THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM
OF THE HORSE
The Legacy of the Horse
Chapter Three
A Chronological History of Humans and Their Relationship With the Horse
Table of Contents
1680 - 1840
Racing in England - The Demise of the English Stage Coach
- SPORT OF KINGS
- 1660-1685, Charles II Restores Racing to the Realm
- A Revolution in Vehicles: Carriages of Regal Elegance Have Popular Appeal
- COLONIAL HORSES
- An Irish Clergyman Praises American Horses
- The Narragansett Pacer - the First Truly American Breed of Horse
- Rhode Island - America's First Horse Center
- January 22, 1673 - The First Post Rider in America
- 1674 - Plymouth Law Prohibits Running Horses in the Streets
- Colonists Demand Horses of More Quality
- The 1700s....."No One Walked Save a Vagabond or a Fool"
- THE QUARTER HORSE
- Janus, the Father of the Quarter Horse, 1756
- ORIGINS OF THE BLOODED HORSE
- Queen Anne Helps Establish the Thoroughbred, 1702 - 1714
- The Thoroughbred Foundation Stallions
- The Off-spring of the Foundation Stallions
- First Steeplechase- 1752
- The Fox Hunt
- Colonial Travel in America
- Horses Were Crucial in Creating an Independent America
- THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE IN AMERICA
- America's First Race Course - 1668
- Racing Reached Great Popularity by the 1700s
- In the 1700s, Virginia Emerged as the Pre-eminent Horse Breeding Area
- The 1700s Culminated in the Establishment of an Independent American Breed of Blood Horse
- Significant American Thoroughbreds
- Early Kentucky Horse Industry
- HAULING THE GOODS
- 1733 - The Conestoga Wagon
- Ferrying a Horse
- Assembling a Packhorse Train
- "Horse,"the Post Rider
- BUILDING THE ROADS TO SETTLEMENT
- THE PUBLIC STAGE WAGON
- Justin Morgan - Figure of Greatness
- STAGE TRAVEL IN BRITAIN
- The Fast and Efficient Transportation of Goods and People Depended on the Construction of Improved Roads
In the early 1700s the agricultural region near the Conestoga River in Pennsylvania was growing prosperous. This area was
located nearly 70 miles from Philadelphia, and it was difficult and expensive to carry produce to market by pack horse.
Bringing back necessary supplies to the valley was also a problem. Necessity being the mother of invention, the Germans
of the Conestoga Valley developed a wagon which could safely and economically carry produce and supplies for the area's
farmers. No traditionally constructed wagon would do. The roads in that area were sometimes barely passable.
The Conestoga was a Masterpiece of Design

The wagon
was made with the finest materials by the careful craftsmanship of the German Mennonites. The various elements of the wagon
were made of different woods, each with special properties. The wheels had hard hickory spokes and hubs made of gumwood.
The frame was constructed using oak beams, and the sideboards of the bed were made of poplar. Each piece of wood was
carefully chosen and joined. The wagon's wheels were painted bright red and the body deep blue. The bed, covered with a
cloth roof of linsey-woolsey, was higher at the ends than in the middle. If goods shifted during transport, they would fall to the
center and not seriously affect the wagon's balance. Conestoga wheels were larger than ordinary, so the wagon could travel
through bogs and over humps as smoothly as possible.
The Great Red, White, and Blue Wagons Came to Symbolize America's Pioneer Spirit
The Conestoga fulfilled their initial function as freight wagons, but later were adopted by pioneers moving west to settle the vast
reaches of the American interior. These wagons, with their unique design and sound craftsmanship, carried Americans across
the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails to the Pacific coast and in doing so contributed far more to the nation's growth than their
original builders could have ever anticipated.
Conestoga Drivers Began American Custom of Driving on the Right
The Conestoga was driven by a "waggoner" who rode the near (left) wheel horse. He managed his team of six
horses with verbal commands, a single jerk line, and a long blacksnake whip which cracked the air yet hardly ever touched a
horse. Because of his position on the left of his team, the driver held to the right side of the road. Smaller on-coming vehicles
were forced to their right to pass. Soon it was custom for all drivers to keep to the right of the road. However, other vehicles
placed the driver on the right until Henry Ford established the driver on the left side in 1909.

