of King and kingdom depend upon? What else moved Severus the Emperor to call them Senatorun seminarium, the nursery of the state? and as men (especial above others) evermore called to the great and solemn meetings of the kingdom: Comitis apel● la●●●g●n 〈…〉 & pr● 〈◊〉 Co●●●● laluls 〈…〉 ●hitter. is not a Dake called Dux a dncendo exercitu, of being the general leader of the Army? and a Marquis called M●chio of this word M●cha, which signifieth a horse? for markg●ase signifieth equitun. praefeclus, the general of the Horsemen: and Marsteller the master of the Horse, on whom all the company of horsemen called Equestres depended, who in former ages have twice in the year celebrated their feasts, called Equiria, horsemen's feasts, viz: On the thir●●nth of March, and the eighteenth of April. And the Romens in their government did ensrancheiss Horsemen with many liberties & immunities: & as an ensign of their fame, appointed to those horsemen called Equestres, the wearing of gold Rings, naming them Equites aurati, the golden Knights, and afterwards for their more honour gave them ornawenta deaur●ta gilded ornaments: If I should speak of ancient Histories, who are the witness of former times, the light of truth, the life of remembrance, the mistress of life & messenger of old season, how memorable is Salon on theme st●●enowned king, who kept twelve thousand Horsen●en? Phrao, Corncl●● Ta ●●us Oldendorpuis 〈…〉 de●tar. so. 133 invincible Alexander, ●ulius C●●lar King ●ycus, Bellerophon Son of G●oucus King of Eplera who ●lew two monsters, Solym●● & chimera who rid swift P●g●sus into a mountain of jabia, called Chimaera, and of C●ius C●lar, in the time that he savoured M●rius against Silla: who to show the excellency of his horsemanship, caused his hands to be bound behind him, and by the only keeping of his knees close to the horse with the small motion thereof without bridle and saddle perfectly to stay, stop, and turn: and of many other kings, the memorable records of whose excellent actions would ravish the Reader with admiration, how horsemen should become so wonderful among men, So may I not forget the worthiness of the Horse, from whom the worthiness of man proceedeth, whose antiquity cannot be blotted out of memory, being originally created with man for his only use and service. It is said in the 21. of Proverbs, that the Horse was prepared for the day of battle: Bello armantur equs bella haec ●n minta ninantur. and in the 1. of Kings the 4. and 2. Croni. 9 that Solomon kept 40. thousand horses for war, and likewise many places of the Scriptures make mention of the great provision of Horses for wars, and to illustrate their excellency, appeareth in the 39 of job. How the strength of the Horse cometh from the Lord, and with neighing he covereth his neck, and that his neighing is fearful, that he diggeth with his feet in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth forth to meet the Harnessed man, he meeketh at fear, and is not afraid, and turneth not his back from the Sword, though the Quiver rattle against him, the glittering Spear and the Shield: he swalloweth the ground with swiftness and rage, and believeth not it is the voice of the Trumpet: he saith among the Trumpets ha, ha, he smelleth the battle a far off, and the noise of the Captains, and the shouting, so that there cannot be any doubt of their excellency, being from the testimony of eternal truth. Besides many testimonies that record the greatness of their same and worthy actions, for which they gained great solemnities of their burials, and remembrances brances of their worthiness. As amongst the Persians, who after the death of their excellent Horses, buried them and made sepulchres and monuments over them, and as Pliny reporteth, the Pyramids did the like. Also Plutarch saith, that Simon of Athens, for the great victory that he got by his Horses in the wars in Olimpio, after their deaths made sepulchres and monuments over them. Likewise Alexander for the renown of Bucephale his Horse, made him a Sepulchre and Monument, builded a City, and walled it about, and named it after his horse's name, as a memorial of his fame: and as Pliny recordeth, Caesar the Dictator caused the picture of his Horse to be set up before the house of Venus. And likewise the horse of Augustus Caesar, was buried with an honourable monument over him: And Dion Cassius reporteth, that Adrian the Emperor, after the death of his horse Borischemius, buried him and made a Princely Sepulchre, and a stately pillar over him, with Epigrams about it, graven in stone. And julius Caesar (as Tranquillius affirmeth) erected a Monument over his horse, with Ensigns, to signify their dominion over the whole world. Again, some have so loved their horses for their excellencies, as they have caused them to be buried in their own burials, as Lethurgus, the horse of Hypp immon: so likewise Arsuitus the horse of Biornon his Son, was buried with his Master: so likewise, as Caelius recordeth in his 26. book, Cap. 8. Panthenia & Eropha 2. famous Mares, were solemnly buried with their masters: & likewise some horses for their great swiftness in running, were buried, & Epitaphs made over them, as Lampon, Pancates, Pelorus, Campasus, Lamus, Sicoris, Ileridas thereon, Rhebam, Aethon & others, whereof I recite some few. Prestantia Celebrum. Evolat ante omnes rapidoque per aera cursu, Caliacus Lampon fugit atque ingentia tranat, Exultans sprciaet ventos post tergarelinquit, Sed proximus ibat. Astur, Pancates patrum frons alba tenebat ensign & patrio spes omnis concolor albo. Again, some horses have been so loving, to weep at the death of their Masters, Virg: lib. 11 and some with grief to die, as Aethon, the horse of Palantis, the son of evander, who at his masters funeral powered out tears. Post Bellator equus positis insignibus Aethon Is lachrymen guttisque humectat grandibus or a. etc. Nichodemus king of Bithynia, Plin: lib, 8 cap. 42 had a horse who for the grief of the death of his Master would never eat till he died as Gellius recordeth. And Antiochus had a horse, who when his Master was dead, for the grief thereof cast himself to the ground, and casting out his feet presently died: And Dionysius the Tyrant, had a horse, who being forsaken by his ungrateful master, followed him by his footsteps to find him out: and Dyon also reporteth, that the Emperor Caius Caligula, had a horse named Vel●cissimus, which he so loved, that he had him very often to dine and sup with him at his table, and caused him to be served with barley in a great vessel of gold, and to drink white wine in a Caudrone of gold: amongst which notable remembrances, I may not omit for the honour of this kingdom, the monument of Arundel Castle, which Beavis the honourable Earl of Southampton builded for a monument of his horse called Arundel, for saving him from many perils: but because some will report self-love better than any guilding to make that glorious wherein himself is party, I will not as the proverb saith, aquam in Pelagus effundere, cast water into the ocean: neither in re non dubia uti ratione non necessaria having infinite worthy testimonies of histories & holy writ (cuius spiritus nequeest mendax nequemordax) besides the daily assurances of every well minded mins practise wherefore seeing the power, justice and providence of the creator, and the weakness of man in so small consideration of so excellent a creature, as also the gentility and nobleness of the beast so manifest, whose heart is so highly set, that for to die he will not leave his master in danger, but hath such love with fierceness, and such fierceness with love, which prodigal nature hath given him, by which we see him like a thunder, break the press of the men of war, murder and kill those resisting his master, & letting him in his way, and finally never to cease his violence, till either life be lost, or victory obtained. I hope there is not any mind so base as to become a stepmother to Horse & Horsemanship & whereas I have made show but of a spark of the excellency of man and Horse in several division, If I should now join the excellency of them both in one, and thereof only gather the Tithe, how excellent think you were that conjunction, where such sympathy of obedience & reciprocal love is each to the other in all motions: each accompanying the other in skill and ready attendance to the skill, as your eye and sense shall not apprehend, but one sense and one will by individual connexion of two bodies in one, and with such pleasant motions, as if you steadfastly behold them, you would think them chained to your looks, and all their actions in such due time and measure, as no Artist can observe better: the man evermore commanding the horse as his own limbs, the voice, hand and wand, leg and spur, with such pleasing grace, as when correction is done, it is so secret as eye cannot discern, nor horse seem to complain, which would not only ravish the beholder's senses, but make all acknowledge man and horse, to sacrifice themselves to man's pleasing delights: all which (though they may seem more than wonderful) yet (because wonder is the daughter of ignorance) know that wonders are no wonders in such wonderful creatures: but fearing I have run too long a career in this matter (being unworthy to speak of their worths) I think fit herein to give my pen a full stop, hoping and hearty praying, that the famous Court of our most renowned and gracious King may be aswell replenished with horsemen, as the court of King Diomsius was with Philosophers, of whom it is recorded, that his whole Court through the greatness of their multitude, was replenished with the dust of their feet. And lastly, because I will (uno multa comprehendere,) entreat the Reader, that for as much as the excellency of perfect horse and perfect horsemen is so excellent, ancient and universal, that no nation doth despise it, nor barbarous nation without it, since neither the description, nor end containeth any evil, the thing distributed cannot be evil, since the effects be so good, as to teach goodness, and delight to the beholders and learners of it, since the honour of the King, preservation of his kingdom, and the terror of the enemies dependeth upon it, since the holy Scriptures wherein is no untruth hath recorded it most honourable to all posterity, to think as I think, and I think I think truly, the laurel crown appointed for Triumphant Captains doth most worthily honour the horseman's Triumph. CHAP. 6. That the ancient writers and practitioners, do approve the goodness of horses from the countries they are bred. viz. from Air, Water, Ground Complexion Colour, Mark and Shape: and first of the Countries, and so in order to the rest. 1. Arabia. 2. Thessalia in Grecia 3. Naples. 4. Barbary. 5. Turkey 6. Spain 7. Sardinia & Corsica 8. Hungary 9 High Almain. 10. Flaunders. 11. Swethland. 12. Ireland 13 Friesland England Scotland and France, are not mentioned but in this manner, viz: No Palfrey to England No Gelding to Scotland No Hackney to Britain. The demonstration of their errors, and the confutation thereof. OF these Countries the proverb is verified: tot capita tot sensus, & multac●pita sine sensu, so many men so many minds, and many without understanding, for some hold only the Neapolitan, Arabian, and Grecian to be best, some the Neapolitan, Barbary and Irish: some the Neapolitan Almain, Hungarian, Flanders, Spain, and Irish: some the Turk, and some name England, Scotland and Britain, with a medley amongst others: it shall be therefore fit to consider the causes of their conceits taken from the perfection of water, perfection of Air, and perfection of Ground, whereunto they do only appropriate the goodness of horses, and after to the rest. And for as much as the ancient writers and practitioners do only approve those Countries, these questions may be reasonably demanded: first whether all the horses that are bred within the same Countries are good horses, or whether in some particular part of those countries, because they do advise breeders that will have perfect races, to make choice of those Horses and Mares, from, and out of those Countries: if then they mean that all those countries be excellent, than it may be reasonably collected, that they would have us persuaded that all Horses bred in those countries are good & excellent, which being admtited, little will be the use of the knowledge, of Nature, Art, & practise, but only to gain their obedience fit for the use of man, for where all is good, there cannot be deceit in choosing, but if in some particular place of every of those countries they are all excellent horses, than were it expedient for them to show, and for us to understand where those particular places are, and whether in those particular places there are not some jades aswell as good horses, and also to set down by special direction how to know those horses that are bred in such particular place of goodness, & the especial & particular rules that do approve their goodness, and the rather because most men even of greatest place do approve the goodness of horses of other countries much before their own, & so might all men be assured of the goodness of their choice, otherwise the doubtfulness of the words maketh question, sed cum in verbis nullaest ambiguit as non debet admitti voluntatis questio, But where in the words there is no ambiguity, there a voluntary question ought not to be admitted: also it would be considered whether any one of those countries or any one part of any of those countries, having most excellent Air, Water, Ground, and so good as the wit of man is able to express, can alter a Race of jades to good Horses, or whether they be only good that are there begotten and bred, and no other, but because the only fame of those countries hath sounded itself over the world, and the opinion thereof rooted in most men's hearts, being but fame and windy record, I will conclude with the Civilian, fama per se parum momenti habet ad probandum, only fame is a small moment of proof. Again, it were fit that some cause might be expressed, wherefore England, Scotland and France, having no doubt in account of reason, in some parts thereof as perfect Air, water and ground, and yet not numbered amongst those countries formerly mentioned, to have good horses, sed ex viciosa definitione non procedit valida argumentatio, of an unperfect or untrue difinitition, a true argument cannot be collected: and yet it is not to be denied, but almost all the horsemen & breeders within this kingdom do much insist herein, so as if a Neapolitan, Arabian, Barbary or such like be brought into England, how inestimable he is valued, prised, and sold, and how all men desire him, who can doubt? a very strong implication to all ignorant men of an excellent horse, as also that those countries have not any bad, such is our weakness through want of knowledge and true judgement, that we do not only allow both horses and horsemen of all other countries (though our own far more excellent,) & thereby brand our own country and people with all imperfection, being only carried with the Airy stroke of fevery censure, not knowing the goodness or badness of their natural qualities other then by the name of the country. The cause herein cannot be had, Difficile est ●t bono peragantur exitu, quae malosunt inchoata principio. for ignoratis principijs nemo potest artem percipere, those that are ignorant of the beginning shall never truly conceive the art, & therefore my desire is, quae probat eventis perniciosa fieri ea debent revecare, etiamsi initio profuerunt, what things in success prove hurtful, let those be recalled, although they were profitable in the beginning. If one should affirm that the horses bred in the north part of England (nay, but named so to be) are they not more accounted, and better in estimation, & of all men so esteemed, and more valuable than horses bred in any other part of the kingdom? and doth any man doubt that horses brought out of other countries, are not much more in estimation and value, than the horses bred in the north part of this kingdom? & can this supposed excellency be taken from any other cause then from Air, Water and Ground? let us then consider and examine, whether this be an argument from no cause to a cause: which if it be, then have all learned, accounted the same absurd, for by distinguishing, inferring, framing of reasons, and judging, we attain to understand the truth, and to discover falsehood, and therefore it shall not be amiss to enter into the particular examination of those so great and motive causes, where in the truth of the controversy consisteth, and from whence the truth thereof proceedeth accordingly: for the true ways to come unto the knowledge of all things, are from the causes and maximees to the knowledge of the effects, & by the effects and consequents to the causes. CHAP. 7. Of the Air. FIrst of the Air, I deny that any horse can absolutely obtain or be deprived of his original and natural quality, by the goodness or badness of any Air whatsoever: although he altar his health, or obscure the quality for a time, yet doth it not deprive him of his natural quality, but such as he had from his Sire and dam, such will he be unto his death, although by good or evil usage, or education he may be either helped or hindered: for the best physicians & Philosophers, do hold that all creatures receive their conditions and qualities at the time of their framing and not at their birth, for otherwise nature were not perpetual, so as the air where they are bred cannot be any special inherent cause of natural goodness or badness, et res quaelibet dominatur a suacausa, and every thing is governed of his own cause: then if no cause of natural goodness, not any natural effect thereof can follow: the which if it be not natural, than not perpetual but accidental, whereof art taketh no knowledge, so as the force thereof cannot deprive general nature, for it is a general rule amongst all learned, quòd accidens in corpore nullum, pars est corporis naturalis, that an accident in the body is no part of the natural body. CHAP. 8. Of the Water. SEcondly of the water, which all men know to be a heavy element, cold and moist, and yet the water cannot aptly be said a mere Element of Water, being mixed and unpure, as our experience doth teach us, with Brimstone, Allom, salt, and such like, etc. no more than smoke can be said of itself to be a pure clement, but this we know, that it is by nature cold and moist, and the power and virtue thereof, doth mollysie and yield nourishment more than the air to the body, & therefore doth temperate & moderate the element of fire in the body, but the same cannot any ways deprive original nature, without deprivation of the subject, being compounded of the elements, whereof water is one, (although not such as we see, except it do exceed the compass of nature's mixture in the creation of the creature, for if material water should alter the nature of the Beast from the quality of his original creation, how should he be fit for the use of man, when necessity shall enforce him to drink of all waters? and thereby have several alterations in quality, and therefore that being no principal cause there cannot be any effect of the alteration of original nature from the creation. CHAP. 9 Of the Ground. THe third & the last is the ground which is a heavy Element, cold and dry, and may well be said to be the mother of all bodies, the which (according to the Mathematics be divided into mountains, Hills, Valleys, Fields, Meadows, and such like, the cause whereof the great Floods and Winds, in the time of the general inundation of the whole world, have so erected as some learned do maintain, and in the first creation to be otherwise: Now that the dryness or witness, the stony or shade, hills or dales, should make a new alteration of nature, other then for perfection or imperfection of health, or for other accidental matter, as the Fens and marshes do witness, I cannot find reason to persuade, although I admit the goodness of the ground, a means to many good purposes, for preservation of the temperature in the composition of the creature, & then being no alteration of nature, other then accidental, which hath not perpetuity, I hold the same no such cause whereupon any such effect followeth, & consequently that the goodness of horses is not appropriate more to one country then to another, neither is, or can be any assurance of the natural goodness of any horse, for as ashes though they be compounded of the 4. elements, yet no natural agent in the world can corrupt them, or take from them their quality agreeable to their nature, because nature left to her liberty, & to her own order without oppressing her, & turneth by little & little to recover the figure she had before, which could not be, if the same were once deprived of his original quality, which it took at the time of creation, for nature never passeth from one extreme to another but by the mean. CHAP. 10. Of the colour of horses. NOw are we to proceed to the examination of the certainty of the knowledge that may be taken from his colour, which all men most embrace, whereof my purpose is first to name those which they call the best. viz. Brown bay, dapple-gray, black full of silver hairs, black like a moor: the Roan bright bay, dark bay, bright sorrel, fleabitten, whitelyard, etc. The ancient writers tell us that every horse is coloured as he is complexioned, & according to complexion he is good or evil conditioned, and as he doth participate of the Elements, so he is complexioned, and this is the Topica, vel sedes argumenti, the place or seat of the argument: affirming, that if he have most of the element of the fire, than he is choleric, and therefore light, hot, & fiery, and of no great force as the bright sorrel: but if of the element of water, then dull, slow, heavy, cold of nature, and therefore most commonly milk white: but if of the element of the Air, then more full of blood, sanguine, nimble, pleasant, and of colour bay: but if of the earth, then melancholy, fainthearted, sad and heavy, and of colour dark, dun, russet, or black: and thereby seem to conclude, that colours are the demonstrations of goodness of quality: so as by these and such like reasons, by continuance of time, ourselves being desirous evermore to maintain and uphold that we first receive, as the new pot that retaineth the taste of the first liquor it was first seasoned with, not having judgement truly to discern the same, being a fundamental point of their doctrine, In this Art is to be examined from reasons of truth, and confutation of cavil, and therefore from right institution. I will begin with definition, because a man may be well said to know, when he understandeth what it is that he doth handle: I define complexion thus: Complexto est qualitas que ex actione ad invicem, & passione contrariarum qualitatum in elementis inventarum resaltat, complexion is a quality or condition which doth rebound or move out of the joint action and passion of contrariety of the qualities, moved in the elements: of which four complexions, (whose fathers are the four Elements) there is a mixture of them all, in all the parts of the body, yet diversly more inclined some to one, some to another complexion, according to their diversity of their uses, that of these discords, a perfect harmony may be made up, for a perfect complexion: but when any part of the body goeth to be distempered, & leadeth to an extremity beyond the compass of nature's temperate mixture, then cures of contrary qualities to the intemperate inclination of that part, may be both necessary and helpful for the strengthening and assisting nature in the expulsion of her enemies: and I do grant, as the learned do say, that there are four complexions, and likewise four elements, but I deny that every horse is coloured as he is complexioned: for if the diversity of colours of horse hair should be a true demonstration of complexions, there would be many more complexions than there are elements: and although it be true that horses have complexions, and also true, touching the compositions of the elements, yet it doth not follow, neither do I admit that the colour of their hair is a demonstration of their complexions, or that they be coloured according to the temperature of the four elements: for the diversities of their colours, are to every man's eyes witnesses of more colours than there are complexions: besides, The Moor is black. The Europian white. The American tawny. The East Indi●n●ed. Distmovish those cō●lexions●y the ha●e. The cause of the colour of have. horses do almost yearly alter their colours from the colours they wre of at the time of their foaling, wherein also should be alteration of complexion: for we do see the colour of man's hair doth not truly manifest his complexion, for that there are several men both of black, red, brown and white hair, and yet every one of their complexions are perfect Sanguine: so as the diversity of colour of man's hair doth not declare the diversity of man's complexion: for the natural cause of the colour of man's hair, is the gross vapour which ariseth from digestion, that the brain maketh at the time of his nourishment: and look what colour is of the member, such is that of his excrements, if the brain in composition partake much of phlegm, the hair in growth is white: if much choler, saffron coloured, etc. And moreover Hipocrates saith, that the colour of man's hair, may alter with the air of the country: wherefore then should it be admitted in horses, to have their colour of hair according to their complexion or temperature? and if in horses, why not in Kine, Sheep, Hogs, Dogs, and such like? and seeing that every man's experience approveth the contrary, why should I not say with Cicero, Experientia magis quam discendo cognovi: I have known more by experience then by learning. Furthermore, if that his hair should be coloured according to his complexion, the which I do not admit, but if it were admitted, yet how shall it be proved, that according to his colour he is well or evil conditioned? For if by condition they mean his good or bad action, and the goodness of his work & quality, then is their proposition also untrue: for every creature worketh according to his nature, and all learning doth deny, that complexion and nature are in all parts one and the same: for the learned do know that the temperature of the Elements is termed Nature, and that is the schoolmaster that doth teach the sensitive soul of the Horse what to do: Animi mores corporis tempe ratur imsequūtur● and according to that temperature doth one bruit beast better perform the works of his kind than another, but that shall never be found true, in respect of the colour or that the temperature of the Elements is manifested in his colour: again some Horses are of many colours, & then, according to their rule, of many complexions: and if complexion were admitted simply for Nature, then by consequence of reason, of many natures, & so of many divers and several works, and quality of works: Notwithstanding, for further examination of their infallible rules, wherewith the whole world is blinded, let us come to the use practice and daily experience of colours: and let our great love to colours, set spectacles upon them, to make their excellency appear greater, clearer and more glorious than they are, and examine the most best and generally admitted colour, called Brown bay, which is termed the best at all assays: and which the Frenchmen do call Bayarie loyal: trusty Bayard, being noted the general and chief Captain of all colours, & let me ask any Horseman, in whom knowledge and practice doth reside, whether all Horses of that colour without exception, are good, if all be not, than the rule for colour faileth, and then by consequence, the colour for hair proceedeth not from complexion, for if all bay colour be principally good, than whosoever hath lived, and hath his sight to know bay colour, needeth no further or more knowledge to know a good Horse, and if that colour be only the best, than no Horses so good as those. another question I would demand, whether there are not as good Horses of other colours, the which if it be admitted, than the colour from complexion faileth. Moreover if yet you rest not satisfied, I will set down the words of two learned writers, that after long discourse thereof, say that de pilo diversi diversa sentiunt of the colours of hair divers do diversly think. And Ovid & Virgil two famous learned men, are direct opposite each to the other in opinion of colour of horses: the one of them affirming the white colour best, and the other denying the same, being a colour according to the rule of complexion the most worst: and yet I could give excellent examples of the goodness of white horses, but the more this cause is handled, the more the error of colour is manifest: but as I have said for this matter experientia omnium rerum certissima moderatrix, experience is the best moderator of this controversy. Now if you will yield yourself to hear the original of these former errors, understand that the best writers hereof have been much abused, for Opianus saith, that colours of horses were chosen and maintained for hunting of wild beasts, because (saith he) the colour of some horses is hateful to some beasts more than to others: and upon such like causes have the learned writers allowed colours, leaving to posterity their opinions what colours they thought best for such actions: since which, some writers seeming (or at least making show to understand much, making great Books of diversity of matter, have set down colour a principal cause of a good horse, so as by translating and taking notes out of other men's labours untruly, collecting and adding their own conceits (not being able to understand the natural causes) they have made all men almost be carried away with toys, and not with true judgement, & thereof do notwithstanding wonderfully triumph, playing as he that hath gotten nothing, holdeth it fast, so as if the horse be a brown-bay, with a white star, white foot, or such like, he is valued oftentimes more than he is thrice worth. Thus hath many ages taken that for a cause, which is no cause: there is nothing more true, then that the goodness of the cause is the goodness of the effect, for as Bernard well noteth, si bona fuerit causa pugnantis, pugnae exitus malus esse non potest, if the cause of a quarrel be good, the effect and issue thereof cannot be evil: and as I have said, so I say still, that all true knowledge seeketh after the beginning and cause of things to attain to the knowledge and effect of the thing, and from the effects and events to find the knowledge of the cause: Thus you see that to depend upon speech without probable reason, and without showing the cause of such things as they publish to the world, doth infect with error all those that entertain the same, and will daily increase so long as they sectari riwlos & non petere fontes, think the spring clearer than the fountain, Faelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. it is scientia sciolorum quae est justa ignorantia, it is the knowledge of the pretended knower that is ignorant: but where true knowledge & practice concur, there & not elsewhere truth shineth. CHAP. 11. Of horse's marks. ANother matter alleged by the writers, Non tam imperto nobi● opus quam exemplo. to know a good horse is his marks, but for as much as I have stayed about the displaying of the colour, I purpose not to stay about a particular part of colour, whereof the Italian writers have drawn particular names, from whom (as people apt to imitation) the common people willingly entertain the same, and the horses so marked (for example presseth more than law, and the eyes & thoughts of the lesser, are always upon the great) and therefore when a horse hath a white foot or a white mark, they say he is excellent good, and him the Italian calleth Balzano, but say if the white extend high & large, that betokeneth debility, because (say they) whiteness betokeneth weakness, dullness, and such like, and that they call Balzani, & so running in the path of their own pride as a stray sheep that hath been long time lost, is ever lost: go forward and tell us of Calzati, Arseglio, Travato, trustravato, Rapicano, Attuffunato, Guzzo, Zaino; etc. sure I am, that neither white foot, white star, white list, struck, snip, philet in the forehead, white rump, black or red flee-bytings, Ostrich feather where it cannot be seen, meal nose, meal flank, bearded under his chaps like a Goat, black and long fetter-lockes, long main, long tail, black main, black tail, black list and such like, are no more assurance of a good horse, than the having a feather in a man's hat, doth prove him a good man or a bad, which by seeing and practice, you will sooner believe, than my saying can persuade, for undoubtedly you shall find good and bad of all colours, and without marks. But men having been persuaded especially by strangers to those observations, all men are possessed therewith by custom, and have sought to breed by such mares and horses that have been so coloured and marked as infallible tokens of their goodness, whereby great multitudes of those colours and marks have been generally bred, and thereby received and esteemed of great value, being accounted true notes of good horses: how truly may it be said, consuetudo piccandi tollit sensum peccati, the custom of doing evil maketh men senseless and without feeling of that is evil, which maketh a monster in nature, when as seeing their own experience, will not believe so true experience. And therefore I conclude with Augustine, consuetudinem vincere dura pugna, to overcome custom is a hard fight. CHAP. 12. Now of his shape. THe last thing the writers affirm to know a good horse, is his shape, which originally as it issued from the hands of God, was no doubt most excellent, for the works of God were all perfect, but the particular observations and descriptions of perfect shape, Nihil est sine mensura ac partium proportion-formosum. This rule is generally to be observed in the shape of a horses description. are in number about thirty, the which I will recite and give some short answer to every particular, as they are by them recited, only to move you to careful consideration to understand what they accounted perfect shape: which being divided into 4 parts, 3. parts thereof, are as well incident & proper to jades, as to good horses, and therein I wish you to observe their incertainty for your understanding, & I will begin with the hoove, & so ascend till the whole body be described: First therefore they say that the hoove should be black, smooth, dry, large, round and hollow: and some write, that if it be soft and tender, and the heel broad, it is a sign of lightness, and that the Horse will from his foaling, tread light upon the ground, being afraid to trust his hooves, being tender, and therefore straineth his forelegs- and back the more. First, for brief answer herein, there appeareth contrariety in the description, and yet both are herein commended: and yet the learned say, contraria non solum substantia sunt seperata, sed etiam pugnant inu●●em, contraries are not only separated in substance, but do each of them fight against the other: for all contaries are either immediate or mediate, as if a man would thus reason: aut dies aut nox est, either it is day or night: of which if you allow one, the other is taken away: but to say that a man either sits, or walks, is no contrariety, although no man can do both at one time, for a man may do neither, as he that lieth down: but here the dry hoove is commended, therefore the moist, and soft hoove is discommended, but aswell a good Horse as a bad Horse may have a dry hoof, & there is not any Horse can be said to have a perfect hoof, that hath a moist or soft hoof: and yet the greater commendations is attributed to the soft hoof, because (say they) it betokeneth lightness: but if a man might thus reason, a dry hoof is nought, because it is brittle, and easily becometh hoofe-bound: and a soft hoof is nought, because it is a flat or pumish hoof, which cannot be deep of hoof, so as he cannot be a horse of continuance, no more can he be bold of his feet as other Horses, and especially, if he be not very skilfully shod: neither dare he use his feet boldly upon stony and hard grounds, and thereby becometh fearful and yielding, and so not sure footed: but if it be said that good shoeing may altogether help that fault, I answer, good shoeing may do some good, but not to the perfction of the hoof, but only to secure the unperfection thereof: good Smiths are rare to be found, but how if he be evil shod (as it is ten to one amongst common Smiths) is he not more than half spoiled? besides it is unperfect, for it cannot be of continuance as a deep hoof: & because it must be intended only of the forefoot it is the worse. And all things must be considered and allowed, that are in perfection, which is mediocrity, & not in their imperfection, which is evermore in extremes, therefore to be rejected: besides, if the hoof should be hollow and dry, it cannot be perfect, for then by the hollowness it would be the more drier. Again, to have it large and round is not perfect, for thereby it will be fleshy and club-footed, which is proper to jades: and as to the tenderness of his foot, that it should be a sign of lightness, as it hath no truth so it hath no reason to defend it, but a plain and manifest demonstration of fearfulness, by reason of his tender hooves: and how he should upon travel strain his forelegges, and his back and spare his hooves, I cannot understand, but sure I am that such horses cannot long continue or endure hard travel for man's use, the end of his creation consisting altogether in action and nor otherwise. 2. The second rule is, that his hooves should be small and heavy: I answer, that the former commendation of a large hoof, and now of a small hoof are somewhat repugnant, yet I gather, and I think I gather truly, that their meaning is that the Cronet of the hoof should be small and heavy: to which I answer, if the smallness, howsoever it be taken, be not answerable to the joint, it is nought, & that it should be hairy, I answer: if he have a good Fetterlocke it is good, in that it answereth his nature, and yet the joint may be bare without hair, and yet a good horse, but being not part of his shape I leave it. 3. That his pasterns should be short, neither to low nor too high, & thereby strong beneath, and not apt to fownder: I answer that his pasterns should be answerable in length and shortness to the natural and equal proportion of the body, and the shortness of the pastern is no more assurance of strength, then to say, that every thing that is short is strong, or that every short boned beast is strong, for the strength of the pastern is the uprightness thereof, and not the shortness: do you not often see a weak Horse to have a short pastern, and a great weak Horse to have a great and short pastern, bending and bowing in his pastern, although it be short: And as for aptness of foundering, is a rule without reason, for as a short pastern preserveth not a horse from foundering: no more is a long pastern the cause of fowndring and when you understand the cause of fowndring: and whence it proceedeth, you will reject the rule. 4. That his joints ought to be great, with long fetter-lockes behind, and that the same is a sign of force, I answer the greatness of his joints, are words doubtful, because they may be great of bone, without much flesh, which of itself is good: and yet may a great lean jointed Horse be weak & a jade, but the greatness of joint must be answerable to the proportion of his body, otherwise the great joint little availeth: and as to his long fetter locks, it may be a token of a moist constitution, and not of strength, for then the more hair the more strength, but his strength lieth not in his hair as sampson's did, neither is it any part of his shape. 5. That his legs ought to be straight and broad, I answer, if you consider only the straightness and broadness of his fore legs it is good, but if herein you consider his hinder legs, they may be broad and crooked in the ham, and yet very good, I never condemn his shape therein, if his action be good, and of continuance, whereof this giveth no certainty. 6 That his knees should be great, lean and plain, I answer, that the same are all good for shape, and yet we see jades to be so shaped as well as the good horses. 7 That his thighs should be full of sinews, the bones whereof to be short, equal, just, and well proportioned: that when he standeth with his legs together, there should be more distant one from another towards the breast then beneath: I answer, for the fullness of sinews, nature frameth in quality and number all a like, as many in one horse as in another, otherwise there should be a defect in nature, which as it is universal, doth not err: moreover, the proposition is such as I know not how a man should attain to a certain knowledge thereof upon the view of any horse, when the same is not to be seen by the eye: and as to equality of proportion, it is perfection of shape in all creatures, and therefore to be allowed: and as to the distance betwixt his legs, is altogether from the fullness and breadth of the breast, which causeth the distance: for otherwise it were to be attributed to the fatness or leanness of the horse, which is accidental, and therefore uncertain. 8. That his shoulders should be long, large, & full of flesh: I answer, that the length and largeness should be answerable in proportion to his body, and being so it is very good, but as to the fullness of flesh it is more or less by good or bad keeping, and no part of shape, and aswell incident to jades as to good horses. 9 That his breast should be large & round, I answer it is very good, and yet a jade may be so. 10 That his neck should be rather long then short, great towards the breast, bending in the midst, and slender towards the head. I answer, if it be not set on as the neck of a Hog or Goat right forward it is good, and the longer and higher reared, the better shape, and yet no assurance of a good horse. 11. That his ears should be small, sharp, and upright: I answer it is comeliness, and a good shape, & yet no assurance of goodness. 12. That his forehead should be lean and large: I answer, if that largeness be intended both of breadth and length, according to natural proportion, it is good, otherwise the largeness may be deformity of shape. 13. That his eyes should be great and black, I answer it is a very good shape. 14. That the hollowness of his brows be well filled, & shooting outward, I answer the filling up of the hollowness of his brows is very good, but the shooting out may breed deformity, if it be fleshy and do much overhang the eye, especially if the eye be small: otherwise good shape. 15. That his jaws should be slender and lean, I answer it is a perfect and good shape. 16. That his nostrils should be open, and puffed up as you may see the red within, apt for air: I answer, the nostrils may seem greater and redder upon the violence or motion of the horse, but a wide nostril is part of a good shape, but I reject altogether flitting of horse nostrils to let in air, although the nostrils be little, as though nature were defective therein, not considering the cause of the perishing of the horses wind, which is not in the nostril, & therefore neither helped nor hindered thereby, as the French, & some English Ferrars suppose: 17 Moreover the straightness for the receiving of breath is not in the lower end of the nostril, but in the caves and straight passages, high towards the forehead, wherein if by any humours the same are straighted or hindered, therein is the receiving or delivery of the wind hindered, or by obstruction or oppilation of the lungs & not otherwise, and then slitting is ridiculous. 18. That he ought to have a great mouth, I answer that it is part of a good shape. 19 That his head should be like a sheeps head, I answer that sheeps heads, being as other beasts are, of divers shapes, it cannot be directly answered, for if I should conceive the shape thereof contrary to the writer's meaning, I should wrong them, & therefore leave it to be described hereafter according to my own knowledge therein, but if you take it according to the proportion of the most sheep, it is good. 20. That his Mane should be thin and long, and yet not disliking thickness, and that the thinness betokeneth aptness to be taught, so the thickness strength, I answer it is no part of shape, but an ornament to the shape, & as to the thinness, to betoken aptness, or thickness, strength, is of as great force in reason as the thick or thin beard of a man, giveth neither aptness of wit or increase of strength, but rather a token of a dry or of a moist constitution. 21. That his withers and walleyes should be sharp pointed, right and straight, so as a man may see from thence the departure of his shoulders, I answer it is perfect good shape, and yet he may be a jade. 22. That his back would be short, even & plain, I answer, it is very good shape, but no assurance of goodness 23. That his sides should be long and large, with small space betwixt the hinder Rib and the Hucklebone, I answer it is very good shape, but no assurance of his goodness. 24. That his belly should be long and great, orderly hidden under his ribs, I answer it is very good shape and yet no assurance of goodness. 25 That his flank should be full and not gaunt, with natural friezled hair on both sides, and the higher such hairs mote the better, I answer, the fullness of his flank is comely in shape, & the friesled hairs are no part of shape, neither of any importance other than satisfaction to some men's delights, although some men of place and special note have greatly commended it unto me, but I could not conceive any reason from other than a liking of a received tradition, neither of any moment by observation. 26. That his Rump should be round & plain with large space betwixt the huckle bones, I answer it is very comely and good shape, but no good horse. 27. That his thighs should be large and long, with bones well fashioned & full of flesh, I answer, if it be proportionable to natural shape, it is good, & to the fullness of flesh according to his goodness of keeping. 28. That his hams should be lean, dry and straight, I answer it is very good, & yet no assurance of goodness. 29. That his hooves should be large & crooked like a Hart, should be a sign of swiftness, I answer, the largeness of his hoove ought to be proportionable, and it is good, but that the crookedness betokeneth swiftness, is merely a conceit, for although some Horses that are crooked be swift, some also that are strait are swift, & therefore it giveth no certain assurance thereof. 30. That his tail should be full of hairs, long down to the ground: or as some writ that his tail should be thin and crisp, I answer that they are toys, and conceits without reason, neither any part of shape but only an ornament to shape. 31. That his truncheon should be of measurable bigness & well couched, I answer that the bigness is nothing but the comeliness of cowching and carriage, is commendable. 32. That his stones and yard should be small, I answer I hold it fit to be proportionable to the body, & otherwise not material. 33. That he should be proportioned like a Stag, lower before then behind, I answer if he be lower before, it is absolutely nought, if in the only seat of the saddle low, & forward high reared, though he be somewhat reared behind, it is good, and the comparison in the general nought. CHAP. 13. The natural good qualities of Horses, in their primary creation. GEntle Reader, it hath been briefly showed, aswell what the ancient and late writers have observed and published, for the knowledge of good horses, namely from the Countries, air, Ground, complexion, colour, mark, and shape: whereby appeareth, that man is a subject wonderfully divers, and wavering, upon whom it seemeth very difficult to settle an assured judgement, I say, a judgement universal and entire, by reason of the great contrariety and disagreement of their judgement, which do so many times contradict one th'other, in so strange a manner, that it seemeth unpossible they should all come forth of one, and the same shop; we altar and we feel it not, we escape as it were from ourselves, and we rob ourselves: Ipsi nobis furto subducimur: we go after the inclination of our will, Anima legit ratio. and as the wind of occasion carrieth us, not according to reason: At nihil potest esse aequabile quod non a certa ratione proficiscatur: Our spirits also & our humours are changed with the change of time, our proceed are very heady and peremptory: for we have no patience to consult with reason, but determine merely upon fancy: he that is hot in the pursuit of what he liketh, none sooner weary, herein alone he is good for a common wealth, making more business than time itself, and in a word, any thing rather than himself: & therefore I affirm that it is impossible without full knowledge of the original cause of their goodness (wherein I dare affirm the best that have written reymaned ignorant) certainly to express, & assuredly to manifest the natural goodness of Horses, without proof and trial. For how is it possible to cleanse a river or spring that is corrupt, from corruption, that beginneth not at the head from whence the water cometh? & if the original fountain cannot be found, doth not the same of necessity, still remain corrupt? therefore Summa est dementia in corum fidem sperare, quorum perfidia comperta est, It is mere madness to repose trust in infidelity, Sed ubi cognoscitur unde morbus sit natus, ibi facilius potest inveniri remedium, but when the knowledge of true causes are certainly known & understood, there is great hope of good effects of true judgement: If then it shall appear in this my tractate, that all former writers of this subject, have been ignorant of the original causes of the goodness of Horses, marvel not that huius erroris tantique mali causa sie obrepsit inforum, the great decay of good Horses, & the manifold errors in Horsemanship, and the increase of the infinite and intolerable number of jades, do so swarm within this kingdom, and elsewhere upon the face of the earth, so as in place of one true perfect shaped Horse, there are a thousand jades, to the dishonour of king and Country. Will any gather fine and pleasant fruit from trees before the same be fully ripe, & fit to be eaten, but such as are ignorant and without understanding to know what is fit to be done? and can any truly taste and gather, the true use and fruit of any Art, but he whose mind & understanding, hath been & is mollified and ripened through the knowledge of Nature, Art, and practise thereof, and hath thereunto submitted himself, and digested by experience, the whole substance & matter of this Art? Where is he to be found, that hath laboured and spent his time in the true knowledge, of Nature, art & practise of horsemanship (but only in some particular part thereof) without which it is impossible to have a true and sound judgement therein, because the same is as a body, consisting of many particular members, how then can the whole Art of Horsemanship be known, before every part thereof be known? If a Gentleman endeavour to be learned in the Laws of this Kingdom, doth he not first come to an Inn of chancery,, and there continue one year or two, to learn the Law French, and to read books fit for a young student, and then go to an Inn of Court, and must painfully study eight or nine years before he be called to the Bar, & after he is called diligently and studiously for divers years, keep his vacations and excercise of learning, both in the house and publicly abroad, in Inns of Chancery to be aprooved of his study, and if he be then thought and aprooved sufficient, within few years after called to be a Reader, in an Inn of Chancery, for one, two, or three years together, before he be suffered or undertake to practise? And is not every base manuel tradesman an Apprentice, and journyman before he be admitted a Master of his Art? how then shall it be possible for a Gentleman to attain perfection, in so honourable and difficult an Art as Horsemanship, without many years study and practise, when as all Kings, Princes, and Nobility, become Scholars for many years, only to attain to ride well (being but a particular part of Horsemanship) And shall any that hath understanding only in part, presume sufficiency of understanding, truly to write of the whole Art? I know there is not any thing more opposite to the practice of this time, and writings of others, than this my labour, and yet I have notwithstanding adventured, Lupum auribus tenere, to hold the Wolf by the Ears, bitten while I hold, and slain when I lose, knowing that difficult things do evermore come slowly and dangerously forward, and cannot show themselves manifestly together at one instant, but are from time to time augmented and brought to better order, whereby the nature of every thing (according to nature's desire) is most best known and discerned in the end, & the end to a generality of perfection, so as in all Arts their good is the end, & can the end and perfection of any Art be more excellent good, and more worthy of a subjects pen to be treated of then of the true knowledge of the honourable Art of Horsemanship, the increase of strength, the honour of the king, and preservation of the kingdom? what if the same be resisted with the bitter humour of Zoilisme and malice, a thing not greatly to be marveled, for so much as that which is easiest, is still most usual: but if any are so evil created to be malicious detractors (whose reason cannot show so reasonable to leave reasoning in things above their reason) I leave them to their dismembered fractions, and to the usarie of their own desires, and only endeavour to establish the unstable judgement in the true knowledge of a good horse, and will set down the natural qualities that were in every horse at his first creation, without which, no horse can truly be called a good horse, which by man's transgression lie secret and hid in man, and by natural ability of man may be restored to a full and sufficient perfection for man's use, & though not in the superlative excellency as they issued from the hands of God, for as God gave unto Adam all perfection that might be in mankind, so he gave all perfection to those creatures which were immediately created by him: for nothing issued from the hands of God ill shaped or unperfect, and as Adam was created Lord of all creatures, & to provide for and preserve them in all perfection in their kind, the same right and charge is descended upon us his children. But if every point herein be not, or can be so plain or evident laid forth, as were to be desired, yet it is a custom in reason to conjecture probably, where we cannot define certainly, and still by all artistes more and more to be laboured, & to make perfect that which in a mere admirer can be hardly imagined, yet in a sufficient understanding see it lively expressed: and if my rules which I express be easily overturned, that which I teach is consequently subject to overturning the want of due apprehension herein, hath brought many errors unto all Arts and professions, so as it is more laborious to purge Art from error, then to teach the true knowledge and practice of the Art: the due consideration whereof moveth me orderly to set down those only true qualities which naturally were in them in their primary creation, and aught to be in every good horse, full and sufficient for the use of man, and particularly prove the same by the rules of nature, Art & practice, the which I reduce only to six: Boldness, lovingness, sure going, easy going, durable and free going: all which are like unto Hypocrates twins, sick together, and well together, laugh and weep together, and always are inseparable, in every excellent horse. First therefore I affirm, that every good Horse naturally is and aught to be bold, I mean not (as the proverb saith) so bold as blind Bayard, whose senses are not sufficient to guide him from his own wilful destruction, but of natural boldness, nearest to his first creation and perfection of goodness, wherein was no defect of Nature, but full and complete for the use of man, in all obedience to the true performance of every action: for if he had been fearful, he had not been fit to encounter the enemy, to pass waters, or dangerous places, great concourse of people, much noise, strange sights or such like, which should not now have been, if the affections of nature grafted in them had remained still uncorrupted: Definition of fear. for as fear is defined to be an awe of some evil drawing near at hand, so having possessed the creature, it depriveth him of many comforts, which nature originally had afforded: for the Horse which remaineth nearest his original creation, goeth forth, as job in his 29. Chapter affirmeth to meet the harnessed man, & mocketh at fear, and is not afraid, and turneth not back from the sword. And as Virgil saith, Nec vanos horret strepitus, neither doth sudden noise fear him, and thereupon the learned say, Quod alios territ, is non curabit, that which doth astonish & make other creatures afraid, he regardeth not. CHAP. 14 Of Lovingnes to man. SEcondly, I affirm that every good horse is and aught to be by Nature, loving to man, free from all hurt & mischief: and although love be such a thing, as cannot exactly & perfectly be defined, as also unpossible to comprehend all things which do appertain to the nature, disposition and efficacy thereof, yet who doth not see the virtue whereby the lover is knit unto him whom he loveth, and yet none able so much to know what, as of what quality