of the thing knowne when nature hath shaped the colte in perfection with what facilitie doth arte perfect the qualitie vse of euery action but if nature hath shaped the same vnperfect there cannot be any hope of perfect action with comlines and continuance for Sordida natura semper sequitur sua iura like nature like worke because euery creature worketh according to his nature and like euermore bringeth forth like beware therfore of euil beginning either in art knowledge or practise least by continuance thereof it carry soueraingtie in you Natura calamitatum mollimentum consuetudinem iuuenit to the ouerthrowe of your hopefull desires for Grauissum est imperimum consuetudinis the soueraingtie of custome is intollerable CHAP. 25. How to know a free and perfect spirited Horse THis being the coÌ„clusion of those sixe qualities which euery good Horse naturally hath and retaineth from his conception vnto his death spare your eares as tunnels to your bodie to let the same fall deepe 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 finde it the onely worke of the creator by those meanes which his owne ordinaÌ„ce hath established not as a fleshy substance or as an accidentall thing but a powerfull spirit proceeding from the vitall spirit and arteriall blood that goe wandring through the whole bodie to stir vp the power of the beast to giue him force and vigor to worke by which the sencible soule performeth his works which are termed Nature and the same norisheth preserueth increaseth giueth power to the creature to signifie 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 bodie cease his naturall 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 quallitie of the same creature pure so as man not knowing or finding the reason caÌ„not but wonder at the work workmaster and therefore the more excellent perfect and pure the creature is created the greater is his operation and trauell as we the Sun which mooueth continually the moone that is neuer staied the sky euer moouing the fire neuer without working the clowdes neuer cease remoouing c. so when wee see a strange prowde and comely shaped Horse of pure and perfect substaÌ„ce described in euery parte as aforesaide there is presented to our sences coÌ„sideration some excellent deuine work by so pure and refined metall which is specialy performed by the Element of fire so as it seemeth to represent the Image of Venus which Apelles for the space of ten yeres had imploied his wit pollicie to paint being so beautiful that the beholders became amorous as though it had bene some liue Image so as by publike edicte he was charged to keepe it secret for feare to allure youth to corruption Or like that brasen Horse which Pausanias the Greeke historiographer meÌ„tioneth to haue bene found in Heraclia a Prouince of Peloponesus whose beautie was such as other Horses with ardent desire and affection sought to ioyne and couple with him as if they had found a prowde mare wherefore for the satisfaction and confirmation of this proposition how to know a perfect quicke and free spirited Horse you must still retaine all the description of shape before described with this viz. that he haue a slender leane head leane thin slender iawes which is an absolute perfect assurance of quicke free forward spirit to euery action by all which descriptions you shall assuredly knowe his quallities onely vppon the view as if you had made tryall of him many yeares and thereof make no more doubt then whether the sun hath at any time giuen light to your eyes but if the Horse be defectiue in his shape as I haue before described then assure your selfe he wanteth that natural perfection I haue referred the rule vnto for as it is a naturall course euen in euill by degrees to come vnto perfection of euill so is it also as naturall that where perfection of shape faileth in the whole or in parte there imperfection is present the natural quallities answerable therevnto obserue then I pray you that a perfect Horse by nature is thus shaped viz. a leane slender head broad forehead great blacke eyes The description of the most perfect shape of a Horse full and plaine ouer the lids slender thin and leane iawes broad thin long high reared neck the head set to the necke so naturally as a Rammes head when he fighteth high withers a deepe broad chest and breast his ribbes bearing out as the lid of a trunck with an equall eeuenes from his chest to his flancke leane vpright pastornes with a lean deepe hooue somewhat narrowe towards the toe the most infallible true and approoued description of a most perfect absolute and excellent Horse be he yong or olde without any respect of colour countrie marke or other obseruation whatsoeuer and so sure as thy selfe hath a being he wil be found in all his actions naturally bolde louing easie sure footed durable and free going the onely qualities of his first and primary creation and if he be not the most excellent and perfectest shape that nature euer brought forth and the best in action I shall acknowledge these my labours the recorde of my folly vnperfect iudgement to all succeeding ages But because I know do assure my selfe that Vnius mens non est capax tantae molis that it is vnpossible that one head