6o OLD "HENRY CLAY." 



OLD "HENRY CLAY." 



The likeness of the stallion Henry Clay, known as Colonel William 

 W. Wadsworth's Henry Clay for many years, but of late as Old Henry 

 Clay, is the only correct picture of the horse presented to the public 

 eye. Henry Clay was Arabian-bred, strongly so ; possessing the build, 

 disposition, and constitution of the Arab. His ears were fine and small, 

 forehead full and broad, jowls deep, wide between, and thin ; eyes large 

 and prominent, muzzle small, with thin lips, and large thin nostrils. 

 His limbs were fine, yet powerful ; the osselets small, as in the Ara- 

 bian ; while his very handsome feet were tough enough to go for all 

 time barefoot, a peculiarity of the Arab. He was the founder of the 

 entire family of Clay horses, and his purity of blood was so great as 

 to stamp his high physical qualities with instincts to a positiveness, 

 outlasting that of all other families to date. 



In 1846 and 1847, Mr. T. K. Van Zant, of Albany, New York, then 

 a rising young artist, was employed by Miss Wadsworth (sister of 

 William W. Wadsworth) to paint some blooded cattle and sheep, for 

 her. At this time, Mr. Wadsworth requested that Henry Clay should 

 be painted as he stood i?i Iris stall. The painting was large and attrac- 

 tive. Sitting in front of the horse was a white terrier dog, a companion 

 of Henry, and pet with Mr. Wadsworth. Upon the harness-pegs in the 

 stall was a bridle ; and in the door-way were brushes and comb, and an 

 open window gave a charming perspective view, so that as a whole, the 

 painting pleased Mr. Wadsworth, although the horse as represented, 

 was but a poor attempt by an amateur. Such was the Wadsworth 

 painting. However, when we consider Mr. Van Zant's limited experi- 

 ence at that time, also his physical infirmities (neither fingers nor thumb), 

 we must say that he deserves both credit and commendation for his 

 prominence as an animal painter in later years. My introduction of 

 Henry Clay into this book may be considered out of place; but when 

 it is understood that the horse was strongly inbred to Arabian blood in 

 both sires and dams, and was but a third remove from an imported 



