The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-08-08

as Plato, Addison Pathfinder, lockwood
horse and his renowned son Gen. Knox
among stations Belle of Saratoga, Lady
Sherman, Lady Ltch6eld, and Boston
Queen among mares. Black Hawk found
many good mares in Vermont, descend
ants of Hambletonian, Aurelius, llenry,St.
Charles, Liberty, &C., and these were their
produce and the product set all the county
agog for the beauty, symmetry and gen.
eral usefulness Of Black Hawks bred from
such mares was a wonder to all but as
those old mares have passed away and
the stock OF Black Hawk nterbred or
bred to smaller Morgans or French, re-
suits have been to decrease size and bone,
and spoil the business and our reputation,
fastening upon us a small sized, chubby,
rugged, little horse to be sure, but degen-
Grated in size and without the power Of
recuperation. unless by slow and tedious
process of careful and discriminating
selections Of proper animals of the species
for long series of years too long | think,
for Yankee patience to endure. With
sheep in hOcks of hundreds, ten years ex-
periencc is more than lifetime with the
number of mares that we individually arc
able to keep. My experience in it has
taught me that likes donf produce likes
eractly, but intensity characteristics and
especially peculiarities. Now then if
we breed small horses the product is
smaller. The Mexican mustang and the
Indian pony are examples of continued
degeneration in size. These small hardy
little fellows are descended no doubt from
those horses Of Cortez considered by the
Aztecs half man and real Centaurs, and
there is no reason to believe but they were
of full proportion when imported, for how
else could they have carried the mailed
warrior and in addition their own cover
ing?
If breeders would provide themselves
with such mares as were in the days Of
Black Hawk, or small fast stations would
produce equally good and better stock
than was produced then, But will they
Is it not the tendency Of nearly all to
breed from what they have, especially if
rendered unseryiceable by hard work or
strains, even if small | think it is, and
you no doubt agree with me, and it is not
so very destructive after all as we have
sometimes thought, if care is used not to
breed from horses having hereditary all.
ments provided judcious choice of
stallion is made, for it is no doubt true
the close built, round, swclled muscled
little BLACK Hawk or Morgan horses, have
as much true stamina as any in the world.
| remember the remark of n gentleman
last summer, one evidently travelled and
obscryant, and withal true lover of the
horse Sitting upon the Addison House
steps, in Middlebury, on a public occasion,
he watched the teams come in from the
country. Looking up, he says: mo
where have | ever seen horses come into
town hitched to heavy buggies with two,
three and even four loaded in, that would
take their loads up such a hill as that, at
such rate Of speed without hitching,
hobbling or jumping; and those sturdy
little fellows don't seem to know that
they have any load behind them at all.
These arc qualities, gentlemen, that we
cannot afford to lose, and it is not neces-
sary that we should. In the last few
years there has been a growing opinion in
the minds of the most intelligent horse
breeders Of our land, that the old theory
of large female, small male, though good
in practice must give place in n measure
to the absolute facts as they are devel-
oped from day to day and year to year
that the fastest and best horses, those
showing the best staying and enduring
qualities, are being produced by breeding
the small fine boned, enduring, cheerful,
courageous female to the coarse boned,
larger sized, heavy trotting horse the
produce taking their bottom, their nerve,
and their indomitablc courage from the
dam, and their square trotting, long, low,
sweeping stride from the sire.
Such has been the result in Kentucky
from crossing that coarse old horse, Nam
brine Chief, with their fine boned thor
oughbreds, and Lady Thorn, NIambrino
Pilot, Bay Chief, Bold Chief, Ericsson,
Woodburn Pilot Claybrino two Of our
Stock Farm hosresl and many others
well known to horscmen are the products.
Mambrino BERTHE just purchased by Mr.
Bonner, that prince Of horse buyers, trot-
ted last year, a two-year-old, in 2:40l.
Such has also been the result, in Orange
County, n. Y, only more so, crossing
Rysdyk's Hambletonian, that double son
Of old Messenger, and who doubts but he
is coarse horse, if any, let them look at
this his faithful likeness, showing print
and note his big head, long ears, high
hip and tail, and heavy boncd, crooked
and almost CURLY iointcd leg, and be con-
WINGED
This horse, crossed with American Star
mares, that fine old descendant of the
four miller Henry, has produced as many,
perhaps more exceedingly fast, staying
horses than any other. Hiram Woodruff
says, "the Messenger cross gives the Stars
size, strength, and bone, and countcracts
their hereditary tendency to contraction
Of the feet" We may say that any cross
that would produce Dexter George
Wilkes, Major Winfield, Aberdeen, Star
tie, Socrates, and 50 on to almost unlim-
tied numbers, was good one but when
We consider that these crosses not only
give as large a per cent Of fast irotters as
any other, but also to the every day breed
er a sure thing in size, style, aud good,
sashing, open gait, 50 that led out at four
years old to the halter by any farmers
lad that could run fast enough they wonld
easily bring highly rcmunerative prices to
the breeder, not only for the five in
hundred, but for the % withal. We
have reached the point long aimed at, a
class Of horses in which each and every
one will be worth all he costs. A class
Of fast horses suitable for the road in
light Or heavy hitch, for the wagon or
the plow. Who does not know that for