Evening star., 1909-05-21

greatest thoroughbred horses imported
during the nineteenth century.
Men who were we'll acquainted with
Black Hawk declare that Gen. Gates re-
sembles him to remarkable degree. In
that case the purchase of the horse for
the departments work was especially
advantageous, for Black Hawk was one
OF the greatest Morgan horses OF his
time. He was not only a great indi-
vidual. but was also a great sire.
Gen. Gates Is Morgan In type with
out question; he reproduces his type in
a uniform manner equaled by few stall
lions in the country, and much of the
quality and finish In the horse and in
his get are due to the thoroughbred cross
obtained through his dam. The thorough
bred cross, nationally and intelligently
type. has always proved to be an ad-
vantage in the development Of types of
light horses. At least this has been true
In England with the Hackneys, in France
with the Demi-Sang, in Germany with
the Trakhenen and similar breeds and
In Kentucky with the saddle horse. That
it is also true in Vermont with the Nor
gan is shown in the departments judg-
ment by Gen. Gates.
Farm Given to the Government.
''The work in Vermont was given a
great impetus early in 1907 by the pre-
sentatfon to the department by Joseph
Battell of Middlebury, VT, of a 4OO-acre
farm, on which the work could be car
ried on to better advantage than on the
farm OF the Vermont experiment station
at Burlington, where the soil is very
sandy and not entirely suited to horse
breeding. The Battell farm is located
about two miles from the village of Mid
dlebury and lies along the west side of
Otter creek. 1t is underlaid with lime
stone, with occasional outcrops. 1t is also
well timbered. The property is improved
N fhn ~
usual outbuildings. Since the department
acquired the property considerable fencing
has been done. paddocks have been built
and the superintendent.s house and main
barn remodeled and repaired
1.-THE aim of the stud at Middlebury Is
to preserve the Morgan type at its best,
keeping the splendid conformation spirit.
intelligence and endurance for which these
horses are famous. and elimina ting the
tendency to coarseness, heavy withers and
low backs. A careful effort will also be
made to improve the action by getting
away from the choppiness and irregularty
in gait. and particularly by eliminating
the tendency to pace and mix gaits. Size
will be Increased carefully by selection
but It is not our purpose to make the Nor
gan big horse A size ranging from 15.1
to 1873 hands Is sufficient, with about 152
as the ideal. However this will not by
any means disqualify 15-hand horse. or
one even somewhat smaller. provided he
has desirable characteristics of conforma-
tion, quality and action. It should be
clearly understood that the work with
the Morgans is not to be merged into
that with the American carriage horse.
Although the Morgan always has been
and probably will be prime factor in the
production Of carriage horses, the type
should be kept distinct.
New Classification Formulated.
"As a coordinate line of work with car
rage horse breeding. the department. in
cooperation with the American Associa-
tion of Trotting Horse Breeders. has for
mulated classification for American car
riage horses. the adoption of which has
been presented to state fair authorities
with gratifying success. Eleven state
fairs have adopted it in whole or in part
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri Ohio, Tennessee.
Washington and Wisconsin. 1t was also
adopted by the management of the tri-
state fair, to be held at Memphis Tenn.
Others are considering its adoption, and
the matter is exciting considerab BILE inter-
est among county and district fairs
THE cooperative arrangement between
the department and the American Asso-
citation of TrOtting Horse Breeders is
made effective by the organization of
committee on heavy horses in the associa-
gan breeders. the sadde-horse breeders
and the trotting-horse breeders
THE widespread adoption of the classi-
fication rs of the greatest Importance to
the carriage horse movement at this time
and to farmers and breeders who own
horses suitable to get American carriage
horses. for the reason that the fairs are
in very close touch with farmers also
because the farmers are the breeders of
most of the carriage horses sold on the
American market, and because by means
Of exhibits at the fairs farmers can be
rapidly educated to appreciate the value
Of the American horse for carriage pur-
poses. With the powerful influence of the
fairs and stock shows thrown into the
the farmer will not only learn to appre-
ciate the intrinsic value. of the native
light horse as a carriage horse but will
recognize the worth, as a sire of such
horses, of a stallion that has good con-