"SOME BITS AND BITES OF HARNESS HISTORY AND WHAT ALL"
Historical bits (1).." THESE STANDARDBREDS...WHERE DID THEY COME FROM"..
To answer that question,we must go offshore and back in time,to the family tree of that "most magnificent of mongrels",the English thoroughbred.As recorded history will have it,the gallopers who continually cut across our Sky Channel coverage are descended from just three Middle eastern stallions ,the Byerley Turk,which came to the UK in 1688,the Darley Arabian imported in 1704 and the Godolphin Arabian which entered the Earl of Godolphin's stud after the Darley Arabian's incredible son,Flying Childers had set the turf on fire.They were desert horses and the arabs had practised selective breeding for many centuries so a strong gene pool was part of the package.The net effect of these three horses and their descendants can be seen in the much larger speed machines of today,very few ponies get to the top of the galloping tree in this country.
Enter Messenger,a grey thoroughbred ,foaled in England in 1780,and winning eight of fourteen starts on the turf.1788 saw Messenger imported into America to assist in the restoration of horse numbers after the War of Independence.He was an outstanding sire of gallopers,but,as was the practice in those times,he was put over all types of mares.He is described as having large nostrils and a fiery eye.He was never tried at the trot,but was said to exhibit a long stride and a high knee action when trotting under sadlle.It was the speedy road horses that Messenger sired which later proved the grey to be the foundation sire of the modern standardbred.Three generations later,a horse described as,"the in-bred great grandson of a runner" (Messenger) began to extend the influence of Messenger's gait and speed.This horse,Hambletonian 10,which carried in his dam line a dose of Norfolk Trotter blood through Bellfounder,is present in the extended pedigree of every pacer or trotter in Australia and New Zealand today.And that,via the process of importation is WHERE THEY CAME FROM!!... Much much more to come.regards,Denis..
Bibliography...The Turf..(Roger Longrigg) Australia's Trotting Heritage (Max Agnew)..
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