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The
term "baroque" is used to describe horses of Spanish
Barb origin, such as the Andalusian, Lipizzan, etc., that have
round body contours and the neck on top of the shoulder that
give them an elegant, collected stance, and they are more powerful
than a more slender bodied horse of more angular build. Most
certainly Morgans of "original type" of the old Morgan
bloodlines fit into this conformation type.
In addition, all the best research shows that the original Morgans
were "proto-thoroughbreds", that was the English colonial
horse, of Spanish Barb origin, the result of importations from Spain
and North Africa into England from the Middle Ages on until colonial
times. (The "proto-thoroughbreds" were the horses of the
English castle paintings, that so remarkably resembled Morgans of
original type today.)
Their descendents were then imported into colonial coastal New England,
and
when bred together they became the Morgan Horse, named after the most
famous sire, Justin Morgan, and the only sire line of the breed that
was recorded and recognized when a Morgan registry was formed in 1892.
The original ancient proto-thoroughbred breed in England was wiped
out by various decrees by the kings to rapidly develop the true, modern
racing thoroughbred of tall, rangy build.
Remnants of the original ancient breed that were left in the
1800s in England were then wiped out by crossing the mares with
draft stallions to produce heavy cart horses for the cities
in Victorian times. Now this ancient breed in its true form
remains only as the last of the original Morgan bloodlines.
Now under threat as well, the original Morgan lines have been
diluted over and over again by recent outcrosses since the 1930s
to modern saddlebreds and hackneys to create a modern show horse,
and now more than half of the registered Morgans alive are heavily
of this other "modern" breed and greatly lacking the
characteristics and baroque type of the original Morgan breed.
It is our purpose to identify and educate the public and breeders
about the Morgans of the original lines and how to find them
and how to select for a return to original type and the original
bloodlines.
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