Anyone show Horses?

[morgangirl]

Hi y'all. Liz here. I used to show Morgan horses but now I just toddle around on my POA pony. He is a wonderful little thing. His name is winter. I would like to show him sometime but I'm not sure when. I was wondering if anyone else does horse showing?

 

[Peaches Lee]

I use to show dressage and Pony Club/4-H when I was a kid. In PC I used to do a lot of jumping but then fell in love with dressage and now could care less about jumping. It did serve me some good though when I worked at a Friesian stallion testing though. By the way, did you know that it is said that Morgan horses have Friesian ancestral roots?

 

[morgangirl]

By the way, did you know that it is said that Morgan horses have Friesian ancestral roots?

Well yes I have heard that. Morgan hroses have really been my thing. Some people would like to think that the Arabian could have some part in their blood. But if you think of how Figure was built I honestly don't see him haveing a big Arabian blood line. I know this is not Figure sence we don't have any pictures of the horse but looking at how this horse is built I don't for one second think Arabian. But I would think Fresian and draft horse. So yes I think that the fresian could have somthing to do with the Morgan.

And I just found this picture on google and it is very old.

 

[res]

My family has been into Morgans since my grandparents were kids. I am kinda the "black sheep" of the family as I have Arabs instead of Morgans.

I can see Arab influence in Morgans. The higher tailset, flatter croup, and upright neck are traits even the traditional Morgans shared with Arabs. You see those traits frequently now in the "current" Morgans.

Morgans may have some Friesan blood in them. But you also have to consider the time period that the breed was developed. The breed variety in the area was likely quite slim - importing horses was not as easily accomplished as it is today. Nor was purchasing horses from a great distance away. Yes, it happened, but it was generally the very wealthy making the purchases, and those horses were not generally allowed to breed willy-nilly. Good records were generally kept for each breeding and get.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Well yes I have heard that. Morgan hroses have really been my thing. Some people would like to think that the Arabian could have some part in their blood. But if you think of how Figure was built I honestly don't see him haveing a big Arabian blood line. I know this is not Figure sence we don't have any pictures of the horse but looking at how this horse is built I don't for one second think Arabian. But I would think Fresian and draft horse. So yes I think that the fresian could have somthing to do with the Morgan.

And I just found this picture on google and it is very old.

Oh I definitely think there is Arab blood in Morgan horses. In fact, I bet there is a very short list of breeds that don't have Arab influence somewhere in their DNA LOL!

I definitely feel there is Friesian influence from the Morgans I have seen, they share a lot of the same qualities and how nice the Friesian/Morgans cross with each other. But it is definitely not all Morgans in which I can see these traits due to selective breeding of course.

 

[TheDancingQueen]

I show arabian horses..... just kidding!

 

[morgangirl]

Arabs are interesting to watch in the show ring.
As for our little Breed debate I think that there might be some distant blood but not like figures uncle was an Arab, not that closely related...
Fresians my mom and I both think though could have been closer like a grandpa or gma. It could be that close with them. Thoroughbreds must have came in to this breed I would think. But you never know.

 

[res]

If you check the history of Friesans in the US during the time Figure was born, you would find they were not present. They had been imported in the 1600's, because they were quite common in European countries. But they quickly died out in north America as a "breed" because they were crossed so many times with other breeds that were present here. So any Friesan blood by mid-1700's was likely very, very diluted. Probably enough so that it couldn't be a major factor. Arabs, however, were on the up-swing in the US during the time Figure was conceived. They were gaining in popularity like wildfire and infiltrating the East Coast. The Arabs of olden days did not look exactly like the modern Arabs, much like some lines of modern Morgans do not very closely resemble Figure's conformation. Eighteenth century Morgans looked quite similar to 18th century Arabs.

There is actually nothing proving that Figure was the result of purebred x purebred. We have names, and descriptions, but not breeds. So he was very likely a Heinz 57 mix. My vote is a regional draft with a high percentage Arab influence or fairly close in the line. Probably some gaited blood of some sort and colonial throughbred, too. Like I said, Heinz 57, that just happened by the grace of God to be extremely potent at passing his traits on to whatever mare he was bred to.

 

[res]

Current Morgan breed ideal (though not all Morgans look like this now - we need to get back to this....)

Blackhawk, son of Sherman, grandson of Figure

Current Arab ideal

Arab circa 1890 (so a century AFTER Figure was born, but you can still see how it isn't the current "ideal")

Our oldest Morgan, who is 30 now...

My youngest Arab. His "brother" is 29 now. Yes, they are related. Seven generations back....

 

[morgangirl]

Wow the Morgan looks great for 30.