Description:
running horse

Label Text:
Black Hawk was the grandson of Justin Morgan, the founding sire of the Morgan horse bloodline. Bred by Benjamin Kelly of Durham, New Hampshire, and foaled in 1833, Black Hawk stood at fifteen hands and was black, without marks. He was renowned for his speed and for siring a line of important trotting horses. Black Hawk commanded $100 at stud, the highest price for any stallion in the 19th century. Black Hawk's general and lasting popularity in the 19th century is reflected in the number of weathervanes produced with his stylized likeness well after his death. He is shown trotting, a "diagonal" gait, in which the opposite front and rear legs move in tandem (here, the left foreleg and right hind leg move forward together). For racing purposes - Black Hawk was said to have been unbeaten in trotting contests - the horse would have been harnessed to a cart or sulky.

Tags:
animals; games

Subjects:
Animals; Games; Copper

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2003.30.9

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.