44: ROAD, TRACK. AND STABLE. 



gence, of Morgan speed, and of Morgan endurance, 

 that are told by the dim light of a lantern in many 

 a country livery stable in Northern New England. 

 I remember — But at present we are concerned with 

 the Morgan merely as a trotter, and so I reserve 

 ray stories of Morgan roadsters for a subsequent 

 chapter. 



Justin Morgan's finest son was Sherman, whose dam 

 was a small but highly bred chestnut mare. Sherman 

 himself, a bright chestnut in color, stood no taller than 

 a pony, for he measured only 13| hands. He weighed, 

 however, 925 pounds. Sherman was the sire of Ver- 

 mont Black Hawk, and Vermont Black Hawk founded 

 a trotting family. His dam was a half-bred "Eng- 

 lish " mare from Xew Brunswick. She stood sixteen 

 hands high, and weighed about eleven hundred pounds. 

 Vermont Black Hawk was foaled in 1833 ; he was a 

 little under fifteen hands, and jet-black in color. This 

 horse, besides being a trotter, had every quality of a 

 good roadster ; he was strong, speedy, enduring ; he 

 had a lively but pleasant disposition, and he was re- 

 markably handsome. His back was short, he carried 

 his head high, and he possessed that elastic " trappy ' : 

 gait which is the true roadster way of going. 



His most distinguished son was Ethan Allen, a very 

 beautiful little bay horse, whose dam was a highly 

 bred gray 1 mare, said to be of Messenger descent. 

 Ethan Allen's trotting action was wonderfully smooth 

 and pure. He has a record of 2.15 ' 2 with running 



1 Both the black color of his sire and the gray color of his dam 

 are very infrequent in the descendants of Ethan Allen. They are 

 commonly hays or chestnuts. 



2 H. B. Winship, a descendant of Ethan Allen, has since trotted 



a mile in 2.06 with running mate. 



