Speaking of…I see YOU now have a new little one!! Guess maybe I missed that announcement from Kristal…or maybe she didn’t. Anyway…congrats 
You’ll be getting the new certificate next week!
[QUOTE=vtdobes;7683535]
Speaking of…I see YOU now have a new little one!! Guess maybe I missed that announcement from Kristal…or maybe she didn’t. Anyway…congrats
You’ll be getting the new certificate next week![/QUOTE]
vtdobes, thanks! She will hopefully be my new riding horse when Feronia retires. (F has had a lot of soundness issues, so I am patching her up for as long as I can… She’s such a neat horse!)
Baby Josephine is going to be BIG and might in fact turn out too big/wide for me, but I hope not. She’s a doll, very smart, likes people, etc. She’ll be with Kristal for “basic training” until sometime next year, but I visit her every few months.
Video at 4 1/2 months… She is very butt-high at the moment!
I agree with so much that has been said above – just popped in to add that one of the big “aha” moments for me working with my little dressage Morgan is that positive reinforcement goes way farther with her than with any other breed I’ve ridden. When she’s trying something new and I tell her “good girl” or give her a quick stroke on the withers, I always get a little more softness and steadiness in immediate response.
My Morgan is always eager to go for a ride, tries her little guts out every day, and is supple and forward and easy to teach. The downside is that if I am having a bad day and can’t check my baggage at the barn door, I probably shouldn’t get on her – the sensitivity that makes her so fun can also turn me into my own worst enemy sometimes. I don’t have a lot of Morgan experience outside this one horse, but from what I can tell this is not atypical.
[QUOTE=quietann;7683577]
Baby Josephine is going to be BIG and might in fact turn out too big/wide for me, but I hope not. She’s a doll, very smart, likes people, etc. She’ll be with Kristal for “basic training” until sometime next year, but I visit her every few months.
Video at 4 1/2 months… She is very butt-high at the moment![/QUOTE]
SO CUTE!!! Every time I think about getting my gelding going I think “gee I wish I could ship him off to Kristal…”. She does such a nice job starting them
Don’t own a Morgan, but known a few. Seems to me a lot of what is being said relates to how most horses should be treated - fairly, simply and in a straightforward way, keeping their interest and personalities.
[QUOTE=Willesdon;7682768]
The continental style of warmblood is all about ‘submission’ which is the horse doing absolutely what it is told, down to where to put its every footfall. ‘Partnership’ works far better with horses that have brains and character, like TBs and Morgans.[/QUOTE]
Partnership works a lot better with WBs too. Just because many WBs can tolerate being bullied doesn’t mean that they thrive on it. I doubt many WB MARES take that crap for long.
I like a Morgan brain. Only because I grew up around Arabs for so long and still own them that the way these creatures operate is normal for me. I agree with another poster about if you are having a bad day, don’t ride. Most of these horses don’t give free rides, and if you are not up for the work that goes into it, and get frustrated be prepared for a fight. Even slight anger or tension, forget about it, they lose total respect for you and take over. Is true you’ve gotta keep their confidence. If they act up, I just ignore it and keep working until they come back to me, then reward. Yes I have seen some people try to bully these types of horse and it goes one of two ways: the horse bullies back HARD or melts into a scared mess that just wants to run and just a few repeat offenses of this can really sour them, so they do get their feelings hurt easily. Take up some other leisurely activities outside of the dressage ring. Make sure you trail ride, pop over some jumps, find some cows to push, whatever non dressagy is out there. Hell even I get bored with schooling. And you can work on multiple things at once in the ring, not just drill one movement until its perfected or they will just start trying to finding new ways to get out of work. Morgans love a challenge so naturally they work with people who like the same. Love reading everyone’s posts on this and seeing different breeds in dressage. Thats what makes it fun!!!
quietann nailed it with the Morgan description!
When I’m schooling my Morgan gelding at home, I really try to mix it up with incorporating trail rides and hacks down the road in with dressage schooling. Pretty much the more variety the better. He is quite different from my OTTB who seems to do better when I pick one thing to “drill” for 3-4 rides in a row as the TB is a slightly nervous horse and he seems to find it reassuring to focus on one thing at a time. That type of repetition would drive my Morgan crazy though!
one other thing I have found about Morgans to be true, didn’t see it mentioned. They are usually very sensible, so sensible that sometimes you forget they are also sensitive. There is not a lot a good morgan won’t do, and sometimes it can be easy to overface or overwork them because they are so very willing to please you. A lot of judgment and experience needs to go into forming the green morgan’s training, as I find even the best trainer can sometimes overface them inadvertently.