it is, but by actions and observations: and therefore when man shall put a loving Horse to any action, he shall see in him evermore, a following will to obey, and as thunder pierceth the clouds, so violently (for the love he beareth his Master) doth he force himself against his masters enemy: and if inevitable danger ensue, he either carrieth his master from the same, or pouring out tears of his masters ruin, entertaineth present death, whereby the learned, have truly noted their original nature, saying Victores exultant, sed victi dolent, when they are victors & overcomers, than they rejoice, but being overcome they are sorrowful and mourning, otherwise they could not be approved sensible creatures: whereof I have given you examples not unlike the true love that was betwixt Nisus the son of Hictaci, & Euryalus, that when Euryalus his dear beloved friend was slain, Nisus having taken revenge of his death, afterwards digged himself into Euryalus grave, & so rested with pleasing death, whereof Virgil in his 9 book saith: his amor unus erat, pariterq in bella ruebant, to these was one love, & by fight perished together: such is the love of the loving horse to man evermore, entombeth his masters love in the grave of destruction: jealous of his master's safety, when as the froward dogged-natured horse keepeth mischief and malice inseparable, to wait upon his actions, to give freedom to himself, nam contra eorum eadem est disciplina, for of contraries is like learning: wherefore as love towards man & man is a virtue commended, so love and obedience of beasts, with perfection of action to man, is originally the ordinance of God in his first creation, and therefore as every thing ordained by God, is in his ordinance most excellent, so all froward and dogged lads, resisting and opposite to their original creation: with a natural inclination and perseverance therein to man, is a manifestation of their corruption. CHAP. 15. Of sure going. THirdly, I affirm that every good horse by nature is sure going, and by all practice appeareth so to be: for as continually he is sure from stumbling, so if any accident tendeth to his downfall, he striveth so long as breath or life lasteth to recover, and keep himself up if it be possible with his masters safety using his joints and limbs with such spirit and nimbleness, that he seemeth to swallow the ground by his agility, betokening rather flying then struggling, evermore adventuring his own peril to keep his master from peril; whereas the roil and jade that will not adventure the leaping of a block yet will not fail to stumble (nay to make a downfall) at a straw, evermore endangering his masters safety by his sluggish and fearful service, so as his Master never so much attendeth his own preservation as when he trusteth to a jades security. Again, if the good horse were not by nature sure going (no art being able to help) how should the first creation of horses be perfectly good, the same being evermore a principal good action for the use and safety of man, for whose only service he was created and still preserved. CHAP. 16. Of easy going. FOurthly I affirm that every good horse by his original nature is easy going, as a principal quality of his first creation and therefore so steadyly, justly and duly he lifteth and setteth, fearing to shake his master, expressing thereby the effect of his strength, & the virtue of his love, still striving to be delightful without danger or means of discontent: the contrary whereof evermore happeneth by the use of jades racking every part of man's body, so as he rather desireth a footeboys place, than a horseman's seat, not only to the overthrow of men's lawful labours and endeavours, but the whole use of their perfection of action, whereunto they were only created. CHAP. 17 Of long continuance in travel. FIftly I affirm, that every good Horse is by his original nature durable, and of great continuance in his labour: the same being a principal quality of his first creation, for that to enable his service to the use of man, in the 39 of job. it is said, that his strength is given him of God, and that he rejoiceth therein, as purposely ordained by God, for the service of man, without which man is deprived of his best and hopeful issues of his labours, by his debility and lack of strength. CHAP. 18. Of free going. Sixthly I affirm, that every good Horse is free, and full of desire to perform as a most principal quality, of his first creation, in perfection of all action, befitting the use of man, without which he doth bring much more tedious and grievous labour, then profitable use, and therefore to manifest the ordinance of God in their creation, for the comfort of man, it appeareth how he thrusteth himself with joy, to run headlong into the battle: and as Virgil saith, Loco stare nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus, cavatque tellurem et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu, he cannot quiet rest, but setteth his ears upright (and being full of spirit) he holloweth the ground, and with the hollowness of his horned hooves, maketh great sound, wherein the great goodness of God to man, is to be noted, that so strong & warlike a beast, is so willing to obey, and desirous to perform: when Assensus sequitur authoritatem dicentis, with his whole assent he followeth the authority of the speaker, whereby all their works might carry admiration, if man were not made tame with their continual actions of admiration. CHAP. 19 To prove those six qualities, in their original nature, and what they are. NOw it remaineth that we prove, That these six qualities are always inseparable. that these six qualities of a good Horse, their coherens & individual connexion, as links in one chain, and so fastened & coupled together, What is a Relative as the lack of the one shall be a true relative, the loss and destruction of the other: for relatives are always together in nature, beginning to be, and finishing their being in one, and the same moment. First therefore, you see that if he be not bold, although he be loving, sure going, easy going durable and free, yet they all are nothing, to assure the rider from danger. Likewise if he be not loving, upon many occasions and times, unexpected he may often spoil his master, keeper, or rider: also if he be not sure in going, what imminent danger is evermore to be expected, in all dangerous places, the experience too often approved. Also if he go not easy how can man be free from bruises, and soreness in all parts of his body, so as he shall not be able to make use of himself, for preservation of himself. Also if he be not durable, and of strength and force to continue his travel, or the action undertaken, being fit and reasonable for a Horse to perform, how can he satisfy man's use the end of his creation? Sixtly and lastly, if he be not free and of good courage, evermore of himself forward, free, and of good mettle, without compulsion, or stripes, what vexation or loss (yea many times of life) by a craving dull jade, who will not acknowledge? But when all these good qualities are inseparably conjoined in Nature (as they are in every perfect Horse) what can the heart of man more desire, if understanding guide his affection to declare unto him what is to be desired, with what facility of art and practice, will such horses be broken and brought to perfection, what assurance of their voluntary and durable service, in all perfection: how delightful to the owners, how profitable to their purses, how joyful and comfortable to all that use them, how serviceable and honourable to King and Country, what soul liveth that will not acknowledge? And because there is not any other or more excellent qualities to be desired in horses for the use of man then the perfection of those six qualities, it consequently followeth that all horses in their first and primary creation were absolutely endowed with them in all perfection: for the increase, preservation and continuance whereof, I purposely composed this labour, all which I doubt not will be hereafter performed by all breeders of horses, if they shall observe & make practice of those rules and precepts that are herein set forth so plain and evident as will give full contentment to all that shall desire the knowledge thereof. First therefore intending institution of a good thing I think most fit to observe, Cicero his rule, and to begin with true definition, Definition of nature. and leaving diversities of opinions, I define Nature thus: nature is not the thing itself, but the proper and peculiar strength of the thing naturally given unto the Creature in the creation at the time of the framing, & not at the birth, where it receiveth that quality which it hath not only of being and working, but also of begetting etc. and as it is a strength bred and grafted in the creature at his framing, it therefore cometh not by chance or accidentally, neither is it mutable but natural, peculiar and unchangeable: but because Nature may be two ways understood, viz: a particular & a general, I will first show that diversity. The particular nature is that which in every single substance ministereth essence to the whole compound, & with all is mother to such action & motion as is agreeable to the subject, wherein it is as the nature of fire causeth fierce ascension, the nature of earth, the earths going downward. The universal nature is the author and maintainer of all actions and bodies, to which the several single bodies are in subjection by their obedience, acknowledging a kind of superiority in that universal nature, & therefore it is said, quod universalis natura falli out errare non potest, quia contingenter agit in individius, sed individua sunt remotu abarte, so there are sundry diversities of natures, as the things be sundry whereof they be, which being moste wisely and many ways divided by the creator, cannot be knit up to one self same thing: Again, and as the learned have observed, nature is of that excellency, quod nihil habet vitij, Nature hath no defect, because God is the author thereof, and his providence hath so provided, that every nature by working doth declare of what quality it is, so that his works are most assured testimonies what his nature is, and therefore very fit to put difference betwixt the things that be wrought naturally, & that be wrought accidentally: for all natural things are done often & continually, and those which be done accidentally be not so: The sun giveth light to the world because it is his nature, but when it dazzleth weak eyes, it is not natural but accidental: and also those things that be naturally done, be not done with evil will, or by motion of others, but easily and voluntarily: so whatsoever is natural is accustomable, perpetual, voluntary and ready: and as it is created & made with the creature, it is reason that it should bear the nature of his beginning: and that which is of a Horse, to be the nature of a Horse and of no other Creature. For if a man should call a naughty Natured Horse the nature of a Dog, we may not thereupon gather, that a horse and a Dog be both of one Nature, for as each creature is, such is the nature thereof, and so it worketh according to that Nature, whereby it is evident, and with truth not to be opposed, that nature is nothing else but the temperature of heat, coldness, moisture & dryness, the which is a schoolmaster to direct the sense of the horse, which he hath from his brain, to cause the natural body to work, wherein if heat be predominate, then doth the sense direct the body to work according to the quality of heat, which is with freeness, vigour, spirit & courage, and so, and not otherwise is it truly said, that every creature worketh according to his nature: and as of heat, so doth it work accordingly in each temperature, and thereby we may certainly determine the horse's disposition, habit, natural power, lack of power, affection, and such like, as hereafter shall most plainly be demonstrated, which the Logicians do consider in quality, and so seek the nature of his quality in his works: so that of what quality his work is of, such quality we may truly say his nature is: for he is such in the quality of his nature, as he is tried & found to be: & after this manner every simple man may learn to know the nature of every horse, but my purpose is to teach you most assuredly to know his quality without any work or trial, only upon the view, as hereafter will appear, the which natural qualities are not gotten by teaching or instructing, by customs or Art, but naturally, and so to every man an assurance of what quality his nature is: for nature proceedeth so far in every Horse, that she giveth them not only a feeling, but also a power to declare the same to others, whereof may arise this question: For as much as it hath been said, that God is the author and giver of nature, and according to his creation all perfectly good, and that all creatures aswell men as beasts, work according to nature, and have no natural desire or inclination of corruption, because every creature naturally desireth his own preservation and perfection, what needeth either Art or practice to help or alter the same nature? I answer that it is most true, that Art and practice were needles, if man his disobedience had not deprived him of all obedience, that by creation was subject unto him: and the same his disobedience did not only bring a curse upon the Earth, but also the disobedience of all creatures to man, and corruption to all & every their actions, so there is not now any obedience, or perfection in the doing of action, but that which is gotten by art and preserved in vigour, by use and practise: so that all things which now are unto corrupted man most cumbersome, as punishments of his disloyalty, were by original creationn ordained for his furtherance: Note this, and therefore nature in Horses, is not, neither can be any other than an inclination and forwardness: knowledge a quickener up of nature, and art, a guide to keep it in order by general precepts, universal grounds, and experience, with imitation, conferring both by the continual holding on of many particular actions: so as nature of itself is now insufficient: knowledge and art without nature, fondness, and without experience unprofitable. As in chirurgery, although the bare practitioner, do by his experience, sometime hit well upon the healing of some disease, yet it is evident, that having art and knowledge matched with his experience, so as he discern the nature and cause of his disease, marking the complexion, age, and manner of living of his patient, and considering the equality and quantity of his medicine, and applying them in due time, shall the better perform the duty of his science, and the better attain the desired end: but it is again objected, that if the creation and creature were from God perfectly good, notwithstanding his disobedience to man, & his own corruption, yet being created and preserved by God for the only use of man, how cometh it to pass that where there is one Horse by creation good, in action there are a thousand jades according to creation and in action. I answer, first that the creation and generation of these times, are not immediately created by God (as in the first creation) without means, but by natural means, whereunto his grace is annexed (Crescite et multiplicamini) grow and increase: unto which means being his own ordinance, he giveth his blessing for the increase & preservation thereof. 2. it may be answered out of the 4. of Esdras, 9 verse, that the world hath lost his youth and the times begin to wax old: and also in the 2. of Esdras, chap. 5. the question being demanded why the latter age should not be as perfect in creation as the first? it was answered, ask a woman wherefore are not they whom thou hast now brought forth like those that were before thee, but less of stature? & she shall answer thee, the same were borne in the flower of youth, the others were borne in the time of age, when the womb failed: consider now thyself how that ye are less of stature, than those that were before you, and so are they that come after you, less than they: as the creatures which now begin to be old and have passed over the strength of youth: So as the farther generation is from the first creation, the more nearer to corruption. Thirdly, it may be answered, that every Horse is created as man is of soul and body, and is compounded of the four elements as man, and he that doubteth thereof, may aswell doubt whether himself be, or no: but the one which is in man celestial, never dying: the other terrestrial, & dieth with the body: and yet a most excellent pure living spirit, having the faculties, nutritive, vegetative, motive, and sensitive: so doth it by his temperature of the elements righty rule as man's doth, & govern the body of every Horse, which naturally obeyeth to every action, and that is truly called Nature, whereof only God is the Author, so as the goodness or badness of the temperature of the elements is the cause, The cause why one horse doth better perform his kind than another. why one beast doth better perform the works of his kind than another: the temperature being the schoolmaster to direct the sensitive soul, to every action, and such is the force of nature's custom, to have dominion over all creatures, & therefore the learned term nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicta ab eo, quod aliquid nasci faciat, named from that which maketh something to be created, whose property & cause we cannot without observation find, other than that God, the author of nature hath ordained it, Nam obscurata est ratio naturalis per in obedientiam primi parentis, our natural reason is obscured by the disobedience of our first parents, and yet nature may not be said to be unperfect, or faulty, for it hath put into all things possibility and aptness, and also act and perfection: and thereupon Cicero saith, who hath reason from nature, to the same is right reason given, and then coming from nature is also perpetual, for perpetuum est quod natura, frequens quod usus introducit, what nature bringeth is perpetual, and what use bringeth is often, so as nature whether it be armed with virtue or vice, it is perpetual, and the faculties causeth the perfection thereof accordingly: for nature is known by his work, and nature causeth the body to work, therefore such as the nature is, such is the work, and such as the work is, such is the quality of the nature. Now the seat or place of those faculties of this nature, is principally the brain and the heart, The brain is the ●e●t of the sensible soul, the sense of sense and motion, & of the most noble animal spurits composed of the vital, and raised from the heart by the Arteries unto the brain. as the regal and principal seats of the creature, the heart being the place where the vital and Arterial spirits are bred, and do equally; participate the temperature thereof, from whence they had their being, and are dispersed over the whole body, and then it may be truly said, Cuius effectus omnthus prodest, eius et partes ad omnes pertinent, where the effect of any thing is profitable to all, there the parts thereof appertain to all: and as the power of that vital spirit is great or small (which is evermore according to the temperature of the elements) such and the same it causeth and enforceth the body, and every part thereof to work, and therefore it is truly said that every man and beast worketh according to the quality of his nature, following the drift of nature (that is the temperature) in their working, so as the more pure and excellent, the temperature of the Elements are (which consisteth in the true harmony, mixture or proportion of the four first qualities, hot, cold, dry, moist) in any creature, the nearer is the same creature to his sit'st creation, and the more effectual in operation to every action. Fourthly it may be answered, that horses do not continued in the perfection of their first creation, because in all generation of begetting there is a proceeding vital spirit before the seed which effecteth conception, according to the strength and quality whereof, the creature begotten is in perfection of strength and quality: as for example, if an old horse & an old Mare do beget and bring forth a Colt, you will confess there is a decay on both parts of that vital spirit in old years, which cannot effect equality of strength & power, which naturally youth (I mean the middle age wherein perfection consisteth) preserveth & bestoweth, if there be not a means of defect, as sickness, natural coldness, inordinate use & such like (which in old age is also much more unperfect) whereby oftentimes we see not only the decay of beasts, but of the withering of the noble progeny of man, and therefore no marvel if the horses of this age be so unperfect, when man is defective & unperfect in the true natural causes of generation, by suffering unperfect creatures to beget and bring forth, how can there be perfection in the creature begotten, and then they being unperfect, do they not also afterwards beget unperect? For it is an infallible truth, fortes creantur fortibus, & bovis est in invencis, est in equis patrum virtus nec imbecillam fercces progeneran aquilae columbam, the strong are begotten of the strong, and the virtue of the Sire of the Ox and the Cow, is in the young bullock and in horse, neither do lusty Eagles beget young Doves: such as is sown such will be mown, E squilla non nasc●tur resa of a bramble there groweth no rose, discendit inclin ti● pr●●●candi quod procreatum est, the good of the begetter is the good of the begotten. Cicero saith truly, n●carboris necequi virtus in opinion sita est sedin natura: Neither is the goodness of the horse placed in opinion but in nature, and therefore Secrates execrari eum sol●bat, qui primo utilitatem a natura seiunxisset, was accustomed to curse him that separated virtue from nature: whereunto Celsus concurring saith, quae rerum natura prohibet nulla lege confirmare possunt, where nature refisteth, no strength prevaileth. Fiftly and lastly if it be objected that the endurance of a horse in specie or kind, may be a limited endurance of the particular, & therefore a perpetual preservation of the species or kind, through the faculty of procreation to propagate his kind, that though every horse must of natural necessity die, yet might he leave another of his own kind behind him, as good as himself, and so a continual succession of goodness, I thus answer, that if they grant a corruption in the particular (as of necessity they must) it must likewise be granted in the species, for the species being a thing existent only in imagination, not having any real being, but as we conceive of it in the particulars, it is a necessary illation from the corruption of all the particulars, to conclude the like of the general: for as Nutrition is to the particular, so is generation to the species, wherefore as by the nourishment the horse taketh restitution of his natural moisture, there is not supplied so pure humidity as was lost, the particulars decaying by little and little are at last clean consumed, so by procreation the maintenance of the species, the purity of the humours, being by degrees & by time diminished, at length there followeth even of necessity an absolute corruption, now the decay coming by the particulars whose function this generation is, being by continual mixture of outward nourishment corrupted, the seed, the matter and means of propagation cannot but be tainted with like corruption, and this is the reason why horses are neither of continuance or goodness as in former time, for if the natural vigour of the species be by little and little continually weakened, there must of necessity follow a perfect corruption, but the most of us (like men at the stop, where many paths meet) instead of choosing the right way by judgement of reason do stand still amazed, and in that amazement conclude, that all comes to one, as who would say, that South and North lead both to one place, but if we applied our wits as advisedly to judge between truth and falsehood, as every man in his trade doth judge between profit and loss, we should forth with by principles bred within ourselves, and by conclusions following upon the same, discern true knowledge from error, and the way ordained from deceitful inventions of our common practice, wherefore to conclude with the cause of causes, I do resolve that the want of the true knowledge of breeding is the only cause of the multitude of jades, because no man hath hitherto either written or practised the true natural means of good breeding, & that all nations do err herein, the only number of jades in all nations are my witnesses, and I would gladly learn from any, how the contrary may be defended. CHAP. 20 How to know a horse that is bold by nature. FIrst of his boldness, It hath been said, & that truly, that every creature worketh according to his nature, and that his works do manifest his nature, and therefore he that hath had long trial of his horse cannot be ignorant of his nature, so as the goodness of nature is considered in his quality & the quality of his nature in his works, and yet a horse that is fearful by nature may by compulsary means after long use make little or no show of fear, although he be fearful by nature, as being in a ship upon the Sea, where are Trumpets, Guns and such like, not having means to avoid the same, by use, & continuance thereof, seemeth not fearful, for as man (being an understanding creature) by often compulsory abuses, may be made tame to be abused, so a creature void of reason and understanding, may seem to abide and endure that which nature abhorreth. Now to the matter propounded, consider that there are natural signs which without will or desire to signify any thing, do make some other things besides themselves to be known by them, as the smoke doth signify there is fire, & it is well known by the perceiving of things proved, that there is fire withal, although there doth nothing appear but smoke only, like as a foot-step is the sign of a beast to have been there, likewise by the forehead countenance and cie of man, nature doth signify the knowledge of the mind, which Cicero calleth ianuam mentis, the door of the mind, & others do say that the eye is the image of the countenance, quasilumine scintillans, In fancy legit●r homo. & vim speculi habens adeo ut intuentibus referat totum huminis fere speciem, & is as a sparkling light, & hath power of beholding, so as to the beholder it doth almost declare the whole quality of man, whereby appeareth that nature hath made & ordained probable conjectures of the unsensible parts, as appeareth in the 1. K. Ca 3. when the compassion of the natural mother was moved, by which commotion of nature the king gave true judgement, and therefore it is truly said, ex his quae extrinsecus adparent conijoiuntur ea quae non adparent, from those outward appearing things, those things which do not appear are conjectured: from whence also may be truly collected, that vultus est animi index, the countenance showeth what the mind is: O quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu: how hard is it, a fault by face, not to bewray, in facit prudentis lucet sapientia, in the face of a wiseman wisdom shineth: Pro. 17. Cor hominis mutat faciem sive in bonosive in malo, the heart of a man changeth his countenance whether it be in good or evil. An evil eye the window of death. Eccl. 13.26. So as the eye and countenance of man, being the messenger of the mind, & the window of the heart, the inward secrets of man are disclosed. If then the mind and secrets of the heart of man may be and are known by outward signs, having wisdom to conceal, how shall or may a creature not endowed with reason and understanding, Impudicus oculus impudici cordis est nuncius. Chry. avoid the discovery of the secrets of his own nature? Moreover that the countenance is a discovery of the inward mind, appeareth in the 4. of Gen. When Cain was wroth, his countenance feldowne, whereupon the Lord said: Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance cast down, And Solomon, 27. prou: 18. saith Quomodo in aquis resplendent vultus prosp●cientum, siccorda hominum manifesta sunt prudentibus as the faces of those which look into waters shine unto them, so the hearts of men are manifested to the wise: and no doubt the observation of the countenance of the Horse, The outward. Physiognomy doth not falsify and betray that good promise that Nature hath planted in the front doth more certainly discover his inward quality, as an Image of his affection: but if man would know the secrets of man's heart, he must leave it to the creator, for solus Deus est scrutator cordis, Only God is the searcher of man's heart, and the knowledge of man touching m●, is but coniectura qualitatis, for as he which beholdeth his face in the water doth not discern it exactly but rather a shadow then a face, even so he that by external Physiognomy and operations, will divine what lieth hid in the heart of man, may conceive an Image of that affection that doth reign in the mind of man, rather than a resolute knowledge. But the Physiognomy of a horse is much more certain for he can not keep secret or conceal as man can, There is nothing that hath a truer resemblance, than the conformity and relation of the body to the spirit. but being in perfect health remaineth ever one & the same in countenance. Therefore to conclude and to make the truth hereof appear: choose a horse with a broad forehead, a great black full eye standing out like an hare's eye, and a high reared forepart, and be assured that by nature he is bold, and to give you a further assurance, mark a Horse with a narrow forehead, little eyes, & a low fore part, which is mere contrary, and assure yourself that by nature he is starting and fearful, and to seal up the truth, herein the trial will confirm you. So as the observation, of his natural shape in that part telleth you that the same is so sure, as when you see smoke there hath been a fire. CHAP. 21. How to know a horse that is loving by nature. THat every good horse is by nature loving to man: To confirm this proposition, I think the examples before remembered are sufficient, besides every man his daily experience, & that jades are naturally mischievous & dangerous to man, whereof I will give some examples, as Fulko the fift king of jerusalem after he had reigned eleven years, was by a mischievous jade strooken in the hinder part of the head, whereof he presently died: Bellat the King of the Pawonians, Philip son of Lodowick, Crassus, Seleucus, Calinisius, and many others by evil natured horses were slain. It is truly said an Ape will be an Ape, & the Leopard will not change his spots, nor the Moor his skin, that is perpetual which nature bringeth forth I have told you that the countenance is a representative of conditions, amongst which this is one, when you see a horse with a plain smooth eye, so as the more you behold his eyes and countenance in beauty and seemly proportion, the more he seemeth as Plato saith, the object of your love, whereby you do not only grow in love of him, but conceive that he hath as it were prepared a cheerful countenance to entertain your love, which naturally created with him cannot otherwise appear: But if he be beetell browed, that is great lids or lumps of flesh covering little eyes that are inward in his head, Lacert is like a Newight, whereof in Italy are many. and hollow above, or looking as the Lacert, which every way it looketh, leareth awry, and never direct upon you, you may assure yourself his natural desire ever travaileth to effect mischief in all his actions, for distortum v●ltū sequitur distortio morum: A deformed countenance hath deformed conditions, being by the God of nature extraordinarily marked for a discovery of their hateful affections: But the conttarie, which is a great, smooth, full black eye, without hollowness either above or within, or lumps of flesh over-hanging his eyes, with a sweet smile inherent in nature and expressed in countenance, you may assure yourself of his good temperature, manifesting itself in his joyful and merry countenance, so as he seemeth naturally to fawn on you to gain your love, if your intemperance hinder not his natural affection, & the truth of things are never better manifested then by observation of the contrary. CHAP. 22. How to know a horse that is sure going. THat every good horse is by Nature, Plura simul collat a ●●uant que singula non prosunt. sure going, I must entreat you to remember that my 6. rules for the knowledge of a good Horse, are relatives, and so linked each in the other, as you cannot throughly apprehend the one without the other, so inseparable are they, as the one cannot be approved without the other: and therefore Vhi plur a coniunctim exiguntur, ibi non sufficit unum probari, where many things are jointly required for proof, there it is not sufficient only to allow one: wherefore the rule to know a horse to be sure going is, that he be very long foreparted, I mean from his withers to his head, very long necked, and the same broad towards the breast, thin and slender near to the head, with a high rear, his head naturally hanging to his neck, so as his nose bear not further out or more than his forehead, but carrying the same as the Ram doth when he is fight, and so as his forehead and nose hanging naturally even, his neck long, his sight lusty bold and perfect, he evermore seethe his way without restraint and at pleasure, where to tread in all safety, and then having a true and just trot or amble, together with the perfection of his rain (for that is the only perfect and true rain) which no other shape can afford with continuance, he travaileth with such ease and delight to nature (which all Art is ever to attend) being bold loving and thereby proud and stately in going, and naturally easy and delightful to man, he goeth with great grace, sureness of foot, ease to the rider, and pleasure to himself: when as the contrary shape cannot by any Art be reduced to perfection, longer than he is most highly kept, and his pride and heat continueth, because nothing is more offensive to Nature then violence, and restraint from his natural imperfection to perfection, by means of which discontentment, he will either rain and bear his head to Nature's shape, which is most and only pleasing to himself, or cause the rider to give liberty thereunto, or else become hard of hand, with great pain, by means whereof it will be unpossible for him to be sure of foot, being in Nature evil shaped, for nobiles & generosi equi facile fraeno reguntur (saith Seneca) the best horses are most lightly borne, but contrariwise the jade not having delight in himself, must be permitted to go like an Ass or a packhorse, whereunto if any shall give allowance, I think an Ass better for such a lump of flesh, and he a fit cover for such a Pot, except old age, sickness, or other infirmity (which is never exempted from protection) be the cause. CHAP. 23. How to know a horse that is easie-going. THat every good horse is by nature easy going, wherein if either the want of knowledge, or the intemperance of the Rider, altar the same, (it is not within my proposition) for I speak not only of nature: which observation I also gather from the shape, and I do evermore account that a good and perfect shape which giveth perfection of action, with perfection of comeliness, grace and continuance thereof unto the end, for otherwise he is not to be named a horse of good shape I am not doubtful of any thing I affirm, having had long assurance thereof without being deceived, therefore in your choice of horse retain it, a rule infallible, that your horse be high in the withers (if you will have him easy in going) which being joined with the high reared forepart and other rules before expressed, he will carry your body very upright, with great grace, stateliness, true rain, safety and ease: otherwise the forward hanging of your body on a horse that is low before, will half persuade you that your back is cracked, if not broken, by reason of your leaning forward: but the high reared horse whether his pace be Trot or Amble (being orderly ridden) will rain easy, pleasantly mouthed, lift and set, just, true, steady, and easy, still bearing you as if you were carried in a chair, and when you are to encounter your enemy, a safety to your person and disadvantage to him. And if you shall enforce him to a speedy travel, which no doubt through his violentlifting will alter his easiness, yet when you equally consider him with a low foreparted horse in equality of place and perfection of rain, you shall be sure th'one will break you before th'other bruise you: besides, the comely, stately, and sure-going of the one, and the great danger & disgrace of the other, because in action he cannot give grace, & when you travel in company, observe a man shaked or rocked on his horse back, and you shall be sure that the horse is lower before, or if he carry his head truly. CHAP. 24. How to know a Horse that is durable, and of continuance in journey. THat a good horse is by nature durable, is also an observation of his shape, yet must he have all the other rules before mentioned, the which I will ever maintain as infallible truth, being inseparably linked together, to demonstrate a true and exact knowledge of any horse. First it is to be considered that strength is the cause of continuance of travel, then in what part of the body the strength principally and naturally resteth in the horse, for as the strength of the Bull is naturally in the neck, the Lion and Bear in the paw, the Dog in the chap so the horse in the forepart, where nature hath imposed the burden, and there is and must be his principal force and strength, the which forepart must be deep and broad, from the point or top of his withers to the bottom of his chest or breast: his ribs bearing out as the lid or cover of a trunk, whereby he will appear broad, full, round, and bearing out in the Chest and breast, with an eevennesse of Chest and belly to the flank, so as his belly hang not deeper than his chest, nor his chest deeper than his belly, with lean, upright, and straight pasterns, & somewhat narrow hoove towards the toe, assure yourself he will be durable, and as good in the end of his labour, as at the beginning, if not better, and perform his travel with great delight: but if he be of contrary shape, then will his actions be contrary, namely the longer he is travailed, the more jade, whatsoever show he maketh at his setting forth: for if strength and ability of body faileth, although a good spirit enforceth his labour, yet it cannot be of perseverance, Vbivires dificiunt, ibi laudanda est voluntas, where strength faileth goodwill hath all the praise. And therefore when you view a colt, A ●ol●ed doth express what his proof will be when he cometh to age. how young soever he be, when he is foaled, his natural shape will never alter, but evermore grow and continue in the same shape until his death: and therefore be well assured that he have a perfect natural shape, when he is most young, such as I do herein describe, & so may you be assured not to be deceived, either in the choice of old or young: what can be strange to the knower? Aristotle saith that Cognitiò nostra est cognitio cognoscentiset cogniti, our knowledge is the knowledge of the knower, & of the thing known: & when nature hath shaped the colt in perfection, with what facility doth art perfect the quality & use of every action? but if nature hath shaped the same unperfect, there cannot be any hope of perfect action, with comeliness and continuance, for Sordida natura semper sequitur sua iura, like nature like work, because every creature worketh, according to his nature, and like evermore bringeth forth like: beware therefore of evil beginning, either in art, knowledge or practice, least by continuance thereof it carry sovereignty in you, Natura calamitatum mollimentum consuetudinem iwenit. to the overthrow of your hopeful desires, for Gravissum est imperimum consuetudinis, the sovereignty of custom is intolerable. CHAP. 25. How to know a free and perfect spirited Horse. THis being the conclusion of those six qualities, which every good Horse naturally hath, and retaineth from his conception, unto his death; spare your ears as tunnels to your body, to let the same fall deep into your apprehension, and consider who is the author of the faculties, which are planted in the creature, at the time of his creation, and you shall find it the only work of the creator, by those means which his own ordinance hath established, not as a fleshy substance, or as an accidental thing, but a powerful spirit, proceeding from the vital spirit, and arterial blood, that go wandering through the whole body, to stir up the power of the beast, to give him force and vigour to work, by which the sensible soul performeth his works, which are termed Nature: and the same nourisheth, preserveth, increaseth, & giveth power to the creature, to signify the same to others: and the more it doth abound the more powerful it is in the operation, and if it cease his power in operation, then doth the whole body cease his natural power in working: and as this spirit is of substance most pure, so when it is plentifully infused it maketh and worketh all the creature and quality of the same creature pure, so as man not knowing or finding the reason, cannot but wonder at the work & workmaster, and therefore the more excellent, perfect and pure the creature is created, the greater is his operation and travel: as we the Sun which moveth continually, the moon that is never stayed, the sky ever moving, the fire never without working, the clouds never cease removing, etc. so when we see a strange, proud and comely shaped Horse, of pure and perfect substance, described in every part as aforesaid, there is presented to our senses & consideration some excellent & divine work, by so pure and refined metal, which is specially performed by the Element of fire, so as it seemeth to represent the Image of Venus, which Apelles for the space of ten years had employed his wit & policy to paint, being so beautiful, that the beholders became amorous, as though it had been some live Image, so as by public edict, he was charged to keep it secret, for fear to allure youth to corruption. Or like that brazen Horse which Pausanias the Greek historiographer, mentioneth to have been found in Heraclia a Province of Peloponesus, whose beauty was such, as other Horses with ardent desire and affection, sought to join and couple with him, as if they had found a proud mare: wherefore for the satisfaction and confirmation of this proposition, how to know a perfect, quick, and free spirited Horse, you must still retain all the description of shape before described, with this, viz. that he have a slender lean head, lean, thin, & slender jaws, which is an absolute & perfect assurance of quick & free forward spirit to every action: by all which descriptions, you shall assuredly know his qualities, only upon the view, as if you had made trial of him many years, and thereof make no more doubt, then whether the sun hath at any time given light to your eyes: but if the Horse be defective in his shape, as I have before described, then assure yourself he wanteth that natural perfection I have referred the rule unto, for as it is a natural course even in evil, by degrees to come unto perfection of evil, so is it also as natural, that where perfection of shape faileth, in the whole or in part, there imperfection is present, & the natural qualities answerable thereunto: observe than I pray you, that a perfect Horse by nature is thus shaped: viz. a lean slender head, broad forehead, great black eyes, The description of the most perfect shape of a Horse. full and plain over the lids, slender, thin, and lean jaws, broad, thin, long & high reared neck, the head set to the neck so naturally as a Rams head when he fighteth, high withers, a deep broad chest and breast, his ribs bearing out as the lid of a trunk, with an equal eevenes from his chest to his flank, lean upright pasterns, with a lean deep hoove, somewhat narrow towards the toe: the most infallible true and approved description, of a most perfect, absolute and excellent Horse, be he young or old, without any respect of colour, country, mark, or other observation whatsoever, and so sure as thyself hath a being, he willbe found in all his actions naturally bold, loving, easy, sure footed, durable, and free going, the only qualities of his first and primary creation: and if he be not the most excellent and perfectest shape, that nature ever brought forth, and the best in action, I shall acknowledge these my labours, the record of my folly, & unperfect judgement, to all succeeding ages. But because I know & do assure myself, that unius mens non est capax tantae molis, that it is unpossible that one head should be sufficiently furnished for so many matters, and that to be most true which justinian the Emperor recordeth in his 44. constitution. Nihil in rebus humanis sic usqadeo semotum ab omni contreversia, temetsimaximam cum justitia contunclionem habeat, quod dubitationem & controversiam non recipiat, si subt●liter animi curas intendas, ut nihil prorsus inter homines sicposse desiniri ut non exquisite is subiaceat impugnationibus illorum, qui suos adfectus praeferunt veritati. There is nothing in human things so remote from controversy, if with subtlety you strain the powers of the mind thereunto, and nothing can be so exactly defined amongst men, that cannot be subjecteth to exquisite cavels, of those which do prefer their affections before truth: for who knoweth not but that a playing wit can praise the discretion of an Ass? wherefore myself knowing that neither my words or pen, can carry with them the life of my inward feeling, I have the more largely discoursed to unfold my knowledge by the plainest demonstration for the meanest understanding for as Lucianus saith, Proverb occultae musices nullum esse respectum, and as Solomon saith, Sapientiae reconditae & thesaur● abstrusi nullam esse utilitatem, of wisdom shut up there is no pleasure, nor profit cometh of hidden treasure. I have therefore herein endeavoured, Polipi mentem tenere, to frame all my discourse to the true lovers of the renowned Art of Horsemanship, & to object against any assertions, the most difficult objections. CHAP. 26. Objections against the general propounded rules. FIrst it may be demanded, whether these observations are both for young colts, when as their bodies are not grown to perfection: and for old Horses, which by leanness seem to be unperfect? I answer, when the Colt falleth from the Dam, the natural body is of that proportion of shape which neither can or will at any time after alter, & in that shape doth it grow and increase unto the end, not as some do ignorantly allege, one year to grow in the forepart, and another year in the hinder part, for the faculty of nature cannot be nutritive in a sound body to one part & neglect the other part, neither can any part continue without nourishment, without the destruction of that part, neither can the nourishment of the body alter the form and natural shape of the body, and therefore the rules are infallible both for old and young, and to grant them otherwise were absurd because nulla ratione potest admitti per communem sensum, quia non cowenit humanae societati, by no reason it can be admitted by common sense, the same not being agreeable to human reason. Nulla placidior quies nisi quam ratio composuit Therefore what Nature hath framed is constant and perpetual without change, and the form of constitution, & shape, such in his age, as you see him a Colt. 2. Secondly it may be demanded, whether a Horse wanting any of these rules may notwithstanding be a good Hotse? The degrees of goodness & what is to be sud good. I answer, you must consider that there are degrees in goodness, as good, better, and best of all: Next you must consider, what is good, or what may be said to be good, for no one thing can be truly said to be good, that understanding & knowledge doth not tell you to be good: for ignorance and error do call light-darkenes, and darkness light, good evil, and evil good so as your direction must not be opinative, but examined, per Norman rationis, by the rule of reason, if you be a creature reasonable: for do you not know, the Fly, the Dog, the Lion, the horse, & man, are all living creatures? but with difference, for only man is a living creature reasonable, created for the only glory of God, so as you must always reason from true definition: then if you will demand of the most best good Horse, I hold and will defend against all contrary opinion, that there is not any of the most best Horses, that doth or can want any of my six rules, which I prove thus. When God first created Horse, he created them in all perfection of that kind, for nothing issued from his hands ill shaped: he made him perfectly good, Psal. 8.5 and all that good, only for man, and to that end were all his creatures made, and as he made man their lord and ruler, so did he appoint them their preserver, but no destroyer of his creatures, justissima pana ut qu●scione rectum non sac●t et a wit●at scire quod tectum. Aug. and all this is inheritable to us: then examine what is that which man can more or less require in a horse for perfection, than these six qualities before described, being such as are ever inseparable & evermore so to be apprehended in judgement, & conceit: for if he be bold and feareth nothing, that true wisdom and discretion would have him to adventure, neither defective in his love to give his life for your sake, & so easy going as yourself can desire, and so sure of foot as no peril or danger is to be feared, withsuch perseverance & continuance in labour, as your body and his life can endure: & with all forwardness, following will, freeness, and obedience, so as two or three lashes shallbe sufficient to enforce his travel, till his vital spirit & life forsake him, being such qualities, as all the best Artists, & skilful horsemen of the whole world have, & in all ages will labour and endeavour to bring Horses unto, as to a restitution & perfection of their first creation, according to the natural disposition originally infused in them by God for the preservation of their first being, how shall grant the deprivation of any of them or of any part of any one of them, without the public trespass to man, for whose only use and comfort, they were made, as Lord and Emperor of all creatures, & so consequently to the all-creator? but if your meaning be to descend to the comparative degree, that is, to a horse not altogether of such excell●cie, then in some sort there may be some toleration admitted, in part of some of my rules, namely his boldness, which if by nature he want, yet by art may in some sort be helped, by use of being amongst guns, drums, trumpets, and such like, the which I dare not absolutely admit, if by any possibility those may be that are naturally bold, otherwise there must be a continual use & practise to continued & preserve whatsoever is accidentally gained: & yet peradventure at some times fail, because it is not natural. Again, Neglectis Grenda filix innas vur agri●t Horat. a Horse may be thick chapped or iawed, & admitted, if the whole head be lean, & all the shape otherwise perfect: but yet there willbe a great difference of pleasure in his rain & pleasant mouth besides his voluntary forwardness, when you shall compare the one with the other. Lastly, the very high born, proud and stately horse, might also in some part be tolerated and admitted to a lower rain, and yet a good Horse: but when you consider the grace, majesty, and high countenance with honour and majesty to man, being a part of his primary creation, I cannot admit the least imputation to man, for whose glory and use they were in all perfection originally created, neither to admit the consideration of any imperfection, but rather by all possible means to uphold the perfection of their creation, lest man should thereby take liberty to neglect his duty and charge, which man's corruption too much of itself: alloweth, and upholdeth as the practice in all ages and times, (in all professions do sufficiently witness) howsoever they pretend the contrary, and thereby allow to Art such perfection as to make that perfect which nature hath made unperfect, when as Art is but only a quickener up of Nature, as to endeavour by Art and practice to make a low foreparted or short necked Horse to rain well and perfect with continuance, which will be performed, ad calendas graecas, when God hath made another world. For there is not any learned physician or other learned man that can or will challenge absolutely to cure a disease that nature hath bred and brought forth, because it only appertaineth to the Creator. If a man will bend a straight Tree crooked, or a crooked Tree straight, so soon as it is at liberty, will it not return to his natural growth, can the taming of a Lion make him leave his natural roaring? will Art make a Fox faithful, & harmless, or make a bird not to delight in the woods, wherefore then do men seek to have breed, and keep craving dull jades, and unperfect shaped Horses, and persuade themselves, that good feeding, good keeping, and artificial riding and practice, will make them absolute, and perfect Horses, and here of publish and set forth great volumes, do they think that art can bring an ape to beget an ape with a long tail? If this be not error ignorance and senseless practice, my desire is of those that better understand, to defend the contrary, and to manifest the same by reason: how shameless a thing than were it for me to admit, more gross imperfection when man's corruption transporteth him so far beyond the degrees of reason, to allow and maintain all seeing imperfection. Again, some will and do object that Horses of such excellent shape, spirit and life, as I have described, will be dangerous to those that are not expert in the art, and that such will speedily spend themselves, and not continue in flesh or good liking, and are very chargeable to keep, and besides so unruly and intemperate, as thereby great danger will ensue, to the most people that are unskilful of Horsemanship: and such like childish and ignorant conceits, wherein the multitude do excel, it might aswell be objected, that fire and water, wine and weapon, and many such like are dangerous, and that many have perrished therewith, therefore very unfit to have them, or use them, the which proceedeth from their debility of judgement, not able to apprehend that such Horses, are the most excellent that ever have been or shallbe created, being compounded of the most just, and true proportion, of mixture of the temperature of the elements, which giveth them that fullness of spirit, vigour and courage, neither that the temperature of an excellent Horseman which compriseth all perfection wherewith natural man can be endued with, if he have the managing of such Horses will not (Animum volentem accendere) blow the fire when it burneth clear, knowing that such natures are to be used according to the temperature of their own nature, without jar or violence: but the ignorant rider not able to judge of his nature, doth so far distemper nature in the beginning, as afterwards not knowing how to restore him to his former obedience, is astonished with the admiration of his wonder: & holdeth Omne ignotum pro magnifico, All unknown things beyond the degrees of admiration. The Hebrues do derive the name of Time of a verb which signifieth to corrupt, because it doth corrupt all, and as the times are, so are men that live in them, whereby the best horsemen that ever have been, do not only carry the note of the errors of the times wherein they live, but the full stream of the corruption thereof, which maketh me to become like unto the Mariner, who ordereth his sails according to the times and the wind, and doth of necessity turn and wind to arrive to that place obliquely, by fetching a compass when he cannot do it directly, and by a strait line- Non semper et unogradu, saith Seneca, sed una via: non se mutat sed aptat, he saileth not always with one and the same pace although he follow the same way, he changeth not, but accomodateth himself: whose example I have followed herein, but with the glue of mutual concord yet adhering to that memorable sentence of Tertullian, That is true whatsoever is first, Contra pra● and that is false whatsoever is latter, and therefore the forsaking, or not knowing, the knowledge of these that lived nearest the first creation, who did see best, and the adhering to the knowledge of those that have lived furthest from those times, who did see more dimly, and their knowledge more corrupt, hath been the cause of their manifold errors in Horsemanship, in these latter ages, and the principal cause of my long discourse, in this tractat, wherein I have often deliberated to think & rethink, redoubting what may happen, yet knowing when to fear, I did thereby know safely to go forward, Name animus vereri qui scit, scit tutô aggredi, so as I doubt not to affirm the Athenians proverb after victory, Noctua volavit, the bird of darkness is put to flight, comforting myself with that saying of Aug. Qui se dicit scire quod nescit, temerarius est, qui se negat scire quod scit, ingratus est, he is rash that speaketh that he doth not know, And he is unthankful that denieth to know that he doth know. parvus error in principio Maximus est in fine. CHAP. 27. Of perfect breeding. WHen I remembered that Solomon proclaimeth man's wisdom unperfect, and his knowledge in each science uncertain, Eccle. 