THE REGENERATION OF THE MORGAN HORSE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Of the three types of light horses which American breeders have 

 developed during a century and a quarter, none stands higher in 

 history, judged from the interest and affection which have been 

 devoted to it, none has had a more direct and lasting influence on 

 other types, none, in fact, has been more uniform in type, more 

 prepotent in breeding, or more nearly a fixed breed than the Morgan 

 horse. 



With an ancestry which must have been of the highest merit, 

 reared on the limestone and granite hills of New England, imbued 

 with remarkable endurance and stamina by a rigorous but invigor- 

 ating climate, these little horses seventy-five years ago yielded to 

 none in popularity and held first place in the actual money value 

 placed on individuals and on the service fees of sires. Fifty years 

 ago Morgan stallions were received in the show rings of Kentucky 

 with enthusiasm. Yet during the last twenty years the name of 

 Morgan has been anathema among the horse breeders of Kentucky, 

 the breed has been rarely seen in the show ring at state and national 

 fairs, and the live-stock press and many horsemen of authority have 

 declared the Morgan to be an extinct race. 



CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF THE MORGAN HORSE. 



The causes of this remarkable decline in a breed of horses of out- 

 standing merit are not difficult to discover. Up to the time that 

 the mania for breeding extreme speed in harness horses manifested 

 itself, the qualities of conformation, style, and endurance which the 

 Morgan possessed were generally appreciated, and it was recognized 

 that in the long run those qualities were worth more money than 

 speed records. With the track records of Ethan Allen and Daniel 

 Lambert before them, however, Morgan breeders began to think 

 that the Morgan could be made a race horse, and the speed craze 

 struck them. The decline of the Morgan horse may be dated from 

 this time. It was indeed unfortunate that the old-time Morgan 

 breeders did not follow the advice of Linsley in his book on Morgan 



a Thia circular is based on an address delivered before the Connecticut Valley 

 Breeders' Association at Northampton, Mass., January 25, 1910. 

 [Cir. 163] (3) 



