THE VALUE OF MORGAN BLOOD. 



The great value in which the breed was held fifty and seventy-five 

 years ago need not be pointed out in detail, but a few references may 

 be permitted to show that this value was an actual one and was 

 admitted by horsemen generally before breeders went speed-mad. 



One of the editors of the Louisville (Ky.) Journal, who made a 

 tour of the Northern States in 1845, made these statements regarding 

 the Vermont Morgans : 



There is no doubt whatever of this that the breed of the Morgan horse was and is 

 now, in the few instances where it can be found, far the best breed of horses for general 

 use that ever was in the United States probably the best in the world; and it is remark- 

 able that this breed was, and is now, known by many striking peculiarities, common to 

 nearly every individual/' 



A quotation from the American Farmers' Encyclopedia, published 

 in 1844 in Philadelphia, runs as follows: 



Perhaps the very finest breed of horses in the United States, when general useful- 

 ness is taken into consideration, is what is commonly known in the Northern and 

 Eastern States as the Morgan horse.b 



At the United States Agricultural Society's fair, held at Boston in 

 October, 1855, the following honors were secured by Morgan horses 

 out of a total entry of 423 animals. Three premiums offered for 

 "roadster" stallions all went to horses of Morgan descent. Four pre- 

 miums were offered for stallions for general use, 4 years old and over, 

 all of which went to Morgans. Two premiums were offered for stal- 

 lions for general use, 3 years old and under 4, of which one went to 

 a Morgan. Three premiums were offered for stallions for general use, 

 1 year old and under 2, of which two were awarded to Morgans. Four 

 premiums were offered for "breeding mares and fillies," of which two 

 were won by Morgans. Three premiums were offered for fillies 3 

 years old, of which a Morgan received one. Only one premium was 

 awarded for yearling fillies, and that went to a Morgan. Four pre- 

 miums were offered for trotting stallions, three of which went to 

 Morgans. 



The exhibition of the Morgan stallion Champion Black Hawk j\t 

 the Florence, Ky., fair in October, 1855, caused one of the most re- 

 markable incidents ever seen in an American show ring. The blue 

 ribbon for best stallion 4 years old and over had been tied on a 

 dappled-gray horse, when Black Hawk was led into the ring. The 

 crowd immediately began to shout, "Take the ribbon off the gray 

 horse; take it off." Accordingly, the committee did so, and placed 

 the blue ribbon on Black Hawk. Local accounts state that no judg- 

 ment of the committee was more heartily approved.** 



o Linsley, D. ('. Morgan Horses. New York, 1857. P. 83. c Ibid., pp. 85, 86. 

 b Ibid., p. 84. <* Ibid., pp. 86, 87. 



[Cir. 163] 



