CHAPTER VIII. 



RYSDYKE'S HAMBLETONIAN. 



History and pedigree — The Charles Kent mare — Imported Belfounder — 

 Abdallah, sire of Hambletonian — Stud career — Great value of the get 

 of Hambletonian — Hambletonian's sons of renown. 



THE history of this world-renowned sire of speed and that 

 of his ancestors is an interesting topic to all, and espe- 

 cially to those who are just entering the breeding ranks ; but 

 it is already so familiar to the practical breeder and to many 

 lovers of the American trotting horse that they know it by 

 heart. 



In the summer of 1848 Mr. Joseph Seeley of Sugar Loaf, 

 Orange County, N. Y., bred an animal known as the Charles 

 Kent mare to Abdallah, by Mambrino, a son of Imported 

 Messenger. The result of this service was a bay colt with two 

 white feet and ankles and a small star, which was afterwards 

 known as Rysdyke's Hambletonian ; which, when a weanling 

 in 1849, was sold with its dam to a Dutch farmer of the same 

 county named William Rysdyke — the price of both being 

 $125. 



This Charles Kent mare was bred by J. S. Jackson of 

 Oxford, N. Y., and foaled in 1834 ; hence was fifteen years 

 old when she produced this noted son. 



This mare was a daughter of Imported Belfounder, a beau- 

 tiful and powerful although not large horse, bred in Norfolk 

 County, England, foaled in 1816, and imported to Boston, 

 Mass., in the ship Rasselas, arriving there July 11, 1822. 



He was imported by James Boot, who paid £700 sterling, 

 or about $3,500, for him in England ; he was a natural trotter 

 and fast. Extracts from his service card for 1823 read as 

 follows : 



(82) 



