4 The American Thoroughbred 



horse had arrived in America. It is possible, of 

 course, that some of the early exportations made 

 by the Virginia Company for the benefit of the 

 colony at Jamestown contained race-horses among 

 them. If so, no records were ever made of them. 

 Old histories may be found which speak of horses 

 being sent out as gifts to the colonists, but so far 

 as the race-horse is concerned, beyond this Bulle 

 Rock we cannot go. 



And so, looking over the great stock-farms of 

 the America of to-day, we must say that the first 

 of these, albeit half unknown, dying in obscurity, 

 and held up to but light fame in his lifetime, was 

 this undescribed Bulle Rock. For the sake of 

 plain history one would like to know what man- 

 ner of horse he was, — whether he was bay, brown, 

 gray, or chestnut ; whether he was small horse or 

 large ; whether his disposition was gentle or fiery ; 

 whether he was good of wind and limb ; and all 

 those things which we like to know of the horses 

 that have come to be called thoroughbred and 

 that do such brilliant and admirable things under 

 the afternoon suns of our land for practically every 

 day in the year. 



But we know Bulle Rock only as a name. If the 

 pedigree given for him be correct, then he was 



