JANUS...correction

[Jerry and Melanie Johnson <payback@dmi.net>]

P.S.  Correction to a former post.....JANUS was a grandson of the
Godolphin Arabian...he probably was not pure...but at least 1/4 Arabian
in blood.  I have torn my office apart for the original post from
a gentleman quoting from 'THE HORSE OF AMERICA", but I cannot find it. 
It is a very detailed and 5 page post.

The book I have found is WESTERN HORSE AND HORSEMAN'S DIGEST (1975) that states,"Back in the 1750's some two decade before the start of the War of Independence, a
horse that would play a major role in the quarter horse's history arrived on American soil.  JANUS,
a grandson of the Goldolphin Arabian--one of three Arabian stallions imported to England to start
the thoroughbred strain--was under 15 hands yet possessed a stamina that won him numerous
distane races in England before he pulled up lane and was brought to the New World by well-heeled
shipper, Mordecai Booth.  Whatever the the nature of his lameness, the change of scenery healed
the condition and JANUS built himself a racing reputation on this continent'........'Breeders
experimented with this solid horse, covering various Celebrated American Quarter-mile Running
Horse mares.  JANUS' get possessed absolutely blinding speed over the short distances and some
of his offspring also did well in the three to four mile races....... 'He died at the age of 34 and is found
in the pedigrees of at least six and perhaps as many as nine,of the original eleven founding families in
the American Quarter Horse Association stud book."

The other book, 'THE HORSE OF AMERICA' definitely listed 8 of the 11 families...it was published in1857, I believe and was a huge work of two volumes and over 1000 pages.  None-the-less, between JANUS and the contribution of the Choctaw and Chickasaw mares who were small Spanish-blooded horses of the Indian tribes...there is substantial Arabian blood flowing in the blood of the American Quarter Horse.

Melanie Johnson
PAYBACK RANCH ARABIAN