What is a Foundation Morgan Horse?
The Foundation Morgan meets the criteria as stated below. The Foundation Morgan ideally exhibits the old type, classic style of Morgan horse which was prized during the mid 1800's to early 1900's and still highly valued by dedicated breeders and admirers today.

The majority Foundation Morgans exhibit strong characteristics distinguishable from most modern day Morgans by their compact, close ribbed bodies, substance of bone, deep well-rounded quarters, oblique shoulders, broad forehead with soft kind eye and short ears, medium length neck nicely crested...all described as baroque in type. These old bloodlines are those that make very versatile animals and their intelligence and sensible dispositions make for an all around excellent family horse as well as a serious contender in any discipline.

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What is the criteria for the Foundation Morgan Horse?
The Horse must meet all of the following criteria:
The sire line must trace to Justin Morgan (very top line of pedigree)
Horse must not have any saddlebred outcrosses after 1930*
Offspring are categorized as 'foundation' as long as both parents qualify

*No saddlebred after 1930 means no horse foaled after 1930 with a saddlebred
parent. The one exception is the registered offspring of the saddlebred
mare Ladelle. She had foals, including full siblings, both before and
after the 1930 date that were registered as Morgans. So, the decision was
made to allow those from Ladelle as "Foundation".

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Where can I find out if my horse qualifies?
Go to the FoundationMorganHorseSociety.com website and click "Foundation List of Approved Morgans."

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If I'm still not sure if my horse qualifies, who can I ask?
You can contact us and ask. Please check the list first though.

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Why was the term Foundation Morgan Horse originally defined?
Beginning in the 1930's, crossing Morgans with Saddlebreds was quite fashionable due to the popularity of the Saddlebred and the prestige they brought in the show ring. This practice resulted in Morgans which were less and less of classic Morgan type. More than 80% of living Morgans today have modern Saddlebred crosses. The term "Foundation Morgan" was defined in an effort to bring attention to the fact that old lines are being lost and help people make well-educated breeding decisions.

A commitment to the baroque style has been made by the supporters and
breeders of Foundation Morgan bloodlines in the hopes of saving these
characteristics that differentiate the Morgan from other breeds of
horses.

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Who came up with the term?
A group of long time preservationist breeders who saw that if something wasn't done to classify the Morgans with old bloodlines, they would soon be lost to the breed.

Like the Quarter horses, Arabs, Shetland ponies, Friesians, etc. there are old lines and modern lines. There are reasons that people choose the modern lines which is of course perfectly acceptable, but we choose to help preserve the old lines with the goal to preserve the old style Morgan type.

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How was the criteria for Foundation Morgan determined?
The Foundation Morgan database of approved horses and ancestors was
established after several years of studying the pedigrees and history of the
breed.

The questions that we asked when doing this research were:
• What caused the breed to lose its original characteristics?
• Which bloodlines brought into the breed in modern times did the most harm
and caused the breed to change?
• Which bloodlines needed to be included in the Foundation database to save
the old families?

The 1930 date came about after several years of study on conformation and bloodlines within the Morgan breed. Based on careful study of Morgan history, living horses, bloodlines, the Morgan standard, etc. it was determined that horses introduced into the registry after 1930 were the ones most responsible for the largest shift from type.

By using the 1930 cut off date, no Saddlebred after 1930, we cut out the later Saddlebred of the "modern" type that essentially had little or no Morgan blood at all. What little Morgan blood they may have had was long separated from the Morgan breed and the ancestors that may have been common to both breeds. That modern Saddlebred had evolved into an entirely different type and did great damage to the classic conformation of the Morgan breed when introduced into the Morgan registry in the 1930s and later.

By using the 1930 date, it also eliminated all the bloodlines that had been investigated and proven by DNA testing to have parents that were not Morgan but were left in the registry, and/or left offspring and descendants in the registry, or were in breeding programs that were proven of doing illegal outcrosses.

The most prevalent of these horses was Upwey King Peavine, a pure, modern Saddlebred. He is extrememly prevalent in pedigrees and therefore he had a very large influence on Morgan type. It is difficult to find Morgans that do not include him in their pedigrees. He also does not trace to Justin Morgan on the sireline…one of the requirements for Foundation status.

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What are the different Morgan family lines?
Government, Lippitt, Brunk and Western Working.

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Where can I get more information?
On this www.FoundationMorganHorse.com website you'll find:
• Historical photos
• Articles - both recent and historical
• Breeder's Directory
• Stallions at Stud
• Horses for Sale

You can join the Foundation Morgan Horse Yahoo Groups List at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/foundationmorganhorse/ for discussion on bloodlines, history and everything else Foundation Morgan.

You can go to the www.FoundationMorganHorseSociety.com website to determine if your horse is Foundation. On the home page click,"Foundation List of Approved Morgans."

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How can I help to preserve and promote Foundation Morgans?
1) If your mares are 100% Foundation or have minimal saddlebred lines, breed to Foundation stallions.

2) Tell people about this website at foundationmorganhorse.com

3) Put a link to this website from your website.

4) If you have horses that are Foundation, designate them as Foundation and be sure to include a definition so people understand what Foundation means.

Do you have suggestions for this page? Please contact us.