Ive just found something I wrote in 2010 - a little bit of History! Our Morgan Experience I was bought up on a sheep station and had the pleasure of my own black Galloway to ride, chasing sheep and cattle on the muster. However, I knew nothing of the finer points of riding and was always tremendously nervous. My husband, Greg, had a vastly different experience with horses as a youngster, as he ‘hooned’ around on his Dad’s horses, jumping them from the bank of dams and swimming with them with glee! Greg re-introduced me to riding when I was in my forties, on a friends pony, and, after a year or two of nervous trail riding, I decided I was ready for a horse of my own. I chose a Morgan Horse as the description I read was that it was a horse that suited the whole family; a horse that suited a nervous rider or a busy person who did not have time to ride every week. That was music to my ears. I used to be so nervous about not riding the horse every week, in case the horse became ‘fizzy’. My dream came true when I purchased my first black Morgan mare, Eagleview Skybeau! At the time of purchasing Skybeau (fondly known as Calypso), Greg saw a three month old filly, Mt Tawonga Natasha, who really attracted his attention because of her elegant looks. Within twelve months we were the proud owners of two Morgans – my Eagleview Skybeau aka Calyspo, started under saddle by a great horseman in Victoria, and the yearling filly, Mt Tawonga Natasha aka Elegance or Elle. I put Calypso to the test and turned her out for three months rest after a number of months of exhilarating experiences of her intelligence and capabilities under saddle. I brought her back into work with many varied pieces of advice from all my experienced horse friends … ‘make sure you remind her of the halt’ … ‘make sure when you saddle her she doesn’t buck … once she knows how to buck you’ll never get it out of her!” … ‘make sure you are really, really careful about getting on her … be ready to dismount immediately!’ With great trepidation … being a very green, nervous rider, but thankfully with no knowledge at all of what I was about to do … I decided to put the lead rope on Calypso, climb the rail in the roundyard and stick a leg over … I figured if she didn’t like the pressure she would let me know, and I could just hang on to the rail and take my weight off .. yeah right! If she had been any way inclined to buck, I was a Gonner!!! However, this wonderful mare let me climb on her back, sniffed my boot and then stuck her head down to eat. I then asked her to do all the moves she knew well and she and I trotted around that round yard with just the lead rope in one hand, doing every move she knew. She was testament to the Brochure about Morgans and their wonderful attitude and temperament. Greg, though he purchased that wonderful, outstanding mare, Mt Tawonga Natasha, had always dreamed of riding a dashing buckskin … didn’t matter what breed, as long as it was that wonderful buckskin colour. So, whilst I searched for my perfect Morgan partner, Greg was secretly looking for one for himself in buckskin. Alas, there were none in Australia! As I went out and about with my Morgan mare, and began to compete, Greg noticed that there were a lot of ladies my age also trying to compete, but with horses that just would not behave. He determined that these people needed to experience owning a Morgan, so that they could enjoy their chosen equine sport and smile throughout it all, rather than dissolve into tears as they tried to lunge an unwilling horse. Thus, we, who were never ever going to own a stallion as we were far too inexperienced, decided to import a Morgan stallion to Australia. But it had to be Buckskin to bring ‘Colour’ to Australia and to be the answer to Greg’s dreams of riding his magnificent Buckskin horse. After two failed attempts, which are stories in themselves, in December 2005 we imported the 6 year old Morgan Stallion, RanchBoss Cortez! When our friend sent the photo of Cortez to Greg, he became quietly excited that he may, at last, have found his Dream horse. Cortez was a Golden Buckskin, with three months of Reining training under his belt, but Greg would not even consider him until his owner could show this stallion interacting with people. The DVD Nina Bates sent was a winner! Cortez showed us just how respectful of his people friends and just how willing he is, in that footage. He was bound for Australia!! Cortez has proven to be our stimulus to promotion of the Morgan Breed Australia wide and to breeding the most beautiful little Morgans … only three of his eleven progeny so far in Australia have not carried his cream gene, so he is certainly spreading his colour far and wide. He is also spreading the word about Morgans as he goes out to compete at varying events and he and Greg show everyone what a relationship with a horse should be … one of mutual respect and caring … one of cosy snuggles just before you hit the competition ring and afterwards … one of enjoyment of just hanging together … one of having a fun time together and one of total respect for each other. Our Morgan Experience culminated this year in the birth of 4 buckskin babies from our band of quality brood mares and Cortez . We have two more foals to come … and in that broodmare band, after a number of years of successful competition are those first two Morgans we owned, Eagleview Skybeau (Calypso) and Mt Tawonga Natasha (Elegance). Every horse person should have a Morgan experience … they will then understand what owning a ‘willing, caring’ equine partner is all about – and they would never go back to another breed. Kathy Lyons (November 2010) Wilga Park Morgans
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 08:28:09 +0000