The Marvelous Morgan! We are celebrating these horses as our April Breed of the Month on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose a member of this versatile breed as their mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the American Morgan Horse Association is a participating organization?
Here, a Morgan enthusiast from Region 6 shares the story of a special mare who has accomplished more than most, and the people who have contributed to her success.
By Margaret Notley
Morgans – they are special! The Morgan horse is a small American breed, with only 90,000 registered worldwide. The Morgans who are competing successfully in the dressage world are an elite cohort of their own, with only around a hundred having reached the FEI levels (and with most of those being stallions or geldings). With that said, here is the story of Moana Irish Mist!
Moana Irish Mist’s (Misty’s) story starts with a small ranching family that has been breeding Morgans for four generations in the middle of scenic Montana, and with one very determined ranch girl, Sally Anderson (as this is Misty’s story, we will just focus on her roots, but the history in general of the Morgan horse is a fascinating and uniquely American equine story). Sally started her dressage career during her high school years with a pampered and beloved Morgan gelding that she trained to Grand Prix, and with those deep roots, Sally has never wavered from her love and allegiance to the Morgan breed.
Sally has since trained two more Morgans to Grand Prix, and these stallions have become the center of her breeding program. Iron Forge Starman competed at Grand Prix in 2008 and is the sire of Sally’s broodmares. These mares are being crossed with Flower of Alliance, who competed at Grand Prix in 2024. Misty, a 2017 result of this golden cross, clearly draws on her strong dressage lineage as she sails her way through the levels!
As Misty’s owner, I am no newcomer to the dressage world, nor horse ownership, but Morgans were a fortuitous discovery for me! I was introduced to dressage in my twenties in Davis, California, where I regularly attended dressage clinics on my Off-Track Thoroughbred (OTTB). I later spent time living in the British countryside, where I had the breed ambassador role of bringing along my leopard Appaloosa, Buddy. We dabbled in dressage, but were never so happy as when in the hunt field, galloping alongside the English Thoroughbreds. As a pair, we made a distinctive spectacle flying through the Cotswolds hunt country!
Buddy retired to an equine retirement farm, Fedw Farm, in the Brecon Beacons farm country of southern Wales, occasioning many happy visits over the years, after I made my way back stateside to the small village of Bigfork, Montana. After several years of being out of the horse world, I had the good fortune of meeting Sally at the local fitness club and, in the spring of 2019, got back in the saddle.
One year later, I had acquired not one, but two Morgan mares – this can happen, reader beware! My main riding horse is Applebrook Center Stage (Miss Emmy), a flashy mahogany bay with the personality of a dowager duchess right out of Downton Abbey! Miss Emmy was my introduction to the breed, and has been both a diligent and a tolerant schoolmistress during these past six years.
Enter Misty: During the hours spent at the barn, I made the acquaintance of a sassy three-year-old filly from Sally’s breeding program. On the road to the barn, I would often stop along the wooded pasture to freely hand out neck scritches, words of encouragement, and the occasional carrot to the youngsters in the field. Misty was always the first to the fence, and as the Morgan breed’s official slogan proclaims: “Morgans, the breed that chooses you” – well, Misty chose me!
Though not a newcomer to horse ownership, owning two horses, let alone one of them being an exuberant youngster, did not necessarily feature on my bingo card.
Regardless, I have not looked back from this decision, but there have been a few trying times, as “horse raising” opened new horizons. Misty is a very active horse, as well as being keenly intelligent, curious, and athletic. From having to wear a helmet while Misty perfected her capriole moves with great flair on the lunge line, to quiet walks down the road with some aspects of kite-flying about them, I’ve persevered with no regrets.
So far, the journey has been both a hands-on education and a truly delightful adventure. Misty is a workaholic, and does not appreciate time off from her training schedule (Morgans are like this!). If Sally is gone for a week and returns, Misty will run up and down the paddock fence line (with a few rears) until it is her time to get saddled up. This work ethic has proven helpful in her dressage career!
Misty’s first foray into the dressage arena was with Sally’s daughter, Ashley Anderson, who started her under saddle, gave her a solid foundation, and showed her through First Level. Ashley is the “fourth” in the four-generations of Morgan breeding lineage, and also owns and shows a three-quarter brother to Misty, whom she is promoting in dressage.
Sally took over Misty’s training in the fall of 2022. That winter, Misty showed great promise with her flying changes, and with the help of Mike Osinski during regular clinics, the pair made the move to Third level in the spring of 2023. That show season was a success, with scores as high as 65%, and Misty ended the season as the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Third Level Open Reserve Champion for the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA), and Morgan Dressage Association (MDA) Third Level Open Champion.
The 2024 season did not slow this team down at all! Fourth Level was just as successful, with scores as high as 64%, ending the season as the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Morgan Fourth Level Open Champion for AMHA, as well as MDA Fourth Level Open Champion, and AMHA Fourth Level Open Champion, as well as earning both their Bronze and Silver Medallions from AMHA.
This team has big plans for the coming spring, as they enter the FEI levels; their current training schedule is showing the same potential for success at this new level. During this journey and training process to the FEI levels, Sally found similarities to Misty’s sire and grandsire. Misty’s ease for maneuvering a canter pirouette and her smooth trot are much like those of her sire, Flower of Alliance, while her magnificent trot, work ethic, and talent for the piaffe come from her grandsire, Iron Forge Starman. Sally says that she “feels very blessed to be part of this journey, while also being able to train a product of her own breeding program.”
It is worth noting that the Morgan breed has had very few mares who have shown to the FEI levels, let alone having reached Grand Prix – very few. We’ve set one of our goals with Misty to help her reach the Grand Prix level, and Misty truly seems to be enjoying every step of the journey with the typical Morgan enthusiasm, determination, sense of humor (that matters!), flair, and talent at everything to which they set their minds.
It is worth noting that the Moana Morgans story does not just stop with Misty. At the most recent dressage clinic held at the barn, three of Misty’s three-quarter siblings participated, showing great promise in the arena. With four foals on the way this spring, there will be more youngsters from this breeding program making their way successfully up through the levels and making a big “Morgan” impression.
Sally has found a gemstone in her breeding program with the combination of two Grand Prix stallions, and the offspring of this cross is proving to be unstoppable in the dressage arena. While Sally promotes her breeding program in the dressage world, she also promotes Morgans to her clients. She finds that the breed is a fantastic fit for the adult amateur, because they are very forgiving, they have comfortable gaits, and they bond beautifully with their owners. At her barn, half of her clients are Morgan owners progressing up the levels or happily hitting the trails – or both.
Sally also has the occasional opportunity to help people further afield via the internet to find their new Morgan dressage horse. The country is big, but the Morgan Dressage world is a small yet supportive and interactive group who cherish their Morgan partners, and their friendships within the Morgan community.
Should you find yourself chosen by a Morgan in your own dressage journey, the best advice from Misty’s world is: do not refuse the invitation!
