The Star Family 211 



gan, but the hearsay evidence presented by him 

 would not stand for a moment in any intelligent 

 court. In December, 1894, I was at Stony Ford 

 with Mr. Robert Bonner, and the suggestion that 

 Seely's American Star was one of the Morgan 

 tribe brought out an explanation from Charles 

 Backman, who at one time had more Star mares 

 in his stud than could be found in all the other 

 breeding establishments in the country : " When 

 I was a young man I was almost constantly 

 on the road in New England, especially in Ver- 

 mont and New Hampshire, collecting money for 

 the firm with which I was then engaged. I 

 drove and saw hundreds of the best Morgan 

 horses, and became familiar with their striking 

 points. They were, as a rule, high-headed and 

 short-gaited horses. When I started to found 

 a stud at Stony Ford I hunted up all the best 

 daughters of Seely's American Star that could 

 be bought, with the object of breeding then, to 

 Rysdyk's Hambletonian. I had nearly 40 of 

 these mares, and their characteristics became 

 familiar to me. The sons and daughters of 

 Seely's American Star were low-headed and long- 

 gaited, with wide action behind, just the reverse 

 of all the Morgans that I ever knew. Therefore 



