Horses
Below is a list of the names of Thomas Jefferson's riding horses, and information about their foaling, lineage, appearance, and when they were sold, given away, or died.
| Horse Name | Foaled / Sire x Dam | Description | Sold, Given Away, or Died | |
| Allycroker1 | 1758 Silver Eye x Patty Banister | None known | Unknown; last reference June 2, 17782 | |
| Gustavus | 1763 Whittington x unknown dam Purchased from Francis Willis ca. 17733 | None known | Given away (date unknown)4 | |
| Cucullin5 | 1764 Hob or Nob x Allycroker6 | None known | Unknown | |
| The General | 1769; purchased from Alexander Spotswood in 1775 Janus x unknown dam7 | None known | Unknown | |
| Crab | 1771 | None known | ||
| Everallyn | purchased 1774 | Sorrel | ||
| Alfred | 1774 | None known | ||
| Caractacus | 1775 | None known | unknown; last reference 17908 | |
| Ethelinda | 1776 | Sorrel | ||
| Silvertail | 1773 | Likely gray | ||
| Orra Moor | 1778 | "chesnut sorrel filly" | ||
| Peggy Waffington | 1778 | Bay | ||
| Zanga | 1778 | "a horse colt. iron grey." | ||
| Odin | 1778 | "a horse colt. sorrel." | ||
| Polly Peachum | 1778 | "a roan filly" | ||
| Silveret | 1780 | "a grey horse colt" | ||
| Sprightly | 1779 | "A light chesnut sorrel, narrow blaze bending off over the right nostril, about 4.f. 11 I. high. Has a little white on his hind feet."9 | ||
| Assaragoa | 1779 | "His marks, a small star in the forehead, a snip on the nose, 2 hind feet white, branded on left shoulder B."10 | ||
| Raleigh | 1777 | "He is 6. years old, [blank] high, a chesnut sorrel, star in his forehead."11 | ||
| Tarquin | purchased 1790 | None known | ||
| Brimmer | purchased 1790 | "a pretty horse with two white feet" | ||
| Remus & Romulus (carriage horses) | unknown | |||
| Matchless | purchased 1791 | |||
| Fitzpartner | purchased 1799 | |||
| Wildair | purchased 1801 | Bay | ||
| Castor | unknown | |||
| Diomede | unknown | Bay | ||
| Bremo | spring 1806; purchased by Jefferson 1814 | "a bay, but a shade darker than any of the others" | ||
| Wellington | purchased 1815 | bay | ||
| Tecumseh | purchased 1815 | "bright bay, without any white except a few white hairs in the forehead where there is usually a star." | ||
| Peacemaker | purchased 1819 | "chesnut sorrel" | ||
| The Eagle | purchased 1820 | "a fine bay, abt. 16. hands high, 6 y. old last spring, a star in his forehead, 2 hind feet white, a scar below his left eye." |
- Compiled by Gaye Wilson, 2/99; revised and expanded by Anna Berkes, 7/20/26
After George Stubbs, "Diomed," 19th century, mezzotint on paper. Clark Art Institute, 1955.1993
Tending Jefferson's Horses
Until his death in 1800, chief hostler and coachman Jupiter Evans managed the horses and stables at Monticello. Later, Wormley Hughes assumed responsibility for the stables on Mulberry Row. He managed the care of the horses including feeding, providing water, mucking out the stalls, exercising, grooming, and putting them out to pasture. Hostlers, or stable hands, were also responsible for cleaning and polishing the tack including saddles, harnesses, reins, bits, and stirrups. Maintenance of wheeled vehicles often came under the supervision of the hostlers, and may have included carts, wagons, and Jefferson’s carriages and their equipage.
Further Sources
- Campbell, Julie A. The Horse in Virginia: An Illustrated History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010.
- Douglass, Carrie Beth. The Horses of Monticello: Equine Culture in Thomas Jefferson's Virginia. Manakin-Sabot, VA: Dementi Milestone Publishing, 2025.
- Harrison, Fairfax. Early American Turf Stock, 1730-1830. Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1934. 3 vols. Volume One: Mares is available online.
- Farm Book, 1774-1824, page 1, page 2, by Thomas Jefferson [electronic edition]. Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2003.
- Look for further sources in the Thomas Jefferson Portal.
Footnotes
- "Ally Croker" was a famous eighteenth-century Irish folk song.
- MB, 1:465. Transcription available at Founders Online.
- MB, 1:333. Transcription available at Founders Online.
- Farm Book, 1.
- Cú Chulainn was a hero from Irish mythology, probably familiar to Jefferson from James Macpherson's Works of Ossian (1765).
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Jefferson to Charles Lilburne Lewis, February 22, 1790, in PTJ, 16:192. Transcription available at Founders Online.
- MB, 7 May 1783.
- MB, 4 October 1782.
- MB, 30 September 1783.