8. & perceived never man, to have attained such degrees of learning, as to find himself ignorant, how time the beginner increaser and subverter of all human knowledge, hath wrought defects and difficulties in understanding: I could not but admire the breeders of Horses within this kingdom, seeing them in this most decayed time of knowledge, to cast their anchor into the deep and deceivable sands of the practice of these times, wherein unlimited & tirrannicall custom, which never admitteth either dispensation, or qualification (without notorious affront) ruleth and reigneth in the superlative supremacy of error: and only by referring the effects of all good breed, to the immediate work of god as though the effect of all such causes were supernatural, & to be reduced to God immediately, as a miracle, receiving them from nature, and abhorring the natural means, not considering that there are effects only natural and only to be referred to nature, not that nature is an universal cause, endowed with a jurisdiction severed from God, but that she is a name of order which God hath bestowed in the frame of the world, to the end that the necessary effects might follow the preservation thereof, through which their unanimous consent in practice, they have long sucked a strong opinion of the possibility of good breed, whereby there is grown a broad sea of difference, in your point of true knowledge of breeding and their accustomed practice, so as notwithstanding the great and invincible power of nature in all creatures, whereof God being the Author, and whereunto as unto a natural means, he hath applied himself for preservation, there is not one Horse of a thousand bred in the perfection of nature, whereby all and every of them, cannot but acknowledge his own thoughts and foreseing doubtful, which maketh me cry with Paul, Nihil mihi conscius sum, I know not how far I shall offend: but when I apprehended with Galen that every science is a convenient & firm notice, that never departeth from reason, knowing the end where unto I was borne, and to whose benefit I should live, notwithstanding all stimulatorie causes of progression, I assembled my conceits to peîrce through the hardness of the enterprise, & rather esteemed to walk alòe to steep downefalles, and with Quintus Fabius to hazard my credit, yea with worthy Horatius Cocles, my life (for the honour of my sovereign and benefit of my country) then to be like the beasts who never forsook the beaten path and high market way, with a guide before them: so as posterity shall still live without adding increase to former knowledge, and therefore as to the load-star of my desire, and prefixed period for producing fourth of that truth which this Art hath been long in travel of: for Nihil magnum subito noscitur I have adventured to draw the thread of this subject to my determinate conclusion, not by a dim light soon quenched, but by a Sinopsis or perfect view of the whole body of breeding, & to show the reason and cause of the errors in breeding, & the true means of restitution thereof to perfection. An action most befitting man, The use of reason. who by nature is reasonable to teach, according to his own nature, the same being as Seneca affirmeth, an imitation of nature, so as reason having his true use, it shall not only behold and contemplate the truth, but also repress and bridle all affections, that swell and rise against it, as a virtuous Mistress admonishing, and thereby become the most excellent nurse to suckle up true knowledge & practice to the full proportion of man his hopeful desire: but least any should tell me that my passion in the earnest love of this subject should make me forget my passages, I proceed to set down the only essential and true observations of a perfect breed, wherein I pray you observe a principle, most fit truly, to know whece proceedeth the most excellent colts that are begotten. 1. First provide Horses and Mares of the most perfect and beautiful shape, even such and no other than I formerly described. 2. Secondly truly understand at what age such horses and mares are fittest to beget and bring forth perfect Colts. 3. Thirdly how to prepare and keep those horses and Mares before they come to the Action. 4. Fourthly, when, how and where they are to do the action in perfection. 5. Fiftly how to keep them in perfection after their conception unto the time of foaling. 6. Sixtly and lastly how to use them when they are foaled, and how to preserve & continue them in their perfection. Now if any man demand of me why I do not show what grounds are meetest for breed, & how such grounds are to be severed, & to what end every division should serve: I answer, it were Sisiphi saxum voluera, great labour without profit: for can any man think that every man that would or doth breed horses may go to Corinth, or can have such grounds as may be described? are not most grounds of several natures & qualities? & are there not infinite numbers of Colts most excellently bred by such as have no enclosed grounds? and doth not every man's experience (being his principal leader) confirm the sufficiency of multitude and number that are so bred, so that if one of an hundred that are bred were good, few could justly complain. I have therefore herein endeavoured to inform the reader with true knowledge, how to have an excellent breed (so near as man's wisdom may attain) the truth whereof being laid down, will sufficiently direct every man how far the true use of all grounds do CHAP. 28. Of the creation and generation of Horses. 1. IT is twofold, Supernatural. and to be considered after a twofold manner. 1. The first and primary once immediately by God in his supernatural Creation. 2. Natural. The second and ordinary in his natural generation. 1. Conception. The ordinary and natural generation is made by the elementary force and forming virtue, which is in the seed when it is in the womb, in such order, that the 13: first days the seed of the horse and mare do mingle, unite, and curdle together like Cream, & are made one body, which is the conception. 2. Tormelesse blood. The next xiii. days this seed is concocted, thickened and changed into a mass of flesh and indigested formless blood, which is the proper matter of his body. 3. Fashioned body. The third xiii. days following, of this mass or lump is made and fashioned the body in gross. 4. Perfect body The fourth xiii. days, the whole body is ended and perfected, and no more unperfect in shape: and at the fourth month, the Colt hath motion and sense, and tripling this term, which is at the twelve months, he cometh forth into the light. CHAP. 29. Of the Elements whereof the Horse and every other creature is compounded. Every Colt and likewise every creature, and things inanimate are in their creation compounded of the Elements, which is as much to say, of a pure and simple thing, which the outward sense cannot discern, and yet the common beginning of all Creatures, namely of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, I mean not such as we daily see with our eyes, for they are bodies compounded, which our senses do perfectly know, but these Elements I speak of are above, which our outward senses are not able to discern. First of the Fire, Fire. which is the highest & lightest Element placed next the Moon, and of nature hot & dry, but most of heat: 1. His virtues & properties by reason of his heat are to move to generation. The virtues. 2. Secondly to sever the bones in the Colt from the flesh, the flesh from the sinews, the heart from the liver, etc. as the wood that is burned hath vapour, smoke flame and ashes, which the heat severeth, so in burning of several metals, the heat severeth the one from the other, and yet gathereth the like together. 3. Thirdly to ripen. 4. Fourthly to digest things raw and undigested. 5. Fiftly to mingle dry with moist. 6. Sixtly to open the Pores of the Colt, that the air being somewhat grosser, may enter into the body 7. seventhly, to break the cold of the water and earth, so as it may not distemper the body. The second element is the Air, Aeyr and placed next the fire, and is light and hot, but chief moist. 1. First by reason of his moisture, I mean not a waterish moisture, but a comforting nourishing moisture, as oil is to the lamp, The virtues. to make the matter apt to receive shape. 2. Secondly, to make the mixed bodies of blood, phlegm choler, and melancholy, not only subtle and penetrable, but also light, to the intent they may be neither too gross nor too heavy. 3. Thirdly, to slake the burning of the heart, and of the other members, as appeareth by the office of the lungs, which (as a pair of bellows) doth draw fresh air unto the same, and also glad the spirits, and disburdeneth itself of those fumes and excrements which oppress it, filling all empty corners with moistness: and howsoever the air seem to our senses, yet doth it yield more moisture than the water. The third element is Water, which though heavy and moist, Water yet most cold. 1. First, by means of his coldness (for cold is not active) it doth conglutinate and join his bones with flesh and sinews, The virtues. and his flesh with sinews and bones: for the nature of cold is to bind, dirt, wood, sticks, straws and such like in one mass. 2. Secondly, with his coldness it doth temper the fervent heat of the fire. 3. Thirdly, it doth gather that together, which the fire would disperse asunder: for the nature of heat is to open and disperse that which cold hath conjoined, and of cold to bind that which heat hath dissolved. The fourth element is the Earth, which though it be heavy and cold, yet most chiefiy dry. Earth The Colt being a mixed body, the earth doth harden and retain his shape, which the Air and water would make fluxible, The virtues. as is to be seen in wax and other things, newly wrought, which before it be hard and dry, will not hold, and when the body dieth, those elements, both in quality and substance, return from whence they came, as that which is hot to the fire, that which is moist to the air, that which is cold to the water, and that which is dry to the earth. CHAP. 30. Of the humours. THe humour from whence the seed and menstrual blood are taken for the framing of the Colt, are, 1. Blood, 2. Fleame. 3. Choler, 4. Melancholy. 1. The blood which is perfect, is hot and moist, and yet his predominate quality, heat, and therefore full of joy and pleasure. 2. The Fleame is cold and moist, but the predominate quality thereof coldness, and therefore full of waterish blood, with little heat of spirit. 3. The choler is hot and dry, but the pedorminate quality thereof is heat, and therefore full of anger when the blood is over hot, not clear but of thick spirit. 4. The melancholy which is black choler, is cold and dry, but the predominate quality dryness, therefore heavy, sad, and fearful, for the blood is thick and cold, and the spirit full of darkness. CHAP. 31. The uses to be gathered from the humours. Humour. FIrst that the cause of the good or bad temperature of the Colt (which is his good or bad quality) proceedeth from the goodness or badness of the blood, & the blood in nature (though not in predominate quality) is like unto the air, light, hot and moist: phlegm to the water, which is heavy and moist, choler (which is red) like unto blood, hot and dry: melancholy (which is black choler) heavy, cold & dry, like unto the earth. But the phlegm sweeteneth the force of the two chollers, and the melancholy moderateth the sudden motions. Blood. The Fountain of the blood, is the liver (and the use of this fountain is to keep it pure) from which the veins issuing, are as channels of the first and natural blood: and the Arteries coming from the heart, as conduits of the second blood, more subtle and vital: from whence it is apparent, that the purity thereof dwelleth in the heart, & yet the liver is the storehouse of blood, fountain of the veins, the seat of the natural nourishing faculty or vegative soul, made & engendered of the Chyle, that is to saya kind of white suck or whey fit for the nourishment of the body, which by veins pass unto the liver. Fleame Fleame in the brain, which is cold and spungeous and the seat of the sensible soul, Vbi sedet pro tribunali, the brain and not the heart, for the heart having feeling and motion, is not capable of sense. Choler Choler in the liver. Melancholy Melancholy in the spleen, which is the receipt and discharge of the excrements of the liver. 1. From hence it may be truly collected, that every humour hath his proper end and use, Blood chief nourisheth the body, Fleame helpeth to move the joints, choler to provoke the body to avoid excrements, and melancholy to provoke the horse to appetite. 2 Secondly it may be collected, that such as the temperature of the elements, are in these humours, whereof the Colt is framed in the womb, such will be his qualities and dispositions in his actions, and if any of these humours are predominate in quality, when the Colt is framed of them, than he is to be termed according to the predominate quality thereof. Now there are in every Colt aswell Male as female, four chief or principal instrumental members, viz. the brain, the heart, the liver and the stones, otherwise the Female could not have seed to move her to lust, whereof the first three are only to preserve the body, wherein they be, and the fourth to preserve the whole kind, from which do spring other official members which do serve, and do office to the principal members, as the sinews from the brain, which are animal spirits, the Arteries from the heart, which are vital spirits, the veins from the liver, which are the natural parts, and the seed vessels from the stones as place of generation. CHAP. 32 From whence these humours proceed, and have their being. THere cannot be any thing more true or agreeable to reason, The four faculties viz. Eating. Retaining. Concoction. Expulsion. then to affirm that nature hath provided, for every beast four Natural faculties viz. to eat, to retain, to concoct, & to expel, of which concoction altering the food, there are residing in their bodies the said four humours, blood, Fleame, Choler and Melancholy, whereof nature useth only the service of one to work the creature, which is an excrement that may fitly be termed whey or wheish blood, whose engendering is wrought in the liver and in the veins, at such time as these four humours do take from the beast the form & substance they ought to have, and of such liquor as this, doth nature serve herself to resolve the meat, & to work that the same may pass through the veins, & through the strait passages carrying nourishment to all the parts of the body. What is a Vein. The veins being a conceptacle or empty place of receipt, for the blood mixed & confused with the vital spirit: the which veins have their beginning from the liver, & their office is to draw from the liver unto them this whey, & to send part of the same through the passages into the bladder, & from thence out of the body, to free the creature from offence, whereof two of the veins carry part of the said whey from the liver to the cod & vessels of seed, there residing with some small quantity of the purest blood, whereby the operation of the stones, whose qualities are hot & dry, thereby do make a perfect seed requisite for such a creature, the which two veins nature planted, one in the reins in the right side, which endeth in the right cod, and another in the left, both which take their issue from either of the cod's accordingly: Moreover, nature hath given to the right cod much heat and dryness, & to the left cod much cold and moisture, so that the right side of the reins yield matter hot & dry to the right cod, for the generation of the male, & the contrary for the female: & in the like manner it is with the female as with the male: but much more colder & moister, & the liver in which the natural lust of the beast resideth, hath for his natural temperature heat and moisture to predominate, & from these it never altereth, if the creature be in perfection of health and temperature. The heart. And as touching the heart, being form with the liver & brain, & maintained with the purest blood, having great quantity thereof from the liver still to preserve the same, then is the heart so hot, as that while the creature liveth, if you put your finger into his hollowness thereof, it is unpossible to hold the same there without burning: hereupon it followeth that the liver being the fountain of all blood, have great store of pure and perfect blood to maintain the whole body: What is a vital spirit. And the vital spirit of the Colt is no other than a bodily fume or vapour very pure and subtle, begun in the heart by the operation of the natural heat spread by the Arteries and veins to recreate and comfort the whole body, which stirring & comfortable spirit proceeding from the heart & vittal spirits being a perpetual agent, and evermore in action, because motion & agitation is the true life thereof, and so evermore remaineth in all living creatures, but not in plants or trees, where only the vegetative soul that is his natural virtue, hath his working, and the vital spirit only in the Arteries and Veins, as they are severally dispersed in the whole parts of the body. For as in the midst of heaven there is situated the Sun that enlighteneth all things with his rays, and cherisheth the world & the things therein contained, with his life keeping heat: so the heart, the fountain of life & heat hath affigned to it by nature, the middle part of the body for his habitation, from whence proceedeth life & heat unto all the parts of the body (as it were unto rivers) whereby they be preserved & enabled to perform their natural and proper function: Furthermore, if the liver be not full of pure blood, it cannot perfectly digest the meat, neither can the Cod be hot: wherein if there be defect of heat, Cod. the seed of the horse cannot be perfectly concocted, and so the horse is impotent & without power of begetting, for when God said increase and multiply, Note. you must understand that he gave them an able power for procreation, which could not be accomplished without abundance of heat, and no less heat did he bestow upon the faculty nutritive, with which he is to restore his consumed substance, and to renew another in lieu thereof, so as no one thing can be more apparent, than that pure and clean blood giveth great heat, and that heat is the cause of joy & mirth, which giveth vivacity, courage boldness, and fullness of spirit to every action. CHAP. 33. Of what age the Horse and Mare ought to be, that beget and bring forth. Having showed the principal rules of nature touching the beginning of creation, Observe this discourse. and the natural means of their bodily composition, it resteth to show what Horses and Mares are to be chosen to beget and bring forth, but because I have largely spoken of the most excellent and perfect shape, and of the perfections of their qualities, & actions (which I only admit, and no other) it now resteth to begin and to express the only fit age, when such beautiful Horses and Mares are to beget and bring forth, and thereof to come to a plain and true understanding: I think fit first to look back unto the time they were created of God, in their primary creation, and to follow his example therein, which was when they were in all perfection, and not in their imperfection, for when he created them, they were in all parts most absolute and perfect, and then God blessed them saying, bring forth and multiply, by which example man being a reasonable creature, having committed unto him from God, the rule and government of all his creatures, for his only use and comfort, cannot now in the natural generation, (without the neglect of his example) having reason for his rule and prescript, but consider nature in the greatest and most perfection of strength, and to approach nearest to the entire and perfectest constitution, when he enjoyeth all his forces of youth, neither in the corruption or deprivation thereof, and therefore without all doubting the same is in the middle age, being the centre of all virtue and perfection, & for farther demonstration to confirm in you this proposition, I pray you observe that every horse until he be 5. years old is a Colt, but never after, & that is, his first age, & if after that time he lose any of his teeth, it cometh not again, because the excess of his moisture doth then begin to abate, being until then predominate in moisture, & from 5. years of age until he be 10. is counted his middle youthful & perfect age, both in vigour & spirit, & action, because he is then more hot & less moist, & from ten years of age unto 15. years is his declining age, because then heat & moisture do much decay, & from 15. years of age unto 20. his old age, because that then he is cold & dry, & if he do continue above those years, yet is the same with great imperfection. Now for as much as all works of generation do only appertain to the natural power & virtue of his body, which is termed his vegetative soul, whose faculty is to nourish for the conservation of his body, whereunto do also serve the attractive of the meat, the concoctive, the disgestive, separating the good from the bad, the retentive & the expulsive of superfluities. The second is the increasing & growing faculty for the perfection and due quantity of the body, and the third is the generative, for the conservation and preservation of the kind, whereby we see the Wisdom of the God of nature, where the two first are, for the body or individuum and work within the body, and the third for the kind, and that hath it effect and oparation in another body and therefore more worthy than the other, & hath in it a great height of perfection, to make another like itself, but not until there be a perfect and able body, and in all his actions he followeth the motions of the temperature of the body, so as both nature, reason and practice do approve both horses and all other creatures (of good composition and temperature) to be in their middle age most strong and perfect, and fullest of vigour, spirit and courage, and therefore the only fit time to beget and bring forth, and thereby the contrary reason, the time both before and after unfit, and most unperfect, Nam natura cum ad summam pervenerit, descendit idq non aequo gressu, ascensus enim lentior, descensus praeceps. Nature is long before it come to perfection, but when it is come to the highest it suddenly decayeth, wherefore for a full & more plain demonstration of truth, and of the errors of all ages observe. If two Colts, viz. horse & mare under five years of age, not having obtained perfection of strength, neither refined nature from the excessive moisture of youth (being but few years since they were created) that of their seed a Colt should be form, being a matter endowed with excessive moisture, their seed cannot possibly be of a perfect temperature, neither is or can be perfect for generation, because all perfect seed for procreation must be hot & dry, for that otherwise it neither will or can incite to copulation, with perfection of generation: whereof also must be plenty, & the same thoroughly concocted, for that the seed of the mare (being in comparison with the horse, is much more colder and moister, & therefore the Horse must have a great quantity of seed, both hot and dry, equally to temper the coldness and moisture of the seed of the Mare, from which equality of temperature, the goodness of the colt begotten proceedeth, for every quality in reason must be abated, by his contrary, and then their seed being equally temperate, and seasoned without excess of predominate quality, it always formeth the best in his kind, and the stature of the Colt conformable to the quantity of the temperate seed, and menstrual blood, which it had at the time when it was framed add shaped, and according to the quality of temperature all creatures take & carry the conditions and properties of their Sires, at the time of their framing, and not at their bringing forth. Again, if a colt should be begotten, of a seed cold and moist, it willbe great, soft of flesh, great limmed, gouty jointed, thick boned, heavy and dull, according to the natural operation and quality of cold and moistness, which conjoineth all in a lump without good proportion. Again, if the old Horse and old Mare, should beget and bring forth, after ten years of age, wanting the power and efficacy of their natural heat, vigour, and spirit, then will the colt be form of a seed over cold and over dry: having outrun two parts of their age, whereof if a colt be begotten, for want of heat to make an equality of temperature, by reason of the coldness and dryness, that is predominate, the colt willbe soon ripe, soon rotten, of small strength, short lived, little spirit or courage with continuance, faint hearted, and evil shaped, for that it wanteth heat and good moisture (I mean a moisture of oily substance) the two principal elements for preservation of life and good spirit. Again, if an old horse and a young Mare should beget and bring forth: then would the Colt be framed of a seed from the Mare cold and moist, which is Phlegmatic without any taste, as water, & of a seed from the horse cold and dry, which is sour and heavy, for as Galen saith, the Fleame being a cold waterish humour, is of no force for ornament of good conditions. Lastly, if an old Mare and a young horse should beget and bring forth, then would the Colt be framed of a seed of the horse, little hot, but over moist and of a seed of the mare cold and over dry, wherein cannot be any perfection of equal temperature, so as it appeareth an approved consequent in Reason, that the middle age of the horse, having a seed hot & dry and the mare a seed cold and moist, with great plenty of fullness on both parts, in the greatest perfection of heat and natural strength of body, do make equality of temperature, & compound themselves in such high degree of perfection that they bring forth a Colt full of vital spirit, great courage, boldness, and pride, thin and dry bones, great sinews and Arteries of great strength, loving, of long continuance, & of such beautiful and perfect shape through the natural quality of heat, purifying the whole body from all manner of dross, & in such resined manner, as though nature had assembled all her forces for the preservation of herself, and expulsion of her enemies, for such is the nature of good or bad seed, when it receiveth any well or il rooted quality evermore to communicate to the discendents accordingly. CHAP. 34. Of the Elements of generation. NOw I think fit to speak of the proper Elements of generation, that is to say, of the engendering seed, and menstrual blood, from whence every colt taketh his first being of shape: and herein I observe a difference betwixt nature and seed, for that which is truly called seed, is like the seed of Rise when it is sodden, which though wettish yet thick for otherwise it cannot effect procreation, for the heat hath tried it and made it fit to incorporate itself, with the waterish seed of the Mare, and that which is and may be termed nature is thin, and not thick as seed is, so as all seed may be termed nature, but all nature cannot properly be termed seed: and understand that these proper beginnings depend upon the qualities of the first beginnings before rehearsed, that is to say of moist, dry, hot and cold, without which they could do nothing, nor yet be any thing of themselves. Again, observe that the matter and quality, whereof every colt is compounded, is so subject to corruption, that at the instant when and where it beginneth to be shaped, it beginneth likewise to be untwined, so as if nature had not provided the natural faculites, of attraction, retention, concoction, and expulsion, for the preservation and increase of matter, for continual supply, the creation thereof being finished, and not any part of that substance remaining, whereof it was first composed (as in truth there doth not) then had the same presently perished, and because nature is truly said to be the temperature of these qualities of heat, cold, moistness and dryness, and that the same temperature is the schoolmaster which teacheth the sensitive souls of the creatures, in what sort they are to work, and to perform the works proper to their kind, without any teacher, it is now most fit to consider and to set forth, from whence the goodness or badness of this temperature doth proceed, wherein the perfection of creation consisteth, so as all imperfection and hindrance to original nature, being removed, the same may be restored to his former perfection, so far as lieth in the power and ability of man. CHAP. 35 That the aliment or food, that the Horseeand Mare do seed upon, before th●ction raiseth and maketh their seed. THe learned Physicians and Philosophers do hold that all aliment or food is differing in quality, (after the digestion and concoction,) in every creature, and hath a different and particular seed, aswell in substance as in t●perature, from which ground it is probable, and without contradiction that the colt begotten, partaketh his temperature, and quality of the meat, which their Sires did feed upon, before the action, for who is so much deprived of understanding, but knoweth that there are meats and drinks to increase or mitigate heat, or dryness, or moistute: for though it be true, that all meat that Horses eat, whether in natural quality, the same are hot or cold, dry or moist, turn to the nature of the Horse, and of his substance, whereof if any other creature do eat, it will do the like, yet such as the natural quality of the meat is in his operation, such willbe the natural quality of the humours, after the same is concocted, and digested in the body, and according thereunto, such willbe the blood, the phlegm, the choler, and the melancholy, that cometh from the same, for if the Horse be fed with grass, sorrel, lettuce, or other herbs, will any man doubt but that the blood and other humours that come thereof, willbe in nature and quality cold, and moist according to the natural quality of that aliment, or food. Then if the blood and other humours, after the concoction of such food, be cold and moist, will any man doubt that the seed of generation, and the menstrual blood for so much thereof as nature taketh from it, but that the same willbe cold and moist according to the natural quality thereof, and that as the blood thereof is cold and moist, the wheyish blood thereof drawn from the liver by the veins, willbe cold & moist, and the seed thereof cold, & moist, because the humours do attain the substances and qualities, which the meat had before it was eaten, & that the brain of the colt being the seat of his sense, & hath his beginning & maintenance from the purest part of the seed and measure of spirit, which the Colt hath from the liver, heart and veins, will be of like Nature and quality. For if we consider the Colt and sound the causes of his essence and nature, and consider the causes which maketh him move, you shall find that it is his heat and moisture which are two principal qualities, consisting in all living creatures, nourishers of nature, for so soon as heat and moisture fail in any living creature, it can no more live nor move, & straight is the body occupied with contrary qualities, coldness and dryness, the enemies of nature. If you will mount & ascend higher to know what is the cause of those two qualities heat and moisture, you shall find that it is because all living creatures are composed of the four elements, of fire, air, water & earth, in which the said four qualities of heat, moisture, coldness, and dryness do consist, and while heat and moisture rain in the body it liveth, but when cold and dryness are predominate then dieth it. Again, if you consider the cause of the heat and moisture, and the other qualities which we see in the four Elements, and in the bodies made of them, ye shall find the sun the cause of the heat, & the moon the cause of the moisture: let us pass farther, and seek the cause wherefore the Sun is hot, and the moon moist, and from whence these qualities come unto them, and we shall find the sovereign cause in God. The due consideration hereof, (if without partiality it be considered) will moste apparently condemn the practice of all breeders, and the works of all former writers, and their knowledge of nature not to be defended, for if judicially you consider that the power of all begetting doth only appertain to his natural virtue, called his vegetative soul, the which if it have bred and cherished a raw, cold, and unperfect seed, how can it be defended, but that the Colt begotten of that seed, will be of the same temperature, and deprived of the good temperature which it ought to have, according whereunto his goodness or badness of action will be, wherefore, seeing all the learned, and true experience teach us that there are only two ways to come unto the knowledge of things, the one from the causes and maxims to the knowledge of the effects & consequences, the other when contrary by the effects & consequences, we know the causes and maximees. For when we see the earth wax green and the trees gather leaves, we know by that effect, that the Sun which is the cause thereof approacheth nigh unto us, and we come to receive this maximee, that the Sun giveth vigour and force to the earth to bring forth fruits. And by the contrary we receive this maxim, to know the effect and to conclude, the consequence, that the Sun coming nigh us, the earth bringeth forth her fruits, and withdrawing from us the earth leaveth to bring forth. CHAP. 36. The means to make theseede perfect for generation. IT is granted by all learned and understanding men, that the seed of the horse ought to be hot and dry, and that all excessive moisture of seed must be abated and taken away: 1 Labour. Now the means to make hot and dry seed fit for generation, is labour and spare diet, 2 Spare diet. by labour the moisture by reason of heat is exhausted, by spare diet the digestion is made perfect, and therefore through heat proceeding from labour, the same is easily & perfectly concocted, and so be cometh fit for generation: wherein also this consideration is to be had, that the meat that the horse and mare do feed upon be in quality of Nature hot and dry, and then moderately taken, there is no doubt but that the seed which shall come thereof will be easily perfected, because naturally it partaketh of the quality and temperature of the meat, as hath been said, and also the same meat that feeds both horse and Mare would be one and the same, The cause why Colts are like their Sires. because it will increase a uniform seed, and so the Colt be like unto the Syers: the meat would be old sweet hay or Wheate-strawe moderately given, his provender old dried, clean and sweet Oats, wynowed or cleansed from all dust and filth, mingled with old dried pease or beans, with a scattering of Bay salt and anniseedes, their water sweet and pure, and every day early in the morning when they are both fasting and empty, moderately exercised until they sweat and then painfully dressed, rubbed dry, and through cold before any meat be given unto them, the which doth not only perfect digestion, & exhausteth the moisture from their seed, but also strengtheneth and cleanseth their blood and bodies from all raw & unperfect humours, whereby you shall perceive them to exceed in pride and lust. Their provender is to be given them at three several times in the day, at morning Noon, and night, and at every time tossed and two hours meatlesse to cause an absolute and perfect digestion, for fullness of meat overcometh nature, and thereby not able perfectly to digest, the digestion will be raw and unperfect, whereof can no petfect seed be made, & if they should be exercised upon full stomachs, then through the greatness of heat coming by their labour, the meat willbe more speedily digested, than nature had ability to perform, by which unperfect digestion, the humours must of necessity be unperfect, the which being so carried, from the liver by the veins into all parts of the body, the substance whereof the seed is composed, being carried to the seed vessels, in such imperfection, the seed remaineth unperfect, and the blood corrupted, a special cause also of all inward diseases, and outward sorrances. Having observed that hath been spoken, about 8. or 10. days, before the Horse and Mare come to the action, being both of them in great lust and courage, feed them for every of those days, with such sweet oats and old dry sweet wheat, equal in mixture and quantity, for the wheat is a great comforter of the heart, and an increaser of the vital spirits, which above all things for that action is principally to be moved and stirred up, and for the better & fuller accomplishment of the action, for those viii. or ten days, put into every gallon of the water they drink (if they be of value and estimation) a pint of white Wine, which will greatly abate the cold quality of the water, and let them not at any time drink excessively, and sometime give betwixt them a pottle of strong stolen Beer or Ale, with a great toast of wheat bread, and let the Stable be kept most clean and sweet. And if at some times you will alter their diet, for that peradventure they will not like of that food (for horses do differ therein as men do) then make them bread in this manner: take wheat and Oats equal in substance, and grind them together, & as it cometh from the mill (being clean sisted from filth) bake loves thereof well mingled with bruised beans, otherwise the bread will clam their mouths, & let it be well seasoned with salt and Anniseedes, and two or three days old before they eat it, which will be in every part as comfortable as the other. And then doubt not but this manner of keeping will make a most pure blood, from whence proceedeth a most pure seed, thereof a most temperate and delicate brain, a great fullness of vital spirits, and so a most beautiful and excellent Colt, for hereby (as I have said) their vegetative soul, which is no other than their natural virtue, having only power of operations as a director and schoolmaster, to the goodness of the quality of the action, proceeding only from the temperature of the brain, have their beginnings & virtues from the perfect temperature of the seed, and the seed from the blood, it is evident to the uttermost extent of man's understanding that such as the temperature of the meats are, such willbe the temperature of the blood, and such as the blood is, such is the temperature of the seed, and such as the seed, such is the temperature of the brain, and such as the brain is, such willbe the direction of the action, and operation of the colt, for the faculties & temperature on which they consist, are altogether given them in the womb, without being taught by another, whereby the perfection and imperfection in generation is plainly discerned, and that the perfect endowment of good temperature, doth possess sufficient power to shape a perfect body, and to increase & nourish the same in perfection, with long life, because the knowledge of the sensitive soul taketh only his dependence from the temperature of the brain, as his director to perform all his actions, in the fullness of perfection. Now forasmuch that from the temperature of the four first qualities, hot, cold, moist, and dry, which is properly and truly called nature, all the abilities of the colt, both of virtue and vice do proceed, it is an evident argument of truth, that the variety of operation, springeth not from the sensible soul, which is one self, in all ages, but from the diversity of temperature, by means whereof the Horse doth work diversely, in young age, middle age, and old age, for that it partaketh in every age a contrary temperature, Wherefore one Horse is better than another. and although Horses of equal ages, are contrary in work and one far better than the other, yet the reason thereof is that one of them enjoyeth a better temperature than the other, and divers from the other, and therefore it is truly said, that nature maketh able, and that every creature worketh according to his nature. What were else the cause that two colts bred by one Horse and Mare, should one exceed the other in excellency of action, which cannot be from instinct of nature, but only from the temperature of the four first qualities, and that is the only cause that one bruit beast performeth the works of his kind better than another: being the only schoolmaster to direct the sensitive soul what to do, but the vegetative soul only knoweth, how to form the colt, to give him the shape which he is to keep, to receive nourishment, to retain it, to digest it, to expel the excrements, and if any part of the body do fail, she knoweth how to supply the same anew, and to yield it composition agreeable to the use which it is to hold. But the sensitive soul only worketh so far in the colt, that when it is foaled, it knoweth to suck, to draw forth the milk with his lips, to the preservation of his nature, and presently to eat only those things, whereon Horses accustomably do feed, and hereby you see what things in nature are proper, to the temperature, and to the vegetative and sensitive soul. And although some will say that God hath originally given to those creatures, this natural instinct, yet it may not be denied, but the Natural instinct must be the self-same, with the temperature which we see doth diversly govern in young age, middle age, & old age, all which proceed from the temperature of the seed that begetteth it, and with the descent of the horse and Mare, which fashioneth the body in the womb, and yet are there not two souls neither together nor successively, neither is the vegetative corrupted by the arrival of the sensitive, nor the sensitive by the vegetative, which being done, the seminal form vanisheth, and the seed ceaseth to be seed, and that substance without shape to be no longer seed, but a Colt, and when the Colt dieth the soul dieth, and is annihilated, according unto that rule, by the corruption of the subject, the form perisheth, the matter remaineth. CHAP. 37 Observations for better direction in breeding. 1. FIrst it is to be observed, that which most importeth generation, is that the meats which the horse and Mare that are to beget and bring forth, do feed upon, be in quality hot and dry, because the seeds and matter whereof the Colt is framed, must be tart and biting, growing from the saltness thereof, & so become hot and dry, where through the seed vessels are stirred to generation, and do according to their weight and measure, enter into the composition of the Colt, and so are always to endure in the mixture. 2. Secondly, if the brain be pure, the sensible soul of the colt goeth always united with the disposition thereof, which directeth the body to every action, and nothing offendeth the sensitive soul, so much as to make his abode in a heavy body, surcharged with great bones, and heavy flesh, and that is the reason which Plato yieldeth, that the best and finest mettle Horses are of thin bone, but if the Horse be not of a just and true proportion of temperature, then undoubtedly there is not any such perfection in that Horse. 3. Thirdly, the seed is mere vegetative and not capable of the sense, but only followeth the motions of the temperature, therefore if the seed be perfect it possesseth such force, that after the meat is digested and altered, it maketh them though bad and gross to turn to his own temperature, and substance, and yet cannot utterly deprive the same of the inherent quality, for the humours do attain the quality which the meat had before it was eaten. 4. Fourthly there must be great discretion used in feeding of the Mare, until she have foaled, least by long use of overbad meats, The means to preserve the colt in the womb. the Colt in the womb be impaired of that quality of temperature it had from the seed, for otherwise it little availeth to have begotten a Colt of perfect seed, if you make no reckoning of the meat, which afterward the Mare feedeth upon, and therefore the Mare may not so far eat of contrary meats, as the Colt shall lose those good qualities, which it receiveth of the seed whereof it was made. And the reason hereof is clear (but never observed by any) for at the beginning, the same being made of delicate seed, and that the colt groweth every day, impairing and consuming, and is to be repaired by the aliment & food it taketh, it is certain, that if they be bad, and of evil temperature, that the continual use of them, being in the womb, will make great alteration in nature, and therefore to continue the colt in the excellency of his temperature, it behoveth that the sustenance it taketh, be endowed with the same qualities, as the cold do not exceed the heat, nor the moist the dry. 5. Fiftly it appeareth that colts begotten, when the Horse and Mare go to grass (whereof all our practice is witness) cannot be begotten but of cold and moist seed, how excellent soever the horse and Mare were, neither can the same colts after they are foaled, by any possibility be restored to perfection of temperature, by the best keeping in the world, because they take the qualities of their temperature, at the time of their framing, Nam alteratio propria est mutatio et progressus a qualitate sensibili in aliam sensibilem qualitatem contrariorum, ut albo in nigrum: for a proper and true alteration is a change and going forward from one sensible quality into another sensible quality of contraries, and therefore can never be utterly deprived, and taken from them again, no more than that which is naturally white, turn naturally into black. 6. Sixtly the meat that Horses and Mares do eat, ought specially to be regarded, lest their brains be thereby distempered, because the brain and the stomach are united and chained together, with certain sinews, whereby they interchangeably communicate their damages, and we see that some Horses are jadish in quality, and some good in quality, which groweth from having their brain well or evil instrumentalized. And if any do affirm that horses have no brains, I would have them answer, from whence he hath his sense, and what is the cause of staggers in a Horse, if it be not the oppression of the brain: and the liver, the heart, and the brain, being first created and truly said the vital spirits and arterial blood, from whence the sensitive and motive sinews have their being, which go wandering through the whole body, and their office is to stir up the powers of the horse, to give him force and vigour to work. CHAP. 38. Objections against the former propositions. IT is said that the good quality of the meat that the Horse and Mare eat, before the action, is the cause of the good or bad temperature of the seed, & that the good or bad temperature of the seed, maketh the goodness or badness of the Colt, which being admitted, than it is demanded, wherefore Horses, and Mares, that are jades, being so dieted and kept, should not have a perfect temperate seed aswell as the best Horses, and by consequent of the proposition as perfect and as good colts, if the perfection of generation consist only in the temperature. I answer, that jades by good direction and order, with continuance therein, may greatly amend & better their seed, but they never can have a true perfect and temperate seed, as the excellent Horse and Mare have (of whom my proposition is) and the reason is apparent, for the seed whereof the jade was sormed, was originally bad and unperfect in temperature, otherwise he had not been a jade: and the nature of all seed is of such force, that what meat soever the Horse and Mare eat, and digest, although the natural quality thereof be most excellent to increase a perfect seed, yet it incorporateth that substance of seed which cometh of that perfect seed, into the substance of their seed, and natural quality thereof, which never was of perfect temperature, and then partaking of the natural quality of the jades seed, it is tainted with the corruption of the intemperature thereof, and so remaineth still unperfect seed, and yet the natural quality of the goodness of the meat, which the jades cat, is not utterly deprived or taken away, although the predominate quality as to the action and operation of goodness, is carried and transported, by the seed of the jades, whose quality and power cannot be taken from it, no more then Art out of an Artificer, & therefore such willbe the quality of the jades colt that is begotten, & also of unperfect shape, because that the vegetative & sensible soul, are material and corporal in the seed, with the descent of the Sires, which fashioneth the colt in the womb, and the perfection of shape concerneth only the virtue of the body, that begetteth, & the jade wanting perfection of shape, his colt cannot have perfection of action, And again I have found that perfect Horse and perfect Mare, may have a colt that is a jade, if my former rules be not observed. And moreover if a present good order should make a present deprivation of a corrupted nature, or a present evil order, bring a total deprivation of that is naturally good, than nature should be inconstant to become evil or good upon a sudden, sed nemo fit repent malus, no man becometh evil upon a sudden, neither can nature which is perpetual, presently pass from one evil unto another, but by the mean. 7. seventhly the Horse and Mare must be sparingly and moderately fed, that they may well digest and overcome that they eat, for although the meat in quality be hot and dry, yet if the quantity thereof be such as their natural heat cannot digest, the same becometh raw, cold and moist. And also if after full feeding, the Horse and Mare be travailed, it procureth untimely digestion, the wheyish blood thereof coming to the seed vessels, is over-rawe, and falsely provoketh before it be digested, and seasoned: otherwise it increaseth perfect seed fit for generation, and both having perfect seed, one must be agent and former, and the other serve for nourishment, as in the forming of chickens, and birds, in which are two substances, one of the yolk another of the white, the chick being made of the yolk is maintained by the white, whiles the form endureth, and which of their seeds is of the greatest efficacy, of the same is the generation, and whether of the seeds the generation is, of that the colt retaineth the condition and quality: but if the Horse and Mare be kept with ease and rest, it engendereth coldness and moisture, and thereby quencheth the natural heat and desire of generation, and corrupteth the seed and maketh the same unperfect. CHAP. 39 Now followeth the fourth rule, that is, when, how and where, to do the action in perfection. THe time when the action is to be performed must be after the Horse and Mare have been dieted, and are most lusty in the perfection of the body, having plenty of seed, well concocted fit for generation: for doth not the gardener with the seed that he preserveth, attend both the perfection of the growth of the herb, and until the seed be ripe, and wax dry? for if they pull them from the stalk before, they will never grow to any use of perfection: for the seed must have time to settle, concoct and ripen, and be duly seasoned to become hot and dry, and of sufficient substance, & then the time of the moon being observed, which is two or three days before the full or new moon, when the Mare hath greatest substance of menstrual or phlegmatic blood, for composition of the colt: the which the colt through his great heat in the time of increasing, and growing in the womb, will consume, & that is the reason why some colts are much bigger than others. Now before the time of action or begetting, viz. when the horse and Mare are both lusty and proud, let some little stoned jade often woo the Mare, until you see her very willing to receive the horse, so as she will seem to burn in desire, always ready and yielding to the horse, as the hen to the cock: but take great care that the jade do not leap her unless he have such trusses that he cannot serve her, and thereby you shall be assured to know her desire: then let the horse that shall cover her see him busy with her, which will greatly stir his desire and natural heat, and so inflame his vital spirits, as will raise great quantity of seed for the action, both in himself and the Mare: the action must be done in the morning early, when the stomach hath perfectly digested, and is empty, and not upon a full stomach. Also when the wind is in the North or west, and not when the wind is in the south, because all heat maketh the seed thin, and the south wind is gross and moist, and that the air is of such force appeareth in the winter, when it doth harden water, wood, stones, and other creatures: and all heat as the Summer time witnesseth, openeth, dissolveth & maketh the same feeble: Also the horse must cover a Mare seldom, otherwise he cannot have plenty of temperate seed, therefore once in three weeks or a month is enough, and not to spend his seed but when he doth abound in fullness and perfection of seed without any respect of the time of the year, and the place where it is to be done, would be in some house or yard, where no hurt can come unto them, or be troubled with the sight of other horses, and there let the mare be led to some slope or falling ground, made of purpose, where the hinder part of her body may stand highest, then bring the horse in your hand, at whose sight she will piss, or at the least offer to do it, which she must be suffered to do before he leap her, least by straining of her body after the act she lose the seed, than so soon as he cometh off from her, let the keeper cast a paleful of the coldest water strongly at her shape, the coldness, strength, and suddenness whereof will cause her to truss and shrink up her body, and thereby a great means to stay the seed, and cause it to conjoin and close themselves in the matrix: for the womb doth not presently embrace and enclose the seed, but some hour after, yet the womb doth very suddenly draw together: then have the horse away, and set the mare in some close place without giving her meat for two or three hours after, and no water until night, and then not much. And if you do perceive that the horse did closely and courageously serve her, and she receive it with all willingness, then have him from her, and let them not come no more together, for if the womb hath once drawn together, and maketh as it were a purse to draw the seed unto it, it will not suffer it to get out, so as if the first time of serving take effect, all the rest are in vain, & do great hurt, and the first doing is ever best, and most effectual, because the seed of both parts cometh from the vein of the right side, and is most hot, plentiful and aptest to conceive, consisting of greatest substance, & in quality most hot and dry, whereby it cannot be easily lost, like that which is thin liquid and cold, and if it should be oftener admitted, than the second seed proceedeth from the left side, which naturally is not so hot, but more liquid and moist, whereby the conception is most commonly a mare foal in respect of the moistness and coldness, but if it happen a horse Colt, yet not of that goodness wanting perfection of heat, for heat is the cause of hardiness, and courage, because it refyneth the Colt from all dross and impurity, as fire doth the gold, and then no doubt but a colt begotten of two excellent natures, in the greatest perfection must of necessity in all proportion of reason bring forth a Creature of most perfection both in shape and action, because Nature affecteth what it best liketh, and pourtrayeth the issue as with a pencil, and fasteneth in the womb with strong root, when as Hypocrates saith through the moist and watery seed it easily unloseth. CHAP. 40. Now followeth the fist rule, to know whether she hath conceived, and how to keep them in perfection after their conception unto the time of foaling. FIftly after she hath been leapt and carried away, if she cast not her seed but eateth freshly when she cometh to meat, and so continueth, and doth not ney nor piss often, neither casteth her eye gazing after a horse, & within one day or two begin to be gaunt bellied, because her womb in conception and closing itself together to keep the seed, trusseth up and maketh her belly more less to sight then before, as if she were suddenly become lean, and her hair lieth very smooth, and brighter than before, as also about ten days after, offering her a horse, two or three days before the full, & likewise before the new moon and she resisteth, (abhorring copulation) it assureth that nature is satisfied, and are manifest signs of their conception: and as touching her keeping, let her not drink so much as nature desireth, and still keep her with the same meat and diet for twelve days after, and then take away the wine and not before, if she be a Mare of worth, lest the seed and humours whereof the colt is compounded, should be impaired of the perfect temperature, before it be framed: and keep her so sweet and clean as may be, without any manner of labour, for the space of thirteen days, because the seed during that time is but milk, and when you travail her let it be very moderate, not in great heat, nor with heavy burdens, for fear of dissolution, and when she is put to grass (if your necessity be to put her to grass) let it not be in the winter but in the summer time only, and then in the most dry ground that may be, where the feeding is very short, yet so as she may once a day fill her belly, and where is pure water and shelter, and in the winter, let both Mare and colt be housed, & their meat, old, clean and sweet, and in a temperate air. whereby they will be healthful, and prosperous, and if she have at the time of her covering a colt sucking of her, let it not continue with her until she waxeth great, for the milk which the colt will then suck willbe corrupt and unnatural, and make both her and the colt within her poor and weak, and cause the mare at her foaling to want milk, and never to have a good udder, and when the Mare is ready to foal, let her be especially attended, and put in such convenient place as may not endanger the Colt when it falleth, for she foaleth standing, and at the time of foaling continually watched to secure her, if the foal should not come right: & presently after foaling milk the mare as clean as may be, which will not only draw down her milk and make the same increase, but also keep the udder that the milk do not clod, which if it should, the Mare may easily become dry, with the great anguish thereof, and if it should so happen, then draw as much milk from her as is possible, and boil it with the tops of Lavender, and bathe all the udder therewith, whilst it is very warm, and so continue until the clods and knobs in the udder be dissolved, & the next water she drinketh after foaling, let it be a good mash made of malt, or with wheate-meale, and within a month after her foaling, give her a mash with the powder of brimstone, the powder of Saven or such like, which will be a great preservation to the Colt, and if she be moderately laboured at the plough only, both when she is with fool and after foaling, the Mare and Colt will be much the better: and evermore have care that she eat not any raw meat in the Stable but old, sweet, clean and dry, whereby she will be the sooner in lust, and the Colt still continue his temperature, which of all other things is most specially to be observed. CHAP. 41. The sixth rule how to use them, when they are foaled, and to continue them in their perfection. Sixthly and lastly, fail not every winter to Stable and house the Colts, and let the Stable be open and Airy, and the floor paved and not planked, for it will make them more hard to endure cold, and their hooves most tough and durable: their meat old, sweet, and clean, & very often give them in their provender the powder of brimstone, the powder of the roots of Enula Campana, of white lily roots, of Polipodium of the Oak, of Saven, marsh Wormwood, Tobacco, Garlic chopped small, and such like, and make them as domestical and gentle as is possible: teach them no tricks or apish toys, gall not their mouths nor noses, neither distemper them, but keep them in all love and obedience to man, and when they go to grass, let them run no longer than Bartholomew-tide. Thus by reducing things to their natural causes, at last we come unto the end in God, by whose virtue all the creatures in the world do work by way of means as causes or dayned to that end. Having showed the manner of true and perfect breeding of Colts, manifesting thereby the errors of all former times, by not understanding the natural causes thereof, I find many objections engaged and embarked against some of my principal assertions, as humours that cannot be stopped from the sores in the body, as adverse and discontented persons associate themselves to the part grieved, and persecuted. Now because they shall not further limbeck their brains in the art of discontentment, I will endeavour also to take the fuel from that fire. CHAP. 42 Objections against the former propositions. FIrst it is objected against me, that I do admit the Mare to take the horse at any time of the year, when all writers of this subject admit only the months of March, April and May, because those three months are ordained thereunto (say they) by Original Nature, whereof God is the only Author, and the natural reason and cause thereof, as they affirm is, for that the humour of blood being the principal humour whereof the colt is compounded, & in itself hot and moist, doth in those three months rule and reign, and therefore in respect of his heat fittest for generation. 