Happy Friday! Here is your First Friday Flashback, researched and written by historian Betsy Curler:
Hippolyta 03222
Throughout the history of the Morgan horse, the mares have often remained nameless while the stallions earned accolades from their admirers. The importance of the mares was clear to some, however, and efforts were made to get mares registered. Among these was a chestnut filly whose breeding had been contracted for by A. Fullerton Phillips.
Phillips arranged with Oscar T. Walter of East Haven, Vermont to breed his mare Maggie W. for three separate years Borden’s Ethan Allen 3rd. Phillips described Oscar Walter as “… a man of sterling worth and unimpeachable veracity, [who] bred a great many fine horses which he sold for high prices. He was an astute judge of type and breeding and all the horses that he produced on his farm, showed great character and were an exceptionally handsome family of horses.”
Elmer N. Walter was Oscar’s son and shared many of the same qualities with his father. He also had Maggie W. and he mentions that she had a large number of valuable foals. Elmer had a young stallion out of Maggie W. named King Walter Morgan (x Billy King Jr. 6609), foaled in 1913.
Hippolyta, one of the three siblings by Ethan Allen 3rd, was foaled June 20, 1910. The other two were Emily and Hawkeye. All three were registered by A. Fullerton Philips. His attraction to Maggie W. was her Brown Harry breeding as Phillips felt that “Brown Harry was one of the greatest examples of inbreeding to Billy Root that I know of.” Hippolyta was inbred to Billy Root through Brown Harry and the Streeter Horse. Billy Root 9 was Phillips’ personal ideal of a Morgan
Phillips described Hippolyta: “She is a very uncommon type of mare, fourteen hands three inches high, with fine, action and beautiful type.” While owned by Phillips, Hippolyta had five registered foals. In 1915 she had the first, Sweet Briar (x Croydon Prince). Although this young stallion was considered to be the equal of Peters’ Ethan Allen 2nd by the Peters’, he had only five registered foals and none of those had any registered offspring. He was sold to New Mexico, which limited his access to Morgan mares.
In 1918 she had another chestnut colt by Croydon Prince. This one was named Arthur Peters and was given to the Peters family. He was used for all around farm work and pleasure by the family. Bobbie Niblock (x Rob Roy) was foaled in 1919 and named for Philips’ horseman. He had just two registered foals that did not leave any descendants. Daniel L. Cady (x Rob Roy), foaled in 1920, also had no foals. He was named after Vermont’s then poet of distinction who wrote about the “Morgan King of Windsor Street.”.
In 1922, Hippolyta had Hepsibeth (x Ashbrook) whose six foals would go on to make history in the Lippitt family of Morgans. In May 1926 Hepsibeth was given to Elmer Walter, East Haven, Vermont, and six months later passed to Elmer Darling, East Burke, Vermont. As with so many of the era, her first foal, Ladora (x Vigilant), did not produce any registered foals.
However, her next daughter, Rita (x Sir Ethan Allen), born in 1931, had Alrita (x Allansus) in 1935. Alrita would go on to produce for the Green Mountain Stock Farm and Moro Hill’s Morgans. Two of her daughters by Lippitt Rob Roy, Lippitt Rita Roy and Lippitt Royal Margarita, were especially prolific within the Lippitt family. Her other daughter by Lippitt Rob Roy, Lippitt Robrita, was also a quality producer for the breeding program of Frances Bryant, including Cathy Serenity, Clement, and Criterion.
Moro Hill’s Medallion (x Dyberry Ethan) and Moro Hill’s Alrita (x Dyberry Ethan) were noted for their type and quality and equally good foals. Moro Hill’s Ri O Rita (x Archie O) produced for Joyride Morgan Farm.
Bethal (x Allenwood) was Hippolyta’s 1934 foal. She, in turn, was the dam of several foals including nine Lippitts for the Green Mountain Stock Farm. Three of her daughters went to produce offspring. A colt by Lippitt Victory was sold abroad as a youngster. Lippitt Sandra had foals for GMSF as well the Trilbrook breeding program. Sandra’s daughter Lippitt Darling (x John A. Darling) was a prolific broodmare for the Royalton breeding program.
Lippitt Hepsibeth was the dam of Lippitt Hannah (x Lippitt Norman), broodmare for Margaret Van D. Rice, Lippitt Beth Alert (x Lippitt Moro Alert), competitive show mare and dam of Lippitt Bruce, and Lippitt Alsibeth (x Lippitt Moro Alert), dam of Meadowood Aleta and Meadowood Alert. Lippitt Bethal had foals for Tradition Farm and Rohan Morgans.
Hepsibeth’s last three foals, all. by Sonny Bob, were Darleen, Justine Morgan and General Bob. Darleen had four foals for Dana Kelley, among which were Royalton Bob Woodstock and Royalton Sam Ethan. Justine Morgan was the dam of fifteen foals. Most of them were for Dana Kelley and the remainder for High Pastures. General Bob did not sire any registered foals.
(Photo of Hippolyta and Rose of Sutton from the Blackthorne Farm collection.)