I’ve been really lucky to work with a couple of morgans, most through two separate working student jobs. They were great little horses, one a previous cart horse for the amish, the other purpose-bred in VT for long distance/endurance. I will say the two of them were very similar in every aspect - they hated being drilled (‘I GOT THIS, MOM!! YOU work on your position or something’) and it was very easy, even with an expert eye on the scene, to want to push them/keep going because they’re so amenable… But that is where I found other people ran into problems - the horses were so willing that they wouldn’t say NO when mentally, they needed the break. That was how we ended up with the two of them, anyway.
I second the difficulty working through the back. Later, I ended up catch-riding a morgan at a different farm and it was VERY hard to get her to work through her back. Poles, hill work, cavalettis, and it was hard because she couldn’t stand being drilled either.
[QUOTE=x-halt-salute;7683585]
The downside is that if I am having a bad day and can’t check my baggage at the barn door, I probably shouldn’t get on her – the sensitivity that makes her so fun can also turn me into my own worst enemy sometimes. [/QUOTE]
You are SO SO right!! I’ve had the exact same experience with my guy. If I had a crummy day and I’m dwelling on something, I have to really ask myself if riding is going to be a productive experience for the two of us.
I remedy this by riding in teh AM before work whenever possible. Get the most important thing done first, when my head is clear.
I love my Morgan, but man can he be stubborn sometimes! When I was trying horses(mostly warmbloods), I never tried a horse that is like him. Stupidly, I bought my horse with zero under saddle training and thought it would be like breaking a warmblood. I learned the hard way that he is too smart for his own good! After having him for 4 years, I have learned that you have to let him just have his temper tantrum and prove that your way is the “smarter” way. But once he gets something, he is a dreamboat.
Just out of curiosity, does anybody have a morgan that gets insecure about not having constant reassurance? For example, not half halting and keeping your leg on? Mine seems to need a lot of reassurance. Also, has anyone had experience with teaching them lead changes? I’m guessing this training will have to be approached differently as well.
After reading this thread, I’m POSITIVE my little draftX is draftXmorgan! Everything mentioned about Morgans is him to a T. He just happens to be extra stocky physically, but that brain is all Morgan.
Wonderful horses. I wouldn’t hesitate to own another cross or a purebred in the future <3
[QUOTE=MorganJumper848;7684502]
I love my Morgan, but man can he be stubborn sometimes! When I was trying horses(mostly warmbloods), I never tried a horse that is like him. Stupidly, I bought my horse with zero under saddle training and thought it would be like breaking a warmblood. I learned the hard way that he is too smart for his own good! After having him for 4 years, I have learned that you have to let him just have his temper tantrum and prove that your way is the “smarter” way. But once he gets something, he is a dreamboat.
Just out of curiosity, does anybody have a morgan that gets insecure about not having constant reassurance? For example, not half halting and keeping your leg on? Mine seems to need a lot of reassurance. Also, has anyone had experience with teaching them lead changes? I’m guessing this training will have to be approached differently as well.[/QUOTE]
I don’t know about reassurance, but ours likes to be in constant conversation. He wants feedback, so it is riding/conversing back and forth all the time. He demands to know how he is doing (and, if he is doing extremely well- can he take a break now? :))
No time off, when on his back. Always connected mentally (even if riding in a group, I have to stay with him so not much chitchat for me).
Now, he is little spooky, so I definitely have to reassure him, if he feels worried.
I don’t remember doing anything different with lead changes. Canter on one hand, change of direction on diagonal, trot or walk in-between, canter on the other hand and a slow progression to just a lead change.
Just a couple of attempts per session (if that), no nerves, no big deal, no drills.
However, I did a lot on barrels and in the country (when naturally changing course in canter and letting him change the lead to accommodate), because that’s what I was into at that period of time.
In retrospect, I would say, barrels and those “natural” changes (what he would have done anyway) really helped for him to “see the point” of doing them.
Our Morgan likes to do things with purpose.
While I can’t ride my Morgan anymore, at least I can talk Morgans! (I also had a Morgan cross before this one)
IME, Morgans have fewer issues with balance than most other types. While they are difficult to get through their backs, even as young horses my guys had very good natural balance. It was always quite a shock to ride a lower-necked type and deal with getting them off their forehand.
Most Morgans have “forward” dealer-installed. I like directing energy rather than always trying to create it.
