Kilronan Morgan Performance Horse's

The Morgan breed standard dictates that a Morgan should be from 14.1 to 15.2 hands, with some individuals over or under. While a 17 hand Morgan is unlikely, 16 hand Morgans are not uncommon, and some farms are breeding for additional height because it is desirable for some disciplines such as foxhunting. Most people will overestimate the height of a Morgan, anyway, because of his conformation and the way he carries himself. You will hear people say things such as "That's the biggest 14 hand horse I've ever seen" on viewing a beautiful prancing Morgan mare or stallion. The Morgan is very upheaded. His neck ties in high to his chest and withers. He also draws himself up when on display, either in the show ring or just when visitors come to call at the farm. He is known to be an extremely easy-to-handle horse, but he struts and carries himself proudly at the same time.

The Development of the Morgan Families
There are many notable Morgan individuals in the history of the breed, and there are many families within the breed. A family is defined as a group of closely related individuals, sharing specific characteristics in temperament, talent, and conformation. It is fascinating to read of the many different bloodlines, how they developed, and how they were used. Huge volumes have been written on this subject. We don't have the time or space to consider them all, but we will at least talk about the four largest families within the breed today. These are the Lippitt, the Government, the Brunk, and the Western Working families.

Lippitt
The Lippitt family was established to preserve the original Morgan type, linebred to the great stallion Ethan Allen 2d. The name 'Lippitt' derives from the breeding prefix of Robert Lippitt Knight, who operated the Green Mountain Stock Farm in Randolph, Vermont, from 1927 - 1962. Mr. Knight was instrumental in preserving this old style family within the Morgan breed.

In the early 1970s a number of Vermonters, who cherished the old and unimproved 1790 model Morgan Horse, gathered together in an attempt to preserve this wonderful icon of our past. After many months of thought and work, the foundation stock (7 stallions and 16 mares) for the Lippitt family was chosen. This foundation stock included many horses used by Mr. Knight and, to honor Mr. Knight's work in the preservation of these old bloodlines, the name Lippitt was chosen for the family of horses and The Lippitt Club, Inc.

While many horses bred by Mr. Knight and carrying the Lippitt prefix qualify as Lippitts under the definition of The Lippitt Club, he would on occasion breed to outside bloodlines, and so not all Lippitt-prefixed horses qualify as Lippitts.

The endearing qualities of the Lippitt strain are endurance, hardiness, longevity, tractability, intelligence, and versatility. As was true with the original Justin Morgan, the Lippitt Morgan has the ability to thrive on simple living conditions, hard work, and minimal pampering. The Lippitt Morgan is a quick study, has an inquisitive mind, and does not shirk from hard work.

Government
The Government line derived from an experiment station established by the United States government in 1905 in Burlington, Vermont. The purpose of this program was to produce horses for the U. S. Calvary. The horses were to exhibit true Morgan type, strength, athletic ability, endurance, versatility, temperament and economy, but a further goal was to increase size. In 1907, Col. Joseph Battell, first editor of the American Morgan Horse Register, donated his family farm at Weybridge near Middlebury, Vermont. The breeding stock from the experiment station was relocated, and the United States Morgan Horse Farm was officially established. The foundation stallion for the Government farm was General Gates, foaled in 1894. General Gates was a full brother of Lord Clinton, the fastest trotting Morgan of his day.

The Government Farm instituted a testing process to ensure that only the best stock was used for breeding. These tests included 100-mile endurance rides, jumping, timed races, etc. The long line of champions in the ring, on the trail and field, and in harness which derived from the Government program, bear witness to the success of this program. With decreased need by the government for fine horses, funding was discontinued for the U.S. Morgan Horse Farm in 1950. The University of Vermont took part of the herd and continued breeding. The remaining stock was dispersed among four universities and the general public. A number of Morgan horse breeders have based their breeding programs on the government lines and the influence of the U.S. Morgan Horse Farm is felt throughout the breed to this day.

Brunk
Joseph Brunk and his family established the Brunk line in 1893 in and around Springfield, Illinois,. These horses were known for their high action, sound, correct legs and feet and all around athletic ability. They were often line-bred and usually high quality, showy individuals. Their influence is felt strongly in the ranch breeding of the west known as the Western Working family. This blood is also highly sought after for sport horses, because of the family's great athletic ability.

Western Working
Several western ranchers developed the Western Working Family during the period between 1880 and 1950. With the rapid expansion of the cattle ranching empire in the mid 1800s, there developed a need for a tough, agile, sensible cow horse to work the ranches that often encompassed thousands of acres of rugged, open range. The Western Working Morgan was developed from a combination of old Vermont, Government, Brunk and old Midwest bloodlines.

