CHAPTER FOUR 



THE MORGAN HORSE 



THE Morgan horse is the most distinctive repro- 

 ducing native type in America, and has been so 

 since the family was recognized as a type in Ver- 

 mont some seventy-five years ago. For symmetry, 

 docility, intelligence, sturdiness, and speed, the 

 Morgans have been justly famous and have met 

 with the approval of good judges of horse-flesh 

 during the whole of their history. They reached 

 their highest fame during the two decades between 

 1850 and 1870. After that, both as a type and as a 

 family, they came near perishing, a victim to the 

 desire, which merits the name of craze, to produce 

 trotting horses of phenomenal speed by means of 

 crossing and recrossing with the Hambletonian 

 blood. That there is a revival of Morgan breed- 

 ing is an excellent thing for the country, for the 

 Morgan is about the best all-round, everyday, 



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