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The naive friend-buying-a-horse - update post 118

I’d want that mare, if I was looking!

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Drat!
Missed my (wiseass)chance to ask if you took the Open Trailer & bought the Blue Saddle :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Did I miss who will be helping friend get this Wundermare going under saddle?
:pray: Friend gets knowledgeable help.

@TheBigEasy you are a much better friend than I could ever hope to be :flushed:

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Not anymore. At least if you’re going to register them, they must have a DNA match to registered Morgan parents.

Now before the DNA rule, that was another matter entirely. But AMHA is a small organization, and they couldn’t have gone after the cheaters even if they had wanted to. The cheaters were at the top of the breed.

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Boarding barn has a visiting trainer. Don’t know her myself, but sounds capable to help a newbie.
Marsey is saddle broke and has trail miles. Says she’s broke to drive.
Seller said she’s been ridden about twice a week for the last four months.
Heck I may get gutsy enough in the next week to jump on if she remains mild mannered.

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I did not mean by cheaters but as ‘refinement’
which is weird, because you have the choice of saddlebred vs Morgan…

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even though they had the horse for 4 months in a nice facility, do a fecal exam and deworm appropriately. The pretty facility may have been more window dressing than an indication of the care quality

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Can’t wait to see pictures, there will be pictures right?

Hope it all works out fine

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They used to require references from a vet and/or farrier. A friend of mine was heavily involved with the BLM adoption process and was called upon to check up on horses in his area to make sure they were being cared for properly. I don’t think he does anymore or if the BLM still does that.

I hope I did that right. From her sale listing.

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Definitely has a standardbred head and the long ears. Very cute though and has a kindly expression.

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I’m not a saddlebred expert, but to me it looks like there’s a lot of saddlebred in there.

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My thought was saddlebred too. More so than Morgan.
Dear friend is considering trying to run a DNA sample just for fun.

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Very pretty!

If she doesn’t work out for your friend, you can always send her my way!

I wonder how she moves?

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I’ve been following the story and think that it’s great that (so far) everything seems to have worked out!

I’m wondering how old the horse is? (Maybe you said upthread, but I missed it). The reason I ask is that the horse looks pretty leggy, like she might be young and still planning on growing a bit.

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Whew… what a story so far. I’ll ditto the Saddlebred blood in there.

Sure hope it works out for your friend… but I won’t hold my breath either :wink:

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Advertised as 5-6.
I had the same thought. Im no vet but her teeth seemed to match.

She has a cute little face! Best of luck to your friend, I’m glad it has worked out so well so far.

Only got to see her walk/trot in-hand. She doesn’t lunge.
Considerable knee action, not much length of stride, but she at least looked sound!

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That was the purpose of these “behind the barn” crosses. More height, more refinement, a higher trot, a more showy demeanor. These crosses were not legal but were registered anyway with the wrong sire or dam. One horse (FCF Rhythm Nation), a national and world champion stallion, proved to be half-Saddlebred, and he and his descendants were expunged from the Registry. BUT the monetary and legal cost to the AMHA of doing this once were very high, and it’s always been a small breed. The AMHA chose, of necessity, not to challenge any more registrations. So the bloodlines are in the breed whether we like it or not. I tend to fall in the “not” category, because it really was cheating.

The President of the AMHA, at the time, who was an advocate for examining the breeding of some very well-known show horses, had a suspicious arson fire at his barn that killed some of his horses. It has never been proven, but there are people who believe this was done as retaliation/warning. He left the breed entirely.

This was a very ugly time in the Morgan breed, and it has left scars to this day.

These crosses were not the same as the entirely legal crosses done before 1948 when the Registry closed. That’s how we got Upwey King Peavine, Forest Whirlwind, Sabab (an Arabian), a group of mostly ranch-bred mares who were high in Morgan blood, and a few others in the bloodlines. They are in the pedigrees, and breeders can choose to use horses tracing back to them or not.

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I figured she might be trappy - a Saddlebred/Friesian cross would definitely run that risk.

But she looks like she has a kind eye.

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