Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1900-07-20
Middlebury, VT, July 1G, 1900.


Inquiries for Morgan Horses.
NEW CASTLE, Pa, July 10, 1861.
'oseph batlel',
rarrnnr Of f,I, = uan Iirocto% OFoU n
information concerning breeders of Morgan
horses ] not only want a team for myself,
put as statc Iecturer 10 rarmers institutes
nnrtment Of ms stote. an froo,nntiv aslnd
where purc-bred Morgan horses can be pro
cured. Hence ! ask you for this information.
WEI 10 N"o" inc oree'eIS nearest 'h7
when a how at home we used NOTHING Inn,
Morgans, as father would breed nothing else;
ana ! know no better general purpose horse.
and rood and in n1err no, sihio ~ ld
ment he is reliable. safe, sound, kind and
true. | wan to get into that breed again and
Keep IT, anu ! Nh"' 10 ne "oic"Is" 10 INFORM
ann ronno"toJ L I ,oa,i,nn 'atd omI,,1eai
journal to write up the al%l.purpose farmers
horse. If find time to do 50, / shall write up
'Ht Morgom as sucn a morse.
and shah be thankful for INV nil Won con
render. Very truly yours,
IA. THNYER.
The above letter was not intended by
the writer Tor publcatlon, but as this
Office as well as the secretary of the Yer
mont Morgan Horse Breeders association
have received scores OF similar commune
cations from various sections OF the
Unlon. we nave taken the liberty of in
sertlng II in the REGISTER in the hope
that it may stimulate Vermont farmers
and breeders of live stock to greater in
terest ana more care in an Industry that
at one time was a source OF much wealth
TO the state. Within the recollection of
many OF our older readers Vermont had
a reputation as a producer of fine horses
even greater than that at present ac-
corded to California and kentucky, and
buyers ar remuneratiye and in many in
stances what was then considered fabu.
lous prices, came from nearly every
point or the compass to secure repre-
sentatives of the greatest tribe of light
harness and general purpose horses that
ever existed on this continent-the
descendants of Justin Morgan. This
prosperous state of affairs might have
continued Indefinitely but for the Oc-
currence OF the civil War. which absorbed
thousands of the breed, the Morgan
being peculiarly adapted to cavalry ser
vice and officers mounts, and the errors
of a majority of our breeders in parting
with their best individuals and ~reserving
the Inferior animals for breeding pur-
poses. Then when the craze for trot-
ting race horses swept over the country.
Nermonters caught the infection, and to
produce a 80 trotter became the alpha
aud omega of their ambition. to accom-
pllsh which. they were made to believe. it
was necessary TO breed larger horses. or
horses with longer legs, a characteristic
of the Mambrinos and Hambletonians.
speed at the trot for a mile dash over a
smooth track being the only qualifica-
ton necessary to insure success. By
this departure from a mode of breeding
that had produced the most famous
horse in America, IA horse that enabled
many an owner to lift a mortgage from
his homestead or purchase a desired
farm. a mongrel was produced, showing
a greater height under the standard
from the addition of two or three inches
to the length of his legs, with not suf-
ficient speed for a winning race horse.
and lacking all the characteristics of a
roadster; quantity was secured at the
expense of quality, the high STYLE,
beauty of form, lofty action. great cour-
age, ambition and amiable disposition of
the Morgan was exchanged for the cheap
commodity of height, usually accom-
panied by coarseness.
But fortunately a few Vermont breed
ers were not carried away bv the now
idea, bur adhered to the policy of their
fathers, and have a few scion's of the
old stock, uncontaminated by a colder or
coarser cross. Such instances are not
numerous, but sufficiently so to fur