In the days
before bridges, it was not easy to cross a river or a swollen creek with a horse. Many horses would refuse to ford or swim
the stream; regardless, the rider was sure to get wet. The alternative was to search out a farmer with a ferry. Ferries were
often than a deck and rails attached to two dugout canoes. Two parallel boards with cleats across them served as a
gangplank for bringing the horse aboard. A gangplank was kept on each shore. Most horses would board easily, but now
and then a nervous nag would have to be blindfolded. The horse was kept in the middle of the board by cross-tying him to
the boat's side rails. The average fee for ferrying a horse and rider was about 12 cents.
Groups of farmers joined forces to pack their wheat to market. Each horse carried over 160 pounds of grain in two coarse
linen sacks, lashed to the pack saddle and covered with a square tarpaulin as a guard against the elements. The pack horses
were grouped into strings of fourteen or fifteen animals. Each string was led by a man on horseback who fastened the halter
rope of the first pack horse onto his saddle. Each lead horse wore a bell on a strap around his neck as they made their way
through the woods to market.
On the route between Philadelphia and New Brunswick, New Jersey, the post rider was a wizened elderly man known as
"Horse," though his name was actually Horace. Nobody knew his last name which was Smith. His mail traveled
in two leather pouches slung behind the saddle across the back of his languorous nag. One pouch held letters for people along
his route; the other was for through mail...Even in summer when the roads were dry, a letter took three weeks to get from
Philadelphia to Boston. Postage for letters delivered between two points on his route went into "Horse's" purse. "Horse" also picked up some profit by carrying small packages or doing errands along the way. He was very
lonely on most trips, but when "Horse" announced his arrival at a stop with a blast of his horn, the people hurried
to gladly greet him. His steed knew the road and ambled along it half asleep; "Horse" passed the time knitting
stockings and mittens, which he sold by the wayside to whoever would buy. &Quot;(Edward Tunis, "The Tavern at the
Ferry")
The Pioneers of the American West Were Rugged Horsemen
The movement of many people and all their goods into the interior of America required the construction of roads. The virgin
forest reluctantly yielded each foot to construction crews. At first, Indian paths were widened to a size sufficient to allow the
passage of pack-horses which carried up to 200 pounds of goods. But it cost a month's wages (five dollars) to have merely
two iron kettles or two sacks of ham and bacon carried 100 miles was too much for poor settlers. These routes were later
enlarged to a width of 12 feet, the minimum size for the movement of wagons. Yet the forest was not the only obstacle impeding
travel, since it had allies in the form of high mountains, deep ravines, and rushing rivers.
1755 - The First Roads Were Roughly Hacked Out of the American Wilderness
In 1755, General Edward Braddock was authorized to build a military road between Fort Cumberland, Maryland, and Fort
du Quesne (Pittsburgh). Even his force of 600 soldiers and axmen could clear no more then a five miles a day, and many days
they made no more than two miles of passable roads. These first roads were gradually improved by a "corduroy"
road of logs laid over swampy portions of the road, but the going remained rough for both man and horse.
Good Roads Smoothed the Way for Rapid Settlement of the American Wilderness
The American frontier was opened up to settlers with the construction of good roads, capable of carrying their loaded wagons.
Beginning at the turn of the nineteenth century, toll roads such as the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpikes (1795), Zanes Trace
(1797), the Catskill Turnpike (1802), and the Santa Fe Trail (1822) brought settlers into the American West.
1823 - Macadam's Design Improved the Quality of Early Roads

The
greatest innovator in road design since the time of the Roman Empire was John Loudon MacAdam (1756-1836). Born in
Scotland, MacAdam lived in America during the Revolution. He returned to Scotland following the war to research highway
design. MacAdam's specifications for a proper roadbed required that it contain stones weighing no more than six ounces and no
larger than two inches in diameter. The roadbed consisted of several layers of stones uniformly spread and rolled, with a depth
of 15 inches at the center. MacAdam's roads were 20 feet wide, allowing the passage of vehicles from both directions at the
same time. Today, "MacAdam" is still a synonym for a hard-surfaced road. The first MacAdam road in America
was built in 1823 in Maryland. The first MacAdam road west of the Alleghenies was built from Maysville to Lexington,
Kentucky in 1835 (now US Route 68).
The Pleasure Wagon
When roads became worn between town and farm, a lighter wagon became practical. The "pleasure wagon"
had a cantilevered seat on two hickory "springs" while other wagons had none at all. Even so, riding in the pleasure
wagon would have been far from a pleasure. For farmers , who could afford to have such a vehicle and a pair of horses, the
pleasure wagon hauled the crop to town and took the family to church on Sunday in good weather.
The One-horse Shay
Some folks drove a one-horse shay on local errands. It was called a "shay" or a "cheer," after the
Yankee rendering of the French word "chaise" meaning chair. It had two wheels, a fixed top, and its body hung
on straps. The chaise had two very large strong wheels that could absorb some of the roughness of a corduroy road or span
the holes, ruts, and bumps of most other roads. It could be pulled by one strong horse.
The Farmers' Horse
In the 1700s much of the heavy farm work was done by oxen. The horse was most important for transportation. On the farm,
the horse did light work such as snake rails when the men built fences, or pull a wooden flop rake when the hay was gathered
into windrows. When the hay wagon was piled high, the horses teamed up to bring it to the barn. The horse was enlisted to
haul the harvest to market, and when all the work was done, the farmer's horse was often asked to win a race for a wager
between the neighbors.

