Colonial Foundation Mares

http://www.tbheritage.com/HistoricDams/ColonFoundMares.html

Featured Image: ‘Skeletine’; a colonial-bred daughter of ‘Skeleton’

New Research Affects Traditional Organization of Female Lines

In the August 2002 edition of the journal Animal Genetics, Dr Emmeline Hill and her colleagues at the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, published “History and Integrity of Thoroughbred Dam Lines Revealed in Equine mtDNA Variation,” a ground-breaking study that changes much of what we thought we knew about the early history of the thoroughbred, and that affects the pedigrees virtually every thoroughbred now living. The study examined pedigrees of horses associated with the English Foundation Mares, and does not address the other families, but it is highly likely further genetic research will have an impact on these families as well.

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Antipodes: British Stallions sent to Australia

By Keith R. Binney for Thoroughbred Heritage. ©Keith R. Binney, 2009. Keith Binney is author of Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) & The Serpents Legacy (Volcanic Productions, 2005) and a contributor to Thoroughbred Heritage.

http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/GoneAbroadf/Antipodes/Antipodes2.html

Featured Image:

‘Skeleton’ was one of the very early importations into NSW (1827) and ‘Dover’ (1836)

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The British East India Company in Early Australia and John Macarthur’s Influence in Colonial Horse Breeding

By Keith R. Binney, author Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) and The Serpents Legacy ©2006 Keith R. Binney. All Rights Reserved.

Edited extracts from Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) and The Serpents Legacy. Author Keith Binney; Hardcover ARP $59.95. At all good bookstores. Distributors Dennis Jones & Associates P/L.

See also: http://www.tbheritage.com/Breeders/AUS/AusHistBinney.html Visit Horsemen of the First Frontier for more information

Featured Image: John and Elizabeth Macarthur’s Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta NSW, 1825

When one produces a broad historical work like “Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) & The Serpents Legacy”, perhaps the writer should not be surprised at any comments received. However, the number of Australian readers who have recently said things like “I didn’t know the British East India Company had anything to do with Australia” indicates a generally widespread gap in our historical knowledge of the early colonial period. This is especially so when the same people had learnt at school about the British East India Company’s major role on the Indian sub-continent, in the Opium Wars with China and with the “Boston Tea Party” of 1773, which was a precursor to the American War of Independence.

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Shipping Horses to the Antipodes

By Keith R. Binney for Thoroughbred Heritage. ©Keith R. Binney, 2009. Keith Binney is author of Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) & The Serpents Legacy (Volcanic Productions, 2005) and a contributor to Thoroughbred Heritage.

http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/GoneAbroadf/Antipodes/Antipodes.html

Featured Image: 1859 painting of the wreck of the Admella by James Shaw; horse battling the surf can be seen to the left. While the exact location of the horse may be speculative, Shaw’s depiction of the Admella, which hung for months on the rocks and was seen by Shaw, is accurate.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the time taken for voyages on sailing ships from England to the east coast of America, vis-a-vis those to the Antipodes, do not bear a true comparison. The direct shipping route from Southampton to New York is listed as 3,091 nautical miles. From Southampton to Sydney, Australia, via Cape Town was 12,385 miles, with a further 1,233 miles from Sydney to Wellington, New Zealand.

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Thoroughbred Heritage

Featured Image: U.S. Triple Crown winner Affirmed’s monument and grave, Darley Stud at Jonabell, Lexington, Kentucky
Photo Kurt Lemke ©2013

See: http://www.tbheritage.com/ and http://nationalsporting.org/

I’m guilty as charged; and equally deluded? Naively I thought I could produce a well-researched and informed history on thoroughbred breeding in the Hunter Valley. At very short notice and limited resources I had already published a ‘quick fix’ histoire for a particular purpose. I decided to expand this tome.

See: https://sconevetdynasty.com.au/history-of-thoroughbred-breeding-in-the-upper-hunter-vally/

It’s an overworked ‘truism’ in veterinary science that you miss more ‘by not looking rather than by not knowing’. When I really started to look I discovered a plethora of already published information which I would only have repeated; possibly in a different format. Addicted as I am ‘to plunder, plagiarize and purloin’ it was inviting. However I rejected the tempting tendrils of Lucifer and elected to stay ‘clean’.

The ‘Thoroughbred Heritage’ website is up there with Ian Ibbett’s ‘Kings of the Turf’ when it comes to eclectic dialogue, colourful description and scientific discovery.

See: https://kingsoftheturf.com/

The series of ‘blogs’ I adduce are all based on facts I have gleaned from these and a few other founts. I identify the source documents in each case. Learning to properly navigate the home page of ‘Thoroughbred Heritage’ website was my inaugural hurdle. From there it is a litany of literature; much of it pertaining to the unique Australian story. Let the journey begin.