The result is a family of Morgans noted for good feet and legs, deep bodies, and strong hindquarters. They are also highly prized for their fast, ground-covering walk and trot, and tremendous stamina. Additional requirements for these hard-working horses are an intelligent, sensible, willing temperament, and lots of heart and cow savvy. Today, there are pure descendants of the early Western Working Morgans still being bred for ranch use as well as competition and pleasure.

1. Conformation is the degree of perfection of the component parts and their relationship to each other.

2.      The head should be expressive with broad forehead; large prominent eyes; with straight or slightly dished short face; firm fine lips; large nostrils and well-rounded jowls. The ears should be short and shapely, set rather wide apart and carried alertly. Mares may have a slightly longer ear.

3.      The throatlatch is slightly deeper than other breeds and should be refined sufficiently to allow proper flexion at the poll and normal respiration.

4.      The neck should come out on top of an extremely well-angulated shoulder with depth from top of withers to point of shoulder. It should be relatively fine in relation to sex. It should be slightly arched and should blend with the withers and back. The top line of the neck should be considerably longer than the bottom line. The stallion should have more crest than the mare or gelding. An animal gelded late in life may resemble the stallion more closely.

5.      The withers should be well defined and extend into the back in proportion to the angulation of the shoulder.

6.      The body should be compact with a short back, close coupling, broad loins, deep flank, well-sprung ribs, croup long and well muscled with tail attached high, carried gracefully and straight. A weak, low, or long back is a severe fault. The Morgan horse should not be higher at the croup than at the withers.

7.      The stifle should be placed well forward and low in the flank area.

8.      The legs should be straight and sound with short cannons, flat bone, and an appearance of over-all substance with refinement. The forearm should be relatively long in proportion to the cannon. The pasterns should have sufficient length and angulation to provide a light, springy step.

9.      The structure of the rear legs is of extreme importance to the selection of a long-lasting equine athlete. Any sign of poor angulation of the hocks, sickle hocks or cow hocks must be considered a severe fault. Lack of proper flexion of the hock is cause for very close examination of the entire structure of the rear legs and should not be tolerated in breeding stock or show ring winners.

10.  The feet should be in proportion to the size of the horse, round, open at heel, with concave sole and hoof of dense structure.

11.   Viewed from the front, the chest should be well developed. The front legs should be perpendicular to the ground and closely attached to the body.

12.   Viewed from the side, the top line represents a gentle curve from the poll to the back, giving the impression of the neck sitting on top of the withers rather than in front of them, continuing to a short, straight back and a relatively level croup rounding into a well muscled thigh. The tail should be attached high and carried well-arched. At maturity the croup should NOT be higher than the withers. The under line should be long and the body deep through the heart girth and flanks. The extreme angulation of the shoulder results in the arm being a little more vertical than in other breeds, placing the front legs slightly farther forward on the body. The front legs should be straight and perpendicular to the ground. The rear cannons should be perpendicular to the ground when points of hocks and buttocks are in the same vertical lines.

13.   Viewed from the rear, the croup should be well rounded, thighs and gaskins well-muscled. Legs should be straight. The gaskin should be relatively long in relation to the cannon. The Morgan should portray good spring of rib and well-rounded buttocks. Slab-sided individuals should be faulted.

14.   The height ranges from 14.1 to 15.2 hands, with some individuals under or over.

15.   Horses must be serviceably sound-i.e. must not show evidence of lameness, broken wind or complete loss of sight in either eye.

16.   Stallions two years old and over must have all the fully developed physical characteristics of a stallion. Mature stallions must be masculine in appearance. Mares must be feminine in appearance.

17.  Coat or eye color shall have no bearing when judging Morgan horses.

18.   Brands, including freeze brands, shall not be discriminated against in any class.

19. Other distinctive attributes of the Morgan horse are his presence and personality. These include:

20.  Animation

21.   Stamina

22.  Vigor

23.  Alertness

24.  Adaptability

25.  Attitude

26.  Tractability

27. Correct way of going for In-Hand classes:
28. It is imperative that height of action should not take precedence over correct way of going. Emphasis shall be on type and conformation with consideration given to horse's ability to move correctly on the lead.

29.  The walk should be rapid, flat-footed, with a four-beat cadence, and elastic, with the accent on flexion in the pastern.

30.  The trot should be a two-beat, diagonal gait, animated, elastic, square, and collected. The rear action should be in balance with the front.

31.   Posing horses must stand squarely on all four feet with the front legs perpendicular to the ground. Rear legs may be placed slightly back. Judge must ask exhibitor to move hind legs up under horse for inspection.