shold bee sufficiently furnished for so many matters and that to be moste true which Iustinian the Emperor recordeth in his 44. constitution Nihil in rebus humanis sic vsqadeo semotum ab omni contreuersia temetsimaximam cum iustitia contunclionem habeat quod dubitationem controuersiam noÌ„ recipiat si subtâ—liter animi curas inteÌ„das vt nihil prorsus inter homines sicposse desiniri vt non exquisit is subiaceat impugnationibus illorum qui suos adfectus praeferunt veritati There is nothing in humane thinges so remote from controuersie if with subtilty you straine the powers of the minde thereunto and nothing can be so exactly defined amongst men that cannot bee subiected to exquisite cauels of those which doe preferre their affections before truth for who knoweth not but that a playing wit can praise the discretion of an Asse wherefore my selfe knowing that neither my words or pen can carrie with them the life of my inward feeling I haue the more largely discoursed to vnfolde my knowledge by the plainest demonstration for the meanest vnderstanding for as Lucianus saith Prouerbe occultae musices nullum esse respectum and as Salomon saith Sapientiae reconditae thesaurâ— abstrusi nullam esse vtilitatem of wisdome shut vp there is
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 louing sure going easie going durable and free yet they all are nothing to assure the rider from danger Likewise if he be not louing vppon many occasions and times vnexpected he may often spoile his maister keeper or rider also if he be not sure in going what imminent danger is euermore to be expected in all dangerous places the experience too often approued Also if he go not easie how can man be free from bruises and sorenes in all parts of his bodie so as he shall not be able to make vse of himselfe for preseruation of himselfe Also if he be not durable and of strength and force to continue his trauell or the action vndertaken being fit and reasonable for a Horse to performe how can he satisfie mans vse the end of his creation Sixtly and lastly if he be not free and of good courage euermore of himselfe forward free and of good mettle without compulsion or stripes what vexation or losse yea many times of life by a crauing dull Iade who wil not acknowledge But when all these good quallities are inseperably conioyned in Nature as they are in euery perfect Horse what can the heart of man more desire if vnderstanding guyde his affection to declare vnto him what is to be desired with what facility of arte and practise will such horses be broken and brought to perfection what assurance of their voluntarie and durable seruice in all perfection how delightfull to the owners how profitable to their purses how ioyfull and comfortable to all that vse them how seruiceable and honourable to King and Countrie what soule liueth that will not acknowledge And because there is not any other or more excellent qualities to bee desired in horses for the vse of man then the perfection of those sixe qualities it consequently followeth that all horses in their first and primarie creation were absolutely endowed with them in all perfection for the increase preseruation 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 obserue make practise of those rules and precepts that are herein set foorth so plaine and euident as will giue full contentment to all that shall desire the knowledge thereof First therfore intending institution of a good thing I thinke moste fit to obserue Cicero his rule and to begin with true diffinition Difinition of nature and leauing diuersities of opinions I define Nature thus nature is not the thing it selfe but the proper and peculiar strength of the thing naturally giuen vnto the Creature in the creation at the time of the framing not at the birth where it receiueth that quallity which it hath not only of being and working but also of begetting c. and as it is a strength bred and grafted in the creature at his framing it therefore commeth not by chance or accidentally neither is it mutable but naturall peculiar and vnchangeable but because Nature may bee two waies vnderstood viz a particuler a generall I will first shew that diuersitie The particuler nature is that which in euerie single substāce ministreth essence to the whole compound with all is mother to such action motion as is agreeable to the subiect wherin it is as the nature of fire causeth fyers ascention the nature of earth the earthes going downward The vniuersall nature is the author and maintainer of all actions and bodies to which the seuerall single bodies are in subiectiō by their obedience acknowledging a kinde of superioritie in that vniuersall nature therefore it is said quod vniuersalis natura falli out errare non potest quia contingenter agit in indiuidius sed indiuidua sunt remotu abarte so there are sundry diuersities of natures as the things be sundrie wherof they be which beeing moste wisely and many waies deuided by the creator cannot bee knit vp to one selfe same thing Againe and as the learned haue obserued nature is of that excellency quod nihil habet vitij Nature hath no defect because God is the author thereof and his prouidence hath so prouided that euerie nature by working