| Show mergers monoma horse rao 7 american government runs unique breeding farm farin in vermont by BAUKHAGE i news Am dystad ro washington D C some time ago the world was startled t to learn from pravda the official communist party newspaper in moscow Alo scow that it was a russian who discovered wireless wireless as radio was called in its youth and as if that tit enough it was announced later by the same authority that the electric light which poor thomas edison certainly thought he had something to do with wits was likewise a russian invention if I 1 ever read rt as me m gay 7 I 1 fear I 1 abiam hall that ece cream sodas da and kt ai were bat discovered Alc vered on n a plent pleasant afternoon by tome some mysterious muscovite as he be not lit dreaming dream ln on a his hi back steppes I 1 shall hu announce that bertsch and na vodka vika are rt american products product and IMI thit that th the vl volga boatmen ww war simply a argal ril local of f the CIO maritime union I 1 am re banded by the th department of f agriculture that one ne thing thine which I 1 in as f american as ai america and which no foreigner had better try to t appropriate as a home grown product Is the morgan horse justin morgan Is immortalized in bronze and you can see him today standing on cn his hl pedestal baukhage Bukh aim re before the main table stable ot of the united states morgan horse hone farm which covers about 1000 acres acre of rolling roiling wooded country two tw miles north of middlebury vt the original farm of 40 acres acrea was presented to the united states state department of t agriculture by jseph joseph battell colonel 1 battell had long keen been an ad d marer and breeder if et morgan horses and had founded the i american morgan register the tann farm was established in 1907 the area was increased by an additional st gift of about 35 acres by colonel battell in 1908 and by purchase of t about acres from middlebury college in 1917 the land underlain with limestone Is well adapted to j the production of horses in the selection of foundation breeding stock and in planning subsequent emphasis was placed upon size and quality and ability to perform the three gaits walk trot and canter these points M 4 morgan broad mares with their foals run nm in one of t the pastures vt of the department of f agri agriculture cultures 17 S morgan horse farm near bear middlebury vt continue to he be emphasized also every effort has been made to pre perve adequate muscling and depth of cf body and to preserve and enhance desirable temperament the stocky stallion original of t the postmortem post mortem effigy was named fr for its owner a singing schoolmaster was foaled coaled in 1783 1793 and died 1 in he 1 I mean the stallion not the th schoolmaster had bad a romantic career and he Is the progenitor of at the breed which as the department st t agriculture says is one of f the lew few breeds of horses developed in the united states justin was a small active animal of great power and endurance with the reputation of cf being able to outrun and any other horse ain vermont and the neighboring states he had the power to transmit these qualities says the department to his three known sons sens and the united states government is doing its share t to perpetuate the characteristics for which his ilk Is known beauty easy keeping soundness undress und ness endurance and spirit coupled with gentleness ahe tb first time I 1 ever went to vermont I 1 was attracted to these plucky utu horses later I 1 learned more abut about the magan horse he weighs less than pounds b he la is set kt ver over 14 hands high round loar kar relied with powerful chest and leg muscles Bius cles a proud head and a stout heart beart ile he hat has done a lot to t develop the state of vermont and his adventures have carried him far afield affeld in a but remark ably aall accurate story of justin I 1 marguerite henry tells how the boy joel who gentled justin as a colt later lost track of him and finally anally found him again and how joel in his cavalry uniform with a sprig prig of evergreen in his helmet sat proudly on his diminutive mount when president monroe monro re viewed the green mountain Munt ln boys when they came back from the war of t isla 1812 the author has ha joel say about justin afterward he was just a little work horse hone that cleared the fields and helped vermont grow TOW up come t to think of it hes like ilke us hes american what be Is american the morgan horse helped other states and territories grow up too tor for their equine brotherhood went west with the emigrating tanners farmers and more than one american soldier wits was proudly mounted to on in a morgan as he went into battle general custer rode off on en a morgan horse when he be went out to fight the indians a whole regiment of cavalry had morgan mounts mount in the civil war breeding program Is uner way now the morgan horse breed ers dr mcfee of the animal husbandry division of the department of agriculture told me have given more attention to the traits desirable in a riding horse forty descendants ants of justin became famous as trotters some of you remember such names as ethan allen alien black hawk and dan patch at the morgan farm today usually about forty five horses are under tinder test according to the official description the breeding program there calls for the measurement of each youngs young tT stor at one year of age at two years and at three years all ali are trained under saddle and in harness and are put through controlled performance and endurance trials when about three years old the data thus obtained form the permanent records of the individuals ind vid they are used also in studies of sire and dam inheritance and as criteria tor for formulation the station breeding program for the tests of three year olds the departments horse specialists have devised specific trials to measure the walking and trotting gaits and the horses endurance in harness and under the saddle always versatile the morgan was as chipper when he went to the meeting house bouse on sunday pulling the surrey with the he fringe on OB the top as it was weekdays when it could drag a log to the sawmill which often took a team of its big brothers to budge and where buggies are still used often find a morgan between the shafts he Is used on the trail too forr for his forte these days seems to be under the saddle the morgan horses have found homes far from the shadow of their native green mountains and today the stock dock probably Is increasing more rapidly in california than anywhere in the east I 1 regret to say Y that on my last trip to vermont this summer though amigh mighty ty mount mansfield looked up at the heavens with the same stern stem profile that at it did when I 1 first panted pack laden to its top the maple sugar tasted as good though it cost too much the mist still held the peak of killington Kil lingon as gently as ever in its graceful fingers but I 1 missed the quick tattoo of those small strong hooves on the hard highways and the silhouette of an arched neck against the sky above a mountain pasture im glad that uncle sam Is doing his part in the shadow of justins statue to perpetuate the breed that Is just like us as joel said american |
