| August 22, 1485 on the battlefield of Bosworth in Wales, Henry Tudor became the King of England. King Henry VII retreated to the beginning of one of the most celebrated dynasties in English history, where he and his daughter, Elizabeth I, attempted to rebuild England, Ireland and Wales. Historical sources regarding the actual battle at Bosworth were practically non-existent. Medieval battles were confusing to describe and recorders were not standing there taking notes. Another interesting fact about the Battle of Bosworth, was that Welsh and Irish mercenaries were hired and knighted by King Henry VII. The Clan Barrett, from County Cork, was one of those Clans. As the story goes, these Clans rode swift Irish ponies and overtook the heavily armored knights. After the battle was won, the King of England led the remainder of forces back to Pembroke. Researching the Clan Barrett further, in 1100 A.D., they migrated to Wales with Strongbow during the Norman Conquest and settled in a county called Pendyne. Later, they migrated to Munster Ireland, County Cork, and became known as the Master Lords of Tirawley. Their motto was: “Frangas non Flectes: virtus probitas” meaning ‘Unbowed, Unbroken, Honor and Courage.’ Their Coat of Arms Barry of ten per pale argent and gules counterchanged. The Crest: A demi-lion rampant sable ducally crowned per pale argent and gules. This in laymen’s terms was the crowned lion atop a shield striped with red and white. This small increment in time, of a two-hour battle, lasted forever in history as the tide was turned. One man died, and an empire was born along with the Thoroughbred. The fate of one King became the destiny of another as history fades into the present. |
| Frangas Non Flectes: Virtus Probitas "Unbowed, Unbroken: Honor and Courage." |
| The Call to the Derby Post quotes: |
| The Thoroughbred Transformed |
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| "Next to God, We Owe Our Victory to Our Horses," 1519, Fernando Cortez |
| In the 15th century, King Henry VII and his daughter, Elizabeth I, actually founded the first royal racing stable and the decendent of the Thoroughbred horse, then called the Courser. After the horse population was devistated during the wars, there became a need for a fast horse to carry messages between armies or kingdoms. This gave rise to the Courser, the ancestor of the race horse. Coursers were strong, lean horses bred from the Arabians, Barbs, and Spanish stallions imported by Henry VII. Horses that were rejected from the royal racing stable were sent to the calvary. The dawn of the Thoroughbred and all modern Thoroughbreds are pedigreed back to these same horses, even though Charles I was credited as the actual founder of the Jockey Club and the blood line named as the Thoroughbred. |
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| "As early as 1140, the first of a long line of kings named Henry tried to improve Hobby horses--pony-sized Irish horses--by importing Arab stallions to give them more speed and stronger power. Throughout the Crusades, from 1096 to 1270, Turkish cavalry horses dominated the larger English warhorses, leading the Crusaders to buy, capture or steal their share of the stallions. After the War of the Roses, which decimated England's horse population, King Henry aimed to rebuild his cavarly. Both the king and his son, Henry VIII, imported horses from Italy, Spain and North Africa, and maintained their own racing stable. Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I, drastically improved her father's stable during her fifty-year reign, dispensing of horses not qualified for racing or the cavalry and moving the best horses to new barns at Tutbury near Staffordshire. Elizabeth kept a close watch on matings and systematically recorded pedigrees. On the advice of her Master of the Stable the Queen added more Arabian horses to the stable, breeding Arab stallions to Hobby and Galloway (Scottish) mares. When Elizabeth I died, James VI of Scotland, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and his son, Charles--who became king in 1625--expanded both the palace and royal racing stables at the track of Newmarket. In 1647 Oliver Cromwell's army defeated Charles' Cavaliers, forcing Charles back to Scotland and allowing Cromwell to capture the royal stables at Tutbury and take inventory; he swiftly sold most of the Royal Mares, keeping fewer than 100 to breed stronger, lighter horses to replace the slower, heavier ones no longer suited for warfare due to the development of gunpowder." From war horse to race horse to jumper, the Thoroughbred has maintained a place in history. Bloodlines flowed through veins that saw both war and the sport of kings. Eventhough they are bred for speed, the Thoroughbred is still the root of the modern show jumper and hunter as well as the warmblood line that dominates the show ring today, |
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