Welcome to LeDan Morgans & Southwest Scoot Boots

The Morgan horse is known as America’s oldest surviving breed developed in America.  The only breed developed in America before the Morgan was the Narragansett Pacer, which is now extinct but may have been part of the Morgan's development. The breed name Morgan comes from the man, Justin Morgan, that owned the horse that started it all, whose name was Figure.  Figure was a tough little stallion in the New England area in the early 1800’s, who had a reputation for doing feats of strength and stamina that far exceeded what was expected by his size.  He was also prepotent, meaning his offspring were stamped with his characteristics, and near perfect copies of him, a characteristic passed on down the line to his sons which gave rise to the consistency that started the breed. 

Many people believe that the Arabian horse and thoroughbreds are in the original blood of the Morgan, but there is far more evidence that it is more the French-Canadian horse that is the base of the Morgan horse, which share many characteristics and were far more prolific in the part of the country where the Morgan originated.

Morgans are also known as America's most versatile breed.  They have been driving, or carriage horses pulling a wide variety of wagons, and even artillery caissons for the military.  They were also used as mounts for the cavalry units, and there were famous ones such as Stonewall Jackson’s horse in the Confederate Army, which he rode until he was killed by friendly fire.  Letha and I have been to Fort Robinson, Nebraska several times which was a remount station for the U.S. Army, and where many Morgans were bred by the government for cavalry mounts.  Fort Robinson is now a Nebraska state park rich with history and an outstanding place to ride on its 22,000 acres.

Another interesting and not as well-known aspect of the Morgan horse is their prominent place in the development of gaited horse breeds in America.  Morgans have gaited from the beginning and are part of the foundation of several gaited breeds in the United States, including the Tennessee Walking Horses and Missouri Foxtroters, with Morgans in their foundations.  Today it is estimated that about 10% of Morgans are gaited to some degree and they are becoming more popular as the demand for the smooth ride of a gaited horses is being re-discovered in the already exceptional Morgan horse. Registered Morgan mares were also in the foundation of the development of Quarter Horses such as at the famous Selman Quarter Horse Ranch in Texas. This was studied and documented in his book by David Ladd who visited the ranch and visited the family. He heard the story from them of a train load of registered Morgan mares who left New England for the Selman Ranch and arrived there as registered Quarter Horses.

Morgans are also known for their good minds and have better than the average intelligence among horse breeds.  They have the stamina that rivals the Arabian horse in endurance circles and have been very competitive in endurance races.  Some ranchers we know personally use Morgans in lieu of quarter horses to work cattle, and they are competitive as reining horses too.  They are being used as dressage horses and sport horses as well.  The Morgan horse Is being imported in significant numbers to European countries such as Sweden, to Australia, and even to Arabian countries such as Dubai.  All in all, the Morgan horse is a special horse that does many things well and is without question one of the most versatile horses in the world.  If you haven’t seen or ridden a Morgan, you’ve been missing out!

(Note: The horse in the pictures of this blue section above and to the right is Missouri's Silver Rhythm; our former stallion here at LeDan Morgans. The picture at the top is of me riding him in his and my first ever, and only, show. He won all four classes I entered him in, and Reserve Champion of the whole show! The picture on the right is of Rhythm in his corral at a Caballos Del Sol Trail RIde by a photographer unbeknownst to us at the ride and later sent to us.)