The <Smorgan J£Orse ^Magazine
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The <SMorgan J£orse ^Magazine His neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage.' — KING HUNRY V. A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE (Nov., Feb., May, Aug.) Office of Publication SOUTH WOODSTOCK, VERMONT NOVEMBER, 1944 NO. 1 THE GRAY MOUNT AND THE GRAY LEADER THE BIG, LITTLE HORSE By GORDON W JONES By WALLACE SMITH In the Horse Lover In March-April. 1943, issue of The Western Horseman Date: October 14. 1870. Occasion: a funeral, the service No breed of horses is more intriguing than the Morgan be for which was read by one W N. Pendleton, formerly chief of cause no breed is so hard to define. Some months ago this writer artillery of the Confederate States Army, but then rector of the did some research work on the original Morgan and published college chapel at Washington and Lee. The bells had tolled his results under the title "The Family Tree of Justin Morgan." long and mournfully, for the most beloved man in the South After reading that article, a lady in Rhode Island wrote an article had died. The chapel was packed with sorrowing hero-worship to the editor of The Western Horseman in which she stated that ers, and the crowds outside were greater still. the conclusions in the article maintaining that Justin Morgan After the service all stood outside with heads uncovered while was really sired by Young Bulrock, a Dutch horse, met with her the flower-bedecked casket was borne to the hearse. A tall, approval. She had sponsored many fashionable horse shows in chunkily-built horse, so beloved of his late master, was hitched New England, had traveled in Europe, had collected pictures of to the hearse and was permitted thus to follow it to the grave Dutch horses, had observed old paintings of them in the yard. At the final resting place, when the pallbearers lifted out European art galleries, and believed that old Justin Morgan was the casket to carry it to the grave, someone released the great war- a Dutch horse. horse. At once Traveller walked over to the coffin, touched it Here are some more random thoughts on the origin of the first with his nose, and whinnied softly. Morgan horse and his forebears. This touching incident culminated what was quite probably The original horse in the Lowlands of Europe was the so- the closest friendship between a man and a horse in history. The called Ardennese horse. The typical modern representatives of sorrowing people attending knew that the horse had sensed his this breed (equus caballus belgtcus) are the modern Belgian draft own loss, and there was not a dry eye in the audience. horse, the Suffolk Punch farm horse, and the Morgan general Traveller was practically the only benefit Robert Edward Lee purpose horse. However, the difference between a 2,000 Belgian received from his unsuccessful and inglorious West Virginia cam and a 1,000 pound Morgan is too great unless one can produce paign. That affair, indeed, lowered his prestige for a time in some other strains. Here is a possible solution. military circles. While in the Kanawha Valley, Lee had been In 1942 Esther Forbes had published a masterly biography very much impressed by the handsome gray, black-maned, short- entitled Paul Revere: The World He Lived In. In dealing with backed, deep-chested mount of a young soldier from western Revere's famous ride she set out to determine what manner of Virginia. horse he rode. After running through hundreds of newspapers After declining to accept the animal as a gift, Lee finally of the period dealing with advertisements concerning stolen bought him for two hundred Confederate dollars. That was the horses, lost horses, horses for sale, and stallions for service, she beginning of an attachment which inspired many a Southern came to two conclusions: First, most of the horses were either legend. black or sorrel in color: second, the original stock was a long- Morgan Blood in Traveller backed, short-legged yellow or light sorrel horse known as the Not much specific is known of Traveller's earlier history. Suffolk Punch. Most of the Puritans came from the Fen coun There is some doubt as to his ancestry but apparently he was of try in England and it was there that the Suffolk Punch was Gray. Eagle stock, and thus a remote descendant of the great developed. The modern members of the breed are listed as large Diomed. However, he was not a thoroughbred since his dam farm horses or relatively small draft horses, but in colonial times boasted a mixture of bloods, not the least of which was a strong the Suffolk Punch was considerably smaller than