2 The second cause wherefore those three months are fittest for generation is, for that in the months of june, july & August, the humour of the Choler doth Reign, the which is hot and dry, and therefore unfit for generation. 3. The third cause is, for that in the months of September, October and November, the humour of Melancholy doth reign, which is cold and dry, and that is also unfit for generation. 4. The fourth cause is, that in the months of December, januarie and February the humour of Fleame doth reign, which is cold and moist, & that also most unfit for generation, and so they conclude, that God being the God of nature, and of order, and manifested as a means for the increase and preservation of his creatures, hath from the beginning ordained the same: and for the assured confirmation thereof unto man, hath more plainly manifested the same, 1. first by the example of all living creatures, who by the only instinct of nature, do in those months in their several kinds, beget and increase. 2. Secondly by the earth, which then bringeth forth her bud blossom and fruit. 3. Thirdly by the successive practice of all nations, and that these be their motive causes, appeareth especially by a tractat of Pero Lopez, in reputation a famous horseman, in his book dedicated to the king of Spain in the spanish tongue, in the memorable year of our Lord 1588. entitled Libro de Albeyteria que tracta del principio y generation Delos Cavallos. Ca●primo etc. composed in Dialogue manner, and allowed, and published by the King's special licence under the hands of divers of his council. Answer. Touching the limitation of time, namely March, April, and May, to be the only months and times for generation, in respect that the blood hath then dominion over the humours, I deny that proposition, and my reason is, that the equality of the temperature of the humours in a sound and perfect creature, are always in true proportion and harmony, and that the predominate quality of any of them, is the cause and only true witness of sickness or intemperance, the which may not be admitted either in horse or Mare, that do beget and bring forth. 2. Secondly because it is propounded generally, I answer that the humour of blood in those three months is more often unperfect, and predominate in evil quality then in any other of the months, & that all the humours in those three months are more intemperate then in any other, and the practice of Physic generally more used in those three months, then in all other months of the year besides, so as it is manifest, that the proposition so generally propounded, offereth great question for the incertainty, but I do admit that the perfection of blood in all creatures, is most principally of all the humours to be respected, and before all times and seasons of the year to be preferred, and not to be limited and compassed within any certain time, and therefore I do not refer generation to any particular time, but to the perfection of the particular creatures, that have a firm standing habit of body, which is truly termed a perfection of temperature of the four elements. For if blood do exceed in heat, it doth thereby suddenly consume and dry up the radical moisture, and by the extinguishing thereof, destroyeth himself: as we see in the burning of a lamp or candle, the which when the heat or flame is to great, it doth suddenly consume the oil or tallow, and presently extinguisheth his own light. Again, if the oil or tallow be corrupted, by mixture or matter of contrary quality, as water or such like, it presently destroyeth itself, and as of heat and moisture so of the other humours: therefore reason which is man's only guide, telleth all men that there must be a just and true proportion of temperate mixture of the humours, to compound the seed, & make it fit for generation & preservation of the creature, that is to be begotten: for the predominate quality, or contrariety of quality, of any of them, causing a continual jar amongst them, is as a house or kingdom divided in itself, which bringeth destruction to all: so on the contrary the sympathy of their agreement is the preservation of the whole, and this is only to be respected and not the time. 3. Thirdly, if I should grant to M. Lopez and his fellows, that they do not mean, any predominate quality in the humour of blood, but a good & just temperature, then doth not the blood rule and reign over the other humours, & then were the proposition contrary in itself, but admitting the best, which is that it ruleth as the head doth the body, in the best sympathy and coherens to maintain the other humours, without which the body cannot have his being, yet to say that those three months are only good for generation, unless it can be proved that in those three months is the only time of desire for generation, which cannot be generally granted, because daily experience witnesseth that they of themselves, of their own natural desire beget & bring forth in all other months. Again, if the other three humours of Choler, melancholy, & fleam, should rule in the other nine months of the year, how suddenly should the whole kind of all creatures decay, by reason of the great jar of the Elements, and thereby become mortal homebred enemies to Nature itself. 4 Fourthly, if every humour hath quarterly in every year his several rule and government, (which cannot be proved) and all learning affirmeth, that every horse worketh & expresseth the quality of his work, according to the goodness and badness of his temperature of humours, than every horse in every quarter of the year altereth the quality of his work, & by consequent the quality of his nature, which reason and practise depose against, and how should any man be assured of the natural quality of his horse, which is perpetual and not variable and unconstant, Nam omnia naturalia sunt immutabilia. For all Natural things are unchangeable. 5 Fiftly, if nature should allow, or of himself ordain any thing to his own destruction, or to maintain an enemy to himself, were absurd to admit, when as Nature hath originally, or rather God the Author of Nature, bred a Sympathy in Nature, to desire his own preservation, and an Antipathy in Nature, to have an innated hatred to all things that are enemies unto it, as appeareth by the young Lamb that runneth from the Wolf, & the Dog, the little Chicken from the Kite, and such like. So likewise when sickness or infirmity breedeth within the body, Nature laboureth to her uttermost power to expel her enemies. 6 Sixtly, blood which is the heat of the body, must in all months of the year, have a kind of dominion in the Horse, over the moisture, aswell as in those three months, for in nutrition the thing nourished, by reason of the instrument ordained for that purpose, must actually work upon that, whereby it is nourished, for the heat is maintained by the moisture, otherwise it would presently consume itself: and it may not be denied, but every agent must be proportioned unto the patiented, in the equality of excess, therefore the heat being the sole active of nutrition, must have dominion over the moisture, the subject matter of that faculty, how then can M. Lopez limit the dominion of blood only to three months. 7. seventhly it is a general approved truth, that every Horse & other creature is framed in the womb, of the four humours, and that he that hath the one hath the other, but not of equal proportion, for every Horse (most usually) hath more of the one humour then of the other, for it doth not keep uniformity, but very few since their first & primary creation, from God, by whom they were created in true proportion of temperate mixture, but sithence the defiled condition of man's nature, they have been and so will remain jarring and out of order, from the hour of their creation, unto their death, but every slight change of the four qualities proportion, changeth not his temperature, who for the short endurance of the distemperatures, the body returneth to his former constitution, but the variation of their original constitution, is the true proper cause of the diversity and difference of the work, which proceedeth from that inward engendered cause of destruction, the disagreement of the elements, and thereupon I conclude that the goodness or badness for begetting of Horses, cannot truly be appropriate to any season, month, or time of the year. CHAP. 43. How to know upon view if a Horse be compounded of a true temperature of the elements, and when otherwise, and thereupon have a true judgement of his natural qualities. THe true and just proportion of the temperature of the elements in the humours, when the colt is compounded in the womb, frameth him in a most perfect shape, and excellent for action and long life, and in reason unpossible that a Horse of true and perfect shape can be naturally bad, but contrariwise most excellent in action, for there never was or ever shallbe a perfect shaped Horse, without a true proportion of the temperature of the elements, and it appeareth, that if the humours at the time of framing the colt in the womb, hath not any jarring or discord of temperature, then do the same frame a most absolute perfect shape, & the truth thereof appeareth in those horse's the were immediately created by god (being compounded of the elements as all other creatures) were of the most & only absolute perfect shape (because at that time man had not transgressed) and until then, there was not any jar or discord in the elements, as all divine and human witnesses confess, soas it appeareth without gainsaying, that the true and equal proportion of the temperature of the elements, in the seed, and the humours whereof the colt is compounded, bringeth forth (without some contrary accidental means which is not natural) the most absolute perfect shaped Horse, and of the most excellent and temperate action, and what a perfect shape is, I have herein largely set forth, so as it only remaineth to show, how you shall infallibly judge upon the view of any Horse, whether he was composed of an equal temperature, whereby (as also I have formerly mentioned) will appear his perfection or imperfection of action, which cannot be truly understood, without the true cause thereof be understood, for Mens Philosophi non acquescit nisi in causa rerum, the understanding man evermore laboureth, until he find out the true cause of the action, he undergoeth. Aristotle the Prince of Philosophers, in the first of his Metaphysics, saith that Omne ens naturaliter appetit suam perfectionem, All men desire naturally to know, & the cause is, for that all things, that have being do naturally desire their own perfection, and (as much as in them is) to be restored to their first perfection, & to conserve themselves in the excellency thereof, which cannot be attained without the true knowledge of the nature of the thing desired to beknowne, & how much the more honourable or beneficial the same is to the King or common weal, by so much aught the same to be in the highest & superlative esteem, & the true knowledge thereof, first and above others to be preferred. Now forasmuch, as the true knowledge of this subject, even from the time of man's transgression, hath in all succeeding ages been laboured to a restitution, of his primary perfection, and yet not any thing extant to establish man's judgement herein, let me now in so weighty a matter, entreat your favourable ears, and I doubt not to give good contentment to the judicious and understanding Reader. It cannot be denied but that the Horse and every other creature is compounded of the four Elements, viz. Fire, air, Water and Earth, and that the just and true proportion of the temperature of those Elements, was in all those creatures which were first, and originally created by God in all perfection, without any manner of predominate quality, or jarring, and that the harmony thereof was the true cause of their perfection, but at the instant of time when man transgressed those elements in all creatures did jar and rebel each against the other, for predominate quality, & so will continue unto the end, and consummation of all creatures, the which as I have said are now become hom-bred enemies to all creatures, and the only cause of sickness, and death of all creatures, yet the Sympathy of nature in all creatures is such, as it laboureth and so continueth to be restored, to the first and true temperature, and to suppress the jarring, not only for their preservation, but also for restitution to their primary creation, from whence there cannot be any truth more apparent, than the nearer the Colt doth attain the true and just proportion of the temperature of the elements in the creation, the nearer it attaineth to the primary perfection, from whence also it followeth to know how to choose, and to govern the horse and Mare, that shall beget and bring forth, that their seed and substance of humours, whereof every Colt is compounded, may at the time of their action be of a true and just proportion of temperature, and that the Colt begotten, may whiles it remaineth in the womb, by the nutriment it taketh, be preserved in the same temperature, and after the foaling so continually maintained, as the true ground of all knowledge in this subject. Wherefore omitting any farther discourse, I will proceed to set forth, how all men upon the only view of any horse, be he old or young may know, whether he be compounded of true temperature of the elements, viz. Every perfect shaped horse hath a broad forehead, and great eye, to express his natural boldness and love unto man: lean head, thin, slender, lean jaws to express his refined metal, courage and quick spirit: long high reared neck, to express the perfection of his rain, and perfect sight of the way to keep him sure footed: high reared withers, to set forth the easy going by keeping the body of his Rider very upright: broad, deep chest and body, with upright pasterns, and narrow hoof, to give testimony of his great strength and ability of body, to endure and continue long & great travel: And every untrue & unperfect shaped horse, having in every part the contrary shape, viz. A narrow forehead, little eyes, fleshy head, thick fleshy jaws, short neck, set on like a Hog or Goat, a narrow shallow breast & body, weak bending pasterns & fleshy, broad & club-footed, is a most vile roil and a jade in all and every his actions, so as all the Artistes and most excellent horsemen in the universal world can never endow him with the least perfection of action & continuance therein, whereby you may as truly & infallibly judge the difference betwixt good & bad, as the difference betwixt fire & water, as also the perfection & imperfection of the composition & temperature of his elements in the time of his creation, for when you see a horse or colt that is naturally lean & dry, & will hardly be made fat, & continue fat & yet digesteth speedily, of a slener substance of body, short haired, and the same hard and full of stirring, it is plain that he was composed of the predominate humour of red choler, and that the blood whereof the seed was made, was of a dark and thick spirit, and had much of the Gall, for if the blood had been perfect, it would have been hot and moist, of an oily substance, for want of which radical moisture he doth too speedily digest, never fat & of slender substance, his hair short, dry and hard, for want of that moisture to pass through the pores of the skin, to make the same soft, of length and substance, and that hair if it be eaten will never be digested by reason of his dryness, when as his bones being eaten will be digested, besides he cannot be long lived, wanting sufficient radical humours to feed his great heat, for the lack whereof he is like to a lamp that hath a great flame & little oil, & therefore speedily consuming the Oil, it extinguisheth his own light, and this horse is termed choleric, and his shape must of necessity be defective in substance, because largeness and great proportion of shape proceedeth principally from moisture, so as wanting substance and fullness of proportion, as I have formerly said, he cannot be of continuance but quickly spent, like unto small dry wood which speedily flameth, and therefore is speedily consumed, soon hot, soon cold, a great bragger but no performer, a fiery look and countenance: in whom at the first entering into action there is no temperance, seeming rather to fly then to be content to stand quiet, and yet the travel of a few miles through his violent heat and dryness, speedily spendeth his vital spirit, so that his heart which is the chariot of his life, and the fountain of those vital spirits, and the hottest of all other his spiritual members, for want of sufficient radical oiled moisture to cool the same, is so smothered and choked that of necessity it yieldeth. Again, when you see a horse that is long, large, lose, and weak jointed, hollow eyed, not well compacted (although by high and proud keeping he may make show of spirit and vigour) yet not withstanding assuer yourself, that he is compounded of the element of Water, which is altogether phlegmatic, which in predominate quality is heavy, moist and cold, and therefore a lubber and a jade, being weak and lose in all the parts of his body, by reason he wanteth the chief element of Fire, which is hot & dry, to exhaust and dry up his predominate quality of moisture, to purge and refine the moisture, to become full of vigour, spirit, and courage, to the performance of his actions. Also, when you see a horse that hath a great fleshy head, thick boned, and fleshy jaws, a great fleshy upright joint, a great thick short neck, and a full proportioned body, whereby he seemeth a puissant strong horse, assure yourself; the chief and predominate Element in his composition was of the earth, which is melancholy, or black choler, which in quality is cold and dry, and of the element of Water, which is heavy and moist, so as by the moisture of water which is phlegm, it groweth great, so by the coldness and dryness of the earth, which is melancholy, he is framed a great heavy lump or mass, without true proportion of shape, and his actions in quality are heavy, sad, and fearful, and unapt for action, other then as a great top, which never goeth well but by strong lashing, neither can he be of other quality, then according to the quality of the Elements, whereof he is composed, wanting the two most excellent elements, which are, Fire and Air, that is heat and oily moisture to raise his spirit to the lively and courageous performance of his actions, so as after he hath come to be ten years old, he will exceed in stumbling and falling flat down, neither can be of long life, wanting a just and true proportion of temperature of the four elements, neither can the best keeping in the world, or the most skilful horseman of the world, bring him to perform any action contrary to his nature, according whereunto every creature worketh, the which nature is no other, than the temperature of the Elements, when he was composed and framed in the womb, according whereunto his shape was framed, which being natural, will be perpetual and unchangeable in him unto his death. And therefore there is not any truth can be more apparent, then that a just and true proportion of the temperature of the Elements maketh a Horse of perfect shape and excellent quality: and having largely showed you his virtues, I speak not for them, if your sight cannot command affection, let them lose it, they shall please much better, after you have troubled your eyes with the view of the jades deformities, and then how much more they please, so much more odious and like themselves, shall the jades deformities appear, for this true light contraries give each to the other, that in the midst of their enmity, the one maketh the other seem more good or evil. Now it resteth to consider how possible it can be that a Colt can be compounded of a true proportion of temperature, if you suffer Horse and Mare go to grass when they beget, and were all learning and reason banished from this my assertion, the only infinite number of jades, being a thousand to one of good Horses, would condemn the general practice of all Nations, and their errors herein not to be defended. But if you observe the natural quality of every Element (if the instinct of original nature be not annihilated, you will reform your judgement and consequently your practice, in breeding) for the nature of the Element of fire (whereunto the humour of perfect blood is likened) doth sever the pure from the unpure, rust and dross from the Iron, the copper and unperfect metal from the gold, the silver from the impurity of the Alleye or Ore, the mas●e and unpurified substance of flesh from the bones, the grossness of the bones into the purity of bones, and it openeth and disperseth the massy and unproportionate substance into a pure and fine substance of flesh, and the reason why the blood of the Mare is more waterish, raw, grosser, and unperfecter, than the blood of the Horse is, for that she wanteth that sufficiency of heat, which the Horse hath, to refine and perfect the same, and the fountain of blood, both in Horse and Mare, would be plentiful and pure, because their seed is first taken from the same (as I have formerly showed) and the fountain of blood is the liver, from which the veins do disperse and convey the same to the whole body, and the liver is called Epar from the word Pyr which signifieth fire, now if the liver should be cold or a fountain of unperfect blood, than no doubt but the colt willbe unpersect, and the reason is apparent, for that the element of fire in the blood, doth purify all the substance whereof the Colt is framed in the womb, and the vital spirit of the sensible soul of the Horse and Mare, if the elements in them be not in perfection of temperature, can not endure. Again, the element of the air, being a light and pure element, hot and moist, doth most naturally feed preserve, maintain, and cherish the Element of fire, even as pure oil doth the light of the lamp and maketh the mixed bodies of phlegm, choler, and melancholy, light, to the intent they may be neither too gross nor too heavy. Again the element of water being heavy, cold, and moist, according to his nature, doth greatly enlarge both bones, flesh, and sinews, and according to the nature of moisture, doth temper the fervent heat of fire, and keep that together which the heat would disperse. Again, the element of the earth being cold and dry, but principally dry, doth harden the body, to retain his shape, which the air & water would make fluxible, the which elements in the four humours of blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy (whereof every colt is framed) there ought to be a just proportion of temperature, otherwise it is unpossible to have a beautiful and perfect shape, or excellent quality or action, from whence there followeth the truth of my assertions. That if the aliment or food (although the Horse and Mare be of perfect shape) whereof the Horse and Mare do feed, be not in natural quality such as the humours, that proceed from the same, may be fit for the true proportion of temperature in the seed, and every way ordered as I have prescribed, when the colt is to be begotten and after, there is not neither can be assurance of perfect races, and consequently of perfect Horses, whatsoever M. Pero Lopez, or any other shall affirm, to the contrary. notwithstanding his lunary or lunatic observations. CHAP. 44. The answer to the examples NOw to answer the examples, the first whereof is, that all living creatures, in those three months of March, April, & May, do beget and bring forth, I answer briefly, that if the example be understood, it doth not condemn my proposition, for if it were granted that all living creatures, do in those 3. months only beget & bring forth (which were most untrue to grant-the word (all) cannot have an absolute reference to the whole species and kind of all creatures without exception, so as no creature hath, doth, or shall beget or bring forth, but only in those 3. months: but it is true that there are some of all creatures, that do then commonly beget and bring forth, and some there be of all creatures, that neither then nor in any time of their lives, beget and bring forth, through the imperfection of some natural cause, neither is it an infallible proposition, to say, that because they do beget & bring forth, in those three months, therefore all other months of the year are unmeet and exempted to beget and bring forth, for if you consider the original cause from God, when he said increase and multiply, the same was not particularly limited to any day, month, or year, for the examples are manifest, that there are some of all creatures, which do beget and bring forth in all months of the year and the reason wherefore in these three months, these actions are most usual, is for that the sun having long absented himself, so as the cold and stormy winter weather hath greatly weakened and impaired the natural strength and state of the body, especially of the savage and wild, which want fullness of food to increase and maintain the same, and for that cause do abstain from generation, until the sun give more heat to comfort their bodies, with increase of food, the which is to be seen in the several kind of all creatures, as in coneys, pigeons, and other domestical creatures, which do beget and bring forth in all times of the year: and to say that those three months are only fit, because blood is then predominate, is also against the opinion of the learned, who affirm the blood to increase from the eight of February, unto the seventh of May, and that red choler increaseth from the seventh of May, unto the seventh of August, and that black choler which is melancholy, beginneth to increase from the seventh of August, unto the seventh of November, and that phlegm beginneth to increase from the seventh of November, unto the seventh of February, and yet not any of them can be said to have dominion only in those times, for that were to allow the discordand predominate quality of the elements, which is the only cause of sickness, and the continuance thereof, death. CHAP. 45. The answer to the second example from the earth. THe apparancy of that reason, is also taken from the force of the natural heat of the sun, wherewith all trees, grass, & plants, the vegetative soul or the natural life and virtue thereof, having been imprisoned in the cold time of winter in the roots lying in the bowels of the earth, to shroud and preserve themselves from destruction, the sun drawing near unto them, the same being the preservation of their lives, do then begin to show their life in the greatest glory, but the same is not to be attributed to the said months, if the sun did not at that time extend his natural heat more and otherwise, in the other Months, as the diversity of cold and hot countries do manifest, and therefore I will proceed to the reasons of the practice of these months. The reason of the common practice of all nations, is for that a mare goeth with foal twelve months and ten days, or there abouts: and therefore the most breeders would not have the mare go to horse, before those months of March, April, or May, because her foaling time should be near the spring of grass, the which opinion and practice I think fit likewise to examine. There is not any man of experience the can truly deny but if the Mare be lusty, and in perfection of health, when she foaleth, at what time of the year soever it be, but that she hath more milk for three weeks or a month, than the foal is able to suck, and to continue plentiful in milk, let her presently after foaling be milked so clean as may be, and so continued until the curd in her udder be broken and dissolved, which will make her plentiful in milk, a thing easily done, if she before be made domestical, and the same is approved true in all creatures that give suck, so as if she foal in the beginning of Winter, yet will she have plenty of milk, being housed, she will have a more lusty, strong, healthful and courageous Colt, of great stature, and greater strength, and better able to endure hardness, and keep his flesh better than if she foaled at May day, my reasons are, Although the grass maketh great quantity of milk, yet the same is very thin, and the winter food less in quantity, but very thick and of greater nourishment, and that a Colt foaled in the winter will be stronger than that is foaled in the Summer, because that coldness of air by unyting & knitting of the body (according to the nature of cold) giveth strength much more than heat, for heat openeth, dissolveth and weakeneth, for all creatures are stronger in Winter then in Summer, and they will eat much more, and digest better in the cold then in the heat, because the natural heat is thereby in the inner parts, & not dispersed, and those are most strong & of greater stature that are bred very far North, than those in the south. And Aristotle in his politics saith, that generally such as are bred in colder countries, are stronger and bigger bodied, and better couraged, and longer lived, for the coldness of the compassing air restects the air into the inner parts, and by that reflection the heats force is increased, and the parts gathered better and closer together. And moreover by giving sometimes masshes, made with malt, or with wheat meal, and mixed with the powder of brimstone, of the roots of Enula campana, of Polipodium of the Oak, Anniseedes, irish, fenugreek Turmeric, bayberries, and such like, which will not only increase the milk of the mare, but also most medicinable for the healthful preservation of her and her foal, and the Colt being thus wintered in the house with his dam, it will make it to feed of all manner of winter food, and quietly take any medicine, and become most gentle, being brought up in the company of man from the day of the foaling, whereby it shall not need to be tamed or broken, as other Colts are, neither to be roughly handled for the curing of any hurt or sorrance that may happen. Also (if you cannot otherwise judge) you shall thereby find the natural quality and disposition thereof, and being from his time of foaling, kept in a paved stable with stone (for so would all stables be) it will harden his hooves, not suffering them to become broad footed, making him most bold to tread upon any ground, it will make him loving to the man, and bold to every action, and to be taught many good qualities, and when the spring of grass cometh, it will little or nothing regard the dams milk. And if any do think that in the winter for lack of milk it would be in penury or hindered of groweth, they do much err therein, for it will feed fat, lusty, & strong in the winter, if it be brought up by hand without milk, giving it hay, oats, bran, barley, pease or beans, & such like: but on the contrary, when the colt is foaled in May, or in the middle of summer, (which most men desire) not well considering what they desire, the contrary of all former benefits will ensue, it is said that the colt will have plenty of milk, which I do not deny, but being milk from grass it willbe thin and waterish, and for a small time, and when it hath least need of plenty (and this is the greatest reason) but when it is grown & able to take great store of nourishment, than the winter weather of snow, frosts, and floods, the colt being then young and tender, the mare cannot (in reason) but want plenty of milk, wanting plenty of pleasant food, warm and dry lodging, at which time the colt will only depend upon the dam, and thereby bring both her and colt to poverty, not being able sufficiently to cherish herself, & so both become weak before winter be past, besides the colt willbe savage and wild, so as if any disease or weakness come unto it, the same remaineth remediless, if nature cannot overcome it, and herein my experience telleth us, many to have perished, neither is it able or apt to feed upon any food but the mare's milk, to keep itself in strength, and thereby also the dam restrained and kept from lust of generation, and lastly the most material cause of all others, namely the continual feeding of wet & cold grass, which is in natural quality exceeding cold and moist, the good and perfect temperature of the elements in the colts, will by continuance be greatly impaired, being of all others of the greatest importance: again whereas they affirm that the mare in may is most fit to receive the Horse, because the time and season is warm & she much colder than the Horse, they do little observe the material cause of generation, namely the coldness & moistness of seed, which the food of grass maketh, whereof no perfect shape can ensue, only desiring a Colt without any respect of goodness & perfection, the unresistible witness of all erroneous practice in breeding. Again, if the mare go to grass, and hath a colt long sucking her, when food and lodging is full of penury, how can she be full of lust to bring forth a perfect strong and lusty colt: & although thewinter (in respect of winter) be open and seasonable, and the mare full fed with grass, can any man doubt, but that notwithstanding her natural desire of generation willbe quenched, & if it were admitted that she hath a desire thereunto, yet can the same be in such perfection as aught to be for generation? Now cometh the true Chemist who turneth every thing into silver, that breedeth money to the third generation, neither hath it sooner any being than he sets it to beget more, and he crieth out upon charges, and yet would have his Horse cat good meat, but on his neighbour's trencher, & he saith that breeding colts in the stable is very chargeable, but if he did once apprehend, that in that charge were gain, than were every face of a colt a new Image whom he would adore with the highest veneration: if it should be granted, that feeding at grass all the winter time, is somewhat cheaper than feeding in the stable, yet when the preservation of mare and colt in strength and perfection of health, & from the danger of death, with floods, snows and such like is considered together with the fodder, which necessity enforceth to give unto them in such seasons, the great attendance of the keeper, and yet oftentimes loss of all, notwithstanding his diligence, the spoil of good grounds (for in such they must then be kept) by their deep treading in wet seasons (they must acknowledge) if the Horse and Mare be of good worth, the keeping in the stable much the cheaper, in respect of their service to their King and country, & the benefit of the purse, as the common practice of the champion countries, where are few enclosed grounds do witness, breeding if the same were guided with true knowledge, who would as far excel the colts that are brought up at grass, as hay exceedeth stubble, & if any willbe a servant to himself, yea to his servant, and do such base homage, to that which should be the worst drudge, it may be doubted he would dispatch himself when corn falls, but that it grieveth him to cast away money on a cord. Again some whose tongues are like the tails of Samsons foxes, carrying firebrands to set the whole field of valorous Horsemen on a flame, for no act can pass without their comment, for their ears be long, & their eyes quick, but too imperfectious: To confute trifling things seriously is a point of those which have no judgement And they would know, how many mares one horse may cover, how or when to have a Horse colt or a Mare colt, how to make a Mare cast her foal, when the colt should be severed from the dam, when to geld, how to have pied colts, by the example of jacob, in the 30. of Genesis, and such like, not being of any moment worthy any answer, because these questions are most truly answered in the knowledge of nature, without which no sufficient answer can be made, I refer them to the consideration of that hath been said, wherein these questions are easily resolved. And because I would be unwilling to charge the Reader with answering of trifles, or with much tediousness, knowing the knowledge of breeding is notloved enough, because it hath not been heretofore seen, and that the errors therein lose much detestation, because their ugliness is secret, certainly there are so many beauties, and so many graces in the face of her knowledge, that no eye can possibly see it without affection, without ravishment, and the visage of her errors so monstrous through loathsome custom, that if her lovers were not ignorant, they would be mad with disdain and astonishment, what need you more then to discover these two to the world, this work will save the labour of exhorting & dissuasion, for herein is the true knowledge and error of breeding stripped naked to the open view, see now whether shall find more followers, and if still the vain minds of men shall dote upon their old mistress, it will appear to be, not because she is not foul, but for that they are blind and bewitched. Omne ignotum pro magnifico est. CHAP. 46. Of a perfect Stable. FIrst the situation of the stable would be on a most dry ground, if it may be, so as at all seasons of the year, both man and Horse may come and return from the same clean and dry, also it would be builded and so placed, as there may be a continual currant for the cleansing and keeping the same sweet from all things noisome to the same: it would be seeled over the Horses, to keep both Horse, rack, meat and manger, from all dust, it may not have any filthy gutter or sink near, in, or under the same, neither any privy, or other unwholesome favour of hog-sties, hen-house, or such like. Some ancient writers affirm, that the strong savour or air of a privy will make a Horse blind: the Horse is naturally a proud beast, and delighteth in all cleanness: the rack would be set high and sloping, for dust or filth annoying the Horse eyes or main, or dangering his crest, by crooked or wry feeding, and the manger deep and strong, for casting provender out of it with the Horse nose; with posts and partitions, as you may see in all well ordered stables: the flore would be paved and not plancked for these reasons. First it is more durable and lasting, and less charge, it maketh your Horse most bold upon stony and hard grounds, by continual standing upon stones, it is the most excellent thing that may be for Colts-being unshooed, for it hardeneth the hoove, so as by continuance and custom, they will be as bold on the stones as if they were shoode, it will not suffer his hoove to run broad, and the continuance thereof maketh the same very tough and durable, and will much longer and better carry a shoe: the pavement would be even, not higher before, where the fore-feet stand, for it is very painful to the hinder-legges, so as the Horse unless necessity compel him, will not stand strait or bold in the stable: and doubt not of coldness, for when he is littered at night, he lieth warm enough: there would be divers windows in the stable, the which would be so placed, as the stable may thereby be cleared with the air, or close shut, or open as occasion may serve, in the night time, especially in the winter: and when Horse have laboured, it would be very dark, aswell for warmth as otherwise for the Horse to take their sleep: at other times it would be kept somewhat cold, for thereby the Horse will feed and digest the better, neither shall the Horse be made too tender, which may be hurtful when upon occasion in other places where a man shall travail not having the like, whereby the Horse may take cold: all poultry, and fowls, hogs and such like, would not be suffered at any time to come into the stable, there would not be any dust or loam walls in the stable or place, about or near the rack or manger, or wherein the Horse standeth, to retain or keep dust, for the Horse naturally will lick them to their great hurt. The dung must not by any means lie near the stable, neither any thing of evil savour. near to the stable would the Grooms of the stable be lodged, to be ready at all times, and upon all occasions, and joining to their lodging would be a convenient room with a press therein to set all their Saddles, Bridles, Girths and such like; with all kind of necessary instruments, to mend such furniture, with all things necessary for shoeing, letting blood, and such like, and all medicinable things, either for inward disease or outward hurt. There would be also to the stable annexed certain sheds or rooms to lay horse litter in, both new and old, for that it is most unfit for the litter to be under the manger, as commonly is used, least the Horse should either feed on it, or be offended with the savour, because no creatures do better or more delight and comfort in sweet and clean keeping then a Horse, being a special means to show himself cheerful and pleasant, besides, there would be a little enclosed room, such as horses after their labour might be put into, to wallow themselves, wherein most horses take exceeding delight, being also most healthful for them so to do, the which the ancient writers affirm, doth so much comfort a horse, as if they be tired, having after wallowed himself, and being clean rubbed, will travel presently again with courage, as if it had not been. Moreover, above all things, there would be also places or sheds for the horses to be cleansed, curried and trimmed in, and not in the stable & place, where they lie stand & feed in respect of the dust, lose hair, and filth that cometh from them, so as the place in the stable where he standeth might and ought to be made most sweet and clean, with Rack, manger and the place of his standing, being comely, healthful, and profitable to the owner, for the preservation of his horse, the great fault and neglect whereof is unexcusable, and of all good horsemen to be respected and amended: Neither would I have any horse, having the Glanders, or any other sickness, hurt or disease, to remain in the stable at such time, but kept in a shed for that present time from all other horses, by which means, & all other good diet, which hereafter I purpose to express, there cannot be any doubt of health & long life to the horses, the contrary whereof hath discomforted a number of worthy Gentlemen from keeping of horses of value and worth, and content themselves with jades. Thus having very shortly described the Stable, it next followeth to speak of making the Colts to amble without any handling of them, wherein also I purpose to be short, because there are there of many practices. CHAP. 47. Of making Colts to amble from the time of their foaling. FIrst understand, that every Colt when it is foaled and remaineth tender of his hooves, hath no other train or pace how slow soever it be, but the same is an amble, & by observing his treading, is apparent to the eyes of all that do or will behold it: and because the same shall not be enforced to any faster pace then only to go, keep the colt with the dam in the stable, and the next day after the same is foaled, put on a halter, bridle, or snaffle, at your pleasure on the Mare's head: in the morning early lead her forth, let the Colt follow her so gently and soft a pace as she can go, into some even, plain, and hard ground, and be sure that the Colt be not enforced to go faster than you lead the Mare, and then observe and you shall find the Colt going by her, that he doth altogether go and train his legs in an amble. thus continue leading the Mare in so soft and slow a going, about half an hour, and the Colt of himself will not go faster than his dam, by which means all his pace willbe an amble: then have them into the stable again, and suffer not the Colt to come from his dam, after about 12. of the clock lead the Mare and Colt forth again, going that pace and no other than you did, for half an hour more, all which time observe, and you shall see the Colt tread an amble, then place them into the stable again, and keep the Colt from going abroad, and then after about 6. of the clock at night, have the Mare and Colt abroad again, leading the Mare as aforesaid, and after have them both into the stable again, and beware that you never go faster with the Mare then that the Colt treadeth an amble. And thus continue every day with the Mare & Colt for 10. days, and as the Colt increaseth in swiftness of pace in his amble, so increase the pace of the Mare, and he will amble most swiftly and perfectly: if you begin in that slow manner aforesaid, and never enforce him to go faster, use will bring him unto all perfection: And thus you may make any Horse to amble most perfectly without any other practice. CHAP. 48. Of shoeing. Although that most famous Ferrar M. Martin Alman deceased, hath set forth by Mai. Blundevill, a very good work of shoeing, and that I must confess myself to have received my first knowledge therein from the said M. Martin, yet I may not herein extinguish the worthiness of M. john Orpen, of Greenwich, fellow Ferrar to the said Martin, from whom as from my chief instructors, I increased both my skill & desire, whose excellency of knowledge was suchas I think worthy Hannibal did not exceed those two worthy Ferrars. diagram showing how to cut a horse-shoe shaped sponge Then when the shoe is tacked on with nails, set down the horse foot & stand directly behind the Horse, and view whether the frush of the Foot be directly, and of just proportion, even betwixt the Webs of the shoes, and whether the Horse stand right, and be supported upright thereby, then seeing the shoe to stand right, and the frush equally betwixt the webs or Sponges of the shoe, you shall be assured thereby, that the shoe standeth right, the continual use whereof will cause the Horse to tread and travel boldly and surely, because his quarternes being the bearing place, will be broad and even to support the whole body. And for the true making of the shoe, all the web would be strait and plain, not drawn in at the heels, and quarters narrow, or beaten to the heels which many use to do, neither hollowed, if the feet be perfect, but even and flat, with a broad Web, the Sponges thicker and more substantial, than any part of the shoe, to cause the joint to stand upright, and so wide in the quarters, as both sides may disbord the Coffin of the hoof the breadth of a straw, to guard and save the Coffin of the hoove, being the only strength of the whole foot, and also the shoe so far set back to guard the heels, as may save the same from bruising and cutting with Stones, and unless the Coffin be continually so kept open from hard oppressing and enclosing the Tuell of the foot, which is enclosed within the Coffin, whereby the Tuell becometh bound and imprisoned to the great grief and lameness of the horse, but the foot and joint of the horse maintained as a principal post to support the whole building, for otherwise the horse will become hoovebound, which many ignorantly call dry foundered, & also make the joint become weak, lame, and full of windegalles. And therefore when you come to the piercing of the shoe of the forefoot, spare not to pierce it from the quarter to the hard toe, but not backward to the heel, & let the shoe be so pierced, as the holes be much wider on the out side of the shoe then within, for the holes of the inside of the shoe would be no wider than the Shank of the nail may well fill, otherwise the shoe will never sit fast and steady, and the circle of the piercing more distant from the edge of the toe, then from the edge of the quarter, because every Smith knoweth there is more hold to be taken with less danger, in respect of the tuel & quick of the foot, and all the nails would be untoled without shoulders, which will so sink, and strongly fill the hole, as the shoe will sit most strong, then drive the nails even, leaving as little clime as may be possible, & by cutting the hoof a little with the point of a knife, let the clinch be clean hid, the which shoeing would always be done, eight or ten days before you travel your horse, for by that time the hoof will be grown to the nails, to hold the shoe fast. And for helping of enterfeting, you must keep him full of flesh, and always preserve the Coffins on the inside of the hooves, without paring away more than to make them even for the shoes, and abate the outside of the coffin of the same foot, & besides, make the sponges of the shoes of the inside of the shoes much more thicker than the outside. Now having given a perfect direction for shoeing of hooves fit for use and travel, I purpose not to spend time in directing how to shoe unperfect hooves, namely broad, flat, fleshy, pomish and club hooves, and such like, all which if they be natural are only incident to jades, not fit for the use of man, wherein if I might prevail, none of them should be suffered to beget or bring forth colts, because it is unpossible for art● to make perfect with continuance, what nature hath made and brought forth unperfect. It now resteth to show, how to tame colts before they come to the rider, for it is not a proper attribute to a famous and skilful rider to be a tamer of colts, no more than a great learned physician, to be both Apothecary and physician. CHAP. 49. Of taming of colts. ALthough I have formerly showed that the yearly wintering of colts in the stable, will make them most tame and domestical, as also bring many other benefits both to the owner and to the colts, until they come to be ridden, which would not be before five years of age, if you would have strong, sound, and durable colts, which all men desire: and although they are more than half tamed thereby, yet many things remain undone, which must only be directed by knowledge and practice. Now when the Colt is made gentle to suffer saddle and crupper to be set on his back, shoes on his feet, and also led to water, and walked in the hand, in all gentleness, then take another gentle Horse, and saddle him and the Colt also, and ride upon the old Horse, leading the Colt in a halter, let the saddle of the Colt be cross girded, because the same is a sure way to keep the saddle in his due place, and the rider from casting, for if you do not cross gird the saddle, when the Horse is empty, the saddle and girths willbe lose, and if any striving should be with the Horse when he is full (if the girths be not cross) by striving to try his strength, the thrusting out of the wind of his belly, will make either girth or strapp to break, whereby if he should have advantage, he will ever after upon like occasion make like adventure, which may turn to the spoil of Horse and man, and beside the girding of a Horse over the belly, when he is full, may breed pain or colic in his guts, and other such like infirmities. Thus done ride forth a mile or two, leading the Colt in your hand, and so come home again, in all gentle and loving manner, but never go out and come home one way certain, neither usually alight at one place, for fear of any evil habit to settle in him through custom, wherein if you find him without resistance to follow and to lead, sometime alight from your Horse, when you are abroad, and give the colt a piece of bread, grass or such like, and stand still with him, making much of him, then mount upon the old horse again, and after you have ridden half a mile or such like, alight & give him the like reward, still using him in all love, & when you come home again, reward the colt as before, and then have him into the Stable, letting him stand an hour or two without meat, and then come to him and reward him, and give him some good provender, by which usage the Colt will love you, and desire your company, and when you have several times thus used him, give him to eat such meat as I have prescribed in the title of cures, to cause him to follow you wheresoever you go, although he be lose. And oftentimes when you are in the stable with him, cause some drum, gun, music, or such like to come into the stable, and to play or shoot, or some extraordinary noise or fear, at which time, do you stand by him, comfort and cherish him so much as you may, whereby he may be assured of your comfort and love. And if you find that after 8. or 10. days usage, he becometh very conformable unto you, ride him still abroad with another horse, laying a cloak-bag or some heavy burden in the saddle, and so let him carry it several days, until you see him as gentle as an old Horse, but take heed you do not distemper or vex him in any thing, till he know good from evil, but ever feed him and reward him to gain his love, neither let him wear any bit or snaffle, but only a Halter, thus doing you shall be sure to have him obedeient unto you in all things, without resistance or hurt to himself, then commit him to a discreet and temperate rider, that hath knowledge and practise answerable to his profession, and he will attain perfection with great excellency and pleasure, and preserve his body in health from surfeits, and all his limbs from strain or hurt, which is a most special means to have your Horse most loving and tractable to man, and of long health, life, and continuance, to your great contentment: and beware of Horse coursers taming, if you love your Horse, unless they be of great and approved temperance, the mother of all virtue. CHAP. 50. Of riding. BEfore I enter into the unfolding of the parts of this art, I think fit first to show the natural instinct and temperature that ought to be in every perfect rider, the only motive & true disposer of his desire, namely the rejecting fear of peril, and force of pain, the true properties of his fortitude to guide his noble nature, through hard and difficult things, to the attaining of the end of his just desire, because the perfection of every work consisteth in this, that it be done by a staid and constant reason, for thereby shall he undertake without rashness, and perform without fear, so as he shall not in any thing shrink or yield unto perturbations or any other human accident whatsoever. For though he look like death in the face, he will pass by with a smile, Minus timori● minus periculi, audaciam pro muro esse, essugere mortem, qui eam contemait. and rather have his blood seen then his back, which being well imprinted in his mind, pricketh