Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-12-27

rules OF negistfatiOn should require a
large percentage of such blood lines as
are known to produce these character
isties.
IL the Register through which, we are
to work towards the ideal type at a road
horse Is to beealled the Morgan Register
Morgan blood enough to prevent cur be-
coming the laughing stock Of all persons
Interested ia other breeds of horses.
My idea is that we had 10 to 90 years
ago ia the Morgan horses of this couHtry
the nearest approach to the perfect road
horse that the world has ever seen.
These horses were scattered into every
State of the Union and their blood is now
coursing through the veins of the com
mon horses of our country (where it has
not been displaced bv Ooarser blood from
foreign countries), and is entirely unre-
,cognzed by the owners.
! If the breeders of this country during
chose early years of the Morgan horse
development had really appreciated the
gseat merits of the Morgan horse and
continued to breed this blood (selectng
the best specimens for breeders instead
of selling the best for drivers and breed
ing to the poorest as many did, we should
before this time had the wealthy people
of all che world coming to cur markets
to buy tOppy. stylish drivers.
The craze for great size, mere bulk, in
hGrse-breedIng, and the still worse craze
for extreme speed which is seldom real
lied. and has ruined hundred small for
tunes where IL has created one large one,
have done more to inure the road horse
interests of this country than all other
causes combined. So true is this that it
is hardly possible either in the country
or in the streets of our larger towns or
cities to find one horse in hundred that is
reallya good road horse. have frequent
ly watched the turnouts of wealthy people
as they were drawn up alongside of some
of the great stores while their owners
were shopping, and such contrast be-
tween horses and egupages-stvlish,
handsome vehicles with all modern ap-
pointments, liveried drivers, polished
brass or silver-mOunted harness. but the
horses we're a sorry lot indeed, more fit
for the use of street drayman. No doubt
their owners thought them very fine. and
quite likely they were the best that could
be bought IN the market, but they were
nevertheless sad commentary on the
degenerate condition Of the road horse
interests of the country.
My ideal carriage horse Is handsomer
than any possible equipage, and so full
of life and spirit as to drive away the !
blues from the most confirmed dvspeptic |
am entirely convinced that this type of
horse will never be produced by breeding
l6hand horses on the one hand, nor two /
minute trotters on the other. Now and |
then horse may appear that is lG hands /
high or can trot close to two minutes |
that may show some of the characteristic |
les of the ideal roadster, but these are
only exceptions. The ideal type that (
can reproduce itself with good degree .
of uniformity will only come in my iudg-
ment through long line of close in
breeding or line breeding of horses that
are already deep in the blood of some
strain that possesses the desired charat-
The old-time Morgan horse,
with perhaps little more height up to
say 10 hands or Whereabouts the original
Morgan horse was only II hands,, comes
the nearest to filling my ideal of road
ster of any horse have ever seen.
Therefore | am in favor of raising the
standard of blood percentage in the Nor
gan Register as high as we can get 1t,
and have very little faith in improving
the character of the Morgan horse by
Outcrosses. DELOS DI'NTON.