now. This ties trace of that of the greatest sire ever produced on American soil: in with the article by Leon Van Meldert in The Western Horse the Justin Morgan. It is an interesting coincidence that the two man that the Belgian, the Suffolk Punch, and the Morgan are most famous horses of the Civil War, Lee's Traveller and Phil all members, judged by head shape, of the animal known as Sheridan's Rienzi, owed their fire and stamina to the great little equus caballus belgtcus. Morgan born the century before in Springfield, Mass. In order to give more fire to the relatively sluggish Suffolk Thus it seems certain that there were some Arab genes in Punch horses of the time, Miss Forbes found out that an Traveller. This statement is borne out not only by his Morgan Oriental stallion named Old Snip was imported from Tripoli by ancestry but also by his skeleton which is carefully preserved to a Yankee sea captain. This horse was possibly an Arab, prob this day in the museum of the Washington and Lee University. ably a Barb. Furthermore, the style of the horse, his fast, nervous, springy In 1765 a dapple-gray Arabian stallion, 15 hands high, walk, were typical of Arabian ancestry. His gait was such as to named Ranger, was imported from the desert of Arabia to Con make him a not too comfortable mount for any but the best of necticut. His sons and grandsons supplied the horses which horsemen. However, Lee's seat was unimpeachable, and he ever served as mounts for the Connecticut cavalry. The excellence of (Please turn to page 6) (Please turn to page 7) THE VT. HUNDRED-MILE RIDE BLACK HAWK As reported in The Maryland Horse by its Editor, one of the judges From The Cultivator, February, 1847 Vermont's 100-Mile Trail Ride, sponsored by the Green Messrs. Editors—I have read with interest several articles in Mountain Horse Association, and held for the ninth consecu your valuable journal relating to the Morgan horse Black Hawk, tive year on the wonderful mountain trails and dirt roads around owned by Mr. Hill, of Bridport, Vt. You will doubtless be Woodstock, was a great success, despite war and travel condi gratified to learn that Gen. Silas M. Burroughs, of Medina, in tions. this county, has recently procured from Vermont four colts got It was interesting to note the good horsemanship generally by Black Hawk. One, a year old last spring, bred by S. W shown at Woodstock. With very few exceptions riders took Jewett, Esq., of Weybridge, Vt., out of Lady Messenger a complete care of their own mounts, on and off the trail. There descendant of the imported horse Messenger, whose stock is so were special awards for horsemanship, both for adults and justly celebrated for many valuable qualities. Lady Messenger youngsters. These were based on horsemanship throughout the is a beautiful animal, possessing the peculiar qualities of the Mes entire ride, not alone on seat and hands, but on care in the stable senger blood in a very marked degree. I knew her when my as well. There were a number of horses on hand whose owners uncle used her in his carriage, and she was the best performer on had ridden them for many miles. the road I ever saw. Mr. Jewett showed me the likeness of this Some had been three days on the road. Freeman Galusha rode noble animal, and the colt now owned by General Burroughs. an eighteen-year-old Thoroughbred Sweet Lacruse, by Sweep. The likeness of the mare is remarkably faithful and correct. all the way from Albany, N. Y., the old horse, who was once The other three colts brought by General B. from Vermont are sold as a yearling at Saratoga, coming in well. last spring's colts, one of which took the first premium at the The riders varied in age from nine up to sixty, though the Addison County Fair in October last, and is the very best colt nine-year-old did not carry his weight as his mount would have I ever saw. He has the remarkable proportions of the sire Black had to pack a hundred pounds or so of lead to make the required Hawk, as described by Mr. Jewett in his letter published in the weight. Old and young, men, women, boys and girls seemed to Cultivator, Vol. XI (new series), p. 198. This colt, which has get a great kick out of the ride, though it was a strenuous under the most marked expression of intelligence imaginable, and taking. The heat of the first day, plus the fact that the trails were which cannot fail to impress every observer, was bred by Mr. exceptionally tough, searched the horses deeply, but only two D. E. Hill, of Bridport. were ruled out on time and two more were not in shape for the The other two colts show evident marks of the Morgan job the second day.