1858.] SENATE— No. 4. 79 



entirely obliterated, no regular pedigrees having been kept, no 

 regular system of breeding having been adopted ; the general 

 practice having been, from time immemorial, particularly in the 

 early history of the agriculture of Massachusetts, to secure the 

 service of the nearest and cheapest stallion, and to breed from 

 him. 



Yet notwithstanding this want of a common and reputed 

 origin of the great majority of our horses, they possess, on the 

 whole, such excellence in many respects, as to justify the enco- 

 mium of the author of the " Horse and Horsemanshij) of Amer- 

 ica" when he says that, " for docility, temper, soundness of 

 constitution, endurance of fatigue, hardiness, sure-footedness 

 and speed, the American roadster is not excelled, if equalled, 

 by any horse in the known world not purely thorough-bred." 

 It may well be doubted whether in many of these essential 

 qualities he is equalled even by the thorough-bred of the present 

 day, while for the practical purposes of life among us, it is 

 evident that the well-trained New England roadster is unsur- 

 passed, and he bears this reputation abroad as well as at 

 home. 



The pure thorough-])red has been kept for the race course, 

 and for that specific purpose is unrivalled for speed and endur- 

 ance, surpassing even the swiftest coursers of the desert, which 

 he has always beaten when fairly matched, even on their own 

 ground. The perfection to which he has been brought by long- 

 continued and most careful breeding for a particular object, 

 shows what can be done by way of building up a breed of ani- 

 mals, adapted eminently to the end in view. 



The importation of thorough-bred horses into this country 

 began at an early date, and was continued with great public 

 spirit long before the revolution, — confined, however, mainly to 

 the southern States, particularly to Maryland, Virginia and 

 South Carolina. Many of the most celebrated racers on the 

 English turf thus found their way to American stables, and have 

 exerted a powerful and very perceptible influence on the horses 

 of the southern States, and to some extent, on the horses of all 

 parts of the country. 



The earlier race horses were smaller and more compact than 

 those of the present day. Greater distances were required of 

 them, and consequently greater endurance. It is thought by 



