Home

 Sires

 Dams

 Portraits

 Turf Hallmarks

 Breeders

 Genetic Markers

 Resources

 Contributors

 Store

 Search our site

 E-mail us


 

Turf Hallmarks


Important Races

Champions of the Turf

Race Course Gazeteer

Steeplechasing

Grave Matters

Boston vs. Fashion

Racing in Australia

Trainers

  Les Anglais in France

Gone Abroad

  Voyage of the Flora

    Flora: The Horses

    Flora: The Destination

  Shipping to the Antipodes

    Antipodes: British Stallions sent to Australia


Related Links


  Racing and Breeding in South Africa



 

  Gone Abroad
graphic


Gone Abroad
Horse in ship's hold Loading horses
Bottom Left: Horses in hold of ship 1870s
Bottom Right: Loading military horses 1790s
Until the advent of air transport in the mid-twentieth century, horses sent from England -- whether for military or commercial use -- had to travel by ship, facing the same, or worse, constraints and perils encountered by the crews. In the early development of the running horse, later the thoroughbred, the voyages were from far-flung ports like Aleppo, and from famous European studs in Spain and Italy to England, bringing in horses of the desert, of potentates, of Hapsburg royalty. But by the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the carefully crafted products of racehorse breeders were shipping out from England, traveling thousands of miles in dank holds to new homes in America, where, emulating the "mother country," rich plantation owners and northern merchants were developing horse racing with their own particular native twist. By the third decade of the nineteenth century, horses were regularly making the 12,000 plus mile trip over the oceans to Australia and New Zealand, where the colonists were establishing their own brand of horse racing. By the mid-nineteenth century, England was exporting thoroughbred stallions and mares to countries all over the globe, a business that greatly expanded with the introduction of steamers and a consequent shortening of the months-long voyages, and with developing economies that could support the sport and the wild betting that accompanied it, in all countries.

This section features two essays that focus on the shipment of horses from England and consider, briefly, the early impact of horses from England on native thoroughbred breeding. The Voyage of the Flora reproduces the log of a ship sailing from Whitby, England, to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1767, and considers the state of horse breeding in that colony at the time. Shipping to the Antipodes treats aspects of shipping horses on months-long voyages to Australia and New Zealand, briefly addresses the perils that could beset the ships, and considers the influence of English-bred stallions on horse racing in Australia.




Home   Historic Sires   Historic Dams   Portraits   Turf Hallmarks   Breeders   Genetics   Resources   Contributors   Search   Store   E-mail

©2000 - 2009 Thoroughbred Heritage. All rights reserved.