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Why Breed a Morab?
By Linda
Konichek
When dealing with any breed of horse
that is created from two purebred parent breeds, the inevitable question
always seem to arise; Can a Morab really be considered a breed? How
can you charge as much or more for what many might consider a
cross--bred horse? Why breed a crossbred horse instead of a purebred?
The desire to combine the best
traits of two treasured breeds, the Morgan and the Arabian, has inspired
breeders since the 1800s. The first reaction of most newcomers to the
breed is similar to that of Morab breeder Anita Messenger of Arkansas,
“When we heard the word ‘Morab’, our interest was pricked. Wow, what
kind of horse could be produced by crossing the Arabian and Morgan
breeds? We were soon to discover that Morabs are not only a registered
breed, but a breed with a fascinating history.”
Modern Morab
breeders carefully select mares and stallions that will combine the best
genetic traits of the two parent breeds. The fusion of Arabian and
Morgan characteristics is genetically complimentary and gives the
resulting Morab enhanced beauty and strength.
The ancient desert horse of the
Bedouins was bred for beauty, stamina, soundness, speed, and
disposition. Several centuries later, that same Arabian blood was part
of a still unknown genetic formula that resulted in the legendary
stallion, Justin Morgan. This one horse founded the Morgan horse, a
uniquely American breed. The rugged terrain and harsh climate of
Vermont
in the late 1700’s only served to enhance the merits of this hearty
little stallion, who proved himself time and again in tests of his
incredible strength, speed, and endurance. These traits, plus his
friendly, willing disposition, were passed on with unfailing accuracy to
his progeny, as they are now, 200 years later.
Today’s well-bred Morabs combine
Morgan strength and depth with Arabian refinement and sensitivity. The
Arabian horse, often called the “drinker of winds” for its powerful
lungs and endurance capacity, combined with the broad, powerful chest of
the Morgan, gives the Morab a naturally superior breathing system.
Morabs possess a shorter back than
other breeds, one backbone less as does the Arabian. This shorter back,
combined with the longer croup of the Morgan, endows the Morab with
great strength and smooth gait. This enables Morabs to excel in
competitive and endurance riding.
These traits also give the Morab,
working off its powerful hindquarters, a natural athletic ability that
makes it well—suited for the high—performance demands of dressage,
jumping and cutting horses.
The mature Morab’s hooves and legs
hold up well to excessive stress, since the Morgan contributes wonderful
formation of bone and a medium—length pastern, and the Arabian parent
adds the broad hard hoof and lower heel. This accounts for the almost
non—existent foot and leg problems of the Morab breed and many breeders
report that their Morabs are never shod and require minimum hoof
trimming.
Muscular, yet refined, best
describes the appearance of the mature Morab. The Morab’s head may be
straight to slightly dished with a big powerful jaw in contrast to a
small muzzle with large, bold nostrils. The refined, sculpted beauty of
the Arabian, joined with the Morgan’s dramatic natural style and
stamina, creates an elegantly powerful horse for use in the show ring,
as a working horse, or on the trail. Indeed, most Morabs comfortably
switch back and forth in all of these activities.
The Morab body should be compact, of
medium length, well muscled, smooth and stylish. A wide forehead sets
off the Morab’s large, dark and expressive eyes. The Morgan horse adds
a thick, luxuriant mane and tail to the Morab, which balances out its
muscular build.
Despite all the other highly prized
traits of the Morab horse, most Morab owners and breeders will cite the
Morab’s intelligent, dependable and affectionate nature as its most
valued quality. When the spirit and people—loving nature of the Arabian
is added to this, the resulting breed is a horse that cannot be beat in
temperament, intelligence, and willing attitude. That is why mature
Morabs are so popular as mounts for children, amateur riders, and senior
citizens.
According to the United States
Department of Agriculture Handbook #394, “A breed of horse may be
defined as a group of horses of common origin and possessing certain
well—defined, distinctive, uniformly transmitted characteristics that
are not common to other horses…”
Cross breeding between breeds can
produce desirable horses if the parents are of high quality. But often
the resulting crossbred foals (even from the same parents) do not show
many like traits and may not even look alike. This is not true in the
Morab: all well—bred Morabs have a consistently uniform look, with some
degree of refinement. And second, third, forth, and even fifth
generation Morabs show very little, if any, change from the first
generation Morab. It is this ability of Morabs to transmit their
distinguishing characteristics to their progeny that makes the Morab a
distinct breed, rather than just a nice crossbred horse.
