House and Garden 
Battell of Middlebury, Vermont, this horse 
was sired by Colonel De Lancey’s True Bri¬ 
ton (also called Traveller and Beautiful Bay), 
an imported thoroughbred, out of a daughter 
of Diamond, also a thoroughbred. Mr. 
Battell said that he thoroughly believed in 
this pedigree, adding however, “that while 
the evidence is strong enough to transfer prop¬ 
erty on, it would not hang a man.” 
To me it was never convincing; but at the 
same time I cannot help saying that it is not 
impossible. The English thoroughbred, as 
every one knows, is descended from Oriental 
horses bred on the deserts of Arabia and Bar¬ 
bary. The great race-horses of England in 
1700,when the annalsof the Messrs. Weather- 
by, the official recorders, began were about 14 
hands in height and they were in appearance 
and conformation much more similar to their 
Arab and Barb ancestors than to their de¬ 
scendants of to-day which wall average 16 hands in 
height. 
Now Justin Morgan, so far as tradition tells us, 
was very like an Arab. As has been pointed out 
by Sir James Penn Boucaut, Chief Justice of South 
Australia, in a study of the Arab horse, it is not at all 
impossible that Justin Morgan was a thoroughbred 
of the type of two hundred years ago. The certainty 
of the accuracy of the recorded pedigree to my mind 
is impaired by the fact that no effort was made to es¬ 
tablish the pedigree until half a century after the 
horse was foaled. It was not known how good the 
horse was until his sons began begetting colts of a 
most superior sort and also true to a type. This is a 
strong argument in favor of Justin Morgan's Oriental 
NIMROD-A CROSS BFTWF.F.N ARAB AND MORGAN 
origin, even though it came through the English 
thoroughbreds, for it is a well demonstrated fact that 
there is no fixed reproducing horse type that is not 
rich in the prepotent blood of the deserts of Arabia 
and Barbary. 
This Justin Morgan would nowadays be called a 
clever pony. During the most of his life, and he 
lived to a great age as did most of his sons, some of 
them achieving thirty years and more, he was used as 
a common work horse on the farm and the road. Ele 
was recognized, however, as the best little horse in the 
neighborhood where his owner lived. In the crude 
sports of the time and locality he won in pretty near 
all the classes—at walking, trotting, running and also 
at pulling. He was in great demand on muster day 
and the commanding officer of the militia was always 
glad to secure this handsome little fellow for the re¬ 
views of the citizen soldiery. This horse was the 
sire of many colts and fillies. About a dozen of the 
colts were kept entire and through them the Morgan 
type was established. Of the females of the family 
in the beginning we know next to nothing and can 
only speculate as to their part in the creation of the 
type. 
In trotting annals in this country there are very 
few of the greatest performers without a Morgan 
crossing. Indeed Lou Dillon, the fastest of them all, 
is eligible to registration in the Morgan books. But 
great speed is not what we are after in the Morgan. 
In him we w ant besides speed, stamina, soundness, 
serviceability, beauty and gracefulness of action. In 
no other type can these qualities be found in so great 
a measure. This is the reason wffiy it is so very im¬ 
portant that the Morgan should be more generally 
bred and if possible improved. In these days of 
automobiles there are only two kinds of horses a 
gentleman w ith a country place is apt to care for, com¬ 
mon work or draught horses and beautiful riding and 
200 
