Bibliothèque mondiale du cheval

« Morgan Horses as a distinct and remarkable breed, originating in Vermont, and principally bred there, have long been well known to the horsemen of New England, and within a few years, to the people of the West and South, who, having become acquainted with them, have manifested a strong desire to introduce them into their sections of the country.
The author of the following work was acquainted with these horses in Vermont, and familiar with their peculiar form and action. But it was not until he engaged in the prosecution of a great public work, at the West in 1852, that he became fully aware of their extraordinary hardiness, speed and endurance, from severe use and daily comparison of them with horses of different style.
Having determined to breed from this stock, it induced a careful examination into the different families which have sprung from the original or Justin Morgan.
In the course of these inquiries a mass of information was accumulated, with much labor and considerable expense, which was deemed too valuable to be lost. After determining to preserve it by publication in some form, every effort was made to obtain the most reliable information upon all disputed points; in regard to the origin of the breed, the history of the most distinguished families, and their present condition.
To make the work useful to breeders who are unacquainted with them, the peculiarities of the different families have been carefully pointed out, and full and minute descriptions given of most of the sons and grandsons of the original horse, with their pedigree, so far as it could be ascertained, and also the pedigree and description of many other stallions of the breed, more remotely descended from the Justin Morgan. A large number of cuts have been used, most of which have been traced from daguerreotypes, and can therefore be relied upon as correct portraits of the forms of the animals they are intended to represent.[…] » Présentation de l’éditeur (1857)