Morgan horse/pony knowledge for amateur owner purchase

[clipper]

Looking at a Morgan pony/horse for riding. Want something sensible but with good gaits. A horse/pony I could ride dressage with, go out on a different day to a hunter pace and finally ride out on the trail.
Any knowledge about Morgans as a breed would be appreciated. The good and the not so good.

I am aware of the PSSM1 that Morgans can have. Any hints about other health issues? What would be most important with a Pre-purchase exam? Would you test for PSSM1 if this test was not done before purchase?

I am going to cross-post this in the hunter/jumper and eventer thread.

Thank you for any assistance

[beowulf]

Pinging @MorganMaresVT

@clipper

A horse/pony I could ride dressage with, go out on a different day to a hunter pace and finally ride out on the trail.

Morgans were made for this. Have you ridden or worked with Morgans? I find that while there is a lot of variation in type with them, overall they’re wonderful, sensible horses with lots of go and charisma. But they are not for everyone.

You might get more feedback in Eventing and Dressage, which is where they are more common. I don’t see many H/J type morgans - YMMV.

I would make sure you buy one with good coupling. The only thing I’ve noticed consistently with the Morgans around me, is they tend to have weaker loins and backs which has made saddle fit difficult. Overall a very hardy and wonderful breed - some of my favorite horses have been Morgans.

[chestnutmarebeware]

@clanter 's family has had Morgans for years. Hopefully he’ll chime in.

[clanter]

Daughter’s first Morgan was Prairie Hill Mulligan that she bought was found often on the same paddock as one of our Morgan mares. She thought I was putting him in there and I thought she was, then we discovered he could clear jump the nearly five foot fence into the paddock.

He never took stadium jumping seriously as he thought they were not worthy of his abilities

but put him on a event course

or on competitve trail ride doing 50 to 60 miles a weekend

he would do whatever she wanted

While competing at Three Day Event while coming back from the stadium jumping she saw a concrete picnic table off the trail and she wanted him to look at it, she rides him to it he stops short she cued him forward, he thought Oh You Want ME up there, I was watching but never saw him move next thing we both knew there he was standing on top of the table with her still in the saddle, looked like a statue of some war general on his horse. All she could say What Did HE do? …well you asked him to go forward so he did. Next thing How Do I Get Him DOWN? stay on give him head cue him forward… he looks at the concrete bench then just kind of over steps that to the ground. Went back later to measure the table’s height it was 44 inches from ground to top of the table

[BAC]

Check out Denny Emerson’s Tamarack Hill Farm on Facebook, he is a huge fan of Morgans and they seem perfect for your needs.

[onlyTBmares]

I don’t have any useful advice here but if I had the same goals as you I would 100% be looking for a Morgan. I do have a girlfriend that has a Morgan and does exactly that and the mare is in her early 20s still doing all the things.

[clanter]

I need to add, our four kids often changed disciplines as their interest along with their changed. Most of the friends parents were changing horses buying a new one as their kids changed disciplines, we just bought more tack for our kids horses.

Our kids’ horses were always competitive in whatever discipline they were doing at the time.

More than one of the other parents would ask me how we found “that new horse” without knowing the new horse was the old horse,

[Cabaret_SK]

Upon reading the description of what you want, all I could think was “Oh, they want a Morgan then!”, because this is what they excel at.

My Morgan and I showed dressage, hunters, dabbled in trail classes and showmanship, trail ride, ground drove…you name it, he was up for it. The Morgans I have known have all been incredibly healthy and hardy, too.

[BostonHJ]

Agree with all of the love here; they are a sensible, game horse. My only comment to add is while they aren’t hot per se, they are usually pretty forward thinking. I enjoy that, particularly in a sane horse, but not everyone does.

[lmccor88]

I have one! For almost 20 years.

He is small spicy guy (15.2h) however has very much quieted down in his senior years. They are tough hardy horses and you can do anything with them. We only had to call the vet out for him a few times (in the 20 years I’ve owned him) which I think is pretty fair! I do not regret anything about owning him.

10/10 would buy a Morgan again

[blueribbonpaint]

Morgans are great! I’ve had mine for 14 years and he’s amazing. I had soundness and health problems with my older paint horse, so when I went shopping I asked my vet which breed is the soundest and healthiest and he told me to buy a Morgan. That same vet still works on him and comments that he has the most solid back of any horse he’s ever seen. They’re super hardy and easy keepers.

Mine does have PSSM type 2, so you’re right to be aware of it. I doubt that you would want to test for it on a PPE because the most reliable and accurate test is a muscle biopsy and I don’t think many sellers want you cutting into their horse. I wouldn’t waste your money on the blood or hair test. But PSSM is managed by diet and exercise, so ask the seller what the horses feed and activity routine is. If they can have a week off and come out to ride relaxed and ready to go, I wouldn’t worry about PSSM. Ask what the horse is eating. Most Morgans are super easy keepers and do well on low carb diets anyway, but find out how they feed it. PSSM is a pain, but it’s also manageable. I would take a Morgan with the risk of developing PSSM over other breeds and their baggage any day.

Good luck!

[MorganMaresVT]

@blueribbonpaint, have you submitted your horse’s PSSM details to the Morgan Horse Health database? It would be very valuable if you’d consider doing so
https://morganhorsehealth.org/submit-to-database

[Pico_Banana]

A friend of mine has an awesome Morgan who does exactly this. Eventing, dressage, hunter pace, trail, you name it. He’s also served as a confidence re-builder for many a rider (including me!). Even though he can be speedy, he’s so even-keeled. Still going strong at age 24. Love him to death. I hope she retires him at my place (he has an open invitation) because he’s just so wonderful.

[clanter]

Morgans, they are the Friend of Tack Stores as at least the one we have had and the current ones will do whatever discipline the rider wants to try, and do it well.

Harness for the cart, working western saddle, western show saddle, light weigh trail saddle, hunt saddle and dressage saddle is what Each of ours have, you don’t need a tack room but tack building for the stuff.

The thing is they can be very competitive in multiple disciplines at the same time and switch back and forth with ease. Or go many months before switching back to whatever without missing a step. Ours learned to adjust only by the tack they wore, shorting or lengthening strides for the specific discipline.

And be so pretty

Its in their eyes that will be bright with joy