him forward to enterprise and perform those things, that are most excellent, difficult, and fullest of labours and perils: for as Aristotle affirmeth: Whosoever will be valiant, must be free from all fear of death, constant in adversities, void of fear in perils, choosing rather to die valiantly, then to save himself cowardly, and so balanced, he floats steadfastly in the midst of all tempests, because his constant reason and temperature (the eyes of his valour) refine both judgement & will, from those gross faults and errors, wherein if nature were his only guide, he would fall into, the want whereof is to be holden a just exception in a professed Rider, Nam nisi summum praestes artificem, ridiculas sis, et aut laudem eximiam aut risum auferras oportet: And because every rider is a creature reasonable, so ought he to be able to yield a reason of his doing, for that he only teacheth by reason, an inherent peculiar property to man, and yet it can not be truly said, that every reasonable man is a perfect Rider, because every man hath not attained the reason of the art, and therefore unable to teach, Nam quod nemo didicit, nemo decere potest, For no man can teach that he hath not learned, neither can the true order and use of any art be understood, wherein every perfect Rider ought to stay and follow, otherwise contrary effects will evermore ensite: for amendment whereof (presuming himself a Rider) proceedeth from one violence to another, and thereby the Horse being a creature sensible is become a creature senseless, for as continual correction is violence, so all violence taketh away pleasure: but if correction be to remedy a fault, and ease grief, therein is Art and reason, and the effect pleasure, so as it is evident, that when the Rider is not endowed with valour, true knowledge of the Art, Neglectis v●enda filix invascitur agri● temperature and practice, then are the fruits of Nature such, as Ground bringeth forth without mannuring. And therefore the Errors and Faults of this Art in a man of good constellation and temperature proceed only from want of true knowledge and practice. For as a good player on a Lute or Viol, toucheth no other strings than those that are touched by him that is most unskilful, yet because the good player is informed with knowledge and practice, he knoweth what Strings make that sound, which the care judgeth by the harmony and agreement of sound to be delectable, so as thereby he is truly taken for his craftsmaster. Even so, he that will be a good Horseman and perfect Rider, must not only have natural gifts of true valour, wisdom and temperance, but also true knowledge and practice to attain perfection. And although it must be confessed that every good beginning cometh unto us by Nature, yet the progress and growth therein cometh unto us by precepts of reason, and the accomplishment by knowledge and practice: for nature without knowledge is blind, knowledge without nature wanteth, & practise without the two former, unperfect: Hereof it cometh, that unless Nature, Art, and practise be conjoined, it will be unpossible to become a good Rider, or be able to know, how, and when to help his Horse, how or when to correct his Horse, neither how or when to cherish his Horse, the only and principal things required in a perfect Rider, And yet if the Rider that is inritched with Nature, Art and practice, shall bestow all his labour and skill upon a Roil or jade, and think through his excelling knowledge and practice to make perfect his natural imperfections: let him assure himself, that he shall oleum & operam perdere, lose all labour and pains bestowed upon him, because Art and practice shall never attain perfection upon that subject wherein Nature is unperfect, no more than Art can assure itself to make strong Gables of the purest Sand: for although every Horse be a Creature sensible, moved by sense and feeling, as things proper to Nature, and taketh his instruction by speech, as man instructeth man, which is either by cherishing him when he doth well, or by punishing him when he resisteth, yet nevertheless, when a jade beginneth to be taught, and proceed with a continual perseverance therein, yet shall he never attain the perfection of action, because all art must imitate the natures of the Horse, which to content and please, is the end of the whole Art, but where contrary natures are, there, of necessity must be contrary working, & then must needs ensue contrary effects, for every creature worketh according to his nature: for amendment whereof the ignorant & pretended Rider proceedeth to violence, which nature abhorreth, as Art doth error and reason unruly passion, whereby the horse is moved to perturbation, and then his riding becometh grievous and painful, so as he knoweth not what to do, no more than an untoward scholar by whipping to say his lesson delightful, and were it granted that the horse were of a good disposition to yield all obedience to the most skilful Rider, yet shall he never attain to any perfection of action, because nature hath not shaped nor given him aptness fit for such purpose, no more than a natural fool can by education attain to true wisdom. And yet very few Riders neither have or do truly judge hereof, for that no one thing is more manifest in all their writings and actions, than provisions and means to help to make perfect that which is most unperfect by nature, as though they had never learned, that Art can never overcome the necessity of nature, wherefore I do wish all such as desire to be Riders, let them first examine their own natural dispositions. Secondly, to learn to know true and perfect shape of Horses; Thirdly, the natural causes of their goodness and badness. Fourthly, to be taught by an understanding Master, and not to begin without his direction. Fiftly to practise, and evermore examine the reason of thy practice, then shalt thou see what a handmaid, all Art is to nature in beholding the actions of the perfect shaped Horse to be easy, ready and perfect according to his perfection of nature, as true qualities bred and brought forth by nature, not by correction, but by all mildness and gentleness voluntarily performed, the which all true and perfect Riders will and ought altogether cherish, seeing all the Horses doing in that beautiful form, that himself doth express when he desireth to appear most beautiful, so that he doth appear to the beholder both noble, terrible, and beautiful, being just in his pace, just in his trot, just in his gallop, just in his career, just in his stop: just in his manage: just in his bounding: just in his head: just when he standeth still: just in union with the will of the rider, & his head & neck will be so just, & of such staidenes, & the mouth of so sweet & perfect stay, as it will seem nature & straineth to set forth her own glory: all which natural, & not accidental in a perfect & true shaped horse, as thereby is brought to a sound conclusion & ground by sweet & gentle means, without force or violence, wherein all arts have their beginning, proceed and perfecting, howsoever the brainless and ignorant Rider (whose anger foreseeth nothing) pretendeth the contrary. It resteth now to speak of those things which most principally are required by the Art for the true performance of such actions, as Art, requireth either for helps, corrections, or cherishings, for reducing the Horse to perfection of action, fit for the use of man. For he which knoweth truly how to aid, to correct, and cherish a Horse in his due time, is, and so ought to be accounted the most grounded in this art; the which cannot be in small time either attained or performed, and therefore for the true attaining thereof, I would wish that at the first, none should undertake the same but by the direction of a good schoolmaster, lest it be said unto him, as Timotheus the best player of the Flute of his time, who when he took a scholar used to demand of him, whether he had made any entrance into that play? which if he had, he took a greater reward by half, than he did of them that knew nothing, saying that his pains were greater in taking away from his scholar that which was nought & unskilful, then in teaching that which was good, to such as understood nothing at all thereof: whereunto Aristotle well agreed, when he said that he which doth any thing at all adventure, not considering how well he doth, ought not to be called virtuous, but he only that putteth in execution, after knowledge, consultation, and election. The things that are principally to be used, for helps, corrections, and cherishings, I think may be well contained in these three: viz. the voice, the hand, and the leg: because the voice by words of art helpeth, and with mild, meek and gentle words cherisheth, but by tanting words terrifieth & correcteth. The hand (being the instrument of instruments) upon the true use whereof the ground of the art resteth, by the temperate and sweet stay thereof, it helpeth: and by clawing or gently patting the Horse, it cherisheth, and by striking correcteth: Again, the hand by the stroke, jerk or sound of a wand or rod, it often helpeth by using it mildly and gently, or clawing or scratching him therewith it cherisheth, and by striking hard correcteth. Again, the hand with a bridle in slacking it cherrisheth, and by drawing it correcteth, and by the guiding thereof it governeth the Horse as a stern doth the Ship, which in all motions and actions answereth to that motion which the hand moveth. The leg when it gently provoketh with the calf, helpeth; when it hardly striketh correcteth: the spur also by gentle means helpeth, and by hard strokes correcteth; so as to bring a Horse to true obedience and perfection of action, he is to be helped, corrected, and cherished: he is to be helped to the end he should not err, and therein is great knowledge required: he is to be corrected, for his errs and faults committed; wherein is knowledge, fortitude, and temperance to be used: he is to be cherished for his well doing, wherein is both knowledge and reason required, whereby appeareth how every good rider ought to be qualified. Of which, namely of the voice, the hand and the leg, before I come to speak of the action, wherein the true understanding hereof is most proper, I purpose to give a little further introduction: and first of the voice. When you mind to help your Horse therewith, it must be with most mild & cheerful voice, as to say, hay hay: hola, hola so boy so, hup, hup, enough, enough, no more: & many such like: but a correction is all contrary which is with a terrible or thundering voice, as villain, Traitor, and many such like, and in cherishing the most mild and sweet voice is used, as my good boy, so my good boy, with an inclination of bending your body to him, and such like, so as also the sound of the voice is to be used, as well as a voice pronounced, by giving a chirke with the tongue, which may be called clacking, in pronouncing whereof the tip of the tongue striketh the roof of the mouth, as it doth in making the supposed sound drawing near the greek word Clognus, and so also there is another sound of the voice, as hah hah: The next, is the hand, which as I said is the instrument of instruments, in the true use and government whereof is the ground of the whole Art, and as for the bridle and the rod, they are but dead and senseless instruments, without all use, when they are not appointed for that use, and the temperate and firm hand-bearing upon a firm and sweet stay, neither too much slacking nor to much drawing in every good horse, causeth a true and just rain, a just bearing, a just staidenesse, with a light and sweet mouth in all actions: so as, whatsoever the horse doth, is both easy, ready & perfect, and being done by delight, must of necessity be best done, because it best pleaseth both man and horse, neither of them being moved to perturbation grief or pain, & as for the rod & wand being instrument only for the hand, how or when it is to be borne, offered, used or not used, I think fittest to refer the same to the proper place hereafter set forth, and for the Bridle which the Italians properly call Il manico del timone, the handle of the stern, because the Bridle go verneth the Horse, as the Stern doth the ship requiring reason and discourse therein, I think also fit to refer to his proper place, where the horses lessons shall be taught. The third thing is the legs, wherein the use of the calves of the leg, the heels, the stirrup, and the spur are to be handled, I refer also to his proper place, whereby I would avoid all tediousness and disorder both for the easier attaining of understanding and the sure-keeping thereof in memory, for the blindness of man's wit through the disobedience of our first parents is such, as not having a certain prescript to follow, presently runneth into error, the which whosoever doth not know, he knoweth nothing, and is ignorant of himself, despising all divine and human witnesses, and the example of all ages; & therefore I have only divided the same into certain prescript general grounds or rules to follow, whereof the Rider shall have daily use in the teaching of the whole art to his horse and scholars. First when the Rider beginneth to teach a young horse, or a young Scholar, let him follow the order of a discreet Schoolmaster, that teacheth Children to write, who at the first entreateth and entertaineth the Scholar into his school in all loving speeches & gentle usage, assuring him, that in his school is nothing but pastime, pleasure, and delight; and so winning and calling him unto him, causeth the schol let to take pen, paper and ink, and in a most mild and gentle manner showeth him how to carry his arm and hand, and hold his P●●, and then how to make the first letter, the which when the Scholar attempteth, although it be very bad don, yet in respect of the infancy of his knowledge and willing mind to perform, is not only to be commended, but rewarded of his master, whereby the scholar is so far encouraged and emboldened, as he seemeth over joyed and still desireth and laboureth to go on to be taught, and to ma●e many letters, but the discreet understanding schoolmaster very mildelye and comfortably restraineth his desire, to write otherwise or more than he knoweth fit, until he have made the first letter most perfect, in all which time the Master will not suffer his Scholar to use his own way, or to write fast, always directing him, until he have made the first letter most perfect, and so teacheth him from one lesson unto another, until he can do every one in perfection, and then afterwards in a gentle & slow manner teacheth him how to join those letters in all perfection, and still keepeth the Scholar in the continual use and practise of perfection, so as oftentimes the Scholar through his aptness of nature, joined with the apprehensive love of his discreet and loving Master, cometh oftentimes to greater perfection than his teacher, both in fair and swift writing: even so would young Scholars in Riding, and young Horses in their beginning be taught, whereby all their actions might bring delight & admiration to the beholder. For by mild teaching, slow teaching, not wearied with long teaching at one time, but giving often breath, high keeping in courage, often rewarding, great familiarity, no change of rider till he be perfect, no change of bit, no rough bit, no cutting or galling nose or mouth, but gentle feeling, no beating nor whipping, no violence nor passion, but with all ymitation of nature's delight, maketh all the Horses actions more than wonderful, because Nature hath a natural love to itself, and an innated hatred of all things that be enemies unto the same, which is plainly testified by that natural Sympathy and Antipathy, which may be observed in all creatures, as the Lamb which never had experience of the Wolves cruelty, yet at the first sight of him doth tremble and fly for fear. CHAP. 51. Correction. SEcondly, that the Rider never correct his horse, but when gentle means and cherrishing will not prevail, for no doubt he will willingly yield by gentle means, if it be made sensible unto him, what, how, and when to do, but that Horse that will not by gentle means be moved, let the rider assure himself, that he is of a bad nature, but if any thing shall happen wherein of necessity correction is to be used, then let salomon's direction be followed, who as he was the wisest that ever was, or shall be, so did he keep more horses than any King, that history mentioneth, who saith, that an untamed Horse becometh fierce, but if he offend, correct him (saith he) in the instant time that he erreth: wherein how many do offend, all men's eyes are witnesses, beholding the common horsebreakers & ignorant riders to minister violent and horrible correction, when the beholder cannot find a cause, nor himself express the reason: but Solomon saith, that correction is to be ministered in the instant time, that he erreth, and not when he is ignorant, whereof I have before showed the difference; for error evermore taketh that for true which is false, so as it appeareth, that when a horse hath been taught, and yet notwithstanding erreth in the same, he hath been truly taught, Solomon would have him in that instance of time punished for that error, but not to punish him for ignorance. CHAP. 52 That teaching is not fit for such Horses as nature hath not framed fit to be taught. THirdly that all Riders lose no time in teaching, club-headed, distorted, hateful countenance, fleshy, gourdy lymmed, short, thick necked, fleshy chopped, having their heads set to their necks as a Hog, low foreparted, narrow, shallow breasted, and evil shaped jades and roiles, but turn them either to the Carters, Carman's, or Paris-Garden stable: for every particular nature (that is the temperature of the elements in every particular body (without all contradiction) causeth & maintaineth the particular actions of the body wherein it is and as I have formerly showed, and will defend against all that shall oppose the contrary: and that such shaped Horse were never compounded or framed of a true temperature of the elements, and therefore unpossible to be reduced to perfection of action, other then by great force, which nature abhorreth, and that is but for a very small time, whereby they shadow the glory of the kingdom, disparaged the judgement thereof, discourage many noble and heroical gentlemen, either to become breeders, riders or maintainers of Horses, and cast mists over the perfection of our English riders, when not any nations of the world have better, as evidently appeared in that late renowned and famous rider, Sir Robert Alexander knight deceased, I may not compare him with Alexander Magnus, but in the true art and knowledge of riding, I ever esteemed him Alexander Maximus, whose excelling knowledge and practice of himself, and his worthy scholars, of this English nation, might, and may, not only range themselves in the former ranks of the best Horsemen of the world, but reach with victorious arms at the golden fleece, and meritoriously wrest and wring the victory out of the victor's hand, although sometimes (yet a small time) their glories have been eclipsed and their hearts wounded; with the strangers good, as about the 18. year of the reign of that most blessed and ever renowned queen Elizabeth deceased, when Prosper the Italian Horse-courser flourished, may be remembered, sed dies dedit, quod dies negabat, for within few years he was meritoriouslie with infamy rejected, as not worth ye the unworthiest horseman's place, raise therefore your spirits, and daily more & more endeavour the true knowledge and practice of Horsemanship, which principally consisteth in the true knowledge of breeding, wherein you shall see your understanding enlightened with the beams of divine Nature, and because in every part of this tractat, I have desired all and every one in his place and calling, to put all strength thereunto, I here conclude, and hearty entreat all and every one. Add manum. CHAP. 53 Now of the Bridle, Saddle, bringing the Horse to the block, the mounting and seat of the Rider, and then to the execution of the action of teaching. WHen the Horse is made gentle, familiar, & fit for the Rider to teach, put on a headstall, with a Chain or Cavetsane over his nose, with a pair of strong rains, but so lose and easy for his nose, as may neither hurt nor abate his courage, or his quick & fresh feeling, and in all gentle manner set a saddle on him, with an upright short pommel, so as the true use of the hand may not be hindered or harmed, the bolsters whereof would be broad in the top, to enclose the thigh, and yet to bear so slope as the knee be not pinched, neither the thigh kept from the true resting place, the seat whereof would be of reasonable length and largeness, the Bolsters behind bearing forward to enclose and support the thigh to the former bolsters, the strappes thereof broad and very strong, with broad girths, and very strong and broad buckles, and cross girded, so as the saddle may rest firm on his back, whereby the seat will be easy, sure, & certain without motion, leaving the near stirroppe leather almost half a hole longer than the right stirrup, and although the Horse be gentle, yet because he hath a new master and rider not known unto him, being neither assured of himself, nor of that his Rider would have him to do, so as it may be truly said, he is not himself, that is troubled in mind, therefore to keep him from fear and perturbation, I would have a quiet, slaide horse also saddled to be rid before him, and then bring them both to the block, but the old Horse first, and then the Colt, at which time let the Rider use all mild & gentle words to the young Horse, making the reins of the Bridle even and just, holding them in his left hand, not stiff, nor altogether remiss or lose, and so soon as he is mounted on his back, sit quietly there a while, lest any sudden motion should breed perturbation in the Horse, and until the Rider have settled himself in the Saddle, his Nose directly answering the Horse: his foretop betwixt his ears, his legs hanging straight down, neither thrusting down the toe, nor lifting up the heel, but with his foot in such eevennesse in the stirrup, as as if he stood upon the ground, the stirrup leathers rather short then long, winding his toes something nearer to the horse-side, than the heel, holding the rains even & just with his Crest, even with the point of the withers, little above the Main, with his Thighs and Knees close to the Saddle, and his feet resting in the stirroppe in due place, not too far thrust into the Stirrup, with an upright and strait body: his Ridge-bone answering the Ridge-bone of the Horse, so as the Horse and Rider may never seem but as one body in all motions, during which time, claw the Horse with your hand, to put him from fear or hard conceit of his Rider, that done, go forward about two paces fair and softly, and stay again, making much of him, & so softly and quietly to the place, where the rider meaneth to tread out a ring, all which must be done by the rider, boldly and without fear, and as he must be thus used in going forward, so must he be used in treading and pacing out the ring in some new ploughed ground, that is most deep of mould, where first let the old Horse enter, betwixt two furrows, so far as the rider may have space enough and mould enough, and follow with the young Horse close unto him, which will cause him the willinger to go, because he is directed and guided by the old Horse, by which means he shall not be any ways discomforted, then let the old Horse (the young Horse following) enter on the right hand, overthwart the furrows, and tread out twice together a round ring, containing in circuit about 30. paces, & being come about the second time, where he began, tread out the like ring on the left hand, and after he hath so gone twice about, let him begin again on the right hand, & so continue until he have gone about the left ring 4 times, & the right six, that done, go fair and softly out of the self same furrow where he began, about 30. or forty paces, and there stand still, keeping his head and body right in the path, remembering always to have some go by, to signify his true doing, and to help if need be, and then go very gently back again from the place he came, and there let the rider alight, making much of him, by coying him, giving him a little grass, hay, or bread, in his mouth, to procure and win his love, and thus let him be used for two days with a Horse before him, and after let him lead and begin himself, to tread and place the Ring in this gentle manner by the space of ten days, keeping a temperate, staid and firm hand upon the Reins, with a sweet feeling stay, carrying his forehead as Rams do, when they go to fight, whereby he shall not only rain well, but bear his head just, stayed, and light, and when he knoweth what to do, and that for the same he is evermore cherished, he will strive to do it faster & faster; with the continual keeping of your hand steadye, he will do it with a wonderful pride and delight: and by giving of liberty and hasty doing, will work the contrary. In the pacing of the Ring, you may not carry over hard hand, to dull the sense; but so temperately, as the feeling may be always fresh, otherwise by the violent haling thereof, by much galling his Nose, whereof he would willingly have ease, to avoid the same, he will set his head & neck awry: the true use therefore is, that standing in the furrow just and straight with his body, you mooove him gently to go forward, and in the very motion turn him on the right hand, by drawing very softly the right Rain shorter with your right hand, low, under the pommel of the Saddle, whereunto if he yield (as no doubt but he will,) especially having trodden the same before, presently make much of him, neither drawing nor slacking the rain: at which time of doing, both for ease of the Rider and Horse, if need shall be, let some, skilful body (but his Keeper were most fit,) come on his left side to his foreshoulder, and thrust him in by little and little, and then the Rider also by the Calf of the left leg, and the clack of his tongue to be a help to make him go forward, but if the horse be such as I have described, he will do it voluntarily and perfectly without such helps; but if he should not in the very motion of the turn, to draw the rain with your hand, as before, whether it be on the right hand or on the left, all which must be done by gentle dealing, so as he may hope for rest and quietness, whereby he will be ready to do whatsoever you will: but if he be a ramadge jade, or of evil disposition by Nature, for my own part I esteem him not of any worth to be kept, as I have before said, and therefore the excellent breed is evermore to be increased and cherished: for do not all Riders use all means of Art and practice to remove imperfection, & to reduce them to perfection for the use of Man, for whose only use they were created? whereunto the unperfect shape by all the Art and knowledge of man, cannot have perfection with continuance. Having spoken of pacing the Horse in the Ring, it followeth, that after the ten days expired, the Horse be taught to trot the Ring, which must be begun in as slow & gentle trot as he was in his first beginning of pacing, increase his ring-turns by two & two every day, until he make ten turns for the left ring, & 12. for the right, which will increase his swiftness, whereof he would be restrained until he be most perfect (as I have showed in teaching the scholar to write) & then will he do it in the greatest grace and pride that may be, which is the true property & quality of all Art, evermore to effect perfection, during which time of beginning of trotting, he may not be ridden with wand, nor wear any bit, until he be most perfect in trot, stop, and turn well on both hands, and not by any means suffered to gallop, until he can also perfectly advance, by which means he will be just in his pace, just in his trot, just in his stop, with a staid head and neck, being the chief goodness that nature and Art affordeth. Wherefore when you begin to troth the Ring, be sure that at the first he be moved thereunto, as gently and quietly as you can devise, and so to every action whatsoever, upon a stayed, temperate, and firm hand, with a sweet stay, & with a true rain, that is, that his nose be just under his forehead, neither too much out, nor too much in, which is the just placing and settling of the head, which will make him have a pleasant mouth, when he cometh to wear the bit, and in this consisteth the chief point of Horsemanshippe, because he is so to be maintained in all his actions, the which is most easy to be done, and continued, if the horse be of perfect shape and spirit, but if he should make resistance for that he is either rammage or evil broken, then troth him swift with quickness of voice, rod, and spur, for the time of his trotting is the fittest time to make him forget his toys, and to attend his way, and if all this will not help, then spare not to gallop him, and then be sure he will be a I ade from the beginning to the end, for a Horse of good temper and perfect shape, can never be of so bad nature and quality. Wherefore I think fit now to show, how to make your Horse perfect in stop, after you have ended the number of your Ring turns, which is to trot your Horse right out in the middle furrow betwixt the Rings, until you come at the place of stop, and there to make a pretty stay, keeping his body right in the path, wherein, if the whole body, or any part stand overthwart, seek not at first to correct him for the same, but let a footman direct him to stand right in the path, by thrusting in that part which standeth out of order, or you may cause the horse to go farther in the same path, and stop him, holding that rain straighter on that side, whereon he most forceth your hand, then on the other, which will enforce him to keep right, which when he yieldeth, evermore cherish him, and after it will be good to troth and stop him on a ground that is a little steep, which something falleth, and immediately riseth, but when he is perfect, than you may do it on a ground very steep: but to teach him to go back, you must (as I have said) keep a firm stayed hand on him, without giving liberty, and then striking him on the neck with your rod, and in that instant time say back, back, but if he refuse, let a footman with a rod gently strike him on the knees, & so by gentle pulling in of your hand and fair means win him, and when he yieldeth, cherish him. Having showed how to ride your Horse without wand, bit, or spur, I will now show you how to ride with all three, and the true use of the hand upon the bit, the chief & only principal point of horsemanship. First therefore when you ride with a wand, take it very warily, that the Horse be not feared therewith, & to assurethe horse thereof, presently after you have received it, coy and scratch him about the neck with the end thereof, and for the carrying thereof it must be in the right hand, with the point upright, and when you would use it, let the point fall close unto him as occasion shall require: but in your manage lay your hand on your right thigh, and the wand cross the Horse's neck, and when he hath made his course and turned on the right hand, then before the end of his second course, when he is almost ready to turn on the left hand, list your hand and rod, & hold the point right forth on the right side, against his eye, and as he changeth turns, so change your rod of the one side and of the other; but if your Horse will not turn on the side you would have him, evermore beat him on the contrary side: and when he is any way disordered, carry the wand on the contrary side, and when you would have him carry his forepart light, strike him on the shoulder and forelegs, and when you would have him light behind, strike him one the rump and haunches: and thus much for the use of the wand as occasion shall serve. Now for the true use of the bit, which is an instrument only guided and directed by the hand, & because the ground of the art of riding dependeth wholly upon the use and true government of the hand, being guided by reason and discourse, so as the Horse in all motions and actions is and aught to answer to that motion, which the hand moveth, I may not pass the same overlightly. First therefore let the bit that you first bitten your Horse withal, be gentle and pleasant, yet so that the gentleness cause him not to despise you, nor the hardness drive him to despair; for you must understand, that knowledge always presupposeth reason, and reason sense; and sense and reason consist in true mediocrity, and therefore amongst the most learned precepts that were written in the temple of Apollo in Graecia, this was in the second place nothing too much. SOLON said nothing more than enough, PITTACHUS do all things by a mediocrity, so that all difference betwixt good and bad consisteth in a certain mediocrity, which CICERO calleth the best of all things; for when you press him with the bridle, if he carrieth his head well, yet must you presently ease your bridle hand, and make much of him, because he showeth himself obedient unto you, and whensoever he doth any thing well, and with delight, you must be very heedefulnot to vex him, as if your desire were to torment him, but ever so win him, as he may be willing to please you. So likewise when you bear a firm hand with a stay; & thereby the Horse doth bring in his head, and yield to your hand, yet you must shorten the rains of your bridle, till his head be settled in due place, that is neither to carry his forehead too much out, nor too much in, & still maintain him in the form in all his doings, yet that it exceed not mediocrity or temperature, but remain light on the hand with a sweet mouth. Thus having showed you, that it must be done, I will show you how to do it, by keeping this order: stay your horse temperately with the bridle upon a stayed hand, as his resistance shall require, without giving any liberty, then with your rod strike him gently upon the bowing of the neck, provoking him with the spur on that side, he most wryeth his buttock, to the end he may go just, until he draw back one of his forefeet, which if he do, make much of him, and then stay a while, and do the like, drawing only the bridle, for the former cherishing will cause him to understand you, and then will he go lightly back with both the fore legs, when you touch him on the neck with the rod, saying with a loud voice, back: at which voice with the feel of the rod, and drawing of the bridle, he will go back to your desire, and always after, when he is out of the due and true stay upon the bridle, do the like, that is to go back in form aforesaid, and although some disorder be committed, have no despair, for you shall find him easily won to a good mouth, by this use of a temperate and firm hand, which is by the mediocrity of slacking and drawing, which is properly termed a sweet stay, What is a temperate and firm hand. which the Italians call Dolce Appoggio, making him light upon the hand, champing the bit with great pleasure, and a stayed head in due place, the true tokens whereof are just rain, just staid, and light borne head with pleasure on the bit, being properties inseparable in every perfect shaped Horses actions, but because it may seem very difficult to have continuance of perfection in every action, although it is common upon stop, or standing still, to be in order, yet perhaps upon motion, he will leave playing on the bit, and bear upon the hand, especially upon the main career, which cometh for want of true knowledge how to maintain and continue the hand just and firm with a sweet stay, so as he may take pleasure on the bit, and therefore how to maintain a Horse both in furious and quiet doings, is to be considered of, if then at any time he make any disorder, note it diligently, and by and by stay fair and gently, and make him go back as you did before, for in going back he will bring himself into his right order again, then presently make much of him, and forthwith move him forward, fair and gently, till he come to the place of stop, and as he must be thus used in going forward, so must he be used in treading of the rings, first gently upon the pace, upon the trot, and so upon the gallop, in practising whereof you must precisely observe that it be done with a temperate, stayed, and firm hand, otherwise he will gape, thrust his tongue upon the bit, or over the bit to defend himself, thrust his head out sudd ainely, pluck it in disdainfully, or else shaking or moving his head one way or other, to be freed from the pressing of the intemperate hand which is to him violence and contrary to Nature, the which Art should evermore labour to please. The true form & practise of drawing the bridle, is also to be learned, which is, that being mounted in the Saddle, let the Rider draw the rains equal, and if the Horse know not the Bit, then let the bit be very slack, and hold the Rains in his left hand, with the little finger and ring finger between, under the pommel of the saddle, as near the withers as he can, and then with the right hand draw the rains softly and equally together through the left hand, so as the standers by can scarce perceive, the which he may not remove, until he feel the Horse begin to stay upon the bit, & then there hold them without slacking or farther drawing, until he peruse whether the head standeth in true form, which if it be not, then let him a little yield his left hand again, and standing so a pretty while, bring his left hand to his former place again, where the Horse made the first stay upon the bit, but if you perceive the Horse doubteth whether to put it out, or bring it in, which will be hardly perceived, other than that then, he standeth without motion upon the bit, then draw the Rains with your right hand, somewhat more through the left hand as before, but so little and gently as can scarce be perceived by the Beholders, for so must all the motions of the hand be, and then keep it firm and stayed a pretty while, and then if he yield, though very little, keep your hand still at one stay, neither slacking nor drawing it, whereby he will feel the ease he hath gotten by yielding, and then presently make much of him, but if it happen the Rains fall slack, remove not your left hand, but draw the Rains through your left hand, as before, for they may not be slack until he stay again upon your right hand, whereunto whensoever he yieldeth, make much of him, continuing still in this sort to solicit him, till his head be in his due place, that is neither too much out, nor too much in, after which time, if he bear not light, let his keeper strike him gently on the knees of his forelegges to make him go back, whereby he will bring in his head, and then will the bit move, and your hand find ease, but be very careful at that instant, to keep your hand so firm, as you neither slack nor draw in, to the end he may feel and retain the ease of his own motion of yielding, which willingly he will not lose, being delightful to nature, but take delight to stir the bit in his mouth and go back withal likewise, the which when you find, are tokens of the winning of his mouth, which being won, with observation of good order, may be brought to continual perfection. Thus I have showed you so much as Art may help, but if the shape and nature of the Horse be opposite and repugnant, as in the greatest number of Horses it is, howsoever for a time it may seem perfect, yet no doubt it cannot be of continuance, and therefore still desire all men, to put their uttermost help for to increase a perfect breed of Horses, and increase of temperate teachers. But because in the whole Art of Riding there is no one thing more difficult, then to make a Horse Trott just, and that the pefection thereof is the perfection of all other his just doings, I purpose a little farther discourse herein, fearing that I have been too brief, so as divers doubts may still arise amongst such as have not had long knowledge and practise therein. Wherefore observe that when you are teaching your horse herein, or in any other lesson, that you do not trouble him, with any other lesson at that time, neither suffer him to begin to learn any other, until he be very perfect in that he is in learning. 2 Secondly that you do not suffer any other to ride him until he be perfect in such lessons you purpose to teach him, lest he be confused by diversity of hands, and manner of teaching. 3. Thirdly, when he is brought to a just stay of head, and assurance of the bit, then do you maintain him therein to a full perfection. 4 Fourthly, when he is out of order, then stay him and make him go back, as before is mentioned. 5 Fiftly, when he is in order, then make much of him, and stay not long, but with a firm hand fair & gently put him into his pace again. 6. sixly, if he continue in his good order, make much of him, giving your body, with a gentle motion of the calves of your legs, move him to do it more speedily, the which if he be by nature good, he will quickly perform, always remembering to keep a firm hand, unless by bringing in his head, the Reins fall slack, which must be then drawn as hath been told you. 7. seventhly, if his trot continue not light upon your hand, stay him, cause him to go back, which will bring him in order again, and then gently put him into his pace, & so to his trot as before; which being well done, cherish & coy him by all the sweetest & best means you may, so that you may overwin his love thereby, & so for that time leave him, & lead him home by some leading line, in which time give him a little grass or hay on your hand, and scratch him, & speak to him with the most loving words you may, which will make him at your next exercise, do all things to your greatest content, & within twenty days he will place and trot in such order, as always after you may troth him most swiftly in the rings or in manage. 8. Eightly, in his swift trot, by all means keep your true feat and firm hand, so as he lose not that excellent form and grace before prescribed, but do not gallop him until he be just and perfect in his swift trot, & then out of that trot, to put him to a quiet gallop in the large rings, even to the stop: but beware you draw not your hand hastily to you, but by a little sway of your body, back and hand together, and stay your hand there till he come back a step or two, & there stay him & suffer him not to go forward, & in that instant make very much of him, & so let your hand and body go to the place again. 9 Ninthly, if he should then offer to go forward, stay him with the like sway, and then alight & lead him home, making much of him, as before. 10. Tenthly, to assure yourself of the right use of this hath been said, and of the perfections thereof, place your Horse overthwart some deep fallow, as fast as you can for half an hour but suffer him not by any means to troth, keeping your hand in a firm and temperate stay, as before: and if you still find his head in due place, his carriage light & pleasant upon the bit, you are assured you have gained the perfection of the hand, and the true use thereof for the teaching and making of a young Horse, wherein observe that if he be of perfect shape, his head willbe in due place, & light upon the bit, without art. Now a little I purpose to speak of the Horse that is already taught, and brought to perfection, wherein a good rider hath small need to use any rod, or other help, but to keep his true, just, and perfect seat, because the Horse by the least token or motion of bridle or spur, will do all things in such time and measure, as the beholders will judge the Horse and rider but one body, one mind, and one will; and therefore how the reins should be carried, placed & used, is the only thing to be spoken of. The reins you must hold in your left hand, placing the little finger and ring-finger betwixt the two reins, and the thumb close up on the reins, so as the hand remove not from the crest of the Horse, for by the motion of the hand it is signified to the Horse which way you would have him turn: which is by straining the rain on that hand you would have him turn, and slacking it on the other: the order and manner there of hath been and is yet diversly used of the best horsemen, and therefore I leave it to every man's use as he findeth it most fit: but in running at the Tilt, where the Horse neither doth or can turn, the rider must not draw the bridle towards the Tilt, but only strainethe rain that is next the Tilt to make him carry his head towards the same. 1. But because the true shape and goodness of nature of the Horse is, it that art attendeth & worketh upon, in those Horses the rules of art have perfection with continuance, so as the Horse that is of perfect shape and well taught, shall not endanger wind or limb, or deformity of body. 2. Next, your person shall neverbe in peril by rearing or running away. 3. Thirdly the rider shall never be grieved with heavy bearing upon his hand, but perform all with great delight: neither shall you need Cavetsane, musrole, martingale, or such like, but only false reins. 4. Fourthly & lastly, this teaching will manifest the difference betwixt true knowers and ignorant riders, which doings the Horse doth represent & express when he would appear most beautiful, and thereby make both the rider and himself appear most noble, terrible and beautiful to behold, with such delight to the beholders, as they will seem to be ravished with delight; all which is attained by good discretion, taking of time with temperance, which of few is little regarded, rather riding without order, and with such extremity of spur and rod, that for want of breath they commit many diforders, whereby the poor Horse is cruelly tormented being no other than to ride as mad men without discretion, and as passionate and furious men without reason. After your horse hath pefectly learned swiftly to troth perfectly to stop, & perfectly go back; thou ought he to be taught perfectly to advance, which is by lifting up both his forefeet just and even together, like unto a goat, somewhat above the ground, and so let them fall even & just, twice or thrice together: the true doing whereof will cause him to make a just perfect manage, and a ready and perfect turn: for the attaining whereof, troth him gently forty or fifty foot in some plaint way, then give him a just stop, which he will truly perform, because he hath before perfectly learned the same, always keep a steady, pleasant, & perfect hand on the bridle: then instantly with a mild voice, say, hup, hup, striking him in that instant with your wand on the right shoulder, & also with both the calves of your legs together, but spur him not, if possibly without it he will advance, the which with a little labour, & patiented teaching, no doubt he will attempt to do, 2. or thrice together; the which if he do, then in that instant make much of him (although it be very meanly done) & pause a little time & give breath, than trothim again in like manner, the like distance of ground, & as before, so gently use him again, the which if he do better advance, make much of him but if he do not better every time he is taught, you must still folicite him until he do better, & then presently coy him, & make much of him: all which must be with temperance, & not with fury, and be sure to give him breath, and not to be rash or hasty, neither forget to make much of him, when at your direction he doth any thing well; so shall you cause him to do the same most delightfully, & also sensibly apprehend when he doth well whatsoever you desire, & after that he can in plain ground perfectly advince, then teach it him gently upon the hanging knole of a hill, to bring him perfectly to stop, and run sliding upon his buttocks or hinder legs, which is most praiseworthy, beautiful or graceful for manage and turn, and therefore let him do it most perfectly before you teach him any other lesson: and when he can do it perfectly upon a soft trot, then upon the swift trot & afterwards do it upon a soft gallop, and not before, but never upon a swift gallop, until he be perfect both in turn and manage, remembering the manner how I told you to make a Scholar writ as fair and perfect as his master: & be sure to observe (if it may be) when you teach him to have one by that can judge of the good or evil doing thereof, the want whereof is a principal cause of most errors, because the Rider cannot judicially see whether it be as it ought, that is just and true, and with comely grace: whereby many faults and errors are committed and continued, which by the help of a skilful director, would be easily amended in the beginning, for principio mederi multo melius quam fini, to amend a fault in the beginning, is far more easy than when it hath been long accustomed: for if he advance too high, and not just and even, and with a good grace, as he ought, then may the fault be speedily found, and easily amended by immediate correcting him, with one, or with an even stroke of your legs and the wand, with a sweet stayed hand on the bridle, which with few trials, will amend what is amiss, and the end full perfection. And for the teaching of your horse to yerk, because thereby cometh much more hurt then good, I leave to entreat thereof. And whereas some appoint many helps for Horses that are harder, to turn on the one side, then on the other (although I confess their general desire is more apt to the left hand then to the right) yet to a Horse of good nature and perfect shape, little Art will speedily help, and to teach those Horses that are otherwise shaped, is but to teach an Ass to run under a bridle, and may truly say with Horace, O infelix operam perdas, O unfortunate skill to lose thy labour, and so soon shall a rider bring a jade to perfection, as an Ass to play on a harp: for as a good Horse by the sound of a trumpet is stirred and moved to battle, so Suem abigat citius, quam animet ad pugnam, the Sow is thereby sooner chased away, then encouraged to fight, because nature hath not made her for that purpose. It now remaineth to show when to make the half turn and the double turn, the chambetta, the manage, to pass a swift career, the coruet, & such like. The next lesson he is to learn, after he is very perfect in those I have set down, is to make a true & just half and double turn, which would be in this manner. First when you have gently trotted, stopped & advanced your Horse the length of a short career, teach him gently and mildly to make the half turn (beginning always on the right hand) that is to turn him with the help of your left leg, that his head may stand that way which before his tail stood, which is called a half turn, because he maketh but half a circle; but if in the turn he set his head that way it stood at first, that is a whole circle, and therefore called a whole turn; but let him first do the half turn perfect, and let that be his first lesson, & learn it very perfect before you teach him the double turn, which must be done by helping him with your voice, and Calf of your left leg, and not at first by any means to have him spurred, if he can be otherwise brought unto it, because to spur is a correction, which may not be done but in that instant when he hath committed an error, and not while he remaineth ignorant what to do; by which means undoubtedly being a sensible creature, he will evermore perceive his errors and offences, whereby with little correction he will easily amend any fault; & never drive him to despair, for having formerly attained a perfection of a just, even & swift trot in the rings, (the very true ground of all other lessons) he will easily turn on the right hand, setting his head that way his tail stood; the which being perfectly attained, then close it up with another half turn on the same hand by the prescribed helps, setting his head and all his body in the same path it was at the first: then give breath, and make much of him, and then make him do as much on the left hand, and so to change from hand to hand, leaving always on the right; remembering that the two first half turns be done more leisurely, than the two last half turns, which must be done more speedily, and then make him do as much on the left hand, & so change from hand to hand, leaving always on the right. Thus by often making much of him when he doth well, taking leisure, & giving breath, you shall undoubtedly, if he be of good nature & perfect shape, make him do swiftly, loftilie, and justly, & with such grace as shall bring to the unlearned beholder wonder, and to the skilful, admirable delight. In the doing whereof, first observe whether he bring on the contrary leg orderly. Secondly, that he do it after the first bound of advancing, and after at the second or third bound. Thirdly that you always begin on the right hand and end on the right. Fourthly, that after he is perfect in doing of the whole turn, that you make him do it swiftly and roundly, without stop or stay of the half turn, and speedily in the closing of every whole turn, and in so narrow a room as may be. Fiftly, after he is perfect as aforesaid, give him on each hand three whole turns, whereof let the first be very fair and softly, beginning at the right hand and ending at the right, in the doing whereof you must always help him with your tongue, your rod and your leg, whereby a continual use before you teach him any other lesson (which would never be done unless he be perfect in the lesson he is learning) you shall in the end with discreet and temperate teaching, bring him to an admirable perfection, keeping time and measure, that the one be not swifter than the other except the last, which evermore would be most perfect and speedy. Now to proceed to the managing of a horse, the true signification whereof is to be rightly understood, by such as endeavour Horsemanship, for ignoratis terminis ignoratur & ars, to be ignorant of the terms, is to be ignorant of the Art, I take it to be a compound of these latin words, manus and ago, for as the stern of a ship doth guide and govern the same by a sweet and gentle motion, so the hand (being the instrument of instruments) doth guide & govern the Horse to every action, and therefore may fitly be said manu agere, or as the Italians properly call Maneggiare, which is as much as skilfully to handle. And therefore when the rider shall exercise the Horse perfectly and gracefully in his place, trot stop, advance, double or single turn, career, gallop, leap, caperiole, curvet, assault, or whatsoever, the hand being the principal actor or primus moter, may truly and aptly be called manage, which cannot truly be done without the general knowledge and practice of the general precepts of the whole Arte. And as all the former exercises must be taught and begun to be exercised upon a soft pace or trot, and not with a gallop, even so ought his managing to be. And although many worthy Horsemen have and do only restrain managing to galloping, and to bring too and fro in one self path, by half rest, whole rest, or without rest, as when the rider manageth with half rest, causing the Horse at the end of every managing path, after he hath stopped to advance twice together, and at the second bound to turn and rest one bound: doth not the Rider therein exercise the trot, the stop, the advance, and the turn which he formerly learned, and according to the same manner: or when he manageth with whole rest; and turn him at the third bound, and rest two bounds: Or manage him without rest, by turning him immediately upon the stop, without any tarriance or rest at all, which only is most common with us in England, and yet the manage with the half rest is most necessary for attaining of perfection; doth not the Rider keep and maintain the Horse in one path, one place of stop, making him keep his ground, and therein carry his head, neck, legs, and all his body just, closing his turn roundly, and in narrow room, with true time and measure in every action, as he hath been formerly taught? how then can managing be properly referred to one only action, when it is the perfect acting of every action and lesson he hath learned? wherein when your horse is most ready and perfect, you may increase the often doing of his lessons at your will, and make alteration of his turns and exercises, to find out the perfection of his obedience, and when the same are artificially and perfectly performed, then may the rider be truly said a perfect manager, in all which alterations beware of furious passion, or of longer exercise, than you find full breath and delight in the horse; wherein if there be any omission, be sure there cannot be perfection of the thing desired: for as patience is a branch of magnanimity, fortitude and greatness of courage, so impatience is a weakness & imbecility, of a base, vile, and contemptible nature, because choler & anger are enemies to all reason, & therefore saith Solomon he that is slow to anger is better than a mighty man, and he that ruleth his own mind is better than he that winneth a City. Now resteth it to show what are the principal things that are to be observed in the true managing of a horse. First he is to be taught his manage with a soft trot & not with a gallop: my reason is, because thereby he may at the first, sensibly apprehended what he is to do, & how to do; the which when he knoweth, if he be of good nature & perfect shape, he will not only do it most willingly, but perform it most beautiful, graceful, & praiseworthy, which is by bowing of his houghes behind, to turn round with the chambetta, which is by holding up the forefoot on that side he should turn, whiles he bringeth over the contrary leg, and setteth it not down until he have closed his turn, so as thereby he shall carry both his forefeet above the ground, to his