1817. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
271 
BREEDING HORSES—No. Ill 
We have hut few breeds of horses in this country. 
The breeding of these animals is not here carried on 
with that system, and with a view to the establishment 
of distinct varieties, that it is in England. We have 
the race horse, more or less, in different parts of the 
country. In Canada, we have a variety of the horse 
originally introduced from France; but now much 
stunted, in general, from the severity of the climate 
and the scarcity of food, though still preserving in a 
marked degree the leading features of the parent stock. 
In Pennsylvania we have a branch of the Flanders 
stock, introduced by emigrants from Germany and the 
Netherlands. They are in some instances bred with 
considerable care, and exhibit the large size and pe- 
culiar form of the heavier class of draught horses. We 
nave occasionally had brought here from England, dif¬ 
ferent varieties of the cart and draught horse, but they 
are not bred by themselves to’ any extent. 
Of roadsters we can scarcely be said to have a dis¬ 
tinct class. We have had good horses of various 
blood, but none of these have been bred long enough 
by themselves to form a fixed breed. The “ Morgan ” 
horses, so called, whose origin and history have ap¬ 
peared in the former pages of the Cultivator, are a 
stock well calculated for light carriages, and have 
great activity, strength, and hardiness. Mr. R. L. 
Allen, in his American Agriculture , describes this 
stock as follows: 
u As an illustration of what may be accomplished by 
judicious breeding with the present materials, in our 
hands, we may mention one family of the American 
roadster, which is strongly tinctured with blood, and 
which has attained an enviable notoriety among the 
choicest of the northern horses. They are derived 
from the Morgan horse of Vermont, that was foaled in 
Springfield, Mass., in 1793. * * * The Morgan horse 
stood in Vermont till his death at an advanced age. 
From him and the choice mares of Vermont, descended 
many excellent colts; and his merits were inherited in 
an eminent degree by three of his sons, which stood in 
the same state, [and in the adjoining state of New 
Hampshire,] and continued the career of improvement 
commenced by the sire. The result has been the pro¬ 
duction of a family of roadsters of much similarity of 
appearance and uniformity of character, unsurpassed 
by any others for serviceable qualities. They are of 
medium size, from 13| to 15 hands high; with a well 
formed head and neck; high withers; deep chest; 
round body; short back; long quarters; broad flat legs; 
moderately small feet; long, wavy mane and tail; pre¬ 
senting altogether the beau ideal of the road horse. 
They are spirited and docile, hardy and easily kept. 
They have an easy rapid trot, and glide along with 
a good load, without clatter or apparent effort, at the 
rate of 10 to 12 miles an hour. This family of horses 
has not of course been bred long enough within them¬ 
selves to have attained the eminence of a distinct breed. 
They are mentioned as a type of what the serviceable 
roadster ought to be, and what he may become by the 
use of the proper instrument for breeding.” 
This is certainly high, though perhaps not unde¬ 
served praise for the Morgan horses. Mr. Allen 
must be regarded as a disinterested and unprejudiced 
individual, and his knowledge of horse flesh in general 
will not be called in question. There is no doubt that 
by proper selection and due attention and care in breed¬ 
ing and rearing, the leading characteristics of the Mor¬ 
gans may be preserved, and that in process of time 
they will become a well-established variety. 
The figure at the head of the next page, represents a 
stallion of the variety called Norfolk Trotters, which 
has been cultivated with great care, for many years, 
in England. The portrait was taken for the “ Norfolk 
Phenomenon,” (sometimes called the “ Norfolk Cob,”) 
and was originally published in the (London) Far¬ 
mer’s Magazine, for October, 1845, from which I take 
the following description. He was bred by Mr. Bur¬ 
gess, of Wall Fenn, and was got by that justly re¬ 
nowned horse Young Fireaway, a famous trotter who 
challenged all England, after beating Mr. Slade’s cele¬ 
brated mare, in a match for four hundred guineas, on 
Sunbury Common. Young Fireaway was of course by 
Old Fireaway, out of a very fast mare by old Marsh¬ 
land Shales, one of the best trotters ever known, and 
who accomplished the then unrivalled feat of seventeen 
miles within the hour, in a match he ran, [trotted,] with 
and beat the equally celebrated Driver. The subject of 
our portrait is described as“a brown bay, rather over 
fifteen hands high, with capital shoulders, fine fore¬ 
head, remarkably neat head, well put on, short back 
and powerful loins, arms long and very muscular, and 
legs clean as when foaled, and short from the knee to 
the ground. He is completely master of twenty stone, 
[ 160 pounds, eight pounds to the stone;] an extraor¬ 
dinary good walker, a very fine and high goer in his 
faster pace; and, in fact, as the portrait proves, as 
good a specimen of a Norfolk Trotter as ever was 
seen.” As proof of his excellence as a stallion, the 
fact is stated that he covered for fifteen years in the 
same circuit. He was then bought by Mr. Howlett, 
of Bath, who kept him for two years, and sold him to 
Sir William Coddington, by whom he was sent to the 
West Indies. Those who are acquainted with the 
Morgan horses will readily perceive that the points 
delineated in the above portrait, are quite similar to 
those exhibited by that stock. 
At the present time there is a valuable breed of 
horses in Normandy, France, used for the transporta¬ 
tion of those ponderous vehicles called “ diligences,” 
the stage coaches of that kingdom. They are said to 
possess great power with considerable speed—moving 
with the heavy loads they are obliged to carry, from 
seven to nine miles an hour. Many of them evince 
much greater speed. The origin of this breed is said 
to have been a cross between the xlndalusian horse of 
Spain with the old French or Norman draught horse. 
By breeding the stock thus produced, by itself, a race 
has been established which is as well marked by its 
own peculiar characters and qualities as any breed in 
Europe. 
A few horses of this breed have been brought to this 
country, and from the success which has attended a 
cross from them with our country mares, there is good 
reason to believe that a valuable stock of roadsters 
might, with proper care, be produced in this way. 
The progeny of the horse called u Norman,” owned by 
Mr. Morse, of Lansingburgh, N. Y., and that of 
u Diligence,” imported and owned by Mr. Harris, of 
Mooerstqwn, New Jersey, are referred to as proof of 
the excellence of such a stock. 
With regard to the best course for improving our 
horses for the carriage and road, the first object should 
be to preserve the best stocks now in the country. 
Such families as those above named, and others of 
