without having mastered Linsley's volume; and without Linsley as the 

 pioneer, Battell's great work would have been well-nigh impossible 

 of achievement. Linsley's "Morgan Horses" is, indeed, "the Mor- 

 gan Bible." Therefore it is largely to its pages that we turn to learn 

 the characteristics of the Morgan of the early day. 



THE JUSTIN MORGAN HORSE. 



Linsley's description of the original Justin Morgan is extremely 

 important in view of the fact that many persons believe that the 

 regeneration of the Morgan breed at this time should have as its basic 

 motive the restoration of the ancient Morgan type, which means, on 

 final analysis, that the ultimate aim of the movement is to make all 

 Morgan horses conform as nearly as possible to the type of the origi- 

 nal Justin Morgan. 



The following somewhat lengthy quotation is taken from Linsley's 

 chapter on "Memoir and Description of the Justin Morgan:" 



The original, or Justin Morgan, was about 14 hands high and weighed about 950 

 pounds. His color was dark bay, with black legs, mane, and tail. He had no white 

 hairs on him. His mane and tail were coarse and heavy, but not so massive as has 

 been sometimes described; the hair of both was straight and not inclined to curl. 

 His head was good, not extremely small, but lean and bony, the face straight, forehead 

 broad, ears small and very fine, but set rather wide apart. His eyes were medium 

 size, very dark and prominent, with a spirited but pleasant expression, and showed 

 no white around the edge of the lid. His nostrils were very large, the muzzle small, 

 and the lips close and firm. His back and legs were perhaps his most noticeable 

 points. The former was very short; the shoulder blades and hip bones being very 

 long and oblique, and the loins exceedingly broad and muscular. His body was rather 

 long, round and deep, close ribbed up; chest deep and wide, with the breastbone 

 projecting a good deal in front. His legs were short, close jointed, thin, but very wide, 

 hard and free from meat, with muscles that were remarkably large for a horse of his 

 size, and this superabundance of muscle exhibited itself at every step. His hair was 

 short, and at almost all seasons soft and glossy. He had a little long hah- about the 

 fetlocks, and for 2 or 3 inches above the fetlock on the back side of the legs; the rest 

 of the limbs were entirely free from it. His feet were small but well shaped, and he 

 was in every respect perfectly sound and free from any sort of blemish. He was a 

 very fast walker. In trotting his gait was low and smooth and his step short and 

 nervous. He was not what in these days would be called fast, and we think it doubtful 

 whether he could trot a mile much, if any, within four minutes, though it is claimed 

 by many that he could trot it in three. 



Although he raised his feet but little, he never stumbled. His proud, bold, and 

 fearless style of movement and his vigorous, untiring action liavc, perhaps, nev. r IM-.-H 

 surpassed. When a rider was on him he wan obedient to the slightest motion of the 

 rein; would walk backwards rapidly under a gentle pressure of the bit and moved 

 sideways almost as willingly as he moved forward; in short, was perfectly Irainc.l t. 

 all the paces and evolutions of a parade horse; and when ridden at military reviews 

 (as was frequently the case), his bold, imposing style and spirited, nervous action 

 attracted universal attention and admiration. He was perfectly gentle and kind to 

 handle and loved to be groomed and caressed, but he disliked to have children about 



Linsley, D. C. Morgan Horses. New York, 1857. Pp. 131-143. 

 [Cir. 10.".] 