Being generally more sensitive, they also seem to have a stronger sense of fairness. They tend to get more upset over being confused or corrected in a way they do not understand than a more laid-back type. When I started lateral movements, my guy was quite indignant at first. Leg meant forward - “forget the groundwork, let me go forward, I am right”. When the lightbulb went off, I praised and quit. The next day it was difficult to keep him from moving laterally. “Look mom! I’ve got it! Don’t you want it now?”
Morgans can fake you out. They can do a faux collection and find 1001 other ways to do a movement. Its not that they are being devious, they don’t know what is “right”, they are just (as my instructor used to sigh) creative.
My Morgan had a lovely canter with his hocks naturally under and plenty of air time. His sensitivity and balance meant canter departs eventually only required a subtle weight and position shift and we had started lead changes quite readily with the same aids.
Both of my horses had a spook in them that I wish wasn’t there, but at the base of it, they were both very sensible. Unfortunately the catty athleticism wasn’t my friend in that case. But if I sat the initial startle, few Morgans I have known carry it beyond that into blind bolts etc. Eventually they trusted me enough to tiptoe past scary things with bug eyes and snorts but otherwise obedient.
If only he had followed the Morgan handbook when it came to soundness:(
[QUOTE=emilia;7684548]
Our Morgan likes to do things with purpose.[/QUOTE]
They will make sure you are doing the work correctly… repair a fence they are there to supervise… whatever you do they will come over to check if you have the proper permits and are doing the work to code.
Hearing? they can hear a peppermint being unwrapped from 100 yards.
As for rider’s balance… we took our competition/show Morgans and used them for beginner riders instruction… you could see the horse shift under a rider who was off center in the saddle.
Just great all around horses, we had five Morgans for our kids and those horses were the envy of children’s friends
[QUOTE=MorganJumper848;7684502]
Just out of curiosity, does anybody have a morgan that gets insecure about not having constant reassurance? For example, not half halting and keeping your leg on? Mine seems to need a lot of reassurance. Also, has anyone had experience with teaching them lead changes? I’m guessing this training will have to be approached differently as well.[/QUOTE]
I think I know where you’re coming from w.r.t. reassurance. Mine seems to find a constant connection with the seat (and to a lesser extent leg) to be a steadying/calming stimulus. To the point where if something really spooky is going on I’d rather be on her back (where I can really calm her down and get her quiet) than handling her from the ground (where I may end up flying her like a kite in an ever more frenzied storm). Can’t say it affects normal riding though – she responds well to being ridden primarily from the seat and that suits me just fine.
BTW mine does the temper tantrum thing too, especially when she decides a particular walk break should be the end of our ride but I pick the reins back up instead. Didn’t realize that was a Morgan thing, but she tries so hard to please the rest of the time that I just laugh at these fleeting protests.
We haven’t tackled flying changes yet – schooling 2nd at the moment. But I don’t think it’ll require a different approach. Just some patience and self-control about not overschooling things!
I ended up with a Morgan essentially by accident but I’ve really been won over to the breed.
Im planning on taking him to a dressage trainer over the winter to help me with the changes. He does them when we are jumping courses but he doesn’t have a signal for it. I just want to make sure it gets done right since Morgans have a very special brain. They want to do everything for you LOL. I can’t even set jumps without him trying to chew on them. My Morgan is special. He jumps pasture fences, pulls screens out of windows, gets his grazing muzzle and flymask off, chews on anything in sight, and gives me lots of kisses! He likes jumping better than dressage. 7 years old and doing 3’6’’ at jumper shows!
Post some pictures of your morgans! Would love to see them.
I found (well, more like his main rider found) that it was a lot easier to teach my guy his changes after working on the counter canter. Getting him balanced on the “wrong” lead made it a lot easier to teach him that it’s only okay to do a flying change when we ask for it. He has almost seamless natural changes and when he was learning how to canter (at liberty, as a 10 year old. He’d lived in a small paddock that was mostly large rocks for almost 9 years of his life, so hadn’t had opportunity to develop a natural canter) he would swap leads every couple strides, and it was only noticeable if you watched his legs closely.
He’s making his dressage ring debut at a “show and tell” on Sunday. M is doing First Level Test 2 (the Canadian one. I’m not sure if they’re different in the US and Canada). This show is the best venue for a first timer because the way it’s run you can ride up to 2 different tests (M’s only doing 1 with the pony) and you ride each test twice. after you ride it the first time, you get 10-15 minutes of feedback/coaching from the judge, and then you ride the test a second time. The average of your two scores is your score for the test. The show also happens to be held at my old stomping grounds, so it’ll be neat to take my pony there for the first time. I haven’t ridden out there since my coach moved from just down the road [from the ring].
