The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-02-18
CONNECTICUT HORSE
HISTORY.


nected with The first two horses which
are designated by names in the his
tory OF Connecticut Both of them
lived during the revoiution and were,
If The legends are to be believed, con-
necled with it, They appear in the
annals as Ranger or Lindsey's Arabian
and True Briton, also known as Beau
tifuI Bay and Traveller.
Ranger was q Barb According to
tradition, he was presented as colt
to the commander OF British man-of
war by the ruler OF one OF the Bar
So. - -. s>--~,- ~, 80 = -
t,5sEs G7 .st,@y7 ussse 10 NJ South AIsssS
port, where the youngster was turn
ed loose in lumber yard for a iittle,
exercise. While there, D pilc OF
boards fell on MIN and broke three
of his legs When 1t was proposed to
kill the colt, the skipper OF an Amer
lean vessel offered to try and save
him. lie had him carried OH board
his boat and slung up with his legs in
splints. The bones knit and when the
vessel reached ew Londonfs--C
the colt walked on shore sc und.. In
Il short time this horse became the
property of Colonel Wyllis of Hart
ford He called him Ranger and ad-
vertised him for service In the Con-
necttcut Courant in 17To. John
Howard also had him In Windham In
1878, after which he was sold to
Captain Lindsey and taken to Mary
land.
General Washington, who was a
clever horseman. is credited with
calling the attention of Captain Lind
sey to this horse, his interest in him
being aroused by the fact that he was
the sire of many of the excellent
horses in the Connecticut cavalry,
/ For over half a century True
Briton was credited with being the
sire of Justin Morgan, the founder
of the Morgan family of horses
Joseph Battell in the first volume Of
the Morgan horse register also sup
Piled him with an deliberately tabu-
lated pedigree, tracing his inheri-
lance to the Barbs, Arabs, and Roya
mares through Lloyd's Traveller and
Betty Leeds by Barbarian, son OF
Gpdolphin Arabian. Linsley and
other writer's of the Morgan horse also
Estate that True Briton was stolen dur
ing the revolution from James De
Lancey, who was the first importer
of English race horses to the colony
of New York.
No one ever disputed this story until
John II. Wallace came along with his
icon oclastioA hammer and showed that
James Delaney never owned horse
named True Briton and also that he
sold all of his horses and returned te
England before the war started Hs
q, so produced an item from the New
York Packet for October ~. 1907
showing that Lieutenant Wright Car
penter stole horse from Colone
James Delaney, who was at one time
sheriff of Westchester county, New
! York, and rode him into the Ameri
can lines at White Plains after Wig
orous pursuit. Whether this hors'
or only the story reached Hartford
has never been determined. Tt Is
fact. however. that Selah Norton o
East Hartford owned True Briton
/ having purchased him from q Mr.
Ward of Hartford. He in turn is sup
posed to have secured True BritoI
horse stealing venture in the vicinit.
of New York.
| The horse True Briton was in thu
stud in Connecticut and Massachu
tsetts under one of his three names
from 1884 to 1915. Justin Morgan
the man who took the original Nor
gan horse to Vermont, had charge o
him at West Springfield. Mass. II
.lTSs but his sclainl to the paternit
OF the horse called Justin Morgan
was shattered when il was found tina
True Br!:on was advertised in tn
Connecticut Courant in 17s. TO stant
for service in East Hartford. Conn.
the year that some other horse. pos
sihly Young Bulrock. a Dutch horse
got the tap root of the Morgan famil,
at West Springfield.
! In 1875 a horse called Figure ap
,peared in the records at Hartford an
was sent to Vermont where he re
manned for brief period in the yicin
,ity of Rutland. After he disappeared
mo horse OF note came to the surfac
In the nutmeg state until the pedi
gree investigators began looking 70
the ancestors for Flora Temple, tn
little bob tailed mare that startle
the world In 1889 by trctting il
l2:is So They found after consider
able travel and correspondence tina
Flora Temple was got by Bogus Hun
tier. A son OF Kentucky Hunter. sir
lof the PAGER Oneida Chief. that wo
lat three mile heats to saddle fron
Lady Suffolk in 1a4a. At later dat
they also learned that Kentucky Hun
ter was by a horse called Highlander
that was foaied In 1921 and take
from Connecticut to Oneida county
New York by Joshua Watkins. TIL
thnre. rcrrnSertaA hojnc nv