Happy Friday! Here is your Friday Flashback, an article by Winifred “Mant” Horton written in 1995. This article goes along with the photos of the Hoffmans that were shared on the page earlier this week (and which we will re-share today):
From: Mant Horton’s Lippitt Lore
“The Hoffmans & Ethan Allen III”
LCN Vol. XXII, No 1, Jan/Feb 1995, p. 27 – Stallion Issue
Kit Hoffman was the son of Clayton Hoffman, one of the key promoters of the “pure line of Morgans” movement along with Phillips, Borden, Wardner and others in the early 1900s.
But, this story is not about Clayton Hoffman, whose knowledge and dedication make him worthy of an article of his own.
This story is about his son, so small in stature that he called himself “a little shot.”
Clayton Hoffman purchased Ethan Allen III when the horse was 23 years old. “Kit” said he was with his father, and described the paddock Ethan was in. He pointed to the booth by the show ring at the Green Mountain Stock Farm and said that the paddock was about that size and was shared by a small donkey. The enclosure could not have been more than 12 feet square at the most. The horse was in poor condition and was transported home in a box car. Hoffman said he was the oldest looking 23 year old he had ever seen. The purchase price was $100. (The Morgan Horse Registry does not mention the transfer. Spencer Borden is the last named owner. “Kit” did not say who owned the horse at the time. The horse is registered in Volume I and transfers were not listed until Volume IV.) The horse died at 25 years of age.
Once home, his teeth were floated so he could eat and his hooves were trimmed from an eleven inch length to a reasonable length. Kit rode the old horse about the farm to exercise him.
Although only 14 years old, Kit was called upon to drive Ethan to the village on errands. He was so small his feet could not reach the dashboard of the buggy unless he slid way down on the seat. He drove up the south side of the river and back the north side, crossing an old wooden bridge. Evidently, the sound of his hooves on the planks excited Ethan and on the way home he would really pick his feet up. The last eight of a mile was done like a show horse with very high action, just as he had been years before and as seen in old photos.
Kit’s account of riding, driving and handling the old horse bear testimony to C.A. Benton’s often repeated quote concerning Ethan Allen III: “His disposition is so remarkable that my children enter his box stall and mount him without fear, his style far beyond any hackney I have ever seen, and were he trained his speed could be materially increased.”
Kit spoke with humor of the group discussion held at Cahoon Farm (the Hoffman farm). Here, the members of the group dedicated to saving the pure strain of Morgans met to talk of their stock and to make plans for the future. Once, as a young boy, Kit’s mother sent him into the room where the discussion was in progress. He still insisted, after all these years, that the smoke was so dense he could barely see the men’s faces.
We who are fortunate enough to have a photocopy of George Ford Morris’ painting, “Going to the Fair” can thank Mrs. Hoffman for helping Bruce Orser have the opportunity to take a photo of it. Mrs. Hoffman is a pleasant, extroverted lady named Hortense, but called “Horty.” The Hoffmans showed Bruce the pictures they had and Mrs. Hoffman suggested he go and see Henry Darling, Elmer Darling’s nephew and heir to his farm and horses.
Bruce and Diane found Mr. Darling very pleasant and cooperative, but he told them many of Elmer Darling’s trophies, awards, etc. had been stolen. He did have two pictures stored in the attic, if they wished to look. The first picture was a bull, the second picture was the George Ford Morris painting. It is particularly fortunate that Bruce had the opportunity to get those photos, as it is uncertain where the original painting is now. Henry Darling died and his son who inherited it is dead also, as are some nephews and nieces.
In 1982, Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman came to the Lippitt Country Show, sponsored the Ethan Allen III driving class, and presented the Ethan Allen III trophy. The class is judged on animation, manners, and performance. Mrs. Hoffman still lives at the farm, but Kit died a few years ago.
( This article is a conglomerate of material from interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman by Bruce and Diane Orser, Betsy Curler, Jim Alexander, and Lyle and “Mant” Horton.)
Photo of Ethan Allen III.