Most people
traveled by horseback in the 1700s, while some endured uncomfortable journeys by public stage. Two big horses normally
pulled the stage wagon, but in bad weather four horses were needed. Nine to twelve passengers sat three abreast on backless
board seats. The wagon had roll-down curtains in case of rain, but had no springs to soften the ride. Established stage lines
advertised their schedules in the newspaper and these schedules were often not convenient to the passengers. For instance,
the stage for Lancaster, Pennsylvania left Philadelphia at three-thirty in the morning and didn't stop at an inn for breakfast until
nine.

The
patriarch of the Morgan breed was the legendary horse named Figure. He soon came to be known by the name of his breeder
and first owner, Justin Morgan, a singing teacher and sometime horse breeder from Randolph, Vermont. There has grown over
the years a great deal of controversy and romance regarding Figure's origin and early life. But the simple fact is that Figure was
sired by a Thoroughbred named True Briton, also known as "Beautiful Bay" and "Traveler," who was
foaled in 1768 in England. Figure's dam was by the Diamond and was foaled in 1784 in West Springfield, Massachusetts, the
same town in which Figure was foaled in 1789.
Contrary to popular opinion, Figure spent his early life, beginning at age three, at stud in various locations in Connecticut and
Massachusetts. In 1793, 1794, and 1795 he stood at stud in Vermont. Contemporary descriptions say that he stood about 14
hands and weighed about 950 pounds.
A Sad Life for Figure, Now Called Justin Morgan
It is difficult to sift the fact from the legends concerning Figure's later life, but the accepted story is not a pleasant one. In 1798,
Figure's owner, Justin Morgan, died of tuberculosis. Figure was given to Sheriff Rice, Morgan's friend. (Figure's name was then
changed to that of his first owner according to the custom in that area.) Rice in turn sold Justin Morgan to a farmer named
Robert Evans who put the horse to work in the woods. Evans also raced Justin Morgan and put him to stud. Evans went
bankrupt in 1804, and Justin Morgan was acquired by Colonel John Goss. Goss rode him in military reviews, attracting great
attention. But in 1811 Justin Morgan was sold, first to a man named Sanderson and then to Jacob Langsmade. He was put in
team to pull freight wagons and Langsmade abused the aging horse. More owners and further suffering followed. Too old and
worn out to work, Justin Morgan was turned out to open pasture and left without shelter to fend for himself. Finally he was
kicked in the flank by another horse and died from the inflamed wound. Justin Morgan's greatness lived on through the blood
of his sons. Justin Morgan is now remembered as one of the greatest heroes in the history of the American horse.
Until late in the 1700s, in both Europe and America, most roads were either rough tracks created by hoof and wheel or mere
paths blazed through the wilderness. People traveled by horseback or on foot between towns. During cold or wet seasons,
traffic was especially difficult or impossible. Only within cities could wagons move with relative ease.
1706 - The Origins of English Stage Travel

In 1706, a
company was formed to manage stage travel between York, in northern England, and London to the south. In 1734, one could
travel from Edinburgh, in Scotland, to London in no less than 10 days. (One hundred years later the same trip of 329 miles
took only 42 ½ hours!) The term "stagecoach" is derived from the fact that these vehicles traveled in
segments, or "stages" of 15-20 miles in length. At a stage stop, horses would be changed and travelers could
refresh themselves or sleep for the night at the taverns which served the coaches. In the early days of stage travel, the going was
rough, even though the coach body was suspended on leather straps, called thorough braces, to absorb some of the road shock.
Weather, wrecks, and road hooligans made the stage trip a memorable adventure.
The Golden Age of Stagecoach Travel in Britain in the 1780s
In 1784, John Palmer of Bath persuaded the government to allow him to carry the Royal Mail by stage to and from London.
After this time, the term stagecoach was replaced by "mail coach." This innovation earned Palmer the position of
Postmaster-General. Carrying the mail by coach ended the era of the post-rider, who had gained the reputation of being
intoxicated, unreliable, and frequently in league with or prey to highwaymen. The introduction of the turnpike also improved the
quality of coach travel. Turnpike owners charged tolls for passage, and in return they maintained the roads. The combined
refinements in coach design and road construction and maintenance allowed the heavy coach horses to be replaced by teams of
faster half-bred or pure Thoroughbred horses.
The Demise of the English Stagecoach
Despite all these refinements, the mail coach was finally outrun by the railroad. The era of the English coach was finished by
1840, except in out-lying regions. From the horse's point of view, this may have been just as well. The average life of a mail
coach horse in service was a mere three years.