History’s first recorded Morab was
bred in 1855, in the era when the driving horse was the main mode of
transportation. This stallion was Golddust (bred by Andrew Hoke near
Louisville
, Kentucky ) and sold as a
weanling for $1000 to L. L. Dorsey of Eden Stock Farm. Golddust was a
horse of great merit; his sire was a Vermont Morgan, his dam was the
Hoke mare said to be by Zilcaadi, a chestnut Arabian horse presented by
the Sultan to the United States Consul and imported by him.
Golddust was a recorded Morab #69 in
the Morgan Registry. (Provision for recording the Morgan/Arabian cross
was made in both the early Morgan Registry and Arabian Registry). He
was pure gold in color, 16 hands tall, and weighed 1275 pounds.
Golddust was never defeated in the show ring at the trot, and it was
said he could cover six miles per hour at the flat walk. No stallion of
his day produced larger, more showy horses, or more winners in the show
rings and trotting races of the time. His grandson, Goldsheen, won his
classes at the St. Louis
World’s Fair in 1904.
Golddust was the peer of anything
bred in Kentucky
, and in 1861, defeated Iron Duke in a match race, best three out of
five heats, for a purse of $10,000. Although his stud career was
curtailed by the Civil War and his own untimely death, he sired 302
foals and left 44 trotters of record. In getting speed, he outranks
even the great Hambletonian.
After that, little is recorded about
Morabs until the 1920’s, when William Randolph Hearst coined the word
“Morab” and bred a number of fine Morabs for use in the mountainous
terrain of the Hearst Ranch.
Soon, Texans started breeding Morabs
after discovering that crossing Morgans with Arabians could result in
fine cutting horses with great stamina and sense. The Swenson brothers,
near Stamford
, Texas , produced some
outstanding stock horses by crossing Arabians with their Morgan stud
colts #6775 Red Bird and #5957 Gotch. One example was a Bay gelding,
Rey Boy, foaled in 1943 and owned by “Wild Bill” Elliott of Hollywood
fame.
In the 1950’s Martha Doyle Fuller of
Clovis, California, developed a Morab breeding program while working on
creating a breed that would perform exceptionally well in the show
ring. It was from her successful breeding program that her daughter, M.
Ilene Miller, started the first Morab Registry in 1973.
The average Morab today ranges from
14.1 hands to 15.2 hands, with the variety of colors and markings common
to Morgans and Arabians, and weighs between 950 and 1200 pounds.
The International Morab Registry
requires documented Arabian and Morgan bloodlines and allows no more
than 75% Arabian to 25% Morgan, or vice versa. Thus, a purebred Morab
of 50% Morgan and 50% Arabian bloodlines can be bred to purebred
Morgans, Morabs, or Arabians for registerable foals. This allows a
breeder many options in matching mares and stallions for a foal that
truly offers the best of both breeds.
In summary, today’s Morab horse is a
carefully bred animal, representing the finest traits of both its parent
breeds. The fusion of the Arabian and Morgan breeds produces the
“Magnificent Morab”, a refined, muscular, graceful, free flowing horse a
horse that is ideal for any type of riding from endurance, to dressage,
to working cattle.
The Morab’s calm, intelligent,
people—loving disposition, combined with its stamina and willing
attitude makes it an easy horse to train and handle. Muscular,
beautiful, proud, and genuinely loving, it is easy to see why Morab
owners treasure their horses and usually keep them for life.
The International Morab Breeders
Association is dedicated to educating the general horse public about
this versatile breed, and providing support and direction for Morab
breeders worldwide in producing enough Morabs to meet the ever—growing
market. The International Morab Registry ™ provides a computerized
registry capable of recording the thousands of future Morabs that will
be produced, Morab archives, award programs, and all other important
records involved in the creation of a breed.
Visit www.morab.com
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