A major infusion of Arabian horses into Europe occurred when the Ottoman Turks sent 300,000 horsemen into Hungary in 1522. Many Turkish soldiers were mounted on pure-blooded Arabians, captured during raids into Arabia. By 1529, the Ottomans reached Vienna, where they were stopped by the Polish and Hungarian armies, who captured these horses from the defeated Ottoman cavalry. Some of these animals provided foundation bloodstock for the major studs of eastern Europe.
The Thoroughbred breed started not so long ago. It started with three Arabian stallions - Byerly Turk, the Darrley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian.
Mavi Boncuk |
The story of the Byerley Turk begins at the seige of Buda in Hungary in 1688, when a fine brown charger was taken from a captured Turkish officer by Captain Robert Byerley of the Sixth Dragoon Guards under King William III of Orange. The horse was believed to be about eight years old at the time, placing his year of birth at around 1679. The stallion served as Byerley's war horse when he was dispatched to Ireland in 1689 during King William's War. In 1690, public records show a race meeting was held in the spring at Down Royal in Northern Ireland, at which the top prize, the Silver Bell, was won by Captain Byerley's charger. Later that same year, the stallion was used during the Battle of the Boyne, July 12, 1690, versus the forces of King James II. [His biography up to this point closely parallels that of the Lister Turk, also captured at the seige of Buda and taken to Ireland to serve in the Battle of the Boyne.]
The Byerley Turk first entered stud in England, at the family seat at Middridge Grange, County Durham and later stood at Byerley's Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough, in Yorkshire. It is said that he covered few "bred" mares during either period of his stud career, which makes the results even more remarkable. He was known to be at stud as late as 1701, the year he sired Basto (foaled in 1702). It's possible that his remains are buried somewhere on the Goldsborough estate.
Robert Byerley was born in 1660, a son of Col. Anthony Byerley of Middridge Grange, a cavalry officer under Charles I, his unit known as "Byerley's Bulldogs." Robert Byerley rose through the ranks to Captain and was made Colonel in 1688. He married Mary, a grandniece of Philip (4th) Lord Wharton, also a prominent horse breeder of the time. Byerley later removed from Middridge Grange to Goldsborough Hall, and died in May 1714, to be buried at Goldsborough. The Goldsborough estate was sold to the Lascelles family around 1766, upon the death of Elizabeth Byerley.
As his portrait by Wootton shows, the Byerley Turk was a unmarked, dark brown horse with a decidedly Arabian appearance, despite his title as a "Turk". He was very prepotent, and many of his offspring are noted to have been brown or black like himself.
The Byerley Turk first entered stud in England, at the family seat at Middridge Grange, County Durham and later stood at Byerley's Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough, in Yorkshire. It is said that he covered few "bred" mares during either period of his stud career, which makes the results even more remarkable. He was known to be at stud as late as 1701, the year he sired Basto (foaled in 1702). It's possible that his remains are buried somewhere on the Goldsborough estate.
Robert Byerley was born in 1660, a son of Col. Anthony Byerley of Middridge Grange, a cavalry officer under Charles I, his unit known as "Byerley's Bulldogs." Robert Byerley rose through the ranks to Captain and was made Colonel in 1688. He married Mary, a grandniece of Philip (4th) Lord Wharton, also a prominent horse breeder of the time. Byerley later removed from Middridge Grange to Goldsborough Hall, and died in May 1714, to be buried at Goldsborough. The Goldsborough estate was sold to the Lascelles family around 1766, upon the death of Elizabeth Byerley.
As his portrait by Wootton shows, the Byerley Turk was a unmarked, dark brown horse with a decidedly Arabian appearance, despite his title as a "Turk". He was very prepotent, and many of his offspring are noted to have been brown or black like himself.
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Jul 22, 2006
He is destined to become the magnificent Byerley Turk, the first Foundation Sire of the thoroughbred line. From his early days the young horse is hard-schooled in the disciplines of war. In 1683, in diamond and ruby-studded harness in ...
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