SHOW HORSE LOOKS AND PEDIGREE

It’s obvious from the accompanying color-coded pedigree that Upwey Ben Don’s sire, Upwey King Benn, carries more lines to Morgan than to American Saddlebred, yet the total is nearly equal. The very good mare Quietude, Upwey Ben Don’s dam, is considered “puebred” Morgan. Yet if we probe further back into the pedigree, it becomes obvious that the assignment of either of these horses to whatever breed is, in fact, arbitrary. Until the establishment of registries for Standardbred trotters and pacers in 1879, the foundation of the American Saddlebred Breeders’ Association in 1891, and the publication of Battell’s Morgan Horse and Register in 1894, the three breeds were not distinguished, even though there were some evident differences in pedigree composition, physical type and aptitude for performance.

To a great degree, distinctions rest on the ancestry of broodmares, because it is the females who are the source of Canadian and Dutch blood, while Thoroughbred usually comes in through the top side of the pedigree. All three breeds carry plenty of Thoroughbred blood: The Morgan largely from the Mambrino-Messenger line, with additions from Bellfounder who is considered the foundation sire for the Hackney; the Saddlebred from the Gaines’ Denmark line; and the Standardbred from Rysdyk’s Hambletonian. One of the most important conclusions to be drawn from this is that Americans were breeding horses 200 years ago in a manner very similar to that taken up after 1920 by the Germans to produce “half-bloods”—now called warmbloods—for cavalry and so-called “sport horse” use.

Readers wishing to probe Morgan pedigrees will find the “All Breed Pedigree. com” website very convenient. However, be forewarned that this is a “Wiki”-style site and it does contain some errors, none greater than the largely bogus pedigree for Figure (discussed in detail in the last installment).

has had an influence second only to Sellman’s. Brown stood Romanesque (1921, by Red Oak), Linsley (1918, by General Gates), and Tehachapi Allan (1934, by Querido) to broodmares by Headlight Morgan, Sparhawk, Dude Hudson and Donald. Situated farther west was the Jackson Ranch in Montana, founded in the 1870s and still actively producing Morgans. Their foundation sire was Delbert (1930, by Revere, who was bred at the U.S. Range Livestock Experiment Station in Montana); later, they also used the very handsome Fleetfield (1950, by the Government-bred Mentor). The Jackson Ranch broodmares were an eclectic mixture selected for good-mindedness and correct conformation, tracing to Senator Graham, Jubilee King, Cornwallis and Lippitt.

Two important Morgan-breeding ranches also existed in rugged Wyoming. The Cross Ranch, founded in the 1930s, ran cattle and sheep over 29,000 acres. Their chief stallion was Warhawk (1942, by Flyhawk), bred by Helen Brunk Greenwalt. Renowned for his ability as a cow horse, Warhawk’s beauty and gentle disposition were legendary. The Cross family also bred palomino-colored Morgans from the stallion Glider (1935, by Jubilee King) who they used on a group of mares tracing back to the buckskin-colored Wheeler Horse (1839, by Vermont Morgan Champion), a Figure greatgrandson and the main source of gold color in the Morgan breed. Also located in Wyoming was the L.U. Sheep and Cattle Company, active from 1927 to the mid-1960s. Encompassing more than 150,000 acres, the ranch was founded by David Dickie. David’s brother Bob worked with Helen Brunk Greenwalt over a period of 40 years to build an excellent breeding program. The L.U. horses were known for their amazing uniformity, quality and versatility, reliable dispositions, easy gaits, stamina, agility and soundness.

Shapely and sound, many of the horses produced during this era were as beautiful and serviceable as any that have ever been produced anywhere---as the photo galleries presented in this and the last installment testify.

THE CURRENT HORSE SHOW SCENE

I mourn the passing of the above era. This does not mean that there aren’t still plenty of beautiful, substantial Morgan horses available for purchase---horses that no one could mistake for anything but a Morgan. But the longer we go with horse shows, with all of their built-in artificiality, as the primary work context, the greater becomes the population of horses who are “mere peacocks.” Efforts to create show classes that imitate the real work of farms and ranches, to recreate tasks expected of a cavalry officer’s horse, or which promote versatility are laudable and have, to some extent, maintained a market for the “old-fashioned” Morgan. Because we will never

return to horse-drawn transportation or horse-powered farm work, intelligently and humanely designed competition is urgently needed.

Soon after the end of World War II, many Morgan breeders foresaw the downward slide toward an exclusive emphasis upon competition. Many concerned people resisted the creation of a “show type” Morgan because they felt that such horses are “off type.” The effort to register the horse Upwey Ben Don as a Morgan became the flagship controversy. I present his pedigree as an excellent example of the entanglement of American Saddlebred, Standardbred and Morgan bloodlines--and the frequency with which mares of Canadian ancestry or of unknown pedigree appear in Morgan pedigrees. Battell’s rules for registration require that to be admitted a horse must be traceable to Figure in 1/64th part. It seems that Upwey Ben Don met this requirement, and he was in fact ultimately registered as a Morgan. The reason his supporters wanted this horse in the Morgan Registry was that his long neck and way of going are considered ideal for the Saddle Seat “Park” and three-gaited divisions, which for many horse-show enthusiasts define the term “show horse.” Certainly, some of the Brunk-bred horses, especially those from Jubilee King, have given the Ben Dons a run for their money at shows, as have horses from Troubadour of Willowmoor, Orcland Vigildon and Sealect of Windcrest.

Nonetheless , the registration of Upwey Ben Don was regarded by many Morgan owners as dangerously diluting Morgan type and blood, and the event gave major stimulus to the Lippitt Club, an “interest group” within the umbrella of the Morgan Horse Club. The Lippitt Club recognizes only “old-fashioned” Morgans and admits no horse with Saddlebred bloodlines. As only one of the big Western spreads that once bred Morgan horses is still in operation today, and most Morgan breeding of all sorts is now carried on by farms and individuals with small numbers of mares, the Lippitt Club’s work to preserve original Morgan type has gained in importance.

Our gallery of reference photos this month begins with a conformation evaluation of two of my favorite Morgans, Alexander the Great, foaled in 1908, and Billy Root 2nd, foaled in 1905. We then look at photos dating from the Civil War up through the present that show Morgans at work. Finally there is a feast of simply beautiful Morgans bred from 1880 up through 1965; the reader may contrast these with a few examples of the so-called “new-type” Morgan bred only for show.

The interested reader will notice that I have not presented one of the most important of all Morgan horses, the very famous original Ethan Allen (1849) and his influential get---for the reason that our upcoming installments will present a biography of this hugely important allAmerican stallion. Stay tuned!