The horse in bbcs elizabeth grey....

cob&onion

cob&onion

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Wow!!!

Am talking about the beautiful grey the beautiful grey the king rides and the dapple grey she rides when she becomes queen.
I think they are lustino are they? Thinking on about it, wouldst the 14th century horses be natives rather than the lustino and fresian types ?
 
Yes it is lovely, but I was thinking the same as you - it is hardly historically accurate.
 
Yes, it is totally historically accurate. The "Horse of Kings" - i.e Lusitano / Andalusian / PRE - is so named because they have been bought by royalty for a thousand years. There are historical references from Roman times of horses being imported to Britain from Spain (so make that two thousand years), and the greatest trade in horses from Spain & Portugal was in the 16th - 18th century. The Tudors were particularly fond of their "Spanish Jennets". Odd that you would think that a King would ride a native pony,; just have a look at some contemporary paintings and illustrations (which is what I do for a living, BTW).
 
Thanks for clearing that up :-) so the commoners andwould have natives?? what about the kings men and his army ?
 
Natives were probably used as sumpter horses (pack ponies for moving goods around) and for the common people, yes. Cavalry were generally very well mounted, so most likely imports or Spanish crossbreds, or types that are no longer around, like Norfolk Roadsters, Irish Hobbys and the ancestors of Cleveland Bays. The Tudors had extensive studs of Spanish horses themselves.
 
Yes thanks - did not know that. How similar were the PREs of the 14th century to the modern breed?
(If you don't mind sharing your knowledge Cortez :))
 
DabDab said:
Yes thanks - did not know that. How similar were the PREs of the 14th century to the modern breed?
(If you don't mind sharing your knowledge Cortez :))
Click to expand...
Dangerous! This is not only my Day Job, but my favourite subject. The average height of horses in the Middle Ages was around 14h, and riding horses were not heavily built like a cob, but were robust with quality. So the old fashioned type PRE or Lusitano, with the ram's head profile and high knee action is closer to the medieval horse than the rangier modern sport type, but they probably weren't as heavy as the "Baroque" type of the 17th century. There were also many different types of horse, not just one: jennets and palfreys, coursers and destriers (I can explain all of them, but you may lose the will to live...............)
 
Oh goodness, so much knowledge and so little life to learn it in...
You've really peaked my interest now I might have to buy a book...any recommendations?
 
Jolly good book with lots of horse info AND accurate history (but not too much) is "The Royal Horse of Europe" by Sylvia Loch. There are a bunch of "serious" scholarly history books concerning the horse in the middle ages, but they are actually quite dodgy on the actual horse stuff. Historians don't get out much.
 
Cortez said:
Jolly good book with lots of horse info AND accurate history (but not too much) is "The Royal Horse of Europe" by Sylvia Loch. There are a bunch of "serious" scholarly history books concerning the horse in the middle ages, but they are actually quite dodgy on the actual horse stuff. Historians don't get out much.
Click to expand...

Thanks :D
 
According to what I've read, the modern Hackney horse are a result of crossbreeding Norfolk Trotters and Arabian stallions under order of the King of England, in the 14th century. So, noble looking horses, of more/somewhat foreign type could perhaps have been available for the royals to ride on (after all, they were able to get lions and tigers to their royal menagerie, so why not a horse or two).

I know this is the wrong country, and wrong century, but perhaps it still gives a hint about what type of horse that could be available for the kings and queens?

Painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Henry II (1519–1559), King of France
Workshop of François Clouet (French, Tours (?), active by 1536–died 1572 Paris)
ep45.128.12.bw.R.jpg


Painting from Université Paris-Sorbonne page:
Portrait du dauphin Henri ca. 1543
by François Clouet (or his workhop?)
Henri_IIX456_HiRes_web2.jpg


Right country (?), but even later:
Prince Henry on Horseback by Robert Peake, 1606-8.
From The Collection at Parham House, Pulborough, West Sussex.
1097-3036-npg_626_1027_princehenryonh.jpg




ETA: Forget my confused smiley, just seen that Cortez have replied with the answer, while I was searching for paintings.
 
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There was a Royal Stud in our local town owned by the Black Prince in the mid 14 C.
He would visit his stallions called Grisel, Tankarvill and Morel de Salesbirs.
Love the Internet!
 
Thank you for that Cortez. I had assumed it was simply the choice to use pretty horses with flowing manes and didnt realise is was accurate!

Because I had googled Max Irons I can tell you the grey is called Fuego and was offered to Max to keep at the end of filming but he had to say no.

Cortez, what do you know about the Kerry Grays then? I understand that it has been proven that there is Iberian ancestry in some of the irish Grays and DNA proven as well. I had a horse who was ISH but really really looked as if he had a very strong Iberian influence somewhere.
 
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