Hackney Horse

Stunning large portrait of a Hackney horse. The lithographs were printed on textured paper to look like oil paintings.

The Hackney Horse breed was developed in the C14th in Norfolk when the King of England required powerful but attractive horses with an excellent trot, to be used for general purpose riding horses. The trotting horses were more suitable as war horses than amblers with their pacing gaits. As a result, in 1542 King Henry VIII required his wealthy subjects keep a specified number of trotting horse stallions for breeding use.  In about 1729 a Norfolk Trotter stallion and an Arabian stallion contributed to the foundation stock for the modern Hackney Horse. The resulting Norfolk Roadster, as it was known, was a heavily built horse that was used as a work horse by farmers and others. It was also a fast horse with good stamina.

From, L’espèce chevaline à travers le monde.