doth declare of what qualitie it is so that his workes are moste assured testimonies what his nature is and therefore verie fit to put difference betwixt the things that be wrought naturally that be wrought accidentally for all naturall things are done often continually and those which be done accidentally be not so The sun giueth light to the world because it is his nature but when it dazeleth weake eies it is not naturall but accidentall and also those things that bee naturally done be not done with euil will or by motion of others but easily and voluntarily so whatsoeuer is naturall is accustomable perpetuall voluntarie and ready and as it is created made with the creature it is reason that it should beare the nature of his beginning and that which is of a Horse to bee the nature of a Horse and of no other Creature For if a man should call a naughtie Natured Horse the nature of a Dogge wee may not thereupon gather that a horse and a Dogge bee 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 euident and with truth not to bee opposed that nature is nothing else but the temperature of heat coldnes moisture drynes the which is a schoole-maister to direct the sence of the horse which hee hath from his braine to cause the natural body to worke wherein if heate be predominate then dooth the sence direct the body to worke according to the qualitie of heate which is with freenesse vigor spirit courage and so and not otherwise is it truely said that euery creature worketh according to his nature and as of heat so doth it worke accordingly in each temperature and thereby wee may certainely determine the horses disposition habit naturall power lacke of power affection and such like as hereafter shall most plainely be demonstrated which the Logicians doe consider in qualitie and so seeke the nature of his qualitie in his works so that of what qualitie his work is of such quality we may truly say his nature is for he is such in the qualitie of his nature as he is tried found to be after this maner euery simple mā may learne to know the nature of euerie horse but my purpose is to teach you most assuredly to know his quality without any worke or tryall onely vpon the view as hereafter wil appeare the which naturall qualities are not gotten by teaching or instructing by customes or Arte but naturally and so to euerie man an assurance of what qualitie his nature is for nature proceedeth so farre in euerie
Horse that shee giueth them not onely a feeling but also a power to declare the same to others whereof may arise this question For asmuch as it hath bene saide that God is the author and giuer of nature and according to his creation all perfectly good and that all creatures aswell men as beastes worke according to nature and haue no naturall desire or inclination of corruption because euery creature naturally desireth his owne preseruation and perfection what needeth either Arte or practise to helpe or alter the same nature I answere that it is most true that Arte and practise were needles if man his disobedience had not depriued him of all obedience that by creation was subiect vnto him and the same his disobedience did not only bring a curse vpon the Earth but also the disobedience of all creatures to man and corruption to all euery their actions so there is not now any obedience or perfection in the dooing of action but that which is gotten by arte and preserued in vigor by vse and practise so that all thinges which now are vnto corrupted man most combersome as punishments of his disloyaltie were by original creatioÌ„n ordained for his furtherance Note this and therefore nature in Horses is not neither can be any other then an inclination and forwardnes knowledge a quickner vp of nature and arte a guide to keepe it in order by generall precepts vniuersall grounds and experience with imitation conferring both by the continuall holding on of many particular actions so as nature of it selfe is now insufficient knowledge and arte without nature fondnes and without experience vnprofitable As in chirurgerie although the bare practitioner do by his experience sometime hit well vpon the healing of some disease yet it is euident that hauing arte and knowledge matched with his experience so as he discerne the nature and cause of his disease marking the complexion age and manner of liuing of his patient and considering the equalitie and quantitie of his medicine and applying them in due time shall the better performe the duty of his science and the better attain the desired end but it is againe obiected that if the creation and creature were from God perfectly good notwithstanding his disobedience to man his owne corruption yet being created and preserued by God for the only vse of man how commeth it to passe that where there is one Horse by creation good in action there are a thousand Iades according to creation and in action I answere first that the creation and generation of these times are not immediatly created by God as in the first creation without meanes but by naturall meanes whereunto his grace is annexed Crescite et multiplicamini growe and increase vnto which meanes being his owne ordinance he giueth his blessing for the increase