great praise, and not trailing upon the ground which is disgraceful. When you teach your horse (which is after he can stop well, advance before, and turn readily on both hands) then with a soft trot come to the place of stop about 20. paces in length, and make him advance twice together, & at the second bond turn him on the right hand (for on that hand you must always begin) helping him so, that by bowing his houghs behind, he move his forepart orderly, then immediately in gentle manner troth him back to the place you came from, & then & there after he hath made his stop, at the second bound of his advancing turn him on the left hand, observing the like order until you have gone 10. or 12. times, and at the last, cause him to advance twice together, & thus much for the half rest, the which when he can perfectly do, you may teach him the whole rest, which is to advance thrice, & at the third bound to turn, but be sure he be perfect in one lesson before you teach him another. Now because the manage without rest is most proper for jades, I omit to entreat thereof, because I would not admit Asinum sub freno, an Ass to wear a bridle: in all your managing let your body still accompany your horse in the action with a good grace, And when he hath very perfectly learned his manage, on a soft trot, then may you manage him with a gallop, giving him on each hand one single turn: and a little before you turn him, hold your rod on the contrary side, whereby he shall know on what side to turn, and at the stop make him to advance, either with voice, rod or spur, always remembering to give breath, and evermore begin with a gentle gallop, until he be very perfect, and then time will bring him to a perfect and swift manage: but I wish you so to use & exercise your horse, as when he is become a perfect Horse, you may long be master of a perfect Horse, and not to spend or spoil him in a little time, in teaching of him needless toys. There might be much more spoken of helps and corrections in managing, but because they are proper to jades, or else to horses that are evil taught, I omit them: for if your horse be such as he ought, & yourself temperate and discreet (otherwise I wish you not to profess yourself a Horseman) you shall herein find sufficient. After your Horse is perfect in such lessons as have been formerly remembered, Career. and grown to his full and perfect strength, having learned all his lessons without swift gallop, and therein so ready as may be wished, then begin with him with a short Career, in a fair sandy way, & with a lively voice put him forward, forcing him to run swiftly; roundly, & smoothly, with a steady head, and lightly to stop himself on his buttocks; then turn him on the left hand, & softly place him to the other end of the Career path, and there stop him and turn him again on the right hand, and so leave. And as this passing a career or swift gallop, must never be done or taught, until he be most perfect in all the lessons, so must it be done very sparingly, as once or twice in a month at the most, so shall he do all things with admiration, and of long continuance. CHAP. 54. Bound and Leap. SOme have a desire to have their Horses to bond, leap and yark, and because I know it would be most exactly done, which cannot be but by the best spirited Horses, tending altogether to their destruction, and a matter rather of delight, then good use, I leave it to the disposition of the owner, wishing much rather to have it omitted then practised, unless there were more plenty of Horses that are meet for the same. CHAP. 55. Of the Capriole and Ooruetti. THe difference betwixt these twois, that the Capriole or goats leap is always in going forward, and the Ctorueti still in one place: these are to be learned & taught by one order, but neither of them shall ever be well learned and exactly done, unless your horse be very perfect to stop, which is by much bending the elbough of the hinder houghes or heels of the horse: now the Coruettis may in some sort resemble the dancing of the Bear at a stake; for when he danceth and praunceth up and down in one place, lifting his forefeet even and just together, seeming to turn if he might be suffered, that is properly the coruet, the which is never well done, unless he be just and steady of head, and body, bowing the hams of his hinder legs, as if he would sit or slide on his buttocks. And the Capriole is in the same manner yet still going forward, seeming as though he would yark behind by advancing his rump, but doth not: and as he doth it forward, so will he do it backward and sidelong. Now you are not to teach your horse either of these, until he be absolutely perfect in those former lessons before mentioned, because these lessons before mentioned, because these lessous are only learned by stopping & advancing, the which if he have once perfectly & long practised, then troth him for divers days upon some hanging ground: & upon the knole of the hill on the same ground, make him to advance twice together, the which he will very quickly do; then help him with the sound of your lips, to troth two paces farther, and there to stop and advance twice together at the end of the two paces all the length of a hanging hill downward, remembering evermore to cherish him when he doth well, and to give breath, that all his doings may be done with delight, otherwise he will never do it worthy commendations; and by this using of him, you shall have him within a little time at every time that he stoppeth & advanceth, if you help him with your word in saying hup, and with your rod by striking him upon the forepart of his shoulder; and in his well doing thereof make much of him, he will go from stop to stop, advancing both forefeet and hinder loins with time & measure so oft as you will, and in such just, even and stayed manner, as will be very delightful ro behold, Now because I would not have you begin any lesson, but by the direction of a perfect schoolmaster, and in that course to continue, so must you endeavour yourself to know the reason of all your doings, and therefore be sure to be always present at the exercises of the most skilful Horsemen, and as Solomon saith, let your foot tread often upon their threshold, read the best writers, and when you are able to judge truly, and to make difference betwixt good and bad, make as much practice as you may, and then never doubt to become a perfect Horseman, and be able to teach your Horse whatsoever is fit for a Horse to do, and a man to know. And if I should now describe the form and fashion of all manner of bits, I think it needless, for two respects: First for that Laurentius Rusius, in his book written in latten, entitled with the Greek word Hyppoateia, signifying the medicine or cures for Horses, as also Master Blundevile in his book, & divers others have very painfully performed the same. When you shall know the perfect shape of good Horses, and the perfection of the true knowledge of their nature, in this treatise most plainly described, you will acknowledge the multitude & variety of bits, not to be of any use, & besides, having divers good Bitmakers within this kingdom, who can exactly make as many perfect bits as art can require, I have thought fit here to rest, and not to make volumes of needle's matter. Nulla placudior quies nisi quam ratio composuit. Gentle Reader, thou seest how briefly I have entreated of the Art of riding, and yet I doubt not but sufficient to the understanding Reader, And much better than tediousness to a young Scholar: But whosoever he be that desireth to be a perfect rider, and a good Horseman, must labour and study to attain the true knowledge of nature, because nature & Art are joint pattentees with practice, without which it is impossible to attain to perfection in either, so must he also abandon the study and practice of apish toys, and violent helps: I know, Non omnis fert omnia tellus. Every ground is not fit for every seed, nor every man for every action, nor every Horse for the saddle: sand doth not makegood cables, neither hemp good mortar. Let me without offence putyou in mind of that famous and worthy rider M. Frederick Grison, and others whose works of riding (if without affection) they be read and digested, there will appear therein a perfect picture of ignorance, in the true knowledge of natural causes, or at least the rejecting of the force thereof, which no doubt caused him and them to publish so many needless, forced, fond, and frivolous helps for the perfection of riding, and to set forth in number Fifty several forms and fashions of bits, thereby to persuade, that art can perfect the imperfections of Nature, wherein there is not any truth, more manifest, than his and their imperfection in true judgement. And yet who seethe not, that the Bias of men's consent hath drawn the same to be applauded and practised of all horsemen, in all nations, and believed as an Oracle from a divine power. I do entertain, & reverently esteem the most of his grounds and rules of riding, and account not any to have written better; but to set forth so many & infinite helps and corrections, only proper and peculiar for jades, whom all art, knowledge, and wisdom of man shall never perfect with continuance, cannot but manifest a weak judgement, and palpable ignorance of nature; and therefore all must acknowledge, that every man by nature, is the object of change. A tree, the fruit whereof is never ripe but in the latter season, his nature cannot easily be discerned whiles it is green: you must see the bud, the blossom and the fruit, before you can judge, Ildi doda la sera, it is the evening must commend the day, saith the Italian, and so must you cleanse and grind the corn before you can eatit, & then no doubt, shall our virtue grounded upon rules of reason, pursue & effect that which our fate hath promised, inveniet viam aut faciet, she will either find a way, or make one: for God doth nothing that concerneth us without us, were it not then a Star of merit for every man to give his thoughts a stronger wing to fly, with petition to our most sacred Sovereign for the placing and planting within every shire and county of his kingdoms, a sufficient understanding rider? But alas, who seethe not, that the best enterprise is blasted in the blossom, by a sinister and scandalous persuasion? and yet I am assured, Faciliu●est errare naturam, quam dissimilem sui princeps possit rempublicam formare. And therefore I do wish the sentence of Brutus deeply planted in the hearts of all Brittanes, Vicit amor patria, ●uida est peri culo ●●rtus: laudisque immensa cupido: that one and all did thirst in husbanding the honour of their country and their own virtue: and withal, add their industry to the invocation of divine assistance: so as great Britain may so flourish in Horsemanship, as they may say to all Horsemen of other nations, as Plato said to Dionysius, Quid enim communicabit, Olla adcacatum? wherein can their earthen pipkin benefit our brazen pot? Quem sua culpa premet, deceptus omittetueri. CHAP. 56. Short infallible rules to be observed and practised by every Horseman. 1. Do not gallop your horse before he can stop well. 2 Do not run him before he can stop in his gallop. 3 Do not swiftly gallop him before he can stop, advance, and turn readily. 4. Do not make him a runner before he be six or seven years old. 5. In all his doings, from the beginning to the end, keep his rain true, and his head steady, for it is the foundation of all. 6. In the morning early when he is empty, and before he eat any thing, teach and exercise him every morning once, until he be perfect, and after, twice in a week is sufficient. 7. In all his teaching and exercise, do it moderately and temperately, and leave him always after the well doing of his lessons, both in breath, and with a good mouth. 8. After he is perfect in his lessons, exercise him not always in one place, neither keep yourself to a just and certain instance of time, viz. neither more nor less, neither longer or shorter. 9 In managing your horse, do not gallopp him swiftly at the first, but with a soft pace, and seldom with a gallop. 10 In correcting your horse for an error, correct him even in the instance of the time that he erreth, and not otherwise, and when he doth well be sure to make much of him. 11 In the time when your Horse is fit to run, that is, when he is of full strength, and in perfect breath and empty, observe in him five things: viz. that he This must be after, & when he is perfect in all his lessons, and in greatest perfection of strength, for before that time it doth, 1. Distemper hand and mouth. 2. Diminisheth strength. 3. Maketh him overreach. 4. fainthearted & yielding. 5. Performeth all things disgracefully. 1 Gather roundly. 2. Go smoothly. 3. Bear his head steadily. 4. Run swiftly, and 5. Stop lightly. 12. In all his teaching and exercise: 1. Begin softly. 2. Go forward more speedily. 3. Perform the last courageously. 13 lastly exercise and perform all your actions with an upright body, your stirrups short, and keep your legs and your seat gracefully, and comely, and do all without fear or perturbation of mind. Imperia dura, tolle, quid vitus erit. CHAP. 57 The causes of sickness and death: in the true knowledge whereof consisteth their preservation. WHen I had learned the double consideration of nature. Frst in the incorrupt state and purity of creation. secondly in the degenerated condition of corruption, I could not find the least jar and disagreement in the primary nature of Horses, though compounded of the contrary natures of the four elements: but as an undefiled nature tempered by proportion, without the least discord, but after man's pride had broached the devils suggestion by the taste of the forbidden fruit, than appeared the Rebellion of the elements in all creatures, since which time there is not found a difference of any other cause of their diseases. But to leave the testimonies of long experience, let us proceed to show the truth here of more particular, & to know that the first cause of natural diseases and death of all horses is contrariety of the elements in the compound: for all corruption presupposing alteration, which is only betwixt, and by means of contrary qualities, contrariety of the inherent qualities (being the only cause of alteration) is also cause of the compound corruption: for our experience telleth us, that those things wherein are left disagreement, are of longest continuance, & so the inherence of contrariety, one special cause of the horses dissolution; the reason is, for that their bodies consisting of the euer-●arring elements, Fire Air, Water and earth, have always an unresistible homebred cause of dissolution. For by consent of Philosophers, and reason itself setteth down (as an undeniable truth) that safety from diseases, Wherein health of horses consisteth. & the life of horses, & the chief maintenance thereof (consisteth principally) if not wholly, in the due and just proportional temperature of the four first qualities, heat, cold, dryness & moisture, and till their disproportion there is no danger of sickness or any growing death: What is sickness. for sickness cannot be defined other than the disproportion of those four qualities, whereby the part whereunto the same is incident, is disabled to perform his natural function, so as the disproportion of the four first qualities, & their swerving from their just temperature, is the cause of the horses dissolution, whereby in every horse we see a declining from his engrafted Nature, The cause of their dissolution. which increaseth according as his age altereth, and therefore his dissolution cannot be avoided: but Nature, like a kind mother is never wanting to the necessities of her offspring, and therefore hath bestowed on the horse a faculty to restore that disabled part of sickness through the assimulation of nourishment applied thereunto, lest there should follow a sudden destruction, against which I doubt may be propounded, viz. If there may be restitution of the part disabled whence cometh death the end of Nature? To which I answer, that the impurity of that supply, for the restoring of that outward part, by degrees tainteth that perfection of the restitution, and by a continual mixture, at length corrupteth it, for as in the mingling of water with wine, the greater the infusion of water is, the more is the enfeebling of the wines force, till at length it be clean oppressed and extinguished; so is it in the case of restitution of health, wherein though at first the natural means retain their purity and natural quality, yet at length by the continual mixture, there followeth a total and perfect corruption of the integrity, for if by the restorative faculty, there could be a perfect supply of that which was lost, the Horse might for any impediment in nature be preserved in perpetual health, for as the mediocrity and purity of oil, doth preserve the light of the Lamp, so too much thereof, or a little water being contrary in quality, doth quench the same; even so, if the faculty that doth restore the disabled part of the Horse, be either too much or any way impure, it doth little avail to perfect restitution to the disabled part: and although the same be pure, yet shall it taint the perfection of restitution, and in the end by a continual languishing, be clean consumed by a homebred enemy, where by little and little it spoileth him of perfection of restitution. Against which, it may be also replied, that notwithstanding the imperfection of restitution, yet there may be an endurance, and perpetual preservation of the species or kind of horse, because they have a faculty of procreation, to propagate their kind, that though every horse of necessity must die, yet may he leave another of his own kind, of as great perfection behind him, whereby there might be a continnal and everlasting succession. To this I answer, that if a corruption be granted in the particular, it followeth (a rule in reason) to grant it in the species, for the species being a thing existent only in imagination, not having any evil being, but as it is conceived of in the particulars, the like must be concluded of in the general: but to show it by a demonstrative proceeding, let us observe the like course of the decay in the species, as there is in the individium: for as the faculty of restitution is to the particular, so is generation to the species, in case of preservation; for as the restitution of the part disabled, the supply is not so pure as that which was lost; Note. The reason why Horses are not of so long continuance as in former time. the particulars decaying by little & little, are at last consumed, even so by procreation the maintenance of the species, and the purity of the part disabled, being by degrees and by time diminished, at length there followeth even of necessity an absolute corruption; by reason that the particulars, whose function the generation is, being by continuance of outward nourishment corrupted; the seed, the matter, and means of propagation cannot but be tainted with like corruption: and this is a chief reason why Horses are not so healthful, but of less continuance than they were in the first creation, like as the division of any thing finite, that by often detraction, though but of little quantity, the whole becometh at length uncapable of division, so by continual wasting of the kind, there followeth at length even of necessity a total and invincible extinguishing: from whence I conclude, that it is unpossible for horses to be of such perfection of excellency, as in their primary creation, or to last and continue without diseases and death, having inwardly in their nature, sufficient and unpreventable causes of dissolution. Having thus evidenced the truth of these two positions of diseases and death, and that there is a time of endurance unto every particular horse, and unto the whole kind; and learning by experience (the natural and true mother of knowledge) that among the particulars there are differences in nature of diseases and death, both in length and shortness of time in continuance, it remaineth that I set down the causes of this natural difference, which cannot be done, other then by propounding the received causes of the length and shortness thereof, according as they are more or less in the Horse: and so judge of the effects. CHAP. 58. The causes of long life. IT is evident, that all Horses that were nearest unto the beginning, were clearer & less tainted with corruption, & therefore in this last age of the world, they are in a more extreme degree of corruption, by reason of that frequent alteration in the elements, when every mutation addeth something to the begun impurity. Now touching the causes of long life, I will briefly discotomise them, because they are either Inward, or Outward. The inward causes are either naturally engrafted or obtained by Arte. Industry, and Wisdom. Now that which is natural, is of necessity in the good temperature & proportionate mixture of the four first qualities in the body. For heat that is unproportionate to the quantity of moisture, rather hasteneth death, by the too speedy consumption of his moist food, than any way prolongeth life. So also too great cold that overswayeth the quantity and virtue of natural heat, shorteneth life: and so likewise it may be said of the excess of the other two contrary qualities, moisture and drought: for too much moisture oppresseth the natural heat; as we see green wood quench an unequal quantity of fire: so that the good and just proportion of temperate mixture are true causes of long life, for all mixture of superstuities is against these three: 1. Nature. 2. Enemy to good digestion. 3. And found Nutrition. The first cause Temperature is a firm and standing habit of the body. Now if it be demanded what this just proportion is, and when they are truly tempered, so as may be best available for long life? the answer is, that heat and moisture are then well proportioned when neither the moisture with his too great quantity, devoureth the heat, nor the overmuch heat too suddenly consumeth and eateth up the moisture: yet must the heat have a kind of dominion over the moisture, else it cannot be able to nourish the body. For in nutrition, the thing nourished by reason of the instrument ordained for that purpose, must actually work upon that whereby it is nourished: & because that every agent must be proportioned unto the patiented in the equality of excess, therefore must the heat, being the vegetative souls active instrument of Nutrition, have dominion over the moisture, the subject matter of that faculty. The second cause The second cause of long life, is the moderation of their natural appetite of eating, being available, either in excess to kill, or in moderation to save, by which moderation, the horse shall daily repair the decay of his humidity by supply of moderate nourishment, and never overwhelm his heat with abundance of moisture, neither mingle his radical moisture with too much superfluous impurities; for the extremes are dangerous, both excess & defect: to much eating, hindering good digestion, and engendering crudities; & to little eating, giving occasion of the heats too sudden prevailing over the moisture, both which are friends to sickness and death. The third cause: The third cause of long life is moderate labour, a thing very available to digestion, dispersing the nourishment into the parts of the body; and as a bellows to kindle and revive their natural heat: for ouer●●●h rest, by excess of humours, cooleth the body. And as the elementish fires which we use, unless it be sometime blown and fed as it were with air (which in natural quality is moist) is extinguished, so their natural heat without moderate labour and excercise, is after a sort cast a sleep, or rather benumbed: whence proceedeth that other daughter of dullness (collection of excremental superfluities) their heat not being able to digest their received nourishment; and thence cometh their many corruptions, and sink of unnatural humours, as we see standing water soon putrefy and gather filth. And therefore beware to travel Horses before they have thoroughly digested their meat, for thereby they clog their stomachs, and make them unfit after concoction, and withal fill their bodies with over raw humours, which by excercise are dispersed through the veins, into all the parts of the body. And therefore neither too much labour, neither to vehement nor yet continual, for these by consuming of the spirits, are like hurtful; neither too little, for continued rest and idleness engender putrefaction. The fourth cause of long life. The fourth cause of long life, is moderate use of sleep and waking, for they are the maintenance of life in their mediocrity, and both hurtful if beyond measure; for the immoderate watching wasteth the spirits, and consumeth the vital juice; causes leanness, hindereth the operation of the sense, and drieth the marrow & the brain, and the moderate sleep hindereth health, dulleth the natural heat, and consumeth the moisture: and sleep is but a vapour ascending from the stomach to the brain, which benumbeth the brain for a time, and keepeth the body senseless, and the sooner and more provoked by full feeding. The fift cause; The fift cause of long life, is to keep a Horse from excessive spending himself upon Mares, for it is death's best harbinger, for it wasteth the spirits, weakeneth the stomach, and drieth up the brain and marrow, and therefore the reason why a Mule, being a mixed creature, begotten betwixt a Horse and an Ass, is longer lived then either of them, is for that his justing in that kind is but once only in the whole course of his life. The sixth cause of long life, The sixth cause is moderate riding in long journeys, for by the immoderate emission of heat into the outward parts of the body, it kindleth the fire of choler, which being vehement, is an horror unto nature, and inflameth the blood, so as if the Horse at that instance be not very empty and clean, in the body, the blood and humours being mingled together, are through the violence thereof, dispersed into all the parts of the body, and then a suden cold taken upon it (which seldom escapeth) the same doth presently putrefy the blood, and congealeth it to the insuitable danger of the Horse. The seventh cause: The seventh cause is wholesomeness of air, and soil, clean keeping, the stable sweet; clean, old and dry meat: when he is in the stable, dressing him in some shed out of the stable, that the filth of his body do not come near his manger, neither stinking litter lying under the manger, continually fuming up to his head, neither evil savour near to the stable. The eight cause is, The eight cause. not to travel or labour a Horse that is taken from grass, until he be purged and cleansed from his superfluous humours, which he hath gathered at grass in the time of his rest and full feeding, the which being many, by his travel and heat, will by the veins be dispersed into all the parts of the body, which afterwards cannot be taken away without great peril; and when he is made clean, he will draw his breath long, and be clean and empty betwixt his jaws, without any impostumation, The ninth cause: knob, or kernel. The ninth cause is, to keep the Horse whiles he feedeth in the stable, from all raw and green meat, the mother of many unnatural humours, and the nurse of many inward diseases, proceeding from the abundance thereof, and the corruption of blood. The tenth cause is, The tenth cause. to keep the Horse from eating and drinking, whiles he is hot, for that weakeneth the heart and spirits, hindereth appetite, and maketh digestion unperfect, and often times present death. The cleventh cause is neither to wash nor walk him after travel and labour, The eleventh cause: but to set him in the stable, warm clothed and painfully rubbed and dried, and if necessity enforce, to wash his legs with beer and butter, or dish water, or beef broth made warm, and cleanse, clear, and rub them thoroughly, both clean and dry, and litter him with plenty of sweet straw, and if he have not drunk in the time of his travel, then when he is cold, and has well eaten, give him warm water to drink with a little Malt, Meal, or Bran. The twelfth & last cause of long life, is, The twelfth cause. to put often times into his provender, the powder of aniseeds, irish, Fenegricke, Turmeric, bayberries, the powder of brimstone, white Lily roots small chopped, Ennula campana roots small chopped, or the powder thereof, Roots of Polipodium of the oak small chopped, or the powder thereof, Saven small cut, Marsh wormwood small cut, or the powder thereof, Garlic small chopped, Tobacco small chopped, Herb of grace small chopped, Isop, Horehownd, and Coltefoote small chopped, or some of them, which will keep him sound and perfect from all inward diseases. Thus having briefly set down the inward causes of long life, whereout you may deduce the contraries, sickness and short life, for such is the disposition of Horses, and of all creatures bodies, that by the continual combat and interchangeable dominion of the ever-iarring elements, they often change their primary constitution, so that if there were no cause of transmutation, which notwithstanding are many and manifold, yet having that homebred cause within them, that would in time alter their temperature; for we see, the same bodies in youth and old age, diversly tempered even by the variation of their original constitution, and the infallible cause of their diversity and difference, although many times not the only cause, but that only which proceedeth from the inward engendered cause of destruction, through some accidental, immoderate contingent or unnatural action, which sometime happeneth in their full strength and perfection, for that which is only natural, never passeth from one extreme unto another, Aristotle in his tripartite division of ages. but by the mean. And although experience (the natural and true mother of knowledge) & time, the mother of truth, who evermore bringeth her own daughter to perfection, approve the contrariety of the inherent qualities of heat, cold, dryness, & moisture, the only causes of inward diseases, and the continuance, and unperceiveable linger thereof, the principle cause of their untimely death; knowing a successive impairing always, importeth a small dissolution, so that the prevention of the extremity, and suppressing the dominion of the contraries, there is not so much as an appearance of their perpetuity: yet who is he that seethe his Horses enjoy but a small perfection of health, doth not possess himself with the forgetfulness thereof, and of their mortality? whence you see how far they wrong their senses, and themselves from judgement, standing still to behold the execution of doubtful issues, never remembering that as from the firmest friendships, do spring the greatest enmities, so from soundest health the deadliest maladies. Therefore qui causam rei praestat, is remprestare videtur, he that preventeth the cause of sickness, preventeth the sickness itself: & it is not better, occurrere malo quam postea remedium querere, to prevent the disease, than afterwards to seek remedy for the disease, but how a perfect order and stability should consist in these disjoined subjects, unless the origionall causes there of had been formerly expressed, (without begetting error the child of confusion) extendeth beyond the limits of understanding. It therefore remaineth how to cure those horses that have inward diseases, and afterwards the outward diseases. CHAP. 59 The means to help and preserve horses from the inward diseases. THere are four ways or means to preserve and keep horses from their inward diseases, viz. purging, sweeting letting blood, and vomiting, whereof in order. First of purging, which may be said twofold, outward & inward: the time of purging or cleansing, the outward parts must be presently after the taking of the horse from Grass into the stable, which ever would be at or before the feast of Saint Bartholomew, by reason of the great moistness and cold that then usually happen, & to be taken up very gently for fear of heating of him, lest his humours thereby should be dissolved by the veins and Arteries into every part of the body: and that every horse at such times are full of humours, appeareth in the best spirited horses, if you then perceive their actions, how lubburish and heavily they perform the same at such times. The manner of purging or clearing the outward parts of the body, would be in this manner: First, shear his ears, and a little place behind for the headstall to lie flat and even. Then take Soap, and anoint his head and jaws therewith, and then take warm Buck-lie, and wash and cleanse the same in every part so clean as is possible from all sweat and scurf, and presently rub his head and every part with clean linen clothes, and after with clothes very dry: then put on his head a double hood or beggin made of purpose to keep all the parts of his head very warm: Then if it be a fair warm day, in the Sun, in like manner, wash, purge and cleanse all his body and every part thereof, especially his main, tail and cod: then rub him and clear him very dry, and him, and stuff him very warm, and give him plenty of sweet & clean litter: Then anoint all his hooves, (having first washed them and made them dry with this ointment: Take of Turpentine and sheep suet, half a pound of unwrought wax: a quartern of Allom; of Salad Oil, half a pint: of Tar a quarter of a pint: boil themll together until they be well incorporated, & keep it in a pot, and every day (his feet being clean) anoint his hooves therewith: neither let him go at grass (if he be a horse of worth) above one month in the year, at any time after. The manner of purging or cleansing the inner parts of the horse, A most excellent Glister to be given within a day or two after the horse is taken from grass. (must evermore be done before he be laboured or exercised) in this manner. viz. First, anoint your hand with soap, and thrust your arm into his fundament, and rake out all the dung; and then give him this glister: take of Malloes', three handfuls: Marsh mallow roots, two handfuls bruised: Violet leaves, two handfuls: Flaxe-seed, three spoonfuls: and a good quantity of the white Lily roots: and boil them together in a Gallon of fair water to a Wine quart: strain it: and put thereto of Seen one Ounce, let it steep in the liquor three hours over embers, then put to it of salad-oil, half a pint, and being blood warm, give it him in a glister, and make him keep it so long as you may, and this would be done three or four days before thefull or new moon. The next day after he hath taken the said glister, give him early in the morning this drink, viz. Take a quart of the strongest and best aleworte, a quarter of a pint of honey, and six penny worth of the best treacle, well mixed and brewed together, and keep him meatles after, six hours, and let him not drink any cold water but a mashe, and eat sweet wheat straw, and old clean sweet oats. The next day after he hath taken the said drink, give him early in the morning this drink, viz. Take a pint of the best white wine, wherein hath been steeped all night an ounce of Sense, strain it and put into it one ounce of the best Aloes beaten into powder, half an ounce of Agaricke, and a spoonful of the powder of irish, warm them a little on the fire, and brew them well together, and then give it the Horse, ride him gently or walk him a quarter of an hour, set him into the stable very warm clothed, let no air come to him, and let him neither eat nor drink 6 hours after, and at night give him a warm mashe, sweet wheat straw, old clean sweet oats, and plenty of litter. The next day (if the sign be good) let him blood, if the blood be very bad, take from him two quarts, if indifferent, but one quart; keep him very warm and with warm mashes, in which mashes (if possibly he will take it) put the powder of brimstone, Fenegreke, Turmeric, and of Enula campana, of each one spoonful. The next day after (if the weather be fair) ride him very gently a mile, and so back again, and at his coming home, presently have him into the Stable, and him so warm, as he may sweat, but not violently: and so fail not to ride him when he is fasting every day moderately, a mile or two, upon some pleasant ground, and every day to sweat a little for six days, and keep him warm, and with warm water, and the Stable close when he is in it. hitherto you have heard how to clear him outwardly by washing, and inwardly by purging, bleeding, and sweeting: and for vomiting take a great root or two of Polipodium of the Oak clean scraped, and laid all night in steep in Spike oil, tied fast to his bit, and every morning fasting let him be ridden with it, and if he have any cold or filth in his stomach, it will force him to cough, and rear it from the stomach; and by this means you shall be sure to cleanse & refine his blood, to exhaust his waterish humours, and to make his inner parts clean, so as with temperate order before prescribed, you shall be sure to keep him long, a sound, perfect and serviceable Horse. Now because the Liver being the fountain of blood, & the Lungs the bellows of breath, & yet not unlike a standing pool, which continually gathereth corruption, the which being corrupted or stopped, speedily destroyeth the subject; I will set down excellent means to preserve both the one & other in perfefection, otherwise he willbe but as a silthye vessel which is seldom cleansed. CHAP. 60. To refine the blood, and preserve the Liver from infection. TAke a root of polipodium of the Oak made very clean, cut it into small pieces, a handful of Liver-wort, cut in small pieces, & six pence weight of Ruebarbe cut small, and every morning for three or four days in a month, give it the horse in his provender, very early, two or three hours before his watering, and once in half a year make trial of his blood how pure it is, & accordingly minister help if need be. CHAP. 61. A most sovereign drink to preserve his lungs clear, the most excelling knowledge in Horseman or Farrier. TAke the Tartar of white wine lees, which is always at the Apothecaries (which is no other than the lees of white wine dried to powder) one ounce and a half, of I sop two handfuls, of Coltesfoote two handfuls, of Horehownd one handful, of Ennula campana roots one ounce, four irish sticks bruised, Aniseed one ounce, red Sugar candy four ounces, boil them all in a quart of ale, and when it is half boiled, put to it of Isop water twice distilled one pinnte, of Colts foot water twice distilled one pint, boil them again, then strain it and give it him very warm to drink. The charge here of is small, you may make what quantity you will, by doubling or trebling the simples. If you have a delicate Horse and have cleared him & dieted him, as I have prescribed, than every morning that you will hunt him, or excercise him, give him fasting a pint hereof, and so continue him until you find him clean, & in perfect breath, and then the moderate excercise of him willbe sufficient to keep him clean. The reasons why the Horse should be thus cleansed and cleared after long rest and full feeding, are, First the pores of all the skin being opened, the Horse will easily sweat, and thereby clear the body from the unperfect moisture. Secondly, it maketh the whole body to receive Air, (which of itself is naturally moist) to help to cool the burning & violent heat of the heart, and of the other members, when the Horse doth labour, as appeareth by the office of the lungs, which as a pair of bellows doth continually draw fresh Air unto the same, filling all the empty corners with moistness, and therefore the Lungs, most principally aught to be kept clear, to draw breath to cool the same, and that is the reason why Horses are broken wound, because the lungs are unperfect to do their office: and likewise the reason why broken wound Horses when they are kept at dry meat, do draw their breath much more shorter, and with more violence than when they go to Grass, because grass is naturally cold and moist, and thereby his heart being more cold, the Horse draweth his breath more at length: but if the Horse be clear, empty, and sound in the body, then doth he always draw his breath alike, and so doth every other creature also, from which ground of reason, three things may be collected & observed. The first is, that the horse head be kept very clear from all obstructions, (the which evermore cometh by cold) which greatly hindereth drawing breath into the body: Secondly that the skin of the Horse be kept clear and open to draw breath, at the pores of the skin into the body. thirdly, that Canales Pulmonis, the pipes or Canes of the Lungs, be not opilated or stopped through viscous phlegm or tough humours like bird-lime, or with impostumation in the pipes, and so become putrefied: every of which with continuance thereof, will destroy the horse: & there is no truth more apparent than that the causes of all these inward corruptions and infirmities proceed only from great rest, full and foul feeding, and the distemperatures of heat and cold; & that by the taking away of these causes, such effects cannot follow: so as you see the preservation of health and long life, is the moderate and temperate labour and exercise, the spare, clean and sweet food, as hath been formerly expressed. CHAP. 62. Certain rules to be observed by such as shall either travel or exercise their horses. FIrst, when your Horse is lusty and pleasant, and clear in body, then is he fit for labour or any exercise, but if he be sad, heavy or dejected in countenance, although he be clear, do not labour him until you have found the cause, and removed it. 2. Secondly let not your horse eat any thing by two or three hours before you travel him, & then not much, until you come to your lodging; for baiting at noon is nought and hurtful, except you rest 4. or 5. hours, so as he may not travel upon a full stomach, and let his bait be small, & be sure he never wear a rusty Bit or Snaftle for fear of the canker. Thirdly, let your travel be moderate (except necessity (which cannot be limited) enforce you, & come to your lodging long before night, so as your horse may neither eat nor drink until he be very cold: & if it be in winter time, be sure to & cover his head & breast very warm after travel; & every morning either squirt a little vinegar into his nostrils, or else rub them with oil de bay, with a cloth anointed therewith fastened to the end of a stick, & thrust up and down his nostrils, to purge his head. Fourthly, neither wash nor walk your Horse (especially in the winter time) for when he is very hot, to walk him in the cold air, reason telleth you, that it is not sufficient to keep him in moderate heat: and to wash him, it is a preparative to a speedy end, or the least that may befall, to bring him to some dangerous disease: And to confirm the truth herein, I affirm, and will by good and probable demonstration of truth make it manifest, that there is no dangerous disease incident to Horse, but the same proceedeth from the cause of heat or cold, and none more dangerous than this: neither can any Horseman or understanding Farrier truly instance unto me any particular disease to the contrary; and to all young Horses the common messengers of death. Fiftly, when you travel, alight often from your Horse (if cause of necessity enforce not the contrary) and lead your Horse to some place of grass, straw, or brakes, and there stay, and whistle, until your Horse piss, which by little custom he will usually do, for the long retention of his water, is many ways hurtful, and (except it be in such places) he is most unwilling to piss, because the sprinkling thereof will scaled his legs. Sixtly, if your Horse be very hot, let him not drink cold water, but rather at some house and village give him a quart of good beer, or a pint of wine, and if you do water him by the way, let him not drink until he have washed his mouth, which is done when he thrusteth his head into the water, presently pull up his head, which will cleanse his mouth, and let him drink but little, although there be necessity, and let it be five or six miles from your Inn, and then ride him so as he may still keep the same heat he was in when he did drink, and when you come to your Inn, dress him clean from sweat, and keep him very warm, and let him not eat until he be cold, and let it be gi-given him by little and little at a time, and after drink if need be. seventhly, after his labour, if you can have a convenient place, let him wallow himself, for it doth exceedingly comfort him, and giveth delight to his whole body. Eightly, if he happen to fall sick in your travel (which cometh commonly either by eating or drinking too much at one time) by any accidental means, the which being suden, may be doubtful truly to judge. Give him a pint of sack or malmsey, a quarter of a pint of Aqua vite, with six penny worth of the best treacle, and a quarter of a pint of the best salad oil, brew them well together, & give him a draft, and then take a new laid egg, & pull out his tongue, bruise the shell, and thrust it into his throat, and then let go his tongue: then give him another draft, and after that another egg in the same manner; and after all the said drink, then let him blood in the palate of his mouth, and then rub it well with salt, and put on his bridle, stop him, and cloth him, head and body with clothes, and give him litter enough and fear him not, but if you cannot have sack, or wine, nor treacle, give him half a pint of Aquavite, or any other comfortable water, and two eggs in form aforesaid, to comfort his heart, which is the Chariot of his life. Ninthly, at the night give him a good comfortable mashe if he will eat it, and clean sweet provender, such as he will eat; bath all his legs with butter & beer, cleanse his feet and stop them with cowdung, & after he is sufficiently fed, give him plenty of sweet litter, and then suffer no man to come into the stable, and shut all the windows & doors, so as it may be very dark, and early in the morning let him be thoroughly dressed & rubbed, and before you ride, two hours, let him eat half a peck of old sweet Oats, with a pint of the strongest Ale, Beer, Malmsey or White-wine, for his breakfast. Tenthly, if that your Horse be young that you do travel upon, (which is the overthrow of all fine metal Horses, when you come home and may rest, then let him blood, and if you find his blood hot and dark coloured, spare not to let him bleed until there come perfect blood, after for three or four days keep him with good mashes, and give the purging drink before mentioned, and with a pint of white wine, one ounce of Aloes dissolved into powder, half an ounce of Agaricke, and a spoonful of the powder of irish, made blood-warm, and well brewed together, and let him not drink cold water for four or five days after, and in his provender put the powder of Brimstone, Ennula campana, and Polipodium of the oak, well mingled together, a good spoonful at a time, two or three hours before his water, and he will remain a most healthful and sound Horse, if he be thus used until he be eight years old, for then the chief danger is past. Vita carnium est cordis Sanitas. CHAP. 63. The order of curing Horses that are diseased, the causes thereof, the signs thereof, and the cure toereof. I Have before showed that the distemperature of the Elements, and of their qualities of heat, cold, dryness, and moisture is sickness, and their continuance their death in all creatures, the which I pray you observe as the only causes thereof: and that all cures consist in the contraies, and that the safety and preservation of the creature: is in reducing them to a true, just, and equal proportion of their temperature, the which being well imprinted in your understanding, will remain an everliving schoolmaster to direct you, to the perfection of all Horsemanship. CHAP. 64. Ague or Fever in Horses. THe learned do hold three general kinds: First, when the vital spirits are inflamed, wherein heat is prdominat more than Nature requireth. Secondly, when the humours are distempered by heat. Thirdly, when the firm parts of the body are continually hot, so that the ague cometh either by excessive heting the horse, & thereupon a sudden cold, or by fullness of bad bumors, which principally grow from full, foul, or raw feeding, and great rest, and for that reason it taketh the horse either hot ot cold: now he cannot be cured but by the contrary, viz. by spare feeding, clean feeding, dry feeding, & moderate labour: & to this end, the cure must be ministered. But to be curious in the distinction (having sufficiently expressed the same in this tractat) I purpose not: it is sufficient to know that learning and practice acknowledge a horse to have an ague as well as man, and to keep due hours to make him shake and tremble as a man, & to know the same also, appeareth by the inflammations from the heat of the stomach, which scaldeth and maketh the tongue raw. CHAP. 65. The Cure. FIrst, when you perceive his deicted countenance, & that he beginneth to tremble (or before,) enforce him into a heat, & give him this purging drink: Take a quart of white wine, put thereunto one ounce of Aloes small beaten: of Agarick, half an ounce: of irish & aniseeds half a dram: & a little honey: warm it a little on the fire, and then ride him until he be hot, & put him into a sweat: then have him into the stable, let him stand on the bit, cloth him, & stop his breast, head and body very warm, so as he may moderate sweat: let him have plenty of litter, and so let him stand five or six hours: then uncloathe him, and rub him perfectly dry, and then clothe him again, but not so hot, and when he is cold unbit him, and wash his tongue with Allome-water, vinegar, and sage, and give him sweet wheat straw to eat, and a gallon of old, sweet and clean oats; and at night give him a good mashe, and the next day after let him blood a quart, and if his blood be very thick, black, dark oryellowe, let him bleed two quarts, & afterwards keep him warm from the Air for 4. or 5. days, and give him warm water to drink, and a little salad oil in it, if he will drink it. CHAP. 66. For the same. LEt him blood in the neck and temple veins, and before or when he beginneth to tremble, take three new laid eggs, and six or seven spoonful of Aquavite, break them & beat them together; give it him and ride him until he sweat, then cloth him very warm, and make him sweated, and after he is rubbed dry and cold, give him clean food as aforesaid, moderately, let him not drink any cold water, but warm, wherein hath been boiled mallows, sorrel, and purslane, of each three or four handfuls, and keep him warm. probatum. CHAP. 67. For the same. LEt him blood, take of Germander four ounces, of Gum Draganet, and of Dead Roses, of each an ounce: of Oil Olive four ounces: of Honey four ounces: put them into a quart of strong Ale, and give it warm to the horse to drink, then ride him until he sweat, and him and keep him warm as aforesaid. CHAP. 68 Ache in the head. THe cause of this disease cometh either of cold, takan after a great heat, or of a raw or unperfect digestion of stomach, proceeding principally from full and foul feeding, and betwixt the stomach and the brain is such affinity, as they do equally communicate their damages: the signs are these, the hanging down of his head, his eyes will swell and run of water, and will forsake his meat. CHAP. 69. The Cure. LEt him blood in the palate of his mouth, and rub it with Salt to make it bleed well, then take a stick with a linen fastened at the end thereof, well anointed with oil of Bay, thrust it up and down his nostrils, thereby to open and purge his head: also perfume him with the smoke of Garlic stalks broken into small pieces: also air him with the smoke of Frankincense, holding the same in a chafing-dish under his Nostrils, with a great cloth cast over his head, and let it be done morning and evening: keep him with spare diet & moderate exercise, the which will cleanse his stomach & make it so clean & empty, as his brain will not be disquieted: afterwards let him blood, & give him good mashes to drink for two days after and no cold water. CHAP. 70 Of the sudden sickness of a horse. THe cause is, for that the heart which is the chariot of his life wherein the soul of the horse liveth, wanting the use of the veins and Arteries to carry the vital spirit of heat to all the parts of the body, to give the horse feeling, & ability to operation, by reason of some obstruction of humours or cold, which for want of heat cannot be dissolved, for that the nature of cold is to bind and conglutinate together, and to keep them from their natural course, proceeding from some violent exercise or immoderate feeding and rest, by reason whereof there is great jar & discord amongst the qualities of the elements: the motion of the vital spirit, whereby the horse liveth and moveth, is imprisoned for that time, and so seemeth taken as a dead horse without action. The sign is the sudden dejecting of his countenance. CHAP. 71. The cure. LEt him blood on both sides the breast, next the heart, whereby the veins and Arteries being evacuated and emptied, they may begin to do that office whereunto nature hath appointed them, and let him bleed the quantity of two quarts: then give him a comfortable drink, to stir up the vital spirits to action, viz: take a quart of the best sack, & burn it with Grains, Cloves and Cinnamon, and a quarter of a pound of the best Sugar, and burn it well together with half a pint of Salad Oil, & four penny worth of the best treacle, then ride him very gently until he begin to sweat, and so have him into the Stable, keep his head and heart very warm, and him & stuff his body with sweet straw, and keep the stable close, and so let him stand 6. hours meatles, but beware you him not too much, for the drink will thoroughly warm him and make him sweat, let his drink be warm water, wherein boil Mallows a handful, water Cresses a handful, of fennel and parsley seed, of each an ounce, and twice a day morning and evening, when he is most fasting, ride him gently a mile or two, let his meat be sweet wheat straw, old clean dry oats, mingled with wheat, and sometime with old pease, and sparingly given and often, but not much, until you see him wax very hungry, and let him be well rubbed, and all his litter clean and sweet. CHAP. 72. Staggers. THe cause of this disease, is for that as I have formerly said, the brain and the stomach are united and chained together with certain sinews, and thereby interchangeably communicate their damages, so as when the stomach is oppressed with gross and tough humours, or some strong vapours, as when the Horse hath eaten some strong herb, as the wild parsenip or such like, by the strong vaporous spirits proceeding out of the stomach to the brain, oppressing the same, as the strong vaporous spirit of wine, Aqua vite, and such like doth the brain of man, he is dizzy and reeleth, as if he were drunk: and hereof I have had often experience, but at the first the horse doth only reel, and stagger, as if his back were swayed, and will eat his meat, but after he will forsake his meat and not be able to stand. CHAP. 73. The Cure. LEt him blood in the temple veins, one handful under the eyes, then take Garlic, Hearbgrace, and a little Leaven and bay-salt, stamp them together, and then put thereunto a little quantity of Aquavitae, and put it into the Horse ears; then take wool and wet it in the medicine, and put it into his ears, and bind them close, and so let it remain 24. hours, and wash his tongue with vinegar and salt, let him not drink any cold drink, and once a day gently walked. CHAP. 74. For the same. TAke of bitter Almonds one ounce & a half: of Ox gall two drams: of black Elebar stamped one half penny worth: of Grains, of Castorum, of vinegar, of varnish, 5. drams: seethe them together until the vinegar be consumed, and strain them and put it into his cares, as aforesaid: but bind them with a woollen list, and not with any cutting string. CHAP. 75. For the same. LEt him blood, as afore said, then with a knife make a hole of an inch long, overthwart his forehead, hard underhis foretop, and raise the skin with a eornet, thrusting it upward toward the headstall a good handful, and then taint it with turpentine and hog's grease molted together, and do the like upon the ridge of the rump, and remove the taints every day, and keep him with warm water. CHAP. 76. Cramp or convulsion of sinews. THe cause of this disease, is much fullness, or very great emptiness, great eating and feeding, much rest, lack of moderate exercise, or by overmuch bleeding, extreme labour, or extreme cold: that which happeneth of great fullness and rest cometh suddenly, that which cometh by emptiness or penury, cometh but by little and little. I have seen a horse, his head, jaws and neck so stiff, and stark, as he could not bow it any manner of way, nor the strength of men open his jaws or mouth without breaking them; his eyes hollow in his head, and the fleshy parts thereof in the great corners turned backward, and his tongue so benumbed, as he could not eat, neither drink, but by sucking of his drink by little and little with his lips: and for my instructions, I did see the manner of his death. And the same came by full and foul feeding, and great rest, being exceeding fat when he died. I would willingly have adventured his cure, if many Smiths had not taken the same upon them, never understanding the cause, as his end manifested. CHAP. 77. The Cure. TEt him blood in great measure, take him behind, and give him the glister I prescribed before for a horse that is taken up from grass, rub him with two or three lusty strong men, and have him into a very warm room, then take two quarts of strong