in England, and in 1877 he was sold to the Earl of Claremont's stud in Ireland. On the European continent Turkoman horses, aside from being occasional gifts of state, were often brought into Western Europe by various individuals, mostly connected with the military in some way. Some of these horses have had a profound impact on various European warmblood breeds. During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, one of the most universally acclaimed war and racing horses in Europe was the Neapolitan Courser. Though much heavier than the Turkoman horse, it may have had some Turkoman ancestry. Gervase Markham, Master of Horse to James I of England, describes the Neapolitan horses in terms which will sound very familiar to the fancier of the Turanian horses: Markham preferred the English Thoroughbred first among all breeds of horses; the Neapolitan second, and the steppe-bred Turk third. He had seen Turks racing on English race courses, circa 1566–1625. He also noted that the Turks he had seen were: "Naturally in they desire to amble, and, which is most strange, their trot is full of pride and gracefulness." References Further reading Heritage of Central Asia, from Antiquity to the Turkish Conquest, R. Frye Illustrated Book of the Horse, S. Sidney, Wilshire Book Company, 1875 Authentic Arabian Horse and His Descendants, Lady Wentworth, 1945 Rewriting the Stud Book, Melanie Cabel-Allerstone, Country Life, January 1993 Illustrated Book of the Horse, S. Sidney, Wilshire Book Company, 1875 http://www.lrgaf.org/articles/foundation-turks.htm Extinct horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Turkmenistan Horse breeds