Circular No. 824 
March 1950 * Washington, D.C. 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Performance of Morgan Horses Under Saddle 
By WaLKER M. Dawson; animal husbandman, Rautpu W. PuiuxiPs, collaborator, ! 
formerly animal husbandman, and Earu B. Krantz’ animal husbandman, 
Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, Agricultural Research 
Administration 2 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
Imtroduction= == >— —= Ree a Meee ee 1 | Results—Continued 
Materials and methods_________ 2 Transmitting ability of the 
IVES QUiiGe sce ao ose te ee 5 SIRS pe his: Ue ean ee 29 
NS) GLANS ba ee aioe Se eapn e t Se DIS CUSSTO Te eye eee 32 
Pndurancesese 25 228 19° Suma y eee ae 34 
ase or ridings.) 24 32 aes 20: iteratune citeds ses eee 36 
Othemcharacters.92=s2— 2 24 
INTRODUCTION 
Since 1941 the Bureau of Animal Industry has. been*conducting 
performance tests of 3-year-old Morgan horses for the purpose of 
determining the characters associated with performance and whether 
these characters are inherited and therefore can be used in the selec- 
tion of breeding stock. 
The three types of performance that have been studied are speed, 
endurance, and ease of riding. A large number of characters were 
measured or scored for each horse so that associations between them 
and performance could be determined. 
Although many records on the performance of light horses have 
been made, the results have generally been difficult to interpret, 
according to Williams and Jackson (/2).? Relatively few analyses 
have been made, and these have dealt with only certain phases, such as 
the relation of winning performances on the race track or in the show 
ring to ability to produce offspring which also win, as shown by Laugh- 
1 At the time the study was made, Dr. Phillips was an animal husbandman in 
the Bureau. He is now deputy director of the Agriculture Division of the Food 
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 
2 The authors are indebted to 8. R. Speelman, animal husbandman, and to 
W. V. Lambert and J. O. Williams, formerly animal husbandmen, of the Bureau, 
for assistance in planning the study and collecting the data. 
3 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 36. 
841794°—50——_1 