preseruation therof 2. it may be answerd out of the 4. of Esdras 9. verse that the world hath lost his youth and the times begin to waxe olde 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 aske a woman wherfore are not they whom thou hast now brought forth like those that were before thee but lesse of stature she shall answere thee the same were borne in the flower of youth the others were borne in the time of age when the wombe failed consider now thy selfe how that ye are lesse of stature then those that were before you and so are they that come after you lesse then they as the creatures which now begin to be old and haue passed ouer the strength of youth So as the farther generation is from the first creation the more neerer to corruption Thirdly it may be answerd that euery Horse is created as man is of soule and bodie and is compounded of the foure elements as man and hee that doubteth thereof may aswel doubt whether himselfe be or no but the one which is in man celestial neuer dying the other terrestial dieth with the bodie and yet a most excellent pure liuing spirit hauing the faculties nutritiue vegetatiue motiue and sensitiue so doth it by his temperature of the elements righty rule as mans doth gouerne the bodie of euery Horse which naturally obeieth to euery action and that is truely called Nature wherof onely God is the Author so as the goodnes or badnes of the temperature of the elemeÌ„ts is the cause The cause why one horse doth better performe his kinde then another why one beast doeth better performe the workes of his kinde then another the temperature being the schoolemaister to direct the sensitiue soule to euery action and such is the force of natures custome to haue dominion ouer all creatures therefore the learned terme nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicta ab eo quod aliquid nasci faciat named from that which maketh something to be created whose propertie cause we cannot without obseruation finde other then that God the author of nature hath ordeined it Nam obscurata est ratio naturalis per in obedientiam primi pareÌ„tis our naturall reason is obscured by the disobedience of our first parents and yet nature may not be saide to be vnperfect or faultie for it hath put into all thinges possibility and aptnes and also acte and perfection and thereupon Cicero saith who hath reason from nature to the same is right reason giuen and then comming from nature is also perpetuall for perpetuum est quod natura frequens quod vsus introducit what nature bringeth is perpetuall and what vse bringeth is often so as nature whether it be armed with vertue or vice it is perpetual and the faculties causeth the perfection thereof acordingly for nature is knowne by his work and nature causeth the bodie to worke therefore such as the nature is such is the worke and such as the worke is such is the qualitie of the nature Now the seate or place of those faculties of this nature is principally the braine and the heart The braine is the â—eâ—t of the sencible soule the sence of sence and motion of the moste noble animal spurits composed of the vitall and raised from the hart by the Arteries vnto the braine as the regall and principall seates of the creature the heart beeing the place where the vitall and Arteriall spirrits are bred and doe equally participate the temperature thereof from whence they had theyr being and are dispersed ouer the whole bodie and then it may be truly saide Cuius effectus omnthus prodest eius et partes ad omnes pertinent where the effect of any thing is profitable to all there the partes thereof appertaine to all and as the power of that vitall spirit is great or small which is euermore according to the temperature of the elements such and the same it causeth and enforceth the bodie and euery parte thereof to worke and
dyeth and is annihilated according vnto that rule by the corruption of the subiect the forme perisheth the matter remaineth CHAP. 37 Obseruations for better direction in breeding 1. FIrst it is to bee obserued that which most importeth generation is that the meates which the horse and Mare that are to beget and bring forth do feede vpon bee in qualitie hot and drye because the seedes and matter whereof the Colt is framed must be tarte and biting growing from the saltnesse therof so become hot and dry where through the seede vessels are stirred to generation and doe according to their weight and measure enter into the composition of the Colt and so are alwaies to endure in the mixture 2. Secondly if the braine be pure the sencible soule of the colte goeth alwaies vnited with the disposition thereof which directeth the bodie to euery action and nothing offendeth the sensitiue soule so much as to make his abode in a heauie bodie surcharged with great bones and heauy flesh and that is the reason which Plato yeeldeth that the best and finest mettle Horses are of thin bone but if the Horse be not of a iust and true proportion of temperature then vndoubtedly there is not any such perfection in that Horse 3. Thirdly the seede is meere vegetatiue and not capable of the sence but only followeth the motions of the tēperature therfore if the seed be perfect it possesseth such force that after