314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MORGAN HORSES. 



Mr. Editor : The improvement of our breeds of 

 horses is an object which deserves attention. Of the 

 ■whole number of horses reared in the country, the 

 proportion of good ones is very small ; hence the re- 

 mark is frequentl}' made that the rearing of horses is 

 unprofitable. The origin of our most valuable horses 

 is not only a subject of interest to the curious, but it 

 is also one of great importance ; and a course which 

 has produced improvement maj' be safely relied upon 

 for the continuance of similar results. 



The origin of the valuable stock of horses called 

 Morgan, has been the subject of some controversy in 

 this state. Many have supposed that they were of 

 Canadian descent. Some persons, having horses of 

 Canadian descent, have advertised them as Morgan 

 horses, which is very derogatory to the Morgan 

 blood. The stock of Morgan horses is so universally 

 known and admired throughout New England, that 

 it is hardly necessary to repeat their merits. For a 

 seller of horses, it is only necessary to establish the 

 fact that his horses are of the Morgan blood, and he 

 meets with a ready sale at good prices, and the pur- 

 chasers are more than satisfied. They excel in great 

 endurance, carrying weight a long distance — and as 

 roadsters, they excel all other horses in this or any 

 other country — are full of noble and generous spirit, 

 with such docilitj' of temper that the most timid can 

 drive them ; but if put to their mettle, they are a full 

 hand for the best driver. It has been asserted, and 

 cannot with propriety be denied, that there has 

 never been a stock of horses in New England which 

 has proved so generally useful as the Morgan stock 

 of the original Morgan horse, raised by Justin Mor- 

 gan, of West Springfield, ^lass., in 1793, and taken 

 to Randolph, \t., in the fall of 1795 — ^ sired by the 

 True liriton, or Beautiful Eay, raised by General James 

 De Lancy, of Long Island, N. Y., and sired by his 

 imported English horse Traveller, (known as Mor- 

 ton's Traveller,) who traces directly back to the 

 Godolphin Arabian. Dam of the original Morgan 

 was of the Wild Air breed, sired by the Diamond, 

 who was raised in East Hartford, Conn. Diamond 

 was sired by the Wild Air, known as the Church 

 Horse. The Church Horse was sired by the Wild Air 

 imported from England by General De Lancy, and 

 afterwards taken back to England. He was a grand- 

 son of the Godolphin Arabian. The dam of the 

 Church Horse was an imported Wild Air mare, 

 owned by Captain Samuel Burt, of Springfield, Mass. 



The above is the genuine pedigree of the Morgan 

 horse, which is in no way of French Canadian 

 descent, as many have erroneously supposed. The 

 description of the Morgan horse is not in the least 

 exaggerated. J, D. T. 



LiNCOLNVILLE, Me., 1849. 



— Mame Farmer. 



BREAKING A COLT. 



Some good people, who raise colts, are not aware 

 that they are thinking animals, and have feelings, 

 passions, and affections, very much like human be- 

 ings. They cannot talk — that's all. People who 

 do not appreciate the character of horses, are apt to 

 treat them like brutes, without love or mercy, and 

 without any appeal to their glorious intelligence. 

 " The horse knoweth his owner ; " — and he knows 

 much more, — he knows when he is treated as a 

 Christian's horse should be — and in respect of treat- 

 ment the Turk and Arab have much the advantage 

 of us in civilization. Those pagans make friends of 

 their horses — they love each other, and in the sandy 

 desert or the wide plain, they lie down side by side, 

 and each is equally ready to resist the approach of 

 an enemy. 



It is not often so with us. The colt is left to grow 

 up to manhood wild in the pasture, with very littlo 

 acquaintance or sociability with his master. As soon 

 as he is thought strong enough to worlt, he has a 

 saddle or a harness slapped upon him, so hard as to 

 make him tingle again. He is put into some strong 

 cart or wagon, without understanding what is wanted, 

 and being bewildered in his ignorance, and exasper- 

 ated at such rough handling, it is generally the case 

 that he exerts his best strength to get out of the 

 scrape and avoid his enemies, by plunging, kicking, 

 throwing himself down, and sundry other such vila 

 tricks, (as they are called,) as would naturally occur 

 to a poor beast who thought himself most villain- 

 ously abused. While this is the operation in the 

 mind of the unsoj^histicated colt, the liorse-breakor is 

 swearing at his vicious obstinacy, laying on the licks 

 with the string or the butt of the whip handle, and 

 doing his best to draw blood at every stroke. His 

 intention is to subdue the beast to obedience. Ha 

 may succeed, but it will only be by destroying his 

 noble s]jirit, and rendering him a tame, passive beast 

 of burden, working only as he is forced, but without 

 ambition or good will. The man is the most igno- 

 rant brute of the two. He is destitute of all proper 

 knowledge of the animal who " knoweth his owner," 

 and should be beaten with many stripes himself. 



The fact is, the colt should be treated with un- 

 varying kindness, except when he is manifestly 

 vicious, contrary to his own knowledge, after having 

 been fairly taught. When he is taken up for break- 

 ing, he should be kept hungry and thirsty, and be 

 fed from the hand of his master ; while all the little 

 tokens of praise, fondness, and approbation, which 

 are as gratifying to a horse as to a woman, should 

 be liberally bestowed upon him. No act of rudeness 

 or unkindness should inspire him with fear ; — and 

 in a short time he will come to his master, as to his 

 best friend. Let hira feel that he is sale in the hands 

 and care of man, and he will place confidence in that 

 attention which is bestowed, and with a light heart 

 will exert himself to please his rider. Bestow upon 

 hira the whip, and jerk him about with the halter 

 and bridle, and his temper will rouse to resistance, 

 or sink to stupidity. 



A horse may be taught, like a child, by those who 

 have won his affections ; but the method of teaching 

 is by showing distinctly what you want him to do, 

 not by beating him because he does not understand 

 and perform at the outset. Judicious management 

 is required in the course of instruction, for these 

 creatures, like men, have very different intellectual 

 capacities ayli tempers ; Init all may be mastered by 

 kindness, while the best, the most high-spirited, the 

 most generous, will be ruined by beating. 



To illustrate this point, which Me mean to enlarge 

 upon hereafter, we will relate a little circumstance 

 that occurred during a tour to the White Hills. 

 Having a horse, — a fine light gray saddle-pony, — wo 

 undertook, with a friend, to ride to the summit of 

 one of the mountains. Federal — that was his name 

 — and he belonged to Niles — would have done any 

 thing for me, for he and I had become well ac- 

 quainted, and he was a most noble-hearted fellow. 

 Federal clambered up according to my directions. I 

 thought I could see the best way, and guided him 

 accordingly. We got at last upon the peak, where 

 was a level of some yards square, and Federal, who 

 never had been up so high in the world before, as 

 we slackened the rein, turned three times round to 

 look at the prospect, and then set up a scream of 

 delight. It was not a neigh, nor whinny, nor any 

 common mode of talking for a horse, but it was a 

 regular hurrah, as much as to say, " O ! thunder and 

 lightning ! Ain't this glorious ? " 



After a while, we turned to descend, and gave 

 Federal his own way. It seemed at times rather a 

 ticklish job ; but he managed it well. The little 



