■y BREEDING MORGAN HORSES AT THE U. S. MORGAN 



HORSE FARM. 



H. H. Reese, 



Animal Husbandry Division. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Foundation of the breed 3 



Early progenitor? 3 



Diffusion of Morgan blood 4 



Movement to conserve best blood 5 



Origin of U. S. Morgan Horse Farm 6 



Improvement of the farm 7 



Farm enlarged 7 



Breeding stock purchased 8 



Noted ancestors of U. S. Morgan horses 9 



Morgan Horse Farm prize winners 10 



Increase in size and improvement in quality 



of Morgan horses 12 



Endurance of the breed 13 



Distribution from Morgan Horse Farm 13 



Progress made in breeding Morgans 14 



Management of breeding stock 15 



Uses for Morgan horses 16 



Morgans as saddle horses 16 



Value of Morgan blood 18 



FOUNDATION OF THE BREED. 



THE Morgan breed of horses was established by a single stallion 

 whose potency was so great that he left many descendants that 

 looked and acted like him even after his blood had been much diluted. 

 This stallion was Justin Morgan. During his early life he was the 

 property of a school-teacher by that name, who lived near Randolph, 

 Vt. Justin Morgan was foaled about 1793 and died in 1821. 



According to the meager records available, Justin Morgan was a 

 small but powerful and quick horse, standing considerably under 15 

 hands. It is said that he could outwalk, outrun, or outpull any of the 

 horses in his section of the country. Very little is definitely known 

 of his ancestry, but the best evidence seems to indicate that he was 

 sired by the Thoroughbred stallion True Briton, also called Beautiful 

 Bay, a horse that traced in direct male line to Byerly Turk, and had 

 many other traces of Arabian blood. 



EARLY PROGENITORS. 



Practically all the present-day Morgans trace to three of Justin 

 Morgan's sons, namely, Sherman Morgan 5, 1 Woodbury Morgan 7, 1 

 and Bulrush Morgan 6. 1 These stallions populated the New England 

 States with their descendants, which became noted for their rugged- 

 ness, style, courage, and road qualities. They were also generally 

 used for hauling and farm work. 



Sherman Morgan 5 sired Black Hawk 20, one of the best-known 

 grandsons of Justin Morgan, on account of his speed and great beauty. 

 A very noted great-grandson of Justin Morgan was Green Mountain 



Registry numbers. 



