]

] Is this a quote, Jo?

Sorry, no. I just thought it was rather a queer way to express what i wanted, but i couldn't think of how to write it.

]Are you saying that there was a separate wave that coincided with the Regency (ie 1811-1820)?

Perhaps not quite with the regency, maybe a little before. From what i understand from my history lessons, during the Agricultural revolution in England, in the late 1700s, Enclosure happened and all sorts of things like that (i'm pretty sure there's some info on that in the archives). With enclosure, it meant that the "common" or the "green" was used less and people grazed their animals on their own plot of land which was fenced off. This meant that your ewe or cow or sow or mare couldn't be mated by any of your neighbours' rams/bulls/pigs/stallions that happened to also be grazing in the area. Production and demand were quite pressured at around this time, and people were trying to invent ways of increasing quality and quantity of produce - with new farming machines etc etc.

One Robert Bakewell, (according to my history teacher), began fiddling around with selective breeding of sheep and cattle for more wool and more beef. I am only presuming that selective breeding of horses would also have come about, to improve horse-power of the new machines. And consequently, I suppose the wealthy would start selective breeding for better pleasure horses as well.

I suppose I should admit that all I wrote in the earlier post was merely my own conjecture, based on what i have learned and inferred; I don't think i really have much source proof! =Þ