Ale, and two pound of back soap, and boil them together until they look as tar, & anoint and rub all his body therewith, so as it may drink in, then clothe him, and stuff head and neck, and all the parts of his body, to bring him to a great sweat, and if it may be give him a pint of white wine, and two ounces of Aloes, and half an ounce of Agaricke infused therein, beaten small, putting therein three spoonfuls of the best clarified Hogs-grease: and if that cannot be done, give him every day a Glister, and keep him with continual rubbing, and in a warm room, and give him to drink small Ale, wherein mallows and irish have been boiled, & let his diet be spare, but sweet and good. CHAP. 78. Cold in the head. The cause THe cause here of cometh by some heat & standing still, or having some cold air, piercing his head when he is hot, or by some humours congealed after long rest, and full feeding, wanting moderate exercise to expel the same. The signs are a continual distilling rheum, waterish eyes, or the short drawing breath at the Nostrils, when the Canes and passages of breath are stopped. CHAP. 79. The Cure. Put upon his head a double hood, and every morning when he is fasting, ride him, with two Goose feathers dipped in Oil of Bay, and thrust up into his Nostrils, through the ends whereof, with a needle, put two threads to fasten the same to the headstall, so as the feathers cannot fall out, and to the snaffle, or Bitten that he is rodden with, fasten a root or two of Polipodium of the Oak, which hath been steeped all night in Spike oil, and every time you ride him, anoint the same with the said Oil, & when he cometh home put on his head the double hood, and perfume him being hot with Franckinsence, casting a cloth over his head, that the smoke may ascend into his head, use him thus nine days, together, and give him warm water or good mashes during the said nine days: for all rheums having continuance are dangerous, and many times having continuance, remedisesse, leaving a worse disease than themselves. CHAP. 80. Glanders. THe original cause of this disease is the rewm, which being an abundant moisture, being naturally very cold, at length congealeth (according to the nature of cold) and then proceedeth to kernels, & so to inflammation, The course. and become so great in the end, that they seem to strangle and stop the breath of the horse, from whence he is said to have the Strangles, and by continuance of time, the same perish either the liver or the Lungs, by a continual distilling of putrefied and corrupt matter, the signs are apparent to every man that hath sight, & the diversity of medicines infinite, and the beginning always of this disease, is taking cold after heat, the which cannot be avoided from a horse that hath full feeding, and great rest, will of necessity have, especially, if he feed of raw, green, unclean, or filthy musty meat, or by the use of continual travel upon full stomach, or before his body be made clean after long rest: for the standing pool is ever muddy. CHAP. 81. The Cure. FIrst clear his head as is perscribed for the cold in the head, in every part (if he be able to be rid or walked) that he may receive breath: then give him this drink: take a pint of malmsey, 6. penny worth of the best treacle, and a quarter of a pound of sweet fresh butter, then presently rub him under his jaws, with plenty of sweet hog's grease, & leave it thick anointed, then make him this poultis, Take 2. handfuls of malowes, a handful of wormwood, as much rue, and as much smallage, a quart of wheat bran, and a quart of hog's grease, boil them together, and stir them continually in boiling, until the hog's grease be almost consumed, and being hot as may be suffered, bind it under his jaws & thropell, and wrap all his head very warm, leaving air for his mouth and nostrils: then air him again with frankincense, & keep him warm in the stable, & so let him rest with that poultis 24. hours, the next morning early give him a quart of the best new ale with a spoonful of the powder of irish & aniseeds, and a good piece of butter, blood warm, then rub his nostrils with a clout bound to the end of a stick, well anointed with oil of Bay and butter, then remove the poultis, and if you find the kernels and inflammations to be very soft, launce them through, and stop the holes full of hog's grease & Turpentine boiled hot together, & soft tow boiled therein, and then warm some of your poultis, and bind to it as before, but not altogether so hot, and so let it remain until the next day, and his head kept very warm as before. If he will eat, give him clean sweet oats, steeped in new ale or malmsey if he will eat them, and wheat straw, but no hay: give him no cold water for 9 days, but good mashes if he will take them: keep him with a spare diet, & every day, gently walk or ride him, if he be able, and then keep him warm after it, and let him sweat every day a little if it be possible, and after rub him very dry, and let him not drink in his own sweat. In his provender take of the root of the white Lily, of the root of Ennula campana, & of the root of Polipodium of the oak, very sinely cut or chopped, the quantity of two spoonfuls at every time you give him provender, and be sure that he be hungry & eager of provender when you give it him, and so continue for 9 days, and beware you keep him very hungry, and with spare diet. At the 9 days end give him this purging drink. Take a quart of white wine, or of strong ale wort, one ounce and a half of Aloes, beaten into powder, half an ounce of Agaricke, 2. spoonfuls of the powder of the root of Ennula campana, three spoonfuls of honey, brew them well together, and give it him blood warm, & keep him warm: with in 6. days after let him blood, & if it be good take but a quart, but if it be very bad, take two quarts at least: after this, use him both in feeding and labour moderately, & he will ever after be perfect in health. CHAP. 82 Mourning of the Chine. THe cause hereof is great heat, and thereupon taking cold, and then first it beginneth with Rheum, than the Glanders, and after to this mourning of the Chine, (as it is usually termed) but more truly and essentially, it beginneth with the Rewm, which proceedeth to inflammation of the liver or lungs, by the continual distilling upon them, then to the Glanders, which is impostumation thereof: and lastly, to an exulceration: which abruptly and untruely is termed, the mourning of the Chine, and yet to maintain this borrowed and erroneous term, some writers do affirm, that it breedeth after the reins of his neck, and into his head, and that it causeth the flesh along by the Chine to rot, and to draw matter, & that it cometh through by his head, along by the Chine bone, and will matter out at his Nostrils. How this Rheum should rot the flesh of the Chine, seemeth more than prodigious and ridiculous, either in Physic, Philosophy or practice: but for as much as they can neither define the proposition certainly, neither conjecture probably, I pass it over as a position without reason or truth, and the rather, because common experience after the ripping of such diseased horses, being dead, showeth evermore the exulceration, corruption and consumption of the liver or lungs. And therefore there is not any thing truer, then that this disease cometh of a violent heat and sudden cold, which inflameth the blood, & so corrupteth by degrees (as I have said) the substance of the liver: by which distemperature, and inflammation (the liver being the fountain of blood) becometh extraordinarily distemperated with heat, by which excess of heat, choler and cold, phlegm are engendered, from the which all the weakness of the liver proceedeth, and from thence obstruction and stopping, whereby the gross and tough humours, by the violence of heat, by labour, are drawn into the springs of the fountain, that is to say, the small veins which carry the blood from the liver, whereby the Liver cannot give perfect nutriment, by which obstructtion and stopping, the humours being choleric, breed many hard knobs in the liver, and then the inflammation breaketh out, of the veins, and floweth into the body of the liver, and there being out of his proper vessels, doth immediately puputrifie, & therewith corrupteth so much fleshy substance of the liver, as it is imbrued withal, and so by little & little perisheth the whole liver, and then the bloody matter afterwards becometh corruption: & when it breaketh out, it is as a filthy sore, (which is this usurped mourning of the chine) and in the end this filthy matter, flowing abroad with his evil vapours, corrupteth the heart, and causeth death, as you see the end of all Horses that have this disease. From whence you see, that an inflammation begetteth Apostumation, and appostumation exulceration, & then the liver being thus corrupted, there cannot be good digestion, for lack whereof, the body wanting perfect nutriment, doth cousume and perish. CHAP. 83. The signs to know the disease. 1. FIrst, the continual distilling rheum in the head. 2 Secondly, the continuing knobs betwixt the jaws. 3 Thirdly the keeping of his hair without casting. 4 Fourthly, the continual running of thick stinking matter at the nose. 5. Fiftly the fastening or growing of a knob as big as a walnut, to the inside of one of the jaws, & then commit his carcase to the crows, for than he is past help. CHAP. 84. Thecure FOr the first, which is the rheum, cure it is mentioned, for the cold in the head. For the second, which is a congealed substance, gathered into knobs betwixt the jaws, cure the same as the glanders. For the third, which is keeping still his winter coat, & the not casting of his hair, let him blood often, until you see that he have pure & fine blood, and give him good mashes made very strong with malt, & put in his provender polipodium of the oak, small cut, the root of the white Lily small cut, of each a good quantity, if he will eat it, and shred in it also a handful of Liverworte, & if he be a Horse of value, at every time, a six penny weight of Ruebarbe, and every morning being fasting, give him a pint of the drink, prescribed for the preservation of his Lungs, and keep him only with wheat straw (but no hay) and old sweet and clean oats, and every morning after he hath taken that drink, ride him gently two or three miles. For the fourth, which is the thick running at the nose, continually clear his head, as hath been prescribed for the cold in the head, and so in evety part as in the rest are prescribed, only adding purging drinks, viz. after all these prescribed orders, give him two several mornings, a pint of white wine, one ounce & a half of Aloes, half an ounce of Agaricke, two drams of irish and aniseeds, and a spoonful of pure hog's grease warmed and well dissolved together, and after he hath purged, the next day let him blood in both the breast veins, the quantity of a quart, and still keep him with good mashes and moderate travel, when he is fasting, giving him every morning fasting for nine days after, a pint of that drink prescribed for clearing of his Lungs. For the sift, if you find no amendment, but a knob grown to his jaw, you may give him a purge, with pills, as I have prescribed, and if that help him not, than he is remediless without all doubt. CHAP. 85 These things following are most excellent to put in Horse's provender to preserve them from these and all diseases. THe powder of a Wolves liver. The powder of Ennula Compana. The powder of pollipodium of the Oak. The fine cut pieces of Ruebarbe. The powder of Brimstone made very fine. The powder of irish, Anniseedes, Fenegreek, Turmeric, bayberries, Long-pepper, Agrimony, Camomile, wormwood, Saven, Linseed Smalage, Perseley, Rue, Isop, Coltesfoote, Horehownd, and such like. CHAP. 86. Of a broken wind. THe cause of this perilous disease, hath not been truly foreopened by any, not being truly understood, and therefore accounted of all Horsemen uncurable. And therefore as plainly as I can, I purpose to unfold the same, and I will divide the same into three kinds, every of which may be truly termed a broken wind, because the breath being drawn very short and thick, contrary to original creation, the which is long cold, & quiet, for so every creature is by nature, but when any accident of violence of the body is used in any creature, than every man's experience telleth him that he panteth and fetcheth breath very short and thick, and therefore with the cause thereof I will begin, the which being understood, the effects can not be hid. Now the causes why a Horse draweth his breath short, may be many, as sickness, great fullness, or violent excercise: but the reason of the cause is, for that the heart being the only hottest part of the body, from whence the Arteries and veins do carry the vital heat into every part of the body, (and therefore is truly said to be the chariot of life) when the same by sickness, fullness, or violence of excercise is choked and as it were smothered with great heat, then doth the lights being the bellows to draw breath, according to that office that nature hath ordained them unto, presently labour with all violence to draw breath to cool and comfort the heart, and so consequently all the other members and parts of the body, to fill all the empty corners with air, which naturally and in predominate quality is moist: and when they have drawn sufficient breath, the dryness and heat by the moisture of the air is quenched, the which being done, then doth the creature draw breath leisurely and coldly, and not before: but so long as the heart is oppressed with the violent heat of sickness, or by great fullness, or violent excercise, the canes, pipes, and passages for breath, are almost stopped or choked up, then doth the lungs labour very extreme thick, to preserve the life of the creature, which is the heart, and therefore it is said to be the first thing that liveth, and the last that dieth. And to make the same a little plainer, observe a Horse that is broken-winded, (as the usual term is) and you shall find that he fetcheth his breath much more shorter when he is kept in the stable only with die, meat, then when he goeth to grass, and the only reason is, the coldness of the moist food, which keepeth the heart and all the body in coldness, because the humours that come from the digestion of grass are cold and moist, according to the natural quality of grass, and raw herbs. This rule being kept in mind, it is a truth apparent, that all things which hinder and stop the free passage of breath, breaking the natural course thereof, are the only causes of broken wind: so likewise the cure of broken wind must be the removing of the stops of air, & then the lungs will perfectly do their office, & then the creature is perfect from the disease. The differences of broken winds both in cause and effect are divers, and yet may be truly termed broken, namely shortness of breath, Pursicke, and broken wind. Shortness of breath: 1. And first touching shortness of breath, it may come by some gross & tough humours, cleaving to the hollow places of the lungs, stopping the winde-pipes, so as the horse cannot easily draw his breath: and the sign thereof is his coughing often, daily, and vehemently, without voiding at the nose or mouth. 2. Secondly it may come by hasty running after drinking, or upon full stomach, or by the dissolution of some humours descending into his throat or lungs, by reason of some violent heat dissolving the same. And the signs thereof are continual panting, sending the same forth very hot at his nose, in a squeasing manner, and his flanks will beat so thick as he cannot fetch breath, but by holding the neck right out and strait, and this may truly be called broken wind, although in truth no broken wind. CHAP. 87. Thecure TAke a close earthen pot, and put therein three pints of strong wine vinegar and four new laid eggs, with the shells unbroken, and four great garlic heads, clean peeled, and bruised, then cover the pot close and set it in some warm dunghill, and there let it stand a whole night, and the next morning take forth the eggs, but break them not, then strain the garlic and vinegar through a clean cloth, than put thereunto a quarter of honey, half a quarter of sugar-candy, two ounces of irish, and two ounces of Annyseedes beaten into fine powder, and then the Horse having fasted all night, in the morning open his mouth and pull out his tongue, and put one egg into his throat, and then let go his tongue, so as he may swallow it down, and then power after it a hornefull of the said drink, being lukewarm, and so all the eggs in that manner, and all the drink being spent, then bridle him and stop him, & him very warm, and so let him stand four hours, then unbit him, and if it be in the winter, give him wheat straw, but no hay, and if in summer give him grass, and for nine days give him only mashes to drink, with some salad oil or hog's grease in it. CHAP. 88 For the haw in the eye. THis is known to all Smiths, and no doubt is engendered by some gross humour defending out of the head: the cure thereof, is to pull both the eye-lidds open with 2 several threads stitched with a needle, to either of the lids, then catch hold of the haw with the stitch of another needle and thread, and pull it out so far as you may stay it with your singer, to the intent it may be cut round the breadth of a penny, and leave the black behind, for by cutting away too much of the fat and black of the eye, the Horse many times becometh bleer-eyed, and therefore you must spare the fat which is the wash of the eye and the film, wherein the eye groweth, but cut between the film and the crush and then squirt in a little white wine, or beer. CHAP. 89. For the Lunatic eyes. FOr as much as they are so called, I am content so to continue the name, and it is said that the Horse becometh blind, at certain times in the moon, & thereupon, most men do gather that his sight is good or bad, according to the Natural course of the Moon: but the truth thereof is from the Natural sight of the eye, which is a bluish eye or sight, and all Horses that are so sighted, after extraordinary heat and travel, willbe blue, and have a film overgrow the sight, so as he cannot see, and although it be cured, yet upon like occasion will fall blind again, which I have often seen: & therefore horses that have such blue eyes are to be anoided, the full experience whereof, I had from that worthy Ferrar M. john Orpen of Greenwich deceased, who always cured the same by thrusting Tutty into their eyes with his singer: but if you lay upon the temples of his head a plaster of pitch, rosin and mastic, and then with a sharp knife make two slitts, on both sides of his head, an inch long, somewhat towards the nose, a handful beneath the eyes, not touching the vein, and with a cornet loose the skin upward the breadth of a groat, and thrust therein a round piece of leather, as broad as a two penny piece, with a hole in the midst to keep the hole open: and look to it once a day that the matter may not be stopped, but run ten or eleven days, then heal it with Turpentine, Hog's grease and wax, boiled together, with flax dipped in it, and take not away the plasters till they fall away, then burn him with a small hot drawing iron, made like a star with a hole in the midst, in each temple vain where the plaster did lie, in this sort, ** and if this help not, set him to cart: beware you breed no colts of Horses that are so eyed, for upon every hard travel, he willbe blind. CHAP. 90. For the canker in the eyes. THis cometh by corruption of blood, by means whereof you shall see many red pimples both within and without the eye, & through inflammation the eye will look red, and be full of corruption. The cure is to let him blood (on that side the neck that you see the eye is grieved) a pottle or more; if you see the blood very foul, and the inflammation great, then take 3. pints of fair water, and of roch alum and green copporas, of each half a pound, and of white coppor as an ounce, & boil them until half be consumed, then once a day being made warm, with a fine cloth cleanse the eye, so as it look raw, and thus do every day until it be whole. CHAP. 91. For impostumes in the ear. THis cometh by some blow or evil humours: The cure is, take the powder of linseed, and of wheat flower, of each half a pint, of hog's grease one pound, warm them in a pot on the fire, until they be thoroughly encorporated, by continual stirring, then take a piece of white leather, somewhat biger than the impostumation, and spread it, being very warm, as far as will cover the swelling, and renew it every day until it break, then launce it, so as the corruption may go downward, and taint it to the bottom with a full taint of slaxe, well dipped in this ointment following, of melrosatum, of Oil olife and turpentine, of each two ounces, and mingle them thoroughly, well together, then make him a biggin of Canvas to close in the sore, so as the taint and ointment may abide with in, renewing it every day once until it be whole, But if the pain be in the ears without great swelling, which may be only with cold, then take black wool dipped in the Oil of Camomile and thrust into his ears. CHAP. 92. For the Pool evil. THis cometh of like causes, & groweth as a fistula betwixt the ears or nape of the neck, you shall perceive it by the swelling: if it be not broken, ripen it with plasters of white hog's grease, as though you would scald it therewith, and make him a biggin to keep it very warm, and renew the plaster twice a day very hot, and the sooner it will ripen: then where it is softest and where the corruption may best issue forth, with a round hot iron as big as your little finger, two inches beneath the soft place, thrust it upward, so as the point of the iron may come forth at the ripest place, then taint it with flax dipped in hogs-grease, and lay also a plaster of hoggs-grease upon the same, renewing it 4 or 5 da: then after take half a pound of turpentine clean washed and dry from the water, with two yolks of eggs and a little saffron, and mingle them together, then with a quill search the depth of the hole, and taint it with a sponge so big as the hole to the bottom, well anointed with that ointment, and so thrust it with a quill into the wound to the bottom, and a warm plaster of hogs grease to cover it, renewing it twice a day, but when the swelling ceaseth use no plaster. CHAP. 93. Of the Vives. THis cometh of corruption of blood, the cure is, draw them with a hot Iron right down in the midst, from the root of the ear, so far as the tip of the ear will reach being pulled down, and again under the root of the ear, with a hot iron draw two strikes on each side like a broad arrow head thus , then in the midst of the first line launce them with a Lancelet or Razor, taking hold of the kernels with a pair of pincers; but beware you touch them not with your bare finger: pull them so far out with your pincers as you may cut the kernels out without hurting the vain, then fill the hole full of salt. For the same. TAke Egremony, honey, and violet leaves, stamp them together, and flit the sinew underneath the care, and lay a plaster thereunto three days. For the same. TAke a handful of sorrel, & lap it in a bur-dock leaf, and roast it in hot embers like a warden, then take it out and very hot apply it to the kernels, and so let it rest a day and night, and still so renew it until the kernels be rotten and break, and after all is rotten and gone, take the yolk of an egg, honey, and wheat-flower well incorporated and made thick, and make plasters thereof to heal it. CHAP. 94. For the Canker in the nose. THis cometh of a corrupt blood, consumeth the flesh, and makes it raw within, and in the end will eat the gristle thereof: it will also cause the horse to bleed at the nose and yield filthy savour: the cure is, take of green copperess and of Allom of each a pound, and of white copperess, one quarter, boil these in a pottle of running water until it be almost half consumed, then take it of and put into it half a pint of honey, then hold up his head with a drinking staff, but not too high, and with a squirt of brass or elder, squirt the same water being lukewarm, three or four times together into his nostrils, and give him liberty to blow out the filthy matter, lest you choke him: and with a stick and a rag wash his nostrils twice a day until he be whole. For the same. IF you see the canker be of great heat and burning in the sore, with exceeding pain, take the juice of purslane, lettuce, sorrel, & night shade, and wash the sore with a sine clout, and with a squirt, wash the same and this will kill it. CHAP. 95: For bleeding at the nose. THis may come upon many causes which cannot be truly known, coming from within the body, & therefore I will show how to cure the same: take a pint of red wine, & put thereunto a quarter of bowl armony beaten unto fine powder, & put the one half thereof into his nostril that bleedeth holding up his head; & this may do well if in the nostril or head there be the original cause: the next day give him the rest into his body, & that will surely bind his body & it may help the bleeding, being inward. For the same. LEt him blood in the breast veins, of each a pint, for that is most likely to turn the course of the blood: take 2 or 3 sponefuls of his blood, and put it in a saucer, and boil it until it be dried to powder, then take the powder thereof and blow it into his nostrils and if it come of a wound, put it into the same and it will presently stint it: horse-dung, asses dung, hogs, dung sage leaves bruised & put into the wound, or take of frankincense an ounce, aloes half an ounce, & beat them into fine powder, and mingle them thoroughly with the whites of eggs, until it be so thick as honey, and with soft hare's hair, thrust his nostrils so full as it cannot fall out. And lastly, some will throw cold water upon him against his hair, & it is likely that the overcooling of him that ways may stop the flux thereof: & this did M: john Orpen a worthy Farrer use, if at any sudden such an accident did happen. CHAP. 96. Of the rifts or corruption in the palate of the mouth. TAke sharp vinegar and salt and wash the same, and then anoint it with honey. For the lampas or bladders in a Horse mouth every Smith can cure. CHAP. 97. For the canker in the mouth. Wash the fore place with strong vinegar, made thick with the powder of Allome, two or three days together, to destroy the exulcerate matter. Then take a quart of fair water, of Allome 4 ounces, of honey 4. or 5. spoonfuls, of maudlin leaves, Sage leaves, & Collumbine leaves, of each a handful, boil all these together till half be consumed, and then every day wash the same two or three times being warmed, and it will heal it. CHAP. 98. For the Jigs in the mouth. THey are swellings with black heads, growing in the inside of the lips, the cure is to flit them and thrust out the corruption, and to wash the same with vinegar and salt. CHAP. 99: For the heat in the mouth. Turn up the upper lip and iagge it with a lancet, that it may bleed, and wash it with vinegar and salt. CHAP. 100 For the Camey in the mouth. THis cometh by eating of filthy hay, that cats, dogs, and other vermin have pissed upon, which will cause the Horse mouth to be furred or clammy, as he will not not eat. The cure is to let him blood in two great veins under the tongue and to wash his mouth, with vinegar and salt, and to give him new bread that is not hot. CHAP. 101. For the hurt of the tongue with the Bit. THe cure is to wash it with Alum water, then take black bramble leaves and chop them with lard, than put them within a clout and make them as round as a ball, then dip the same in honey and anoint the tongue therewith until it be whole. CHAP. 102. For the Barbels or paps under the tongue. THe cure is to clip them away and to wash the mouth with vinigere and salt. CHAP. 103. For the swelling in the gums. THe cure is, make him to bleed well in the pallet of the mouth and also to scarify the gums that the rank blood may come forth and then rub them thoroughly with vinegar and salt. For to draw the wolves teeth. CHAP. 104. THese are two little teeth growing in the upper jaw next to the great grinding teeth, which hinder the horse for grinding his meat, so as he will let it fall unchewed, & sometimes, you shall see some teeth so long and overhanging in his jaws, that they do race and cut his cheeks so as he cannot feed: The cure is, tie the horse head to some rafter or post, and his mouth to be opened with a cord, so as you may see every part thereof, then take a round iron tool half a yard long, made at the end like a Carpenters Gouge, and with your left hand set the edge of that tool at the foot of the wolves teeth, on the outside of the jaw, turning the hollowside of the tool dounward, holding your hand steadyly, then with a mallet in your right hand strike on the head of the tool, a pretty blow to lose it, and make it bend inward, then wrench the tooth outward, with the inside of the tool, and thrust it out of his head: & do the like to the other tooth, and fill the holes with salt, and if any tooth overhang the nether teeth to the hurt of the horse, then with your mallet and tool pair the tooth, or as many as do overhang for hurting the horse mouth. For the crick in the neck. CHAP. 105. THere are many opinions how this should come to a horse, and therefore I wish many means to be used before any extreme means be used: first therefore, if the horse have such a crick that he holdeth his neck straight and cannot have the use to lift the same up and down as is usual, then let two men one on the each side rub his neck, so long as by common intendment it is grown very hot, which being done, put a bit into his mouth, and make trial if he will or can rain in any seemly proportion, the which if he do, than it is to be intended either the same came by some cold or some strain, and then I would have him let blood on both the breast veins, and all his neck thoroughly anointed, and laboured with Aquavite and Nerve oil, that it may drink into the skin, and two sheep skin's wrapped about his neck with the wool next the neck, to keep it in a great heat, and so to rest 24. hours, & if he do not hereby amend, but carrieth his head still down & feedeth slowly, then make a hole in his forehead hard under the foretop, & thrust in a cornet to raise the skin from the flesh a handful deep, then take a goose feather well anointed with hogs grease to keep the hole open that it may run ten days together, & every day twice let the feather be cleansed & newly anointed, and let his neck be still laboured with rubbing, & kept very warm to keep it in a sweat, and if you perceive no amendment, then draw him with a hot iron from the root of the ear on both sides of the neck through the midst of the same, even to the breast a straw deep, that both ends may meet on the breast, but if he carry his neck awry on one side, then only draw the contrary side with a hot iron, & fail not every morning when he is fasting, to ride him with a bit till he sweat, & the hotter he is, the more pull in his rain, & when he cometh to the stable, keep him warm the he sweat, & after cool him moderately, and rubat him thoroughly. CHAP. 106 For the wens or knobs in any part of the body. THe cure is, take of mallows, sage, and red nettles of each a handful, boil them in running water, put thereunto butter and honey a little quantity, and when the herbs be soft, bruise them, than put thereunto of Oil of bays two ounces, and two ounces of hogs grease, and warm them together over the fire, which being well stirred and very hot, make a plaster as big as the wen upon a piece of leather, and so renew it by the space of eight days, always laid to so hot as may be, and if it come not to a head, then launce it very deep, then heal it with very clean washed turpentine, the yolk of an egg & a little saffron well wrought together, with a taint of flax well rolled therein, renewing it every day once. For the same. Take a pound of strong lie and soap, a quarter of vitreall roman, one ounce of Salarmoniacke, as much of roch-allom and boil them together till they are thick, and use it for an ointment. For the same. Take of Gipsiacum, the strongest, & lay it on with cotton three or four times and it will take it away. CHAP. 106. For the falling of the Crest. THe cure is, first let the crest be supported to stand upright, then on the contrary side that it falleth, draw his crest the depth of a straw with a hot iron, the edge of which iron would be half an inch broad, & make your beginning & ending somewhat beyond the fall, but the first draft must go all the way upon the edge of the main, even underneath the roots of the same, bearing your hand right downward into the neckward, then answer that with another draft beneath, and so far distant from the first as the fall is broad, compassing all the fall: and betwixt these two draughts, right in the midst draw another draft, then with a button of an inch about, or else crossing the same with your iron, burn at each end a hole, or else cross the spaces betwixt the draughts: the reason is, that by the pursing up and shrinking of the skin on the contrary side, the crest may stand upright: some will afterwards anoint the same with fresh butter, or something assuage the heat, but Master Orpen of Greenwich an excellent Farear, would not do any thing that might enlarge the skin: and for my own opinion, I hold it best until 9 days be past, and then to take away the scab it will not be amiss. CHAP. 107. For all manginess. THis is diversely cured, some thus. Take of green copporas, of alum, of each a pound, of white copporas a quartern, boil them together in 3. quarts of running water, in a strong earthen pot, until half be consumed, and being made warm, with a clout on a stick rub him once a day, until he be whole. For the same. LEt him blood a pottle at least, than put presently unto it, a quart of bay salt, & labour them together, and anoint all his body therewith, and let it dry in. Also to anoint him with the fat of a Seal, is excellent. For the same. TAke of fresh grease a pound, of quick silver half a pound, of brimstone one ounce, of rape oil half a pint, or else double or triple the simples, as you shall have occasion, then work them so as the quick silver be not seen, then take a woolcarde and claw him until it be raw; and anoint him therewith, but in this cure be sure first to let blood abundantly, and give him in all his provender, or with hot grains or mashes plenty of the powder of brimstone, to drive it out of the body, & when you think it dead, take a pound of black soap, and strong buck lie, and wash body, main, & tail, all over, if he be clean from all medicine, and a bout 5. or 6. days after purge him with Pills, as hath been prescribed, and then within 5. or 6. days after, swim him in a river, and rub him, and clear him of all medicine, and him very warm, and if you do first purge him, and then let blood, & after minister salves, it is the better. CHAP. 108 For swelling in the withers or back THe cure is, presently to lay a good quantity of Horse-dung (new made) upon it, and if it be new done, it will assuage it: If not, then prick it with a phlegm or fine penknife through the skin, to make the blood issue out: then take of mallows & smallage, 3. or 4. handfuls, boil them till they be pap, strain them and bruise the herbs in a wooden dish, and put thereunto a little hog's grease or salad oil, sheeps suet, or other fresh grease, boil them together, not frying them hard, and then with a cloth bind it warm to the swelling, renewing it every day until it be gone. For the same. SOme will shave the hair from the place, & lay wheat flower and the white of an egg beaten together upon a plaster, & not remove it for 2. or 3. days, & that will bring it to a head, & then in the lowest part where the corruption is, pierce it upward with a sharp iron somewhat hot, & anoint it every day with hog's grease, & after wash the place with water & salt, and throw some dry thing upon it. CHAP. 109. For inflammations or cankers in the withers. IF the inflammation be great, draw round about the swelling with a hot iron, and cross it, then take a round hot iron sharp pointed, & thrust it upward in the swelling place, towards the point of the withers, that the matter may issue downwards, then taint it with hog's grease, and anoint all the swelling, continuing so to do till it be asswagde, renewing the taint every day until the fiery matter be fallen away, then taint it with turpentine, the yolks of eggs and saffron mingled together, as aforesaid, renewing the taint every day till it be whole. But if the swelling go not away, then be sure the same is greatly inflamed and grown to impostumation, than lance it and let out the corruption, then take half a pint of honey, of verdigris two ounces beat to powder, mingle it with the honey, and boil them in a pot till it look red, and being warm, make a taint or plaster, as the same shall require, renewing it every day till it be whole, but to keep it from danger, the surer way is, to thrust the hole full of this last salve, and to thrust after it a piece of sponge to keep the hole open, and to draw forth the venom thereof, and so to use it till it be whole: some would have you always thoroughly wash the hole, with old chamber-lye, & bay salt, that hath been well boiled together, before you taint it, and no doubt it is very good; but if the same be very ulcerous and corrupt, then take lie, honey, roche alum, & mercury: seethe them together, & scour the same therewith to the bottom. CHAP. 110. For the Navellgall. THe cures hereof are divers, and so they ought to be, for medicine is to be ministered according to the hurt, of more or less. If it be but galled, take soot of a chimney and yeast mixed together, and plaster it once or twice a day. For the same if it be a sore. TAke a pottle of veriuce, three penny worth of green Copporas, boil it to the one half, and wash the sore therewith, then fill the sorewith red lead, and let it not be dressed of 3. days, and then dress him as you see cause. For the same. IF the Horse back be sore hurt, so that it swell and is impostumed, then launce it on the nethermost part of the ulcer, so that the matter may have issue downward, for if you should launce it aloft, than the corruption that remaineth will fisttulate: if you find the concavity deep, then make a taint of flax, and dip it in this salve: Take of decres suet, of wax, of Tar, and of Turpentine, of each three ounces, & one ounce of , mingle them altogether, and taint the wound, and if you see any dead flesh grow in it, than sprinkle the powder of verdigris upon it, and then lay upon the head of the taint a plaster of the yolk of an egg, honey and wheat flower, and thus dress it evening and morning. For the same. IF it be inflamed, cut it round about with a sharp knife, even to the bone, leaving no rotten flesh behind, then take the white of an egg and salt beaten together, and lay it upon Tow plasterwise, renewing it so for two days together, then take a quarter of a pint of honey, and one ounce of verdigris, beaten into powder, and boil them together, stirring them till it look red, and being warm make a plaster thereof with Tow, and wash the same with vinegar or white wine, and lay that plaster on it, and when it beginneth to heal, scatter the powder of Oyster shells on it or else the powder of honey, and slict lime being made into a cake and baked, to dry it up. CHAP. 111. For the swaying of the back. THis hurt cometh by some strain. The cure is, that so soon as he beginneth to complain which is by reeling or rolling in the hinder parts, which is easily discerned: then take a sheep's skin, as hot as it can be taken from the sheep, and clap the fleshy side thereof along his back, & presently put many clothes upon it, to keep his back as warm as may be, and so let it continue till it begin to smell, then prepare another in like manner, and take away the old, and so continue him for 21. days at least, and let him not be traveled but still rest. And if this help him not, then draw his back with a hot iron, right out, on both sides of the edge of his back, from the pitch of the buttock unto a handful within the saddle, & then overthwart: and let not the strikes be deep but so burned as they may look yellow, then presently lay on it this charge: of pitch a pound, of rosin half a pound, of bowl armony, half a pound, made in powder, & half a pint of tar, and boil them together in a pot, until they be thoroughly mingled, then being lukewarm, daub it very thick upon the burning, and clap on as many flocks of the Horse colour as you can make to abide, and let them remain till they fall off. CHAP. 112. For the hide hound. THe cause hereof is, a sudden cold after great heat, when the pores are open, the cold entereth, and maketh an attraction of the sinews, soas the Horse seemeth to go or travel with great grief, his skin being as if it were starched, being shrunk and clung to his ribs. The cure is, to let him blood in both the slanke veins, being next the girding place and the flanks. Then take a quart of good white wine, and put thereunto three ounces of salad oil, of cumin one ounce, of anniseedes two ounces, of irish two ounces, beaten into powder, and give it him warm, then let him be thoroughly rubbed from the huckle bone alongst the back, and over the ribs, half an hour together: then cover all his back with a sack, thoroughly soaked in a tub of water, and the water wrung out of it, and upon that cast many clothes, and gird them fast unto him, to bring him unto a sweat, which is the only and chief thing to recover him, and keep him with good mashes, and every day let him be so used for seven or eight days together, give him much sodden barley and beans for his diet, and green malt on the floor, and after the 8. days end let him blood in the two breast veins, about a pint, then give him a pint of sack, a quarter of a pint of salad oil, four penny worth of the best treacle, and ride him until he sweat, then presently set him in a warm stable, and cloth him very warm, and at night give him a good mash of malt, with the powder of brimstone to the quantity of two spoonfuls. CHAP. 113. For Surfeiting with Provender. WHen a Horse hath eaten more than the stomach can well digest, he is in such pain as he is not able to stand, but lieth and walloweth as if he had the bots, the danger whereof I have formerly written. The cure is, to let him blood and to draw his yard and wash it, to put a piece of a clove of garlic into it, to make him piss: also to rake him behind, and to give him a glister with the water of sodden mallows, fresh butter and salad oil keep him warm and let him eat very little for 4 or 5. days after. CHAP. 114. For the surfeiting, called, the foundering in the body. THe cause of this disease, is overmuch eating after labour, whiles the Horse is hot, whereby his meat not being digested, breedeth evil humours, which by little and little do spread through all the parts of his body, and at length oppress the whole body; and do so take away his strength that he hath not power to go or move his joints, and being laid, is not able to rise, whereby he wanteth the use of pissing, as also of dunging: for nature being overcome, then doth the humour rule the body to the utter destruction thereof: In like manner, it is when the Horse being over hot with travel drinketh so much as the cold, thereof suppreseth his natural heat: The cause is, that the evil humours being predominate according to their nature, being heavy & moist, immediately resort down to the horse legs and feet, and there rest, whereof there must be some dissolution, which if it be not prevented, make great gourdy limbs, as the pains, cratches, spavins, winde-galls, casting of the hoves, & such like: all which seem more than wonderful to the ignorant, because ignorance, is the mother of wonder: The cure hereof must be according to the effects that are wrought in the horse, as if it be espied, when the hair beginneth to stare, that he be chill, and shrug for cold, forsake his meat, hang down this head, quiver after cold water, and after two or three days, begin tocough, than it is a sign, that his surfeit is not great and then he may be cured thus: cover his belly with the glister last mentioned and give him this drink: take of malmesy a puart of sugar half ●●atterne, of hovy half a quartern, of cinnamon half an ounce of licoris and Anisseeds, of each two spoonful beaten into fine powder put it into the Malmsie, & give it him blood warm keep him warm, & with warm water, & 4. or 5. days after let him blood. CHAP. 115. For the yellows. THe cause hereof, is also the abundance of bad humours, the cure is plain: let him blood, if you see it yellow a pottle, then cure him by giving a quart of white wine, of saffron and turmerick of each half an ounce, and the juice that is wrong out of 2. handful of Selondine, & being blood warm give it him and keep him warm, and with good mashes, wherein put two spoonful of the powder of Brimston: some will give in this drink, the green order of geese strained. I could now entreat of the dropsy in a Horse, but if you observe those few rules I have set down, in the beginning of the title of cures, you will be free almost from all diseases. CHAP. 116. For the Colic. The cause of this disease is 2. fold, either it cometh through abundance of humours or with wind, and herein the owner or or keeper may give good direction, for if he knew the Horse to be clean within and orderly dieted, than it will be probaly conjectured it is the wind, and although it be wind yet I judge the origenal to beobstruction, of humour which will not suffer the wound to have his free passage, which otherwise nature would expel as his enemy, The cures may be divers, & because it is a disease that few Farriers, understand, I will set down several cures, because if one thing cannot be speedily procured another may, First it may be an obstruction, for that the horse hath the stone, & cannot stolen: first take a quart of white wine, half a pint of burr seed, beaten small, 2 ounces of parslyseed, of smallage Saxafrage, the roots of philupendula, Grommell seed, & broom seed, of each 2. ounces beaten to fine powder, a good handful of watercresses, and lay them in steep all night, and in the morning strain them clean, and put to it a little black soap, and a little butter, and ride him till he begin to sweat, than set him in your stable with a great quantity of sweet litter under him, and him warm and so let him stand meatles seven or eight hours, then give him dried oats & warm water, with a quantity of salad oil to drink, and before he have this drink let him fast all night. If he be a Horse there is nothing better for him then to cover a Mare. For the same, if you think it to come of wind. THis cometh when a horse is ridden hot and set up cold, he will pine away and forsake his meat: keep him empty all night in the morning take a quart of white wine, four ounces of Fenegreck, 7 ounces of bay, as much corn pepper, an ounce of Grains, an ounce of Ginger, 2. handfuls of water cresses, a handful of sage, a pound of Sengreen, and wring out the juice, another of mints, stamp them, & put them into the wine & let them stand on the fire till it boil, then strain it out and give it him blood warm with a little honey. For the same. TAke a quart of Malmsie, of cloves, pepper, Cinnamon of each half an ounce, of sugar, half a quarter: and give it the horse, lukewarm, and labour him upon it one hour that he dung, and stolen, and keep him with warm water: But if he be a stand horse, there is not any better thing, then that he hauè his full desirewith a mare, if he cannot piss, or be troubled with the Colic: it helpeth many sicknesses and strengtheneth Nature. For the same. TAke a pint of white wine and stamp to powder three of four Cantharideses, they are a kind of flies, which you shall have at the Apothecaries, & when your horse is very empty give them unto him being very well wrought, and brewed into the white wine lukewarm, understand I pray you that these flies are a very corrosive and eating through as poison, and they will not be stopped by any humour: with twice giving, it would cure any colic that had not been very old. After these many medicines for a colic, to refresh your conceits, I will set down two other cures, which I find in some Writers, & leave you to take so long time as you think fit to credit them. The first is, if the Horse have a colic, if he look upon a Duck or any water foul, it will cure him, the second is, if a maid strike him on the face with her girdle he is presently remedied. CHAP. 117. For Costivenes or belly bound. TAke of the decoction of meadows a quart, put toit half a pint of oil or somuch butter, an ounce of Benidicte luxature & power into his fundament with a little horn, and hold his tail close to his fundament, whiles another doth lead him, & so keep it as long as you can, and after keep him warm and give him warm water to drink. For the Laxe. CHAP. 118. TAke of bean flower & Bowl armony, of each a quartern, mingled in a quart of red wine, give it him lukewarm, and after drink warm water, with bean flower: but if that will not stay him, then give him half a penny worth of Allom, beaten into powder, & Bole Armony beaten small, in a quart of milk, stirring them till the milk be all of a curd, and this will stop him. For the Worms. CHAP. 119 THey are engendered of raw & evil humours: there are 3. kinds of them; the worm, the bot, the truncheon. The Horse will lie down and wallow, which is when they feed on him, his breath will stink, and his mouth clammy. The cure, give him a quart of new milk, and half a pint of honey in it, blood warm: this will make them rest from gnawing of him, because they wilsuck thereof until they be ready to burst: then the next day give him this drink following. The cures that are pretended are divers: first take a quart of wort, or ale of the strongest, then take a quarter of a pound of fern, half a pound of Savin, half a pound of stone crop; stamp them, and put them together with two spoonfuls of brimstone, and as much chimney soot, beaten to powder, and let them lie in steep two hours, then strain them and give the Horse a little, warm; then bridle him and let him stand 6. hours after without meat, and there is no doubt but the Horse willbe at quiet, for the strength thereof is such, to stain the maw as the bot will not meddle, but fly from it, but it doth not kill them: And so is it of all other medicines for the same, whereof are infinite. Now if I may persuade you, or rather Mai. john Orpen, that worthy Farrier deceased, after these former drinks given, the third day make him purging pills, as hath been before, viz. Take of lard a pound, laid in water two hours; then take nothing but the clean fat thereof, stamp it in a mortar, & thereunto put of Licoris, of Anniseedes, of fenugreek, of each beaten into powder 3. ounces, of Aloes in powder 2. ounces, and of Agaricke one ounce, knead them in paste and make 6. balls thereof, then having fasted over night, give him the next morning 3. of these pills, anointed with honey, when you have opened his mouth, catch hold of his tongue, hold it fast till you have hurled in one, and thrust it down his throat with a rolling pin, and then let his tongue go till he hath swallowed it down, and so do with the rest, and keep him close from all air, and at night give him a good strong mash, & warm water 3. days after; my reason is, for that these balls will now purge out of his body all the bots and worms, and all the humours that bred & cherished them: so as your Horse willbe perfectly clean: And you shall find most of the bots' alive, when they are purged; for you cannot kill them with medicine, but only make them forbear vexing of him, so long as his maw resteth so bitter & stinched, as they dare not feed on it, but upon other humours, whereby most men think they have cured their Horse perfect: and the like reason is for chickens gut, and such like: which being a pleasanter food than the horse mwe, leave him aprest, to feed on them, but do not cure him, for in reason it cannot kill them nor avoid them, and therefore the botts remain still in the body. CHAP. 120. For the Colt evil. THe eure is to wash the sheath clean with lukewarm Vinegar, draw out his yard, and wash it also, then ride him in some running stream up to the belly, to allay the heat, and thus do lustily a quarter of an hour, and so every day after for three or four days. CHAP. 121. For mattering of the yard. TAke a pint of white wine, boil therein a quarter of roche alum, and with a Squirt thrust up very far into his yard, squirt the same three or four times to pierce and cleanse the bottom from the filth, and thus continue until he be whole. CHAP. 122. For the Foalling of the yard. THe cure is to wash the same with warm white wine, and anoint it with oil of Roses and honey mingled together, then put it up, and with a codpiece or truss, keep it still up, and dress him every day once till he be whole. CHAP. 123. For the swelling of the Cod or stones. THe cure is to let him blood on both sides, in the flank veins, then take of Oil of Roses, and Vinegar, of each a pint, half a quartern of Bole Armony, beaten into powder, mingle them together, and being lukewarm, anoint the Cod therewith with two or three feathers, and the next day ride him into the water, and give him 2. or three turns, then bring him to the stable, and when he is dry, anoint them again, and so continue till he be whole, but if the cod do swell by means of any hurt, then cover the cod with a charge of Bole Armony and Vinegar wrought together, renewing till the swelling go away; and if it break, taint it with Melrosatum, and make him a breech, renewing it till it be whole. CHAP. 124 For incording or Bursting. THis is when the rimme that encloseth the guts is broken, so that they fall into the Cod of the horse, which is apparent to sight or feeling: the cure is to put 4 pasterns on his feet, as the horse-gelders' use, then bathe his stones with warm water and butter, then raise them up from the body with both your hands being closed by the fingers fast together, and so holding the stones in your hands, work down the gut into the body of the Horse, by striking it downward with your thumbs, one after another, until that side of the stone be so small as the other, then having returned the gut into his place, take a woollen list of two fingers broad, thoroughly anointed with fresh butter, and tie his stones both together, or so nigh his body as maybe, not over hard, but that you may put your finger betwixt; that done, in all quietness take the Horse away, and let him not be stirred 3. weeks after, but the next day unloosen the list, & take it away, & then & every day after twice or thrice in a day, cast cold water upon his cod, to make him shrink up his stones, & at 3. weeks or months end, to geld him of that stone, which done, let him eat little, and continually drink water but a little at a time, till three weeks be ended. CHAP. 125 For the Botch in the Grains of a Horse. THe cure is, to take of wheat flower, Turpentine, and Honey, of each like quantity, stirring it to make a stiff plaster, & to lay it to the sore to break it, & then launce it, and taint it with Turpemine, and Hog's grease, as before. CHAP. 126 For grief in the shoulder that hath been long time. THe cure is, give him a slit on both sides, an inch under the shoulder bones, then with a swans quill put into the slit, blow up first the one shoulder and then the other, as big as you can possibly, even up to the withers, and with your hand strike the wind equally into every place of the shoulders, and when they be both full, then beat all the windy places with a hazel wand, over all the shoulders, then with a flat slice of iron loosen the skin within from the flesh, that done rowel the 2. slitts or cuts with two round rowels of leather with a hole in the midst, that the mattet may issue forth, and let such rowels be three inches broad, and so put in as they may lie plain and flat within the cut. Then take of pitch, & of rosin, each apound, of tar half a pint, boil these together, and when it is somewhat cool, draw all the shoulders very thick therewith; that done, clap on as many flocks as will stick of the horse colour: and every day cleanse both the wounds and rowels, and put them in again, continuing so 16, days; then take them out and heal up the wounds with hog's grease & turpentine melted together, renewing it until the wounds be whole, but let the flocks lie until they fall off, and let the horse run to grass at the least half a year. CHAP. 127 Of wrinching the shoulder. THis cometh by a fall, sudden or short turning, rash running out of some door, or by some stripe of a horse, a sudden stop or such like; which being done, he will trail his leg close to himself as he goeth. The cure is to let him blood in the breast so soon as it is perceived or known (& the sooner the better) three pints at the least, and to keep all the same blood in a pot, and thereunto put a quart of strong vinegar, six eggs broken, shells & all, and so much wheat-flower as will thicken that liquor; put thereunto 1. pound of Bole Armony, beaten into powder, & 2. ounces of Sanguis Draconis, so as the flower may not be perceived, & if it be to stiff, soften it with vinegar, then with your hand daub all the shoulder from the main downward, & betwixt the forebowels all against the hair, & let not the horse remove until the charge be surely fastened to the kin, them carry him into the stable, & suffer him not to lie all that day, keeping him with a spare diet, 15. days together at the least, and let him not remove out of his place but only lie down all that time, & every day once refresh the shoulder point with