Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-03-06
BREEDING MORGANS.
THE VIEWS OF AN ILLINOIS MAN.
FAIRvIEw, H., Feb. 13, 1916.


Editor Of the Register Having seen
several letters from lovers Of the Nor
gan horse in your paper, and oeing
something of fanatic on that subject
myself, could not help writing an
opinion on it. hoping to be heard with
the rest. AbOnt Is years ago | got
view of Morgan horse at our county
fair and was so taken with his shape
and STYLE that | never forgot him. 1t
was at Washington G. H., our county
seat in Ohio. came to Illinois in 1891
and tarmed right along, but never bred
a mare until purchased Morgan stall
lion i'm '7G, all this time thinking to go to
Vermont and get me one of the true
Morgan style. You may know what
Job had to find him ana wondered
why the people had come so near losing
him. When got to Port Henry they
began telling who had the Morgans, hut
didn't see them. They were small
eyed. narrow-chested they didn't fill
nv model a little hit; so after two
weeks stay among as clever people as
have ever seen and seeing many they
called Morgans, | became disgusted at
Barton and decided to give it up. But
some man who proved to be friend
suggested | might find Morgan al
Lyndon and did find Just what was
lookil = for, Morgan in fact-one of the
old type. Black Morgan ,. He died at
- and was rs sound as horse could be.
You may think | buried him in good
shape. no. did not. for | was not done
with him yet. kept his bones and
compared them with those of other
breeds from 20O0 lbs. draft to smaller or
speed horses Il don't mean thorough
bredS. rs haven't had chance at
Spragups: and make this assertion,
that the frame of no 2O0O Id. draft horse
would outweigh his frame 10 lbs. when
thoroughly evaporated: hence my
fanaticism. There not being anything
like him here, ! inbred him to his own
daughters and after his death his sons
and daughters have been mated without
reserve and We now have the fifth gener-
dllOll anu llh'N are sun -hOl guns VI AilN
true type, with plenty of SIZE, bone and
muscle to take their masters load of
hogs or grain over any roads the draft
breeds can go.
find it is not total weight that gets
them through, but Il proper distribution
of weight that counts. Many IA Norman
or CLYDE would be proud of the width
of their muscle across the stitle and the
excess of draft or front weight. have
not encouraged the breeding TO them for
speed. As it invariably Spoils their draft
weight. W thOut which our western far
mers can't afford to raise them.
Black Morgan No. carried 300 lbs.
excess front weight. the total being 800
lbs. lie is bred to mare weighing
1850 lbs. with 100 pounds excess of front
weight The produce Is a horse of 1000
lbs. in working order. carrying POO
lbs. draft or front weight. lie is bred to
his half sister. She weighs 220 lbs.
and carries POI lbs. draft or front weight
and they produce a horse that at four
years old weighs los lbs. carrying 30
lbs. draft or front weight. These are
actual Morgan weights, and inbred. as
YOU see. hut have not lost their vitality
one particle.
These weights are not Fictitious. n one
might suppose, but are "a fair sample of
the old type. and when bred TO speed for
speed it reduces their front weight and
hence spells them for any kind of draft.
even to light wagon, when they have To
draw up AN incline Hence my opinion
Is that you had better close that gate and
admit no dam with less than Two crosses
OF Morgan running direct to Justin Nor
gan, the same a on the sire's side. 1t
may cramp some at present, but this
will be the case 20 years from this.
Times are very tight here just now and
it is almost impossible to raise funds for
any purpose. The hackney is nothing
more than Morgan in build. and the
Morgan will be preferred to the hackney
by the truly American citizen if properly
bred and trained in his line. So | say.
shut the gate on speed and cultivate the
American horse for Americans. Now l.
your time to give the Morgan his first
public rise for the American people.
A. ANDERSON.