130 THE HORSE 



been preserved in its integrity and that its blood 

 should be so largely lost to present-day breeders. 

 But through the desire to breed extreme speed 

 the Morgans were crossed with other families and 

 the original type was very largely lost. Efforts 

 are now being made to restore it, and if this is suc- 

 cessfully accomplished and, by careful selection, 

 the size increased a little (all of which can, un- 

 questionably, be done, if sufficient time is taken) 

 the advantage to American breeders will be very 

 great. It will be quite a number of years, how- 

 ever, before all this can be done and a still longer 

 time before the stock will be available to breeders 

 as a distinct breed. 



Let us now look at the thoroughbred strain. 

 No other strain has played so conspicuous a part 

 in the development of the standard-bred trotting 

 horse: it is this, more than any other, that has 

 given him his game qualities as a race-horse and 

 his " breediness " and finish as a blooded animal. 

 Its potency as a factor in fine road stock can be 

 best seen, I think, by going back to the days 

 when there was no recognized breed of trotters 

 and when the thoroughbred was the only " blooded 

 horse " known and recognized as such, in the 

 country. 



In colonial days and for a long period there- 

 after the blood of the thoroughbred was prized, in 



