4. CIRCULAR 824, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
carried a load equivalent to at least 20 percent of its body weight. 
One pound of dead weight (bridle, saddle, and ballast) was considered 
equal to 2 pounds of live weight (rider). An effort was made to 
have the weight carried exactly equivalent to 20 percent of the body 
weight, but in some cases this was not possible, particularly with 
smaller horses, for which the weight of the available rider and a saddle 
rae i WEYBRIDGE 
EYON 49 
TURN / S338 eeS% = ON BARN 
5.555 s | a. 455 4.45 LARGE ELM 
4 tome, FARM BUILDINGS 
4 
LARGE ELM 
6 HOUSES \W3.7 /IN TURN 
| t RIVAIT - \ 5 
a FENCE 
Fince eee (2.95~ 
NCE 4 egy aS : NEAR TOP OF RISE, 
7 oes Le te ON TREE 
AT TOP OPPOSITE AT LEFT LARGE 
GRAD GRIVEWAY ELM 
. iN. - \06 MILES 
peace SEWETHBARN TEN aeten © DRAW, 
FEN yw 
PINE AT BOTTOM \W% once ie 
CORNER THIRD TREE | HOUSE 
FROM BARN 1 1 4 Wade 
ioe 
we 
— 
OF LONG HILL 
PORTIONS OF COURSE TO BE 
COVERED AT VARIOUS GAITS 
ARE INDICATED AS FOLLOWS: 
WALK 
TROT - o*~ 
CANTER **t#* 
pa 
a MAIN BARN 
U.S. MORGAN 
RSE FARM 
‘Gas. 12 
5 
TOTAL DISTANCES AT EACH 
GAIT ARE: 
WALK-465 MILES 
TROT - 5.65 MILES 
CANTER-|.OSMILES 
SHEEP BARNS 
MARKERS ON COURSE INDICATING 
POINT TO BEGIN F 4CH GAIT ARE: 
WALK a 
TROT e 
CANTER & 
COVERED BRIDGE 
MAP OF ROADS IN VICINITY OF THE 
U.S. MORGAN HORSE FARM 
SHOWING A 
11.35 MILE COURSE FOR CROSS-COUNTRY RIDE 
_ USED AS ONE TEST OF 
PERFORMANCE FOR HORSES UNDER SADDLE 
MIDDLEBURY 
VERMONT 
Figure 2.—Map showing 11.85-mile course for cross-country ride, one of the 
tests for performance of horses under saddle, United States Morgan Horse 
Farm, Middlebury, Vt. 
somewhat exceeded the desired weight. Loading the horses on the 
basis of a percentage of body weight was an arbitrary procedure 
since data are not available on the relation of body weight to ability 
to carry a load. Work by Dawson (1), Phillips, Madsen, and Smith 
(S), and others has shown that light horses are able to pull relatively 
heavier loads for short distances in dynamometer tests than heavy 
horses, but no such tests have been conducted under saddle; hence an 
arbitrary basis had to be used. 
Training of the horses began late in the fall and continued, except 
during the most inclement weather of the winter, until the recorded 
