922 DEANE PHILLIPS 
were the famous Narragansett pacers, whose praises were sung by all 
the contemporary writers of the period and tales of whose remarkable 
performances still linger as part of our American horse lore. 
The best description of these unusual pacing horses is given in an 
article on American agriculture in the first American edition of the 
Edinburgh Encyelopedia (160), written about 1830 by Robert Living- 
ston. The description reads as follows: 
They have handsome foreheads, the head clean, the neck long, the arms and legs 
thin and taper; the hindquarters are narrow and the hocks a little crooked, which 
is here called sickle hocked, which turns the hind feet out a little: their color is 
generally, though not always, bright sorrel; they are very spirited and carry both 
head and tail high. But what is most remarkable is that they amble with more 
speed than most horses trot, so that it is difficult to put some of them upon a 
gallop. Notwithstanding this facility of ambling, where the ground requires it, 
as when the roads are rough and stony, they have a fine easy single footed trot. 
These circumstances, together with their being very sure footed, render them the 
finest saddle horses in the world; they neither fatigue themselves nor their rider. 
It is generally to be lamented that this invaluable breed of horses is now almost 
lost by being mixed with those imported from England and from other parts of 
the United States. 
The sturdy qualities of the Narragansett pacers have been perpetuated 
also by James Fenimore Cooper in his tales of the American wilder- 
ness. The horses were evidently still obtainable in Cooper’s day (161) 
and he must have been an admirer of the breed, for he brings them 
into his stories frequently. They are deseribed by Cooper as being small, 
sorrel in color, and distinguished by their easy pacing gait and great 
endurance. 
As to the origin of these pacers — the first distinetly American breed 
of horses — there have been many stories current at one time or another, 
most of which tales are obviously fanciful. One of the most plausible 
accounts is a tradition handed down in the Hazard family, of Rhode 
Island, the early members of which were among the more important 
breeders of the animals. According to this story the progenitor of the 
breed was imported from Andalusia, in Spain, by Deputy Governor 
Robinson (162), whose estate the Hazards inherited. 
Wallace (163), a modern writer who has given some attention to 
the various stories regarding the origin of the Narragansetts, contends 
that they resulted solely from careful selection and breeding of the 
common New England stock. He refuses to give credence to the story 
