Friday Flashback from our Facebook page

Happy Friday! Here is your Friday Flashback, written by Betsy Curler:

shermanwoodcut
Stanton Horse

The Stanton Horse (1845-1873) is unknown today, but, in his day, he was one of the leading sires of his region. He was owned his entire life by his breeder, William Stanton of Danville, Vermont. Like many of the Morgan horses from that region he possessed a high concentration of the blood of Sherman Morgan. His sire was the Wheeler Horse, by Vermont Morgan Champion (a.k.a. Knights’ Horse), a son of Sherman Morgan. The dam of the Wheeler Horse was by the Batchelder Horse, another son of Sherman Morgan.

On the dam’s side, there is more Sherman Morgan breeding. The dam of the Stanton Horse was a brown mare by the Batchelder Horse (by Sherman) and she was out of a mare sired by the Dean Horse, yet another son of Sherman Morgan. No breeding is given for the third dam; the only information given was that she was bred by Mr. Batchelder of Danville, VT.

The Stanton Horse was the sire of a thousand offspring. He was widely known in his day, especially in Connecticut, as a sire of superb roadsters. A horse dealer from Connecticut would arrive in Lyndon, VT, on Mondays, then would ship a boxcar load of horses, claimed to be almost all “Stantons,” by Wednesday. There is no documentation that any of his offspring were used by the Army during the Civil War, but there can be no doubt that they did if they could obtain them.

The Stanton Horse left no entire sons, but his daughters can be found in the pedigrees of old Vermont Morgans. Due to most of his offspring being sold ‘down-country,’ there were few left to breed on. Although it is a bit late, we felt he was due a little notoriety for his contribution to the economy of Caledonia County, Vermont, through the sales of his offspring. Although he was not a national household name, those who knew him, recognized his value.

(Photo is of a Sherman Morgan woodcut.)

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