A bit of history

This is a portrait of the Godolphin Arabian by John Wootton 1731. He is said to be one of the forefathers of all horses and Madeira is in the 25th generation of his descendants. (I can totally see the resemblance.)

"Few horses have as much legend associated with them as does the Godolpin Arabian. He had a small head on a well arched and crested neck, was short-backed with tremendous quarters and a high-set tail. He had great bone, action, and a fiery temperament. He was described as a brown bay ("with reddish mottle"), about 15 hands high (one source says 14.2h.) with some white on the off hind heel. He was said to be small, but that his get usually stood taller. His constant companion was the cat, Grimalkin.

The stallion was probably one of several presented as tribute to the King of France by the Bey of Tunis. While in France he was described by Vicomte de Manty, who said his name was Shami, that he was beautifully-made although "half starved", with a headstrong temperament that made him unloved among the barn staff.

He was imported from France in 1729 by Mr. Edward Coke, a gentleman with personal connections in France, especially with the Duke of Lorraine. The Duke of Lorraine, later Emperor Francis I of Germany, also figures in the history of the Belgrade Turk. Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, brother-in-law of Edward Coke, purchased the Belgrade Turk from the Duke and brought him to England. It can be presumed that Coke acquired the Godolphin Arabian via the French court, possibly from the Duke himself.

Mr. Coke brought the Arabian to England and stood him at his recently purchased Longford Hall in Derbyshire; in Coke's stud book he is referred to as "ye Arabian." The official story of the Arabian, later known as Lord Godolphin's, begins in 1731, when he covered Mr. Coke's Roxana, (ch.f. 1718) by the Bald Galloway, who was bred by Sir William Strickland. The following spring, Roxana foaled a bay colt by the Arabian, named Lath, who was said to be "a very elegant and beautiful horse," and who was later sold to the Duke of Devonshire.

Coke died in August, 1733 at the young age of 32. In his will, he left his small group of mares and foals, including Roxana and Lath, to a personal friend and fellow horseman, Francis, the second Earl of Godolphin, son of the controversial figure, Sidney, the first Earl. His stallions, including the Arabian, Whitefoot, and Hobgoblin, were left to another friend, Roger Williams. In 1733, the Earl acquired the Arabian from Williams, which is how the horse became known as the Godolphin Arabian. He was moved to the Earl's stud near Babraham in the Gog Magog Hills in Cambridgeshire, not far from the racing town of Newmarket. Lord Godolphin's mansion lay within the boundaries of the Iron Age fort known as Wandlebury Ring. The mansion was leveled in 1956, but the stables and other buildings remain on site

The Godolphin Arabian died in 1753 at an advanced age estimated to be 29 years (presuming he was a mature stallion of five or six upon his arrival in England). A solemn ceremony was performed at gravesited and he was laid to rest under a gateway at the stable. A stone slab was placed over his grave with an inscription noting who lay underneath. This gravesite is still in existence inside the archway of the stable block within the building complex inside Wandlebury Ring."

Searching back Madeira's bloodlines the earliest horse I found was "Fairfax's Morocco Barb" 1633. Imported from Morocco for Charles first in 1637.

The earliest imported stallion registered in the GSB (general stud book.)

I vacationed in Morocco with my family when I was twelve and got to ride a Barb horse.