GAINES’ DENMARK SONS AND GRANDSONS
Gaines’ Denmark sired a dozen good sons, most of them gotten before the Civil War. In terms of registry representation, Washington Denmark 1855, Star Denmark 1856, Diamond Denmark (also called Gays’ Denmark) 1858, Sumpter Denmark 1865 and Lail’s Denmark Chief 1865 are the most important. I completely agree with the Registry’s first President, Gen. John B. Castleman, in believing that another important horse, Mambrino Patchen, was sired by Gaines’ Denmark (he continues to be listed in the Register as a son of Mambrino Chief). Each of these stallions in turn sired some good horses. Unfortunately we possess images of only a few, although grandsons and great-grandsons are easily found. From the evidence we have, note the uniformity of type; Saddlebreds had already begun “breeding true” by the 1870’s, and this is borne out by the early appearance of names coded pink in the pedigrees.
Gaines’ Denmark: This image is a reconstruction made from a portrait done in the last years of the stallion’s life by an unknown artist working in the style of Edward Troye. To create a realistic portrait, I have corrected the distortions that were so fashionable in the day, including exceedingly fine distal limbs, tiny hooves, and a disproportionately small head.
A black with two hind socks, he appears to have had excellent conformation which, while partaking of the fineness of coat and general crispness typical of the Thoroughbred, also improves it for riding purposes by shortening the back, broadening the coupling, and leveling the overall body balance. Typical of amblers, the hind limbs carry noticeable angulation but are not excessively crooked. The neck is beautifully shaped and the horse carries a “waterspout” tail. There is just enough bone substance but a very long forearm, a feature still typical of Saddlebreds, as is the long and steep arm above it. The pasterns are rather short but nicely angled. The head is typical of *Sir Archy breeding, having the characteristic undulation to the facial profile with a slight bump above the nostrils. Overall the horse stands just a hair low on his legs, a feature typical of the old-fashioned Morgans represented in his pedigree.
Crigler’s Denmark: Very fortunately we have an excellent photograph of this influential 1872 stallion, a grandson of Gaines’ Denmark by Lail’s Denmark Chief. The dam of the latter is Brown Kittie by Veach’s Highlander, a son of Pollock Highlander. The dam of Crigler’s Denmark is Bettie Crosby, a Morgan by Ed Hawkins by Black Hawk 1833. His tail female is through Queen, a partbred Morgan tracing back to one of the Tom Hals and Jowett’s Copperbottom. In his lifetime considered “coarse,” the Saddlebred is nonetheless lucky to have him, for as the image shows he is not only a shapely horse but a substantial one with a lot of muscle, a big butt, and a correct set of legs.
Star Denmark: This image is based on a George Ford Morris retrospective that was based on verbal descriptions by people who knew the horse. “GFM” paintings have to be taken with a grain of salt, because such was his enthusiasm for the breed that he often went overboard in jazzing up their appearance—with the result that his work often contains as many distortions as does Troye’s. Star Denmark’s dam is thought to have been a Thoroughbred—her name unknown, possibly because it was repressed, in which case she was probably only a half-bred. This represents an unfortunate lapse in record-keeping, considering the importance which this stallion had in the development of the Saddlebred. Certainly, Star Denmark’s rather straight hind legs would indicate Thoroughbred ancestry. Overall, I take him to have been a structurally correct and proportionate individual: beautiful, in fact.