Vol. LVII. No. 2534. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 20, 1898. 
$1 PER YEAR. 
THE MORGAN HORSE. 
STILE THE PRIDE OF VERMONT. 
A Good Specimen of the Breed. 
The Morgan horse has certainly felt the general de¬ 
pression in the horse market and in business, but not 
to so great an extent as most other breeds of horses. 
The type of horse in most demand in the market for 
the past three or four years, and that is bringing the 
best price to-day, is the one that is more or less 
Morgan bred. No other horses possess more style 
and beauty with fine trotting action than the Mor¬ 
gans. They are strong, and compactly built, possess¬ 
ing great lung power. They are very active, and for 
all-day roadsters, they have no equal. Some of our 
fastest trotters are Morgan horses. A majority of the 
champion trotters of the world have a strong dash of 
Morgan blood flowing in their veins. For all-’round 
horses, they fill the bill. The Hambletonian horses 
are a noble breed, but they must be crossed on the 
Morgan, in order to get style and fine drivers. Ver¬ 
mont, for many years, 
has been the home of 
the Morgan, and has 
been noted for that 
fine breed. 
At Fig. 265 is shown 
the Morgan stallion, 
Ben Cutts. lie was 
foaled at Indian 
River Stock Farm in 
1890, and was bred by 
Samuel Culver. Ben 
Cutts is registered in 
Battell’s Morgan 
Register, also in the 
American Horse 
Breeders’ Register. 
His sire was Ben 
Franklin 753, record 
2:29, by Daniel Lam¬ 
bert 102, by Ethan 
Allen, by Vermont 
Black Hawk, dam 
Minnie. Ben Cutts is 
one of the b^st bred 
young stallions liv¬ 
ing. He is a model of 
beauty and strength, 
and a natural born 
trotter. He never had 
over 2% months’ work 
on a track all told ; in 
that short time, he 
trotted a 2:20 clip. 
Ben Cutts has one of 
the finest dispositions 
of any stallion living. 
He is a rich, dark, 
golden chestnut. He traces several times to both ,J ustin 
Morgan and imported Messenger, through the very 
best descendants of those distinguished founders of 
equine families. He also traces twice, at least, to im¬ 
ported Diamond, through Duroc, the progenitor of the 
great race horse American Eclipse, from whose son, 
Cadmus, have come such distinguished performers as 
Pocahontas 2:17% and Smuggler 2:15%. 
Ben Cutts is a horse of much substance. He stands 
16 hands high, weighs 1,200 pounds, and is as quick 
and active as a small horse. He is a very fast walker, 
and has walked five miles in one hour by the watch. 
His get are all good color and size, and possess a fine 
trotting action ; some of them are showing much speed. 
No other stallion living comes nearer to what the 
market calls for, as a stock horse to be crossed on all 
kinds of mares. He is owned by Dr. J. M. Moore. I 
believe that it is the part of wisdom for farmers to 
breed for the type of horse, either cross or purebred, 
which the market demands. M. 
The Colt and His Keeper. 
It has been for years a matter of wonder to me that 
we have so many well-trained horses, and so few balky 
and ugly ones as we have, taking into consideration 
the way the education of the colt is usually conducted. 
Very often, on our western farms, the colt is never 
handled until he is three years old. He is then often 
turned over to the tender (?) care of some farm hand 
to be “broken”. A heavy team harness, ill-fitting 
from bridle to crupper, is rudely adjusted to the 
trembling animal, a bit is forced savagely into his 
mouth, and the headstall of the bridle is placed with 
ungentle hands upon his head, and his ears—those 
beautiful, tender, pointed ears, that express to the 
lover of the horse so much of what is passing in the 
mind of the animal—are roughly handled and often 
cuffed, simply because the young horse doesn’t hold 
as still during the operation as old Dobbin who has 
been harnessed every day for years. Perhaps he ob¬ 
jects to having the crupper placed under his tail. 
About this time $18-a-month thinks it high time that 
the colt “ knows who is boss”, and administers sundry 
kicks, blows, and jerks on the bit, interlarding the 
whole proceeding with curses delivered in a loud tone 
of voice. Of course, a day has been selected when 
nothing else could be done on the farm ; maybe it 
rained the night before, and the roads are wet and 
heavy. The frightened, perhaps indignant, animal 
is now hitched to a heavy farm wagon and urged 
through the mud and water up hill and down 
until he is covered with foam, often jerked be¬ 
cause he did not keep the road, or brutally cut 
with a whip for rearing or kicking. In a day or 
two, he is set to plowing or harrowing, and if he is 
not made balky by this rough treatment, he is pro¬ 
nounced “ broke”. 
Don't turn a valuable colt over to any one to train 
unless he is known to be competent, and above all, 
kind. I am not a professional trainer with an ax to 
grind, but a lover of the horse, and a believer in kind 
and gentle treatment of this noble animal. For the 
average farmer, I would recommend a bitting rig ; 
the back band of an old buggy harness is good. Put 
this on the colt gently. Fit a bridle to his head with 
a bit that fits easily in his mouth, check him up—not 
too high at first—and turn him out in a yard where he 
cannot hurt himself, and leave him to his own devices. 
This gives the farmer time to work. I said do not 
check him up too high at first; never check a horse 
too high. The perfectly brutal manner in which 
many a low-headed horse is checked, “ to make him 
look stylish ”, is a sin and clearly comes under the 
head of cruelty to animals. Leave the colt in the 
yard a few hours each day with a bitting rig on. He 
gets used to the bit and the harness, finds that he can¬ 
not get his head down at will, learns several things, 
and doesn’t bother his owner while at it. 
If you have plenty 
of time—it pays to 
take time in this— 
put the reins on him, 
and drive him around 
the yard. Teach him 
to stop at the word ; 
when you wish him 
to stop, say “ Whoa ! ” 
in a clear tone of 
voice and don’t say it 
at any other time. 
Many men make use 
of this word when a 
horse is traveiingtoo 
fast. It is far better 
to say “Steady!” 
under such circum¬ 
stances. As you say 
“Whoa!” bring a 
steady pressure to 
bear on the reins, 
and stop the animal. 
Don’t jerk him! 
Teach him to start at 
the word. Stand be¬ 
hind him and tap him 
gently with the whip 
until he starts, and 
then follow him. If 
he doesn't go just 
where you wish him 
to at first, don’t quar¬ 
rel with him, but 
gradually bring him 
where you want him. 
Teach him to back to 
“haw” and “gee”, 
then hitch him alongside a quiet, well-trained animal, 
and drive him. Don’t compel the youngster to pull 
heavy loads at first. 
Don’t whip a horse (old or young) as long as you can 
help it, and don’t whip him then if you are angry. A 
team well broken to stop, start, back or turn to the 
right or left at the word of command is worth double 
the price of one that does not have these accomplish¬ 
ments ; yet I do not believe that one team in fifty can 
be driven across an 80-acre field and back without re¬ 
course being had to the reins. Still it is an easy mat¬ 
ter to teach all this to any intelligent horse. Any 
old ox-driver governs his cattle by the whip and the 
word, and our horses can be taught the same way. It 
is a great advantage to have a team of horses so well 
trained that they will promptly obey every word of 
command without even recourse to the reins. 
Iowa. J- a. n. 
