The Morgan horse was shown daily during the 2009 Mane Event breed demonstrations, and also during the Saturday evening "Equine Experience."
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This horse is a registered Morgan stallion by the name of Northern Exposure.
Photo: Danelle Wright
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This breed is one of the oldest "made in America" breeds with all Morgans tracing back to a single foundation sire named Figure born in 1789. In time Figure's name was slowly changed to remember his best-known owner, Justin Morgan.
The Morgan horse is compact with strong limbs, large eyes and well-arched necks. The breed stands on average 14.1 to 15.2 hands high. The most common colours are bay, brown, black and chestnut, but palominos, duns and even silver dapples are found in the breed. Morgans are known for their alertness, proud manner of movement and stamina.
Morgans showed their versatility by demonstrating three styles of riding when in the ring; Western, English and Saddleseat. One horse was also driven during the breed demos.
Currently there are over 1,000 registered Morgans in Alberta, used from everything from showing, competitive trail riding, 4-H and Pony Club mounts and under harness. The breed is popular as it has enough endurance to work all day, is an excellent family horse and tends to be long lived, strong and healthy.