For those who also jump your morgans (or who jump exclusively), do you find that they’re extra super wiggly when trotting into a jump, even with several trot poles leading up to it? My guy will NOT go over a jump (even a 12" xpole) if he trots in, but he’ll get his distance every flipping time if he canters in. He IS green over fences, so we’ve decided to forget about trot jumps for a while and build his confidence by doing canter fences, and when he has a bit more experience we’ll revisit trot fences. I find that for a lot of things, we have to do them backwards. But I’m not sure if that’s a Morgan thing or if it has more to do with him being (according to the vet) “the horsey equivalent of autistic”. Morgans aren’t common on the island, so I’m not entirely sure if it’s a Morgan thought pattern, or if he really is a little extra special?
[QUOTE=Sionna;7686877]
Post some pictures of your morgans! Would love to see them.[/QUOTE]
Ask and you shall receive! My guy isn’t full morgan, I figure he’s morganXbelgian, and he sticks at just a hair under 14.1hh.
Him as an awkward yearling (about 6 months after he first came to the barn from auction) http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/yearling.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
The day I bought him (Valentine’s 2012, just a hair under 9 years old and completely uncatchable) in his partial winter woolies. He’d been tranq’d and body clipped in November, so was in that awkward half-grown-out phase with his super floofy unclipped legs/face, haha! http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad15/ShayneBear/Just%20Java/IMG_1090.jpg
When I first got him we boarded around the corner from the local Greenhawk, and we’d go for hand walks down to get cookies (and try stuff on because he’s a pain to fit with his short-but-stocky build. Pony stuff is too small, horse stuff is too big, cob size isn’t usually the right proportions. Ugh). http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/IMG_1205.jpg.html?sort=3&o=112
Coming back from his first ever trail ride, and my first ride on him since he was 3 (I was the first person ever on his back, but another person got credit for “breaking” him, and break him she did, poor guy…) http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/DSCN2814.jpg.html
Heading out on our first off-lead trail ride (where he led the other horses past a group of GIANT pigs on a property that backed onto the trail <3 ) http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/560570_2232844957149_563577423_n-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
After that trail ride though, he started answering my questions by rearing and bolting, so I took a year to go back to square one, started ground driving him (which he took to like a fish to water!) and ended up focusing on driving for a year.
The following May (2013) we met M, who fit into Team Java as if she’d been with us for pony’s whole life. She helped restart him under saddle, and without her he probably wouldn’t be rideable right now. This is from her second ride on him (his first ride in the unfenced outdoor ring at a barn we’d moved to a few months prior) http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/944402_564300373621939_1681264239_n.jpg.html?sort=3&o=33 (and that’s his crappy trot…)
At the end of the day of his very first show (he won 2 firsts [w/t hunter under saddle and w/t equitation] a 2nd [english pleasure w/t] and a 3rd [open showmanship]) http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/firstshow2013.jpg.html?sort=3&o=21
Video of his first ever 20m canter circles, M riding, Karen Brain coaching (Java’s Aunty Karen <3 ). December 2013. http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/DSCN3326-1.mp4.html?sort=3&o=79 (another new barn after the previous one stopped providing adequate care)
At the end of April we had to move again due to our last barn shutting down (huge bummer because it was the hands-down best match for us). On move-in day, a friend came over to say hi and snapped some pictures of us. The following photos sum up his personality/our relationship perfectly…
“That is not a cookie. Where is my cookie?” http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad15/ShayneBear/Just%20Java/10312139_237493846448895_2306614370020416388_n.jpg
Steeetttccchhhh http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/10176222_236926706505609_5969155451582174419_n.jpg.html?sort=3&o=62
Cheese! http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/10177314_237493989782214_2270903237166977846_n.jpg.html?sort=3&o=64
Having a heart-to-heart http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/10300627_237493756448904_8298783837942128152_n.jpg.html?sort=3&o=57
Soulmates <3 http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/10320443_237493739782239_2746694264212413067_n.jpg.html?sort=3&o=51
And finally, just because, this is a photo that M took (and developed) for a photography course she recently took where they used -gasp- FILM cameras! 
She framed it for me for my birthday <3 http://s917.photobucket.com/user/ShayneBear/media/Just%20Java/unnamed1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5