this charge, laying still new upon the old; & at the 15. days or 20 days end, lead him gently to see if he be amended, the which if he be, let him rest by the space of two weeks without travel, but if he be nothing amended, than rowel him with a leather rowel upon the shoulder point, and keep him rowelled the space of 15. days, renewing the rowel, & cleansing the wound every other day, and walk him up and down very gently, always turning him on the contrary side, & if he go well, pull out the Rowel and heal up the wound with Turpentine & Hog's grease, & a taint of flax, but if the hurt were so violent that all this will not help him, then draw him Chequer wise with a hot iron, over all the shoulder point, and let him go to plough every day two hours in soft ground, and where he may not be overmuch strained, & if it be possible, let him be let blood so soon as he is hurt in those plate-veines, and also in the place, or as near as is possible where the hurt or blow is, to the intent that no blood congeal there, or that it tarry until the flesh become black with the bruise. For the same. IF the same be newly done, take a Fleame & prick through the skin before the shoulder, between the spade and the mary bone, the length of a bean, and then take a quill and put betwixt the skin and the flesh, and blow with your mouth that the skin may arise from the flesh, & then thrust out the wind again; and then take a pottle of stolen piss, and seethe it to a quart, and then strain it, and put thereunto half a pound of butter, half a pound of hog's grease, a handful of Mallows, as much of Tansy, as much of Veruain, as much of red nettles, as much of Southerwood, as much of balm leaves, bruise them, & seethe them in the urine till they be soft, then anoint the point of the shoulder therewith, about a hand breadth, every day, being first made warm, until he be whole, but let him not stir out of the stable or place where he standeth, till he be well, which is easily perceived, by standing as boldly on that leg as on the other, without sparing or favouring it. CHAP. 128 Of splayting of the Shoulder. THis cometh by some slip, whereby the shoulder parteth from the breast, and so leaveth a rift or rend in the flesh and film under the skin, which causeth him to trail his leg after him. The cure is, to put a pair of straight pasterns on his forefeet, and toilet him stand still in the stable; then take of Dialthea one pound, of Salad oil a pint, of oil de bays half a pound, of fresh butter half a pound, melt them together in a pipkin, anoint the grieved place therewith round about the inside of the shoulder, & within two or thee hours after all the shoulder will swell, then with a phlegm strike all the swelling places, or with a sharp hot iron, the head whereof would be an inch long, to the intent the corruption may run out: and still anoint the same very often with the said ointment, and if it gather to a head, then launce it where it is most soft, then taint it with Hogs-grease and Turpentine and a taint of flax. CHAP. 129. Of the shoulder pight. THis is when the pitch or point of the shoulder is displaced: which if it be, the point will stick out farther than his fellow, & the horse will halt right down. The cure is to make him swim in a deep water some xi. or xii. turns, if he be able to make the joint return to his place, then make two tough pings of ash-wood, the bigness of your little finger sharp, and thrust in one of the pings, from a 'bove downward, so as both the ends may equally stick without the skin, and if the pin of wood will not easily pass through, make it way with an iron pin, then make two holes cross to the first holes, so as the pin may cross the first pin right in the midst with a right cross, and the first pin would be somewhat flat in the midst, to the intent the other being round may pass the better without stop and close the juster together, then take a piece of a line, somewhat bigger than a Whipcord, and at one end make a loop, which being put over one of the pins ends, wind the rest of the line good & straight about the pins ends, so as it may lie betwixt the pin's ends and the skin, and fasten the least end with a pack needle, and a packthread unto the rest of the cord, so as it may not slip; but first anoint both pricks and cord with hog's grease, then bring him into the stable, and let him rest the space, of ix. days, and lie down so little as may be, and put a pastern on the fore leg, so as it may be bound with a cord unto the foot of the manger, to keep that leg always in the stable more forward than the other, & at the nine days end, pull out the pricks, & anoint the places with Dialthea, or Hog's grease, and turn him to grass. CHAP. 130. For swelling in the forelegges. THis cometh after great labour, but the efficient causes are many, but principally that he is traveled when he is to young, before he be cleansed from his humours: that he is traveled when he is full, that he hath too much rest, & is not kept with moderate diet, that he feedeth on green meat, that he is washed after labour and such like, as in the title of diet I have set forth. But if he be naturally fleshy lymmed, he will never be free, but so soon as he is cured upon travel he will swell again, & therefore such jades would be gelded and put to cart, and never suffered to get Colt. The cure is divers: take of mallows three or four handfuls, Rose cake and Sage a handful, boil them in water, and thereunto put half a pound of butter, and half a pint of Salad oil, and being made very warm, wash him twice a day for three or four days. For the same. TAke Hemlock, and stamp it, and mingle it with sheeps dung and Vinegar, and having made a plaster, lay it all over the swelling. For the same. TAke Winelees and Comen, and boil them together, and put thereunto a little Wheate-flower, and charge all the swelling therewith, and walk him often and fast to heat him, and if this will not serve, then take up the great vein above the knee on the inside, suffering him not to bleed from above but from beneath: if he be a clean and lean limmed, & used as I have expressed, a little butter and beer warmed, and his feet well stopped with Cowdung after his great travel is sufficient: but if he be so fleshy limmed as this will not help, cut his throat and wash him with his own blood, and he will never after swell. CHAP. 131. For soundering. BEfore I enter to express the cure, I would have you diligently to note the cause of this disease, for in the knowledge of the causes lieth the knowledge of the cures; and if you do observe those few rules I set down in the beginning of this title of curing, and do diligently observe, assure yourself you shall be little troubled with curing: for having prevented the cause of the grief or sickness, ye do evermore prevent the grief and sickness itself. The causes of foundering are either from superfluous and overmuch eating and drinking, from immoderate and extreme labour, or abundance & fullness of humours: and because I have entreated hereof in the title of diet, as also in the title of breeding, I leave you to the diligent consideration thereof, and my rules formerly prescribed. The undoubted and infallible cure hereof is, Garter each leg, immediately one handful above the knee, with a list (good & hard) and then walk him to chafe him into a heat, & being somewhat warm let him blood in both the breast veins, two or three quarts, and reserve the same, continually stirring it with your hand to gather out the clods thereof: then take thereof two quarts, of wheate-flower half a peck, six eggs shells and all, of Bole Armony half a pound, of Sanguis Dr●conis half a quartern, and a quart of strong Vinegar; mingle them all together, & charge all his shoulders, breast, back, loins and forelegges therewith, and walk him upon some hard ground, suffering him not to stand still, and when the charge is dry, refresh it again, & having walked him three or four hours together, lead him into the stable and give him a little mash of Malt, and some hay and provender, and then walk him again, for four or five days, renewing the charge upon him as it drieth, so long as it lasteth, and keep it warm, and with a thin diet. But if you see the Horse to be afraid to set his hinder feet to the ground, and to be so weak behind, & to stand quivering and shaking and covet to lie down, garter him also above the hoofs, on the hinder legs, and let him blood also in the thigh veins, to the quantity of a pottle, and so double your charge in quantity, and therewith also charge both hinder legs, reins and flanks, all against the hair, & if you find him feeble, by drawing so great a quantity of blood, give him a quart of Malsmesey, a little Cinnamon, Mace and pepper finely beaten into powder, made lukewarm, & let him be walked and chafed up and down, if he be able to go, but if he be not able, then tie him up to the Rack, and let him be hanged with Canvas & ropes so as he may stand upon the ground with his feet, and not suffered to lie down: then pair all his feet so thin, that the dew come forth, and tack on the shoes again, stopping the feet with bran and hogs-grease boiled together, and so hot as you may, and wrap them in clothes even to the pasterns, tiing the clouts fast: Let his diet be thin, & give him no cold water, & so soon as he is able, let him be almost continually walked, unless he be so long gone that his hooves begin to lose, or that it break forth at the Cronets of the hooves, then take two Eggs, and as much bowl Armony and beane-flower as will thick the same, and mingle them well together, and make thereof plasters, such as may close each foot round about, somewhat above the Cronet, & bind the same so fast that it fall not away, or be removed by two days together, but let the soles of his feet be cleansed and stopped every day once, & the Cronets but every two days, & not walked for losing his hoses: but when he amendeth, walk him upon some soft ground fair & softly, but if it break out above the hoof, then take all the forepartes of the sole clean away, leaving the heels whole, then stop him, and also dress him about the Cronet, as aforesaid if this grief be espied in time, it is justly cured. CHAP. 132 Of the Splint. THis soarance is known to all men: the cure is, wash it with warm water, & shave off the hair, & lightly scarify all the sore place with the point of a razor, so as the blood may issue forth: then take of Cantharideses half a spoonful, and of Enforbium as much, beaten into fine powder & mingle them together with a spoonful of Oil Debay, and then melt them in a little pan, stirring them well together, so as they may boil over, and being so boiling hot, take two or three feathers, and anoint all the sore places there with, and let not the Horse remove from the place for two hours after. After carry him away and tie him so as he cannot touch the medicine with his lips, and also stand without litter all that day and night, and within two or three days after anoint the sore with butter for nine days after. For the same. TAke up the contrary leg, and gently beat the splint with a small roaling pin of hazel, until it begin to be soft, then with a Fleame strike it in several places, that the blood issue forth, then take the sharpestred Onion and cut off the head thereof, and in the middle thereof, put a piece of verdigris as big as your thumbs end, and then lay the top or head of the Onion upon it, and wrap it in brown paper, and cover it in the Embers, until it be thoroughly boiled, & soft as pap; then open it, and being very hot, lay it to the splint, and bind it fast with clothes, hard to the splint, and so let it continue, until it fall away, and the splint will never grow more. For the same. TAke an Onion and pick out the Core, and put therein a spoonful of Vnslict lime, and four penny weight of Verdegrece, & half a pound of Launder seed, and roast the Onion until it be soft, and then cut the skin a little, that the medicine may enter to fret the malady out, and let the hair remain, and let the medicine lie to it three days. CHAP. 133. For the Malender. THis is a sc●b growing in the form of lines, or strecks overthwart the bent of the knee, in the knee, in the inside of the leg. The cure is, wash it with warm water, and shave the scab clean away, then take a spoonful of Soap, as much Lime, and make it like paste, and spread as much on a clout as will cover the sore, bind it fast, renewing it every day for three days together, then anoint the same with oil of Roses, to cause the crust to fall away, and then wash it with Urine, & strew on the powder of Oyster-shels. For the same. TAke a Barrelled Herring with a soft roe, and two spoonfuls of black Soap, and half an ounce of Alum, and bruise them together, and lay to the sore three days. CHAP. 134. For an upper Taint or over reach upon the back, sinew of the shank, somewhat above the joint. THis is a swelling of the master sinew which cometh, for that the horse doth overreach & strike that sinew with the toe of his hinder foot, the place will swell and the Horse halt. The cure is to wash the place with warm water, and shave off the hair so far as the swelling goeth, and scarify every part of the sore lightly with a Razor, that the blood may issue forth, then take of Cantharideses and Euforbium half an ounce, mingle them together with half a quartern of Soap, and with a slice spread some of this ointment over all the fore, and let him rest for one hour after, and let him stand without litter, and the next day dress him so again, and the third day anoint the sore with butter nine days after, then take 3 handful of mallows, a handful of Sage, and a Rose cake, and boil them in water, & when they be soft, put half a pound of butter, and half a pint of salad oil to the water, & being warm, wash the place four or five days together therewith. CHAP. 135. Of the nether joint. THis is a bladder full of jelly, like to a wind-gall, not apparent, but by feeling, growing in the midst of the pastern above the frush: it cometh by some strain, wrinch, or overreach, the nether joint toward the fetter lock will be hot, and somewhat swollen: The cure is, tie him above the joint, with a list somewhat hard, and that will cause the bladder to appear to the eye, then launce it, & thrust out the jelly, then take the white of an egg, and Salt beaten together with a little tow, and bind unto it, renewing it once a day for five or six days. CHAP. 136. Of an overreach on the heel. TAke the white of an Egg, and Bole Armonye, mingled together with a little flax, and renew it for four or five days. CHAP. 137 Of the Serew or Serow. THis is like a splint in manner of a gristle, as great as an Almond, it groweth on the fore-leg, sometime on the outside, & sometime on the inside, in the middle of the leg. The cure, take an Onion and pick out the core, & put therein a spoonful of Honey, a quartern of a pound of Vnslickt-lime, and three penny worth of verdigris, and roast the Onion, and bruise it, and lay it to hot, having first cut the skin. CHAP. 138. Of a false quarter. THis is a rifte most commonly in the inside of the hoof, it cometh by evil paring the hoof, the Horse will halt, & the rift will bleed; the cure is, cut so much away on that side of the shoe where the grief is, so as the rift may be uncovered, then open the rift with a drawer, & fill it with a role of tow, dipped in Turpentine, wax and Sheep Suet melted together, renewing it every day till it be whole. When the rift is closed, draw him betwixt the hair and the hoof, with a hot iron overthwart the place, whereby the hoof will shoot all downward, and ride him with an other shoe till he be thoroughly whole. CHAP. 139 Of a Horse that is Hipped. THe Horse that is hipt, is when his hip Bone is removed out of his right place, and cometh by stripe, stretch, slipping, sliding or falling; he will go sideling, and the lower hip will fall lower than the other, the cure is speedily to take of Oil debay, of Dialthea, of Neruall, of Swine's grease of each half a pound, melt them all together, stirring them continually, until they be thoroughly mingled together, & anoint the sore place against the hair with this ointment every day once for 15. days together, and make the ointment to sink well into the flesh, by holding a broad bar of iron over the place anointed, to make it enter into the skin, and if at the end of those days it doth not mend, then slit a hole downward into the skin, an inch beneath the hip bone, making the hole so wide as you may easily thrust in a rowel with your finger and then with a little broad slice of iron, loosen the skin from the flesh above the bone, and round about the same, so broad as the rowel may lie flat and plain betwixt the skin and the flesh, which rowel would be of soft calves leather, with a hole in the midst, like a ring having a thread tied to it, to pull out when you would cleanse the hole: and if the rowel be rowelled about with flocks fast tied on, & anointed with the ointment of Hog's Grease & Turpentine boiled together, it will draw so much the more: that done, taint it with a long taint of flax, dipped in turpentine and Hog's grease made warm, and so renew it every day, for xv. days: and before you dress him, let him be walked every day a quarter of an hour, and as it healeth, make the taint every day less than the other: and so soon as he is whole, draw with a hot iron cross lines of 8. or 9 inches long right over the hip bone, so as the rowelled place may be in the midst thereof, and burn him no deeper, but so as the skin may look yellow: and then charge all that place, & over all his buttocks with this charge. Take of pitch one pound, of Rosen one pound, of Tar half a pint boil them together, and being good and warm, spread it with a clout tied to a stick, and clap on as many flocks of the Horse colour as will stick, and the more he may travel at his own will, the better. CHAP. 140 Of Stifling and hurts in the stifle. THis is when the stifling bone is removed from his right place: but if it be not removed, than the horse is hurt and not stifled. The cure is in all points like unto the shoulder pight, saving that the pins need not be so long because the stifling place is not so broad, & standing in the stable, let him have a pastern with a ring upon his fore-leg, & thereunto fasten a cord, which cord must go about his neck, and let it be so much strained as may bring his forelegge forward than the other to keep the bone from starting out, but if he be but hurt with some stripe or strain, than the bone will not stand out, but perhaps the place may be swollen, than a moint the place with the ointment last mentioned, in the chapter going before, every day for 15. days, and if he mend not therewith, then rowel him with a herne rowel, and cleanse the hole every day, by turning the rowel anointed with the said ointment. CHAP. 141. For a wrench or strain in the Pastorne. TAke a quart of brine, and seethe it till the same arise, & then strain it, and put to it a handful of tansy, a handful of mallows, a sawcerful of honey, a quarter of a pound of sheeps tallow, beat them together and set them on the fire, till they be well sodden, & then lay it hot to the taint, & sow a cloth fast about it, and so let it rest 5. days: and if this prevail not, wash the place and shave away the hair, saving the fetter lock, and scarify it, and lay Cantharideses to it, and heal it as the splint. CHAP. 142 Of the dry spavin. THis is apparently known. The cure is to wash it with warm water, and shave off the hair so far as the swelling is, then scarify the place, that it bleed, and take of Cantharideses a dozen, of Euforbium half a spoonful, break them into powder, and boil them together, with a little oil de bay, and being boiling hot, with feathers anoint the sore, and tie his tail for wiping it, and within an hour after, set him in the stable, and tie him so as he lie not down that night (for rubbing the medicine) and within a day after, anoint it every day with butter, for 6. days, then draw the sore place with a hot iron, then take a sharp iron like a bodkin, somewhat bowing at the point, and thrust it in at the nether end of the middle line, and so upward betwixt the skin and the flesh, an inch and a half, and then taint it with turpentine and hog's grease melted together, and made warm, renewing it every day once, the space of 9 days: but remember that immediately after his burning, you take up the master vein, which must be done in this manner: cast the Horse upon some straw, then having found the vein, mark well that part of the skin which covereth it, and pull that aside from the vain with your left thumb, to the intent you may slit it with a razor, without touching the vein, & cut no deeper then through the skin, and that longest wise, the vein goeth and not above an inch, then will the skin return again to the place over the vein, then with a cornet uncover the vein, and make it bare, and being bore thrust the cornet underneath it, and raise it up, and put a shoemakers thread underneath, somewhat higher than the cornet, than the Cornet standing so still, slit the vein longways, that it may bleed, and having bled somewhat from above, then knit it with a sure knot somewhat above the slit, suffering it to bleed only from beneath, a great quantity, then knit up the vein also beneath the slit, with a sure knot, then betwixt these two knots cut the vein a sunder, where it was slit, and fill the hole with Salt, then lay on this charge: take half a pound of pitch, a quarter of a pound of Rosin, and a quarter of a pint of Tar, boil them together, and being warm, anoint all the inside of the joint, and clap on flocks of the horses colour, and turn him to Grass, if it may be till he be perfect whole, and the hair grown again. For the same. CVt the skin over the veins, as aforesaid, and slit the vain, and cut it as aforesaid, then where the spaven is highest, with a small Chisell the breadth of a penny, strike off the quantity of an Almond, and no more, then take two penny weight of verdigris, another of Naruill beat them small, and put it to the spaven, and three days after wash the corsie with bark water or Vinegar: then take Colman and Dyaclum upon a linen cloth, & lay it to the Spaven every day, and for 7. days after a new plaster, then draw it with a hot iron, as aforesaid, and also a charge and flocks as is before recited. You must always observe in all your cures, that you never begin to cure any soarance whatsoever, but when the Horse hath been at long rest without labour, otherwise it willbe most painful, and peradventure make him complain ever after, and therefore whensoever you see any soarance begin in any part of his body, of what age soever, take it away so soon as you can, and after he hath rested and is at quiet, and doth not complain thereof, but never after present travel, for than he is full of grie fetherwith, the which if it should be then done, may be his utter spoil. CHAP. 144. Of the wet or blood spavin THis is commonly known, and some call it the through Spavin: it is fed by a thin fluxible humour, by the master vein. The cure is to shave off the hair, & to take up the vain in every part, as I have described in the cure of the bone spavin, and then to cut the vein asunder, & draw it with a hot iron, and to charge it, and to put on flocks, as I there described, & it will perfectly heal and cure it, for I have proved it certain. CHAP. 145. Of the Curb. THis is commonly known. The cure is, take of wine lees a pint, a porringer full of wheat-flower, of cumin half an ounce, and stir them well together, and being made warm, charge the sore place therewith, renewing it every day once, the space of 3. or 4. days, and when the swelling is almost gone, then draw it with a hot iron, and cover the burning with pitch and rosin melted together, and laid on warm, and clap on flocks of his own colour, & let him rest, and come in no water 12. days. For the same. Take an iron and make it red hot, and hold it against the sore as nigh as you may, but touch not the fore, & when it is warm, then take a Fleame and wet him 6. or 7. places full of Neruill, then take a spoonful of salt, and a penny weight of verdigris, and the white of an egg, and put all these together, and take a little flax and wet it therein, and lay it to the sore. CHAP. 146. Of the pains or cratches. THis is a fretting matterish water, bred in the pasterns of the hinder legs, sometime by foul keeping, but principally of liquid and thin humours resorting to the joint, whereby the legs will be swollen, hot and scabby: The cure is to wash the pasterns with beer and butter, which being dry, clip away all the hair saving the fetterlocke, then take of turpentine, hog's grease, and honey, of like quantity, mingle them in a pot, & put thereunto a little Bole Armony, the yolks of two Eggs, and as much wheat flower as will thicken them, then with a slice, lay it on a cloth, make a plaster to go round about the pastorne, & bind it fast, renewing it every day, let him not come in any wet, but stand still: and some will wash it only in Gun powder and vinegar. For the same. Make this ointment and keep it in the stable to serve at all times. Take 1 pound of Hog's grease, 1. penny worth of verdigris, 2. ounces of the best mustard, half a pound of oil de bay, a quarter of a pound of Naruill, half a pound of honey, half a pound of English wax, 1. ounce of Arsenic, 2. ounces of red lead, half a pint of vinegar, boil all these together, and make an ointment of it, and being bare from hair, lay this to it very hot: and this will serve for kibed heels and such like. CHAP. 147. Of windegalles. THis grief every man knoweth. The cure is, wash the places with warm water, & shave off the hair, then draw it with a hot iron, in this manner, ● that done, slit the middle line which passeth right down through the windegall with a sharp knife, beginning beneath and so upward, half an inch, and thrust the jelly out, then take pitch & rosin melted together and laid on hot, and put flocks upon it. CHAP. 148. Of the Ringbone. THis is a gristle growing about the cronet of the hoof. The cure is to fire the sore with right lines from the pastorne to the coffin of the hoones, in this manner, ‑ ‑ ‑ and let the edge of the drawing iron be as thick as the back of a big knife, and burn it so deep as the skin may look yellow, then cover it with pitch and rosin melted together, and lay thereon flocks of the Horse's colour: some will eat it away with corrosives, as the splent. CHAP. 149 Of the crown scab. THis is a filthy stinking scab, growing about the cronets of the hooves: the hair will stare like hog's bristles, and be always mattering, anoint it when the hair is shaven away, with the ointment for the pains, and keep it from wet. CHAP. 150. Of the Quitterbone. THis is a breaking out on the top of the cronet of the hoove, commonly on the inside, and cometh by pricking or gravelling, it will break out with matter, or a little deep hole like a thistle. The cure, to burn it about with a hot iron, then take of Arsenic the quantity of a bean, beaten into fine powder, put it into the bottom of the hole with a quill, & stop the mouth of the hole close with tow, and bind it so that the Horse may not come at it with his mouth, and so let it rest that day, and the next day if the hole look black, it is a good sign, then taint the hole with hog's grease, & turpentine melted hot together with a taint of tow, and cover it with a bolster of tow, dipped in that ointment, continuing so till you have gotten out the core, and then see whether the lose gristle in the bottom be uncovered, and feel with your finger or a quill if you be nigh it; and if you be, raise it with a crooked instrument, and pull it out with a pair of nippers, and then taint it with the said ointment, and after take honey and verdigris boiled together till it look red, and heal it therewith, laid upon tow, and take heed it heal not too soon, or close up suddenly. CHAP. 151. Of graveling. THe cure is to pair his hoove, and get out the gravel, then stop him with turpentine & hog's grease, molten hot and stopped with tow, and beware he come not out of the stable till he be well. Be sure that you have searched and made the foot very clean, then take an ounce of virgin wax a quarter of an ounce of Rosen, aquarter of an ounce of Deeres suet, half an ounce of Boar's grease, a head of Sinigreene, bruise them all in a mortar, and set it over the fire to melt, then lay it hot thereunto and it will help him. CHAP. 152. Of Surbaiting. The cure is, take off his shoes, and make his feet very clean, but pair no hoove away, than tack a hollow shoe on, then take half a pound of the sword of bacon, a quarter of a pound of white soap a handful of burnet, a handful of bay leaves, and 4. or 5. branches of herb grace, stamp them well and fry them, and lay them to the feet so hot as ye may, both under and over the foot, and keep him dry, renewing 4. or 5. times. CHAP: 153. Of the prick in a Horse soot with a nail or otherwise. THe cure is, cut the mouth of the hole, where the prick is, as broad as a two penny piece, and search it clean, for else it is very dangerous; take a handful of red nettles, and beat them in a mortar, put thereunto a spoonful of redvinegar, and a spoonful of black soap, and 3. spoonfuls of bores grease or salt bacon, beat them altogether and make a salve thereof, and thrust as much into the sore thereof as you can, and stop it for falling out, and let it tae knower, and it shall nevorrot further. Some will pour in hothogs greaseand turpentine, and a taint of flax, and so cure it, but if it begin to break out at the top of the cronet, then take half a quartern of Bole Armony, as much bean flower, and two eggs, and make a plaster of tow, and bind it upon the cronet, and keep him dry, and the hole very open in the foot, till he be well, and renew the plaster every two days, till it be whole, and if after it should happen a piece of flesh like a fig to grow in the bottom of the foot, pair it away with a hot iron, and lay hog's grease and turpentine to it, to heal it. CHAP. 154. Of the retreat or cloying the foot, with a prick of a nail. THe cure is, to take turpentine, wax, and sheep's fuet, molten together, and pour into it: or the medicine beforeprescribed. CHAP. 155 Of loosening the hoof. THis grief if it be loose round about the hoof, than it cometh by foundering, if it be in part, then by some other anguish; if it come by foundering, than it will first break in the forepart of the cronet, against the toe, because the humour doth descend right towards the toe, but if of a channel nail or prick, than the hoof will loosen equally round, but if other hurts, then right above the place, that is offended, which would be well observed of the Farryar; But of what cause soever, be careful to keep open the hole in the bottom of the foot, & restrain it above with the restrictive plaster of Bole Armony, beane-flower, and eggs, mentioned in the cure of the prick in the foot: you may take three spoonfuls of Tar, a quarter of a pound of Rosen, a handful of Tansey, a handful of Rue, a handful of Mints, & as much of Southern-wood, beat them all together with a pound of Butter, & one pennyworth of Virgin's wax, and so make a plaster, and bind it to for seven days, and it will be whole. CHAP. 156. Of casting the hoof. THe cure is, take of Turpentine one pound, of Tar half a pint, of unwrought wax half a pound of sheeps suet half a pound, of salad oil half a pint; boil all these together, until they be thoroughly incorporated; make a boot of leather with a strong sole, sit for the Horse foot, to be buckled about the pastern, then take a good quantity of flax or tow, and lay this salve upon it to cover the foot, so as the boot may not any ways grieve him, renewing it every day until it be whole: then let him stand in the stable upon a bed of cowdung and snails beaten together, which will increase the same for 15. days, and then put him to grass. This receited ointment would be always used to anoint the hooves. CHAP. 157. Of the hoove bound. THis is a shrinking together of the whole coffin of the hoove, whereby the tuell of the foot, which is enclosed in the same, is so pinched, that the Horse is very lame therewith, & especially after travel; and if you knock them, they will sound as an empty bottle: and if both feet be not bound, you shall apparently see the hoove that is bound to be less than the other. This cometh by suffering the feet to remain dry after great travel: and it commonly cometh to a jennet or Ass hooue, because it is deep of hoove, but not to the flat hoove, for that only wrinckleth & waxeth brittle, and by reason of the breadth and shallowness of hooue it cannot enclose the tuell of the foot, to strengthen it, and yet it is the most worst hoove. The cure is to open the feet in the quarters very much, so as you may well lay your thumb betwixt the frush of the foot and the end of the coffin where it principally bindeth, then raise both the quarters of the hoof, with a drawer from the Cronet, unto the sole of the foot, so deep as you see the dew come forth, & also two races of each side, then open the foot within, & let him blood in the toes, and if it be old, the blood will be as cold almost as water, for that it hath not been fed with blood, wherein the vital spirit is, & that is the cause of the coldness, whereby it is apparent, that the hoof hath not prospered, but starved, for you shall see the frush and all the sole of the foot shrunk up and starved, then take away the sole of the foot, and stop it with Nettles and salt bruised together gently, not over hard, renewing it once a day for 9 days, and be sure every day twice, thoroughly to anoint the cronet of the hoof, with the ointment prescribed for casting the hoof, and after the 9 days end, let his feet be stopped with Bran and Hogs-grease boiled together, and bind to as hot as may be but still anoint the hoof, and when you put him to grass, let him not wear any shoes, but put him in a Marsh or meadow, deep of grass, whereby his feet will be always wet, and so enlarged again: some ignorantly call this dry foundering, when as all foundering in that foot cometh by descending of humours to the feet, and this is clean contrary, & my experience hath cured horses that have been hoofe-bound four or five years, by this practice, which cometh as much by drawning blood in the toe of the foot, contiwally knocking the same until you find warm blood to come forth. CHAP. 158. Of the running of the frush. THe cure is, pair away the corrupt places, until you see it raw, & where the issue is, then take a handful of soot, and as much Salt, & the white of three eggs, and beat them together, and having made the shoe hollow, and tacked on, stop the feet therewith very hard, and renew it every day for 7. days, and let not the horse touch any wet, & when he is whole, be sure after travel to keep that foot clean from gravel. CHAP. 159 Of the Leprosy or universal manginess. THe Horse that is infected herewith will be full of Scabs, rawness, scurvy, and continual scratching. The cure is, first to let him blood the first day on one side of the neck, and give him a quart of new milk, and half a handful of the finest powder of brimstone, thoroughly stirred together, for that will expel the mange, and in all his provender and mashes continually for 5. or 6. days give him brimstone, and in hot grains, but if he will not eat it, give it him with milk, new ale or wort: then the next day let him blood on the other side of the neck, at each time a good quantity. Within 2. days after let him blood in the breast veins; within 2. days after in the flank veins; within 2. days after under the tail, so as he becometh weak therewith: keep his blood in a pale, then seethe chamber-lye and bay salt together, and let it be strong of the salt, then take a quantity of that blood and stir them together, that the same be thick, then let him be rubbed all over with a pease wisp: then when the same is hot, rub him in every part of his body therewith: and let it dry upon him as much as may be, and the next day more of the same upon the old, that it may be as it were plastered with the same, the which being done in the sun, will easily be performed. After the same hath rested upon him two days, take bucke-Lye, and black soap, being very warm, and wash all his body clean: then give him a quart of sack, and half a pint of the best treacle to drink, and anoint his body with this ointment in every place. Take of Lamp oil a quart, fine powder of brimstone a pint, 2. pound of black soap, a pint of tar, a pint of barrows grease, and so much 5 foot of the chimney, as will thicken it, compound them well together, anoint him all over with the same, being very hot, and so let him rest till it fall off from him, then when it is all gone, wash him clean with soap suds, and thoroughly dry him, and then clothe him and put him into a sweat, and after dry him & keep him warm and he willbe perfect, and remember within one month after let him blood a pottle at least, and it will bring him to perfection of body, and health, with clean and sweet diet, and moderate labour: & if any place be raw, throw thereupon the powder of brimstone only, and it will dry it and heal it, and then give him a purging drink, and put him to grass so soon as you may. CHAP. 160. Of the sarcyn. THis ulcer is not unknown to any that have enjoyed Horses, and yet unknown almost to all; I mean the true cause of the disease, and the cure: some say it is a corruption of blood, some an outward hurt, as of spur galling, biting of ticks, hog's louse or such like, some say an infirmity bred in the breast near the heart, and in the side vessels or cod near to the stones, of evil humours congealed together, which after disperse themselves into the thighs, and sometimes into the head, and do send forth watery humours into the nostrils, and then it is called the running Farcin. I have often said if the true cause of a disease be known, the disease itself is easily cured. If any man of understanding think that by healing the place grieved, that the same is always sound & whole, he is deceived: for many times the sudden healing or curing killeth the body or maketh that part which seemeth to be healed, to become of little use for the help of the body: for the mange, the leprosy, & this disease of farcin, are in a Horse especially most pernicious, for often times it falleth out that many Horses infected therewith, though they live, and the disease seemeth to be cured yet are of small or no use: and as I have elsewhere said, that as God created Adam Lord of all his creatures, to rule, govern, preserve, and have the use of his creatures, the same right is descended upon us his children, so as all our government over his creatures, must be according to the nature of man, governed & prescribed by reason, because all creatures are deprived of reason, but only man: whereby it may be probably conjectured, that where man doth govern, there, and not elsewhere, reason doth govern, and then reason being the bounds and limitation of mediocrity, we are to infer, that mediocrity is the centre of all virtue, and the same aught to be used in all the actions of man. Let us then consider of the use and practise of this disease: doth not every man's experience and his own understanding (being his witness) tell him, that when a young or old Horse that hath long rested, being taken up from grass, that he is full and choked as it were with abundance of humours? & doth he think that when travel disperseth those humours, as it will, that these humours do not fly into the air, but remain in the several parts of the body, and doth he think that the greatness of humours being an enemy to nature, but that nature would expel them if she could, or else keep them from the heart, the fountain of her life, and so leave them to creep out of the body in some of the outward parts thereof? or otherwise, if they cannot get out better to destroy that member than the whole body? & doth not the continual increase of humours, in the end by disorder, become rulers & predominate over nature, so as nature is enforced by their violence to yield herself to destruction? and doth not most men ride their Horses upon a full stomach, and cause nature against her will to digest the same unnaturally, whereof many unperfect humours are bred? & doth not most men when their Horses stand in the stable and rest, give him continually more than he can digest, which also breedeth raw superfluous humours? and doth not most men feed them in the stable with new, raw, and green food, which naturally breedeth obstructions, and raw & filthy humours? and do not most men when their Horses are in the stable, suffer them to rest and feed full without moderate excercise? and do not most men when they travel, their Horse being very hot, suffer them to drink their fill? & do not mostmen when their horses come into the Inn very hot, the stomach them being most weak, suffer them then to eat, before nature be able to digest? How then shall I express the true cause of diseases, when all these abuses breed infinite causes of disease, without which no cure can perfectly be effected, yet where man cannot truly define, Reason leaveth him probaly to conjecture: and therefore I conjecture the cause of this disease to grow either from abundance of bad humours, which corrupt the blood, or from great distemperature of the blood, by a violent heat into a sudden cold, so as I have gathered it only to the corruption of the blood, for otherwise I do not think that the bite of a Horse or a louse could so poison the whole body, as to become loathsome to behold: & therefore to the cure: first let him blood on both sides of the neck, 3. quarts at least, for it is most certain that the liver which is the fountain of blood is corrupted, and so sendeth the same into every part of the body, then give him this drink; take a gallon of fair water, put into it a good handful of Rue, a good spoonful of Hempseed, and a handful of the inner rind of green elder, bruise them in a mortar together, and seethe it till half be consumed, and being cold, give it him to drink: evermore continue to let him blood in that vain which is nighest to the sore place, a great quantity, let his diet be thin, but very clean and sweet, viz. wheat straw, and dried sweet oats, a few at a time, then take this approved medicine following, which although the disease be never so foul, it will undoubtedly cure it. Take of herb grace a handful, of Fetherfew a handful, of Chickweed of the house a handful, of Kicks would a handful, of herb Robert a handful, keep the residue thereof in a pipkin close covered in the earth, stop the mouth thereof close with herb grace and dock-leaves, and a green turf laid upon it, that no air come in, and every third day untie his ears, and dress it with new, & so continue it till all the farcin be dead; for undoubtedly at 3. or 4. dress it will kill it: wash all the herbs so clean as no dirt or filth be on them: boil chamberlye and bay salt, with a little copporas and strong nettles, to wash the sores if need be. But beware of burning them, either with fire orother corrosive, for although it may kill the ulcer, yet being dispersed, it will burn and scorch the Horse skin, for burning doth purse the skin, and maketh it run together, so as the Horse will never after prosper. I would have you get cases of leather; fastened to a head stall, made hollow like the shape of a horse ears, to lace or buckle, that you hurt not his ears, or make them laut eared, which thing the Saddlers will help you herein, for many times by long binding, the ears are spoiled, so as they must be cut off. After that you see the filthy ulcer killed and dead, yet you must know that the blood is still putrefied and corrupted, therefore every month at least let him blood, but always in several places, and when you see the blood fine and pure, then give him some good scouring drink, a quart of white wine, a quarter of an ounce of ruebarb, laid in it in steep, in very thin slices all a night, one ounce & a half of Aloes in powder dissolved therein, half an ounce of Agaricke, an ounce of sense steeped in the wine all night, 3. races of Ginger sliced and laid also in steep all night, and two ounces of syrup of Roses, but the Rhubarb, Senee and Ginger, take out of the wine but before you put in the other simples, and then make it blood warm, and give it the Horse, & so let him rest all that day, giving him nothing but Wheate-straw at night, and the next day following give him a pottle of sweet strong wort, & a quarter of a pint of Treacle, and then keep him warm and give him wheat-straw, & good plenty of sweet Oats. After all this wash all his body very clean with Buck-lye, and black-sope, and after him warm, and give him a sweat, and he will remain a perfect horse, and hereof have no doubt. CHAP: 161. Of the canker. THis Ulcer likewise groweth from the causes afore said. The cure is, let him blood abundantly in the veins that be next the sore, then take of Alun 1. pound, of green Coporas' 1. pound, of white coporas a quartern, and a good handful of Salt, boil them together in fair running water from a pottle to a quart, this water being warm, put part thereof into a dish, and with a colt wash the same till it begin to bleed, and let it dry in, then take of black-sope 1. pound, and of Quicksilver half an ounce, and incorporate them till the quicksilver be not seen, and always after you have washed the same with a slice, cover the Ulcer with this medicine till it be whole, but be sure still to let blood about the Ulcer, for many days together, and when it is killed, then cast upon it the powder of unslickt lime, or of brimstone. CHAP. 162 Of the Fistula. THis is a filthy Ulcer also, bred from some Ulcer not thoroghly cured. The cure is to search the depth thereof, with a quill, or with some other instrument of lead, for unless you find the bottom it is hard to cure, and having found the bottom, if it be in place where you may boldly cut with a Razor, make a slit against the bottom so wide as you may thrust in your finger, to feel if any bone or gristle be perished, or spongy, or lose flesh, which must be gotten out, then boil a quartern of honey and an ounce of verdigris in powder, stirring it continually until it look red, then taint therewith and bolster it with flax that it get not out, but if the place be where the taint cannot be conveniently kept in, fasten on each end of the hole a shoemakers thread over the bolster, to keep the taint in, renewing it every day until it leave mattering, and make the taint lesser and lesser, & sprinkle thereon a little slicked lime. But if you cannot come to taint it to the bottom, then take strong lie, honey, roche alum, Mercury, and seethe them together, and apply it to the bottom of the Fistula If the Fistula be in the head, take the juice of Howselike, and dipp a lock of wool in it, and put the same in his ears, & use it every day till it be whole. CHAP. 163. Of a spongy wart. THe cure is, if it be long enough, tie a thread about it very hard, and it will eat it off, or else take it off with a hot iron. CHAP. 164. Of Wounds. THe cure is, take of Turpentine, of Mel Rosatum, of oil of Roses, of each a quartern, and a little unwrought wax, and melt them together, stirring them continually, and so use it with taint or role, as occasion shall be. CHAP. 165. Of pulling out shivers or Thorns, and of swelling. THe cure is to pull it out if it may be seen, but if it swell, and cannot, then take wormwood, Paretorie, Bears foot, Hog's grease and honey, boil them together, and being hot, make a plaster; it is excellent for any swelling, so also is Winelees, Wheate-flower, and comen boiled together, which when it is at a head, Lance it. CHAP. 166 Of Sinews out or bruised. TAke of Tar, Beane-flower, and oil of Roses, and lay it hot to the place: so are Worms and Salad Oil fried together: so is the Ointment of worms, which you may have at the Pothecaries. CHAP. 167. Of killing the fire either in burning or shot. TAke Varnish or Oil and Water, beaten together, and anoint the place with a feather. CHAP. 168. Of Bones out of joint. THe cure is, to bind all the forelegs together, and to cast him on his back, and then to hoist him from the ground with his heels upward, so shall the weight of his body cause the joint to shoot in again in his right place. CHAP. 169. Of a Horse that stumbleth. THis is called the cords: the cords is a sinew that breedeth amongst the Sinews, the one end cometh down to the Shackle vein, and so up through the leg, and goeth over the inner side of the knee, and so over the shoulder, and so along the neck by the Wesant, and it goeth over the temples, under his eye, down over the snout, betwixt both the nostrils & the gristle, there knit the length of an Almond, take a sharp knife and cut a slit even at the top of his nose, just with the point of the gristle, open the slit, & you shall perceive a white string, take it up with a bores tooth, or a Bucks horn that is crooked, or some crooked bodkins & twine it about strait, and cut it a sunder, you may twine it so much as you may rear his foot from the ground, then stitch up the slit, and anoint it with butter, & the Horse doubtless shall be cured. CHAP. 170 Of curing a hurt. TAke wax, Turpentine, rosin, & Hog's grease of like quantity, and half so much Tar as any one of the other simples, melt and boil them together, and keep it ready for any accident. CHAP. 171. Of repairing a broken hoof to make it grow. TAke of Garlic heads, 7. ounces, of herb grace three handfuls, of Allom beaten & sifted 7. ounces, of Barrowes grease that is old 2. pound, mingle all these with a handful of Asses dung, and boil them together, and anoint the hooves there with. CHAP. 172. Of a horse that cannot piss. TAke a pint of white Vinegar, half a pound of Simgreene, bruise it small, & wring out the juice, take a handful of Fennel, a handful of Foxegloves leaves, or the flowers: 2. ounces of Gromel seed, and half a pint of sweet honey, stamp them well together and strain them into the Vinegar, let him stand without meat and drink 24. hours. CHAP. 173. Of sretting in the Guts. TAke in the morning a quart of good Ale, 4. ounces of Fenegreek, 7, ounces of Bayberries, as much long pepper, an ounce of Ginger, two handfuls of watercresses, a handful of Sage, another of Mints, beat them altogether in the Ale, and seethe them in the Ale, than strain it, and give it him bludwarme, rope all his legs, and tie him that he lie not down, and put him into a sweat, and keep him warm, and drink no cold water for three days after, and give him dried beans and Oats for his provender. CHAP. 174. Of the dangerous galling of a Horse. TAke a pottle of vergis, two pennyworth of green coporas, boil it to a pint and a half, wash and search the hole there with, and fill the hole with red lead so let it remain three days untouched, then wash it with the same, fill it again with red lead, this will heal it, though it be galled to the body. CHAP. 175. Of sinking a Thistula or windegall. FIrst sere the Thistula, then take Rosen, sheeps tallow and Brimstone, and boil them together, lay it on hot with a cloth, and it will sink down. For the windegall, slit out the jelly; and lay it not so hot on, and it will keep the same clean. CHAP. 176. Of a Blister. TAke the juice of ground ivy, so much Brimstone, a quantity of Tar, and so much Allome, and lay it to the blister. CHAP. 177. Of the pain in the head. TAke a pint of malmsey, five new laid eggs, a head of bruised Garlic, small Pepper, Sinnamon, and Nutmegs, beaten sine & give it him to drink, three days together, and fast six hours after. CHAP. 178. Of a Farcin or sudden breaking out in any part of the body, to stay it, and fill it. TAke this ointment, and always have it ready in your stable: three ounces of quick silver, put it into a bladder, and two spoonfuls of the juice of Oranges and Lemons, shake them together, then take a pound of fresh hog's grease, and of verge's one ounce, beat them all in a wooden dish, and work them thoroughly together, then take a pound of fresh Hog's grease, and anoint the same therewith, and slit the same if need be, then wash it, and then put into his ears, the juice of Rugweede, and he will be perfect. Of a wrinch in the Fetterlocke, or other joint that is suddenly done. Chap. 179. TAke of Naruile, and black-sope, boil them together a little on the fire, & anoint it therewith. Of a Windegall that it shall not grow again. Ch. 180. WHen you have cut the skin, take a spoonful of Oil de bay 1. spoonful of Turpentine, one penny worth of verdigris, the white of an egg, & a quarter of an ounce of red lead, boil them together to a salve and lay the same to the place. Of the stone in a Horse and Colic. Chap. 181 TAke a pint of white wine, half a pint of burseed, & beat them small, two ounces of parselyseed, half a handful of I soap, half an ounce of black-sope, half a handful of unset leeks, and half a handful of water Cresses, mingle them together, & stamp them and strain them, but put the burseed & parsley seed to it after it is strained, and then warm it, and give it him to drink. Of a horse that pisseth blood. chap. 182. TAke Barley, & seethe it in the juice of Gomfollye, and give him the barley to eat, and the juice to drink. Of Ripening an impostume. Chap. 183. TAke Mallow roots, & Lily roots, & bruise them, and put unto them Hogs-grease, and lynseede meal, and plaster wise lay it to. To bring hair a gain. Chap. 184. TAke the dung of Goats, some honey and Alum, and the blood of a Hog, boil them together, & being hot rub the place therewith. To make a white mark on a horse. Chap. 185. TAke a Tile & burn it to powder, take daisy roots, and the roots of a white briar, of each a like, dry them, and make powder thereof, then shave the place that you will have white, rub it very much with the powder, then wash the place with this water: take a quantity of Hony-suckle-flowers, and a quantity of honey, and the water that Moles have been sodde in, and wash the place, and rub it very sore therewith: do this five days, and keep him from all wind, and it will be white. To make a horse he shall not neigh. Chap, 186. TIe a woollen list about the midst of his tongue and he shall not neigh so long as it remaineth. To make a horse follow his Master. Chap. 186. TAke one pound of Otmell, a quarter of a pound of honey, and half a pound of Lumary, & make a bag thereof, and bear it about you next your skin, and labour therewith till you sweat, & wipe the sweat with the bag, and keep the Horse a day & night fasting, and give it him to eat, and also use to give him meal and bran, and he will follow you. Lastly observe in all cures, that the only sure way is to give fire to the wood, if possibly you may without danger of the sinews, & beware that you do not cure but when the horse hath rested, & that it be not done when he is in any grief or pain, but in cases of necessity. I had once purposed to have set out the medicines of all cures as they are used in most christian Nations, but time would not permit, and therefore I refer it as God shall give life & leisure. In the mean time, assure thyself if thou wilt read this tract at advisedly, temperately, and with deliberation, thou shalt find sufficient for thy full instruction. The Epilogue. IT appeareth by this treatise, that the perfection of all generation, creation, preservation, and long life of horses consisteth wholly in the true composition of the temperature of the four first qualities, heat cold, moist, and dry, and is the truest and most proper continet cause thereof, and therefore the true knowledge thereof (being the only root from which all Horsemanship springeth) is of all knowledge most to be desired, and attained, and is (of the learned) truly and rightly termed Nature, for that according to the quality thereof, every horse worketh, and not according to Art, for Art is but a hand maid to nature, appointed to deliver precepts to direct the manner of the action most pleasing, and practice to act & perform the same, through long use with ease & facility, as appeareth in many places of this Tractat: and because those, whose bosom the hand of heaven hath richly furnished with all virtues herein, & to whom of right the seat of judgement (in the true knowledge of horsemanship) appertaineth, & from whom the heroical spirits & generous issue of this kingdom, are to receive instruction, have the edge of their industry clean abated by force of pleasure & security, & thereby lately fallen into a deep slumber, or rather into a deadly sleep of silence, whereby many indaunted courages and choice wits of this kingdom, have thought nature to have dealt niggardly, & to have made her staple & storehouse of horsemen and horses, only within other Nations, and to have cut all trade and traffic with little England, & that the true knowledge of Horsemanship hath not been native therein, but only in foreign Nations, and this English Nation to have been in all ages mortally wounded with the stranger's Goad. Myself (envying none, nor detracting any) have adventured by the true knowledge of natural causes, to undermine the strongest holds of all Foreign force, whose foundations are only set upon the deceivable sands of erroneous practice: and for that purpose have couched this Aphorism or principle of the true knowledge of horsemanship, in the circuit of a small Period, although the knowledge thereof comprehendeth sufficient to fill great volumes. I do presume of all indifferent and equal judgements, that this my labour shall never be held vainglory, or needless curiosity, but with such as shall not peruse these my labours, with them, inauditi tanquam nocentes pereunt, et hic baculum fixi, and as to those who have not yet learned either to speak or do well, I leave them this farewell. Face vel tace. FJNIS