Breeding Horses for Sport

Since the beginning of recorded time, horse racing has been a sport of almost ever major civilization. Some records show that nomadic tribesmen of Central Asia may have raced the horses they domesticated as long ago as 4500BCE. By 638BCE, the ancient Greeks included chariot racing and mounted horse racing to events in the Olympic Games.

During the 12th century, English knights returned from the Crusades with small and hot-blooded horses from North Africa. by the 17th century, horse racing was popular with the English nobility, and it was at the time that it gain it's soubriquet "THE SPORT OF KINGS. Charles II improve his stock by breeding these African breed with his English mares, the resulting offspring had speed and stamina and that ran in private match races for the nobility to wager on.

The lineage of all Thoroughbreds goes back to North African stallions brought to England after 1662. Of these, three are found in the pedigrees of all Thoroughbred racehorses:

In 1680, the Byerley Turk was captured at Buda and imported to England. This stallion was bred to native English stock and his great great grandson was named Herod. This became the development of the Herod line.

In 1700, the Darley Arabian foaled and was imported from the Syrian port of Aleppo to England. This stallion eventually founded the Eclipse line.

In 1724, the Godolphin Arabian foaled in Yemen. This horse was eventually acquired by Lord Godolphin and founded the Matchem line.

Over time, the three basics types of thoroughbred were developed. Many people agree that there are three founding fathers of the thoroughbred breed. Each stallion is the founder of one of the three principal lines of the modern thoroughbred.