THE HORSE, DIFFERENT BREEDS, ETC. 85 



XIV. The Thorough-bred in America. 



The Flemish and Danish horses, large, strong, hea\y draft breeds, have 

 had more or less influence upon the horses of the United States, particu- 

 larly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the northwestern States ; but no other 

 blood is so widely disseminated among our various stocks as that of the 

 English thorough-bred. We have been dependent chiefly upon this 

 animal for the improvement of the horses among us ; and from a time 

 long prior to the Revolution, it has been the custom of our most ambitious 

 Dreeders to import from England both stallions and mares, but more 

 especially the former, for this purpose. 



Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore, sometime between 1740 and 1750, 

 presented to a Mr. Ogle an English thorough-bred stallion, by which the 

 colonial horse of that portion of the country was much improved ; and 

 this same gentleman. Ogle, imported Queen Mab, shortly after he came 

 in possession of "Spark," the Baltimore horse. Selima, a mare sired by 

 the Godolphin Arabian, w^as brought over by one Col. Trasker ; Miss 

 Cohalle, or Wilkes' Old Hautboy Mare, was imported by Col. Colville ; 

 Jennie Cameron, Crab, and others, by different persons, at various times. 



It was not until within about fifty years ago that any reliable stud book 

 or turf register began to be kept in the United States ; so that it is often 

 diflicult to establish a claim to good pedigree extending beyond that time ; 

 but many valuable importations are known to have taken place previous 

 to 1829 ; and the register since kept shows that there is a very large ad- 

 mixture of English blood in many parts of the country. 



The work stock of the southern States before the war, as now, was, of 

 course, drawn mostly from States farther north and east, and was of in- 

 different character ; but much attention was paid in that part of the 

 country to raising stock ; and all horses raised there have more or less of 

 the thorough-bred in them. Many really fine animals were found there, 

 — the race-horse preserved in his purity, — but the true thorough-bred has 

 rarely been found at any time in the northern States. In New England, 

 the good driving horse, the horse of all work, medium sized and stoutly- 

 built, is mostly found ; in New York, they have animals representing 

 almost every variety of breed known in the United States, and among 

 them the descendants of many famous racers. 



In Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Northwest generally, they have a great 



Tariety of heavy draft horses — some of them of gi*eat size — not. much 



attention having been paid, as yet, to saddle, light carriage, and race 



horseg in the West however, consideraMe improvement has been madf 



by the introduction of fine stallions from Kentucky and Tennessee, r 1 



both the thorough-bred and the Morgan strain. In Kentucky and Teu- 



aessee, the breeds are various, but there is a very laro^e admixture of th«i 

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