10 INTRODUCTION 



My own inherited associations with Vermont brought 

 me into relation with Morgan horses in childhood, when 

 I listened to tales of their wonderful powers of endur- 

 ance, strength and intelHgence, which maturer years 

 have never made me doubt. 



The early Morgan was the best all-round, general-pur- 

 pose horse ever produced. They were highly valued, 

 and New England breeders — especially the Vermonters 

 — kept the blood pure by breeding in parallel lines and 

 then inbreeding, by which means they established a 

 fixed type that has and will reproduce itself and main- 

 tain its characteristics for generations. 



For a period of sixty years the Vermonters bred 

 nothing but Morgans, and during the Civil War Ver- 

 mont was one of the few places where horses could be 

 obtained. They proved so efficient for cavalry purposes 

 that the State was almost stripped of them. It is well 

 known that the best mounted regiments were on Mor- 

 gan horses. 



Their reputation was such that after the war the West 

 Point Academy was furnished with none but Morgans, 

 until about twenty-five years ago the Western horse has 

 been supplied as a substitute, greatly to the detriment 

 of the service. 



Following the depletion made in 1861-65 came the 

 popularity of the Hambletonian horse to lead the Ver- 

 monters into untried experiments of doubtful value. The 

 result was that, by 1890, the pure Morgan horse was 

 found to be the exception, and the few breeders who 

 realized what had been lost began to cherish the rem- 

 nants of an almost lost race, and prizes were offered for 

 the best Morgans. 



Mr. Joseph Battell, upon whose investigations this 

 author has founded her historic narrative of the first 

 Morgan horse, gathered with infinite pains all the pedi- 



