10 



A further quotation from Linsley on the size of Morgans fifty years 

 ago is both important and interesting. 



The average height of Morgan horses may be stated at from 14 to 15i hands. There 

 are a few that will fall below 14 hands, but the number is very small, and there are 

 also some that will exceed 15 hands, but it is by no means common, and in such 

 cases it will generally be found that the animal has but a small amount of Morgan 

 blood. Their weight may be stated to range from 900 to 1,100 pounds, the usual 

 weight being about 1,000; any great deviation from this weight should induce the 

 suspicion of a large infusion of other blood, although exceptions may and doubtless 

 do occur, in the case of animals that can show a good pedigree; still they must be 

 considered as the exception to the rule, and not the rule itself. 



BEST METHODS TO REVIVE THE BREED. 



In view of the widespread belief that the Morgan breed should 

 be revived and made once more an important factor in the horse 

 industry, it is not surprising that opinions differ as to the best methods 

 to adopt for this purpose. There is little if any question that the 

 revival of the breed can be accomplished; enough material of the 

 type, fixed by inheritance, is available for this. The question seems 

 to be whether an exact revival of the ancient Justin Morgan type 

 should be attempted, or whether we should take the best of the 

 ancient type, improve it, and make it conform as closely as possible 

 to modern requirements. 



SHOULD THE JUSTIN MORGAN TYPE BE ADOPTED ? 



Let us consider again the qualities which made Justin Morgan and 

 his sons famous. A further reference to Linsley shows that the 

 qualities of Justin Morgan which he regarded as worth preserving are 

 largely the qualities that make the Morgan valuable to-day, and 

 the faults which the horse had would be regarded as faults to-day 

 when found in Morgans. "His compactness of form, his high and 

 generous spirit, combined with the most perfect tractability; his 

 bony, sinewy limbs, his lofty style, and easy but vigorous action'' 6 

 are all points of value. Every one of these is admitted by horsemen 

 as fundamental, with the possible exception of the action, on which 

 there is a difference of opinion, some breeders wanting the highest 

 and most brilliant action possible and others simply "easy but 

 vigorous action." Justin Morgan's prepotency as a sire was an asset 

 of the highest value; that also is universally regarded as fundamental 

 in a sire. 



The qualities generalized above are, in the writer's opinion, the 

 qualities of Justin Morgan which should be perpetuated in the modern 

 Morgan, with the single exception that the writer confesses to a desire 

 for higher and more brilliant natural action than had the original 



a Linsley, D.C. Morgan Horses. New York, 1857. Pp. 70, 71. & Ibid., p. 146. 

 [Cir. 103] 



