40 THE HORSE 



lid " (Qy. iris '?). " His nostrils were very large, the muzzle small, and the 

 lips close and firm. His back and legs were, perhaps, his most noticeable 

 points. The former was very short, the shoulder-blades and thigh-bones 

 being very long and oblique, and the loins exceedingly broad and muscular. 

 His body was rather long, round, and deep, close ribbed up ; chest deep and 

 wide, with the breast-bone projecting a good deal in front. His legs were 

 short, close-jointed, thin, but very wide, hard and free from meat, with 

 muscles that were remarkably lai'ge for a horse of his size, and this super- 

 abundance of muscle manifested itself at every step. His hair was short, 

 and at almost all seasons soft and glossy. He had a little long hair about 

 the fetlocks, and for two or three inches above the fetlock on the back side 

 of the legs ; the rest of his limbs were entirely free from it. His feet were 

 small, but well shaped, and he was in every respect perfectly sound and 

 free from blemish. He was a very fast walker. In trotting his gait was 

 slow and smooth, and his step short and nervous ; he was not what in these 

 days would be called fast, and we think it doubtful whether he could trot a 

 mile much, if any, within four minutes, though it is claimed by many that 

 he could trot it in three. Although he raised his feet but little, he never 

 stumbled. His proud, bold, and fearless style of movement, and his vigorous 

 untiring action, have perhaps never been surpassed." 



He describes him as being fast for short distances, by which he explains 

 that he means a quarter of a mile, which he says was the usual distance 

 run in those days. From this celebrated horse are descended, more or less 

 remotely, " Black Hawk," " Ethan Allen," "American Eagle," and a host of 

 horses celebrated for gameness, and many of them for fast-trotting powers. 

 But those who dispute the claims of Mr. Justin Morgan's horse to be con- 

 sidered the founder of the family, assert that before his time a similar horse 

 prevailed in this district, which was made up of crosses between the 

 Canadian horse and the English thoroughbred. I shall, however, leave this 

 much-vexed question for the Americans to settle among themselves, con- 

 tenting myself with a description of the modern Morgan horse as he is 

 recognized throughout the states of America. He is generally, though not 

 universally, admitted to be very stout and enduring, with good action, 

 especially in the trot, and great hardness of constitution. He shows very 

 little evidence of pure blood, indeed, it may be said that the reverse is the 

 case, as he invariably possesses a thick and long mane and tail, with a 

 considerable curl in both, signs which may be truly said are fatal to his 

 claims. In height he seldom exceeds 15 hands. His frame is corky, but 

 not remarkably well put together, there being generally a deficiency in the 

 coupling of the back and loins. The forehead is very light, and carried 

 high, somewhat in the fashion of the Canadians, but not so heavy in the 

 crest and junction of the neck to the shoulder, though the setting of the 

 head is equally thick. On the whole, the Morgan horse may be described as 

 extremely useful, but deficient in what we call " quality," in proportion to 

 the absence of thorough blood. 



According to Mr. Herbert, who seems to have taken great pains to 

 arrive at the truth, " with the one solitary exception of the Norman horse 

 in Canada, no special breeds have ever taken root as such, or been bred, 

 or even attempted to be bred, in their purity, in any part of America. In 

 Canada East the Norman horse, imported by the early settlers, was bred 