the meate is disgested and altered it maketh them though bad and grosse to turne to his owne temperature and substance and yet cannot vtterly depriue the same of the inherent qualitie for the humors do attaine the qualitie which the meat had before it was eaten 4. Fourthly there must be great discretion vsed in feeding of the Mare vntill shee haue foaled leaste by long vse of ouerbad meates The meanes to preserue the colte in the wombe the Colte in the wombe bee impayred of that qualitie of temperature it had from the seede for otherwise it little auaileth to haue begotten a Colte of perfect seede if you make no reckoning of the meat which afterward the Mare feedeth vppon and therefore the Mare may not so far eat of contrarie meats as the Colt shall lose those good qualities which it receiueth of the seede whereof it was made And the reason heerof is cleere but neuer obserued by any for at the beginning the same being made of delicate seede and that the colte groweth euery day impayring and consuming and is to be repaired by the aliment foode it taketh it is certaine that if they be bad and of euill temperature that the continuall vse of them being in the wombe will make great alteration in nature and therfore to continue the colt in the excellency of his tēperature it behoueth that the sustenance it taketh be endowed with the same qualities as the colde doe not exceed the heat nor the moiste the dry 5. Fiftly it appeareth that colts begotten when the Horse and Mare go to grasse whereof all our practise is witnesse cannot be begotten but of colde and moist seede how excellent soeuer the horse and Mare were neither can the same colts after they are foaled by any possibilitie be restored to perfection of temperature by the best keeping in the worlde 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 vt albo in nigrum for a proper and true alteration is a change and going forward from one sensible qualitie into another sensible qualitie of contraries and therefore can neuer be vtterly depriued and taken from them againe no more then that which is naturally white turne naturally into blacke 6. Sixtly the meate that Horses and Mares doe eat ought specially to be regarded least their braines bee thereby distempered because the braine and the stomack are vnited and chained together with certaine sinewes whereby they enterchangeably communicate their damages and we see that some Horses are Iadish in qualitie and some good in qualitie which groweth from hauing their braine well or euill instrumentalized And if any do affirme that horses haue no braines I would haue them answere from whence he hath his sence and what is the cause of staggers in a Horse if it be not the oppression of the braine and the liuer the heart and the braine being first created and truly said the vitall spirits and arteriall blood from whence the sensitiue and motiue sinewes haue their being which go wandring thorough the whole bodie and their office is to stirre vp the powers of the horse to giue him force and vigor to worke CHAP. 38. Obiections against the former propositions IT is saide that the good qualitie of the meat that the Horse and Mare eate before the action is the cause of the good or bad temperature of the seede that the good or bad temperature of the seed maketh the goodnesse or badnesse of the Colte which beeing admitted then it is demaunded wherefore Horses and Mares that are Iades beeing so dyeted and kept should not haue a perfect temperate seede aswell as the best Horses and by consequent of the proposition as perfect and as good coltes if the perfection of generation consist onely in the temperature I answere that Iades by good direction and order with continuance therein may greatly amend better their seede but they neuer can haue a true perfect and temperate seede as the excellent Horse and Mare haue of whome my proposition is and the reason is apparant for the seede whereof the Iade was sormed was originally bad and vnperfect in temperature otherwise he had not bene a Iade and the nature of all seed is of such force that what meat soeuer the Horse and Mare eat and disgest although the naturall qualitie therof be most excellent to increase a perfect seed yet it incorporateth that substance of seed which commeth of that perfect seede into the substance of their seede and naturall qualitie thereof which neuer was of perfect temperature and then pertaking of the naturall qualitie of the iades seede it is tainted with the corruption of the intemperature thereof and so remaineth still vnperfect seede and yet the naturall qualitie of the goodnes of the meat which the Iades cat is not vtterly depriued or taken away although the predominate qualitie as to the action and operation of goodnes is carryed and transported by the seede of the Iades whose qualitie and power cannot be taken from it no more then Art out of an Artificer therfore such wil be the qualitie of the iades colt that is begotten also of vnperfect shape because that the vegetatiue sensible soule are material and corporall in the seede with the discent of the Sires which fashioneth the colte in the wombe and the perfection of shape concerneth onely the vertue of the bodie that begetteth