Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-03-07

slightest motion of the rein, would walk
backwards rapidly under gentle pres
sure of the bit, and moved sideways al
most as willingly as lie moved forward /;
in short, was perfectly trained to all the
PAGES and evolutions of parade horse I;
and when ridden at military reviews Gas
was frequently the case), his bold, i'm
posing style, and spirited, nervous ac-
ton, attracted universal attention and
admiration. He was perfectly gentle
and kind to handle, and loved to be
groomed and caressed; but he disliked
to have children about him. and had an
inveterate hatred for dogs, if loose al
ways chasing them out of sight the in
slant he saw them. When taken out
with halter or bride he was in constant
motion and very playful. He was II fleet
runner at short distances. Running
horses short distances for small stakes
was very common in Vermont fifty
years ago. Eighty rods was very gen
orally the length of the course. +
Among the many races of this descrip-
ton that he ran were two in 1896, at
Brooktield. VT, one with horse called
Sweepstakes from Long Island. and the
Other with horse called Silvertail from
st. Lawrence county, New York; both
of these he beat with ease. Mr.. Morgan.
who then owned him, offered to give the
owner of Silvertail two more chances to
win the stake, which was fifty dollars,
by walking or trotting the horses for
it, but the offer was declined.
"In harness the Justin Morgan was
quiet but full of spirit, an eager and
ninIble traveller, but patient in bad spots {:
and although for a long time steadily en-
gagged in the heavy work of IA new farm,
his owner at that time informs us that
he never knew him to refuse to draw as
often as he was required to, but he
pithily adds didn't very often have
to ask him but once, for whatever he
was hitched to generally had to come
the first time trying. This uniform
kindness at Il pull was one of the strik-
ing characteristics of the horse, and
the same trait may be observed in the
greater part of his descendants. Pull
ing matches and pulling bees were as
common in those days as short races,
and the little horse, as he was often call
ed, became quite celebrated for his I'M
varying Willingness to do his best, and
for his great power at what is called
dead lift"
Mr.. Linsley also inserts Il long letter
from Solomon Steele, who seems to have
known the horse well, and who says.
among other things, that he could out
draw, out-walk, out-trot and out-run
every horse that was ever matched
against him.
1t will be seen that this athlete among
horses was made up in the same way,
and had the same characteristics with
the typical Morgan of the present day
We expect now materially increased
size and more speed at the trot: but i'm
all other points Il worthy descendant of
the line Will strongly resemble the faith
er of the family. 1t is this power of
the sire to reproduce his own qualities
in his offspring and carry them down to
future generationS-prepOt as it is
now termed-that has made the Morgan
family at once so valuable and so dis
tinct And the power itself doubtless
comes from the strong Arab breeding of
the original Morgan. No line of horses
in the world has been kept so pure for
such length OF time as the Arab: and
none can be reproduced with such uni
formity. They have established their
type; they breed horses with as much
uniformity as We breed fowls and the
type is so firmly established that it will
prevail over Il very large infusion of
mixed blood. This | believe to be the
reason why horse that carries only a
small fraction of Morgan blood will fire.
quently exhibit in a very marked degree
the Morgan characteristics.
If were to select representative
Morgan of my own acquaintance, |
would name Motion, 2:29. son of Daniel
Lambert; and one would be surprised
to note how closely the description of
the original would apply to him, except
in the matter of color and speed. Mo
ton was trifle larger than Justin Nor
gan, being - hands high ;ibut he had the
same athletic development, high finish,
lofty style, resoute disposition and de-
termined courage; the same high head
and flowing name and tail in fact, the
same Morgan points from nose to heel,
that Mr.. Linsley has described. Before
took him he had reputation for bad
temper, but as soon as we were acquaint-
ed he was perfectly gentle in my hands.
and have no doubt but that his temper
was only the resentment that every intel
ligent and courageous animal will show
at bad treatment. He was a horse of
hi