FAMOUS HORSES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 324, 8 October 1896, Page 6

FAMOUS HORSES.

The Field, after mentioning some horses which have earned fame on the racecourse, adds : —“ It is not, however, on the turf alone that famous horses have been found. Bucephalus must be ranked in the list of chargers. And is there not the famous Baiveca of the Cid Ruy Dias de Bivar ? One must not forget, too, Rosinante, or even Nobbs, the long-suffering steed of Dr. Dobbs; while the four horses who, in 1757, tore limb from limb Robert Francois Damien (the last person to be put to death in this manner in Europe) for making an attempt on the life of Louis XV., were doubtless of more or less notoriety. Marengo, one of the many good chargers Napoleon 111. possessed at one time or another, had a history of his own, and was very highly prized by his Imperial owner. But to Englishmen the most notable of all war horses was the Duke of Wellington’s famous Copenhagen, which carried the Iron Duke through the long night’s ride at Waterloo; and, as the Duke himself explained, he, having a horse shot under him in the morning, mounted Copenhagen at ten o’clock, and rode him incessantly till eight o’clock at night, and not a bite or a sup did the gallant little chestnut, get during the whole of that time. But, the day’s work being finished, the Duke’s first care was to see that the horse was well looked after, his directions to his servants being, “ Give him no hay, but as much oats and beans as he has a mind for.” “ Was be a nice horse to ride ?” was the question once addressed to the Duke of Wellington m connection with Copenhagen. “ There are doubtless many, faster and many handsomer horses,” was the reply, “but for endurance au,l bottom he cannot be excelled and then he proceeded to give the story of the long day’s work mentioned above. Although so much has been written about the famous horse, there was for, a long time a certain amount of doubt as to his colour. A chestnut lie was always supposed to be until one picture represented him as a bay ; while in Sir Edwin Landseer’s painting he was an unquestionable gray : and, if anyone ventured afterwards to suggest that Copenhagen was a bay or a chestnut. Sir Edwin’s picture was referred to as making it clear beyond all doubt that he was a grey. The mystery, however, was subsequently cleared up in an amusing way. The painting in question passed into the possession of Lady Charles Wellesley, who had, as narrated by Mr Archibald Forbes, a penchant for grey horses. She disliked'the original chestnut coat of Copenhagen,and to suit her own fancies caused it to be repainted grey —a “ fad,” to use a wor.l now often employed, which at one time gave rise to endless discussion. Copenhagen has often been called a thoroughbred, but this is not strictly correct, for in the ‘ General Stud Book’ one of his female ancestors is described as of unknown pedigree.