VII 



ETHAN ALLEN, HONEST ALLEN, DENNING 



ALLEN 



Ethan Allen, harness record 2:25*^, to pole with running 

 mate 2:15, champion of the world at four years, champion of the 

 world to pole and champion trotting stallion of the world when his records 

 were made, was a bright bay with star and a faint, irregular stripe 

 a few inches long extending upwards from between the nostrils ; full, 

 flowing, black mane and tail ; both hind feet and the right fore foot 

 white to just above the pasterns. He stood a trifle less than fifteen 

 hands and weighed about one thousand pounds. His body was long 

 for his height, and his proportions very symmetrical ; head hand- 

 some and carried high ; ears delicate ; neck fine, of good length and 

 clean cut in the throttle ; shoulders deep and oblique ; back and loin 

 strong, coupling excellent; hips long, and quarters powerfully 

 muscled. He was foaled June iSth, 1849; bred by Joel W. Holcomb, 

 Ticonderoga, New York ; got by Black Hawk, son of Sherman Mor- 

 gan : dam, a gray mare bred by John Field, Springfield, Vermont, 

 got by Robin, or Red Robin, a horse owned by Moses G. Bates of 

 Springfield, Vermont, pedigree unknown ; second dam, dark brown, 

 bred by Mr. Bemis of Baltimore, Vermont; a mare of Morgan build 

 and appearance, said to be Morgan; third dam, a chestnut mare 

 brought to Chester, Vermont, by Dr. Chandler of that place, from 

 Tunbridge, Vermont, and said to be by Justin Morgan. 



Ethan Allen was one of the best horses of any age or clime. 

 As a colt he was a family pet. "You couldn't get him by the win- 

 dow but that he would put his head in to get a piece of cake", says 

 Mrs. Holcomb. " Of all the horses that have been favorites with 

 the American people, no one has ever approximated the popularity 

 of Ethan Allen. His remarkable beauty, his wonderful speed, his 

 perfect action, and, above all, his kind and gentle disposition, made 

 him the admiration and the pet of everybody", writes Mr. Wallace 

 (2 Wallace's Monthly, 456). " : No one has ever raised a doubt as to his 

 being the handsomest, finest-styled and most perfectly gaited trotter 

 that has ever been produced ", writes Mr. Parlin of the " American 



