Sweet dreams

Alchemy by Firelight, registered Morgan filly -- six hours old

A question of temperment

[posted to Morganlist, 15 August 1997]

Through circumstances too embarrassing to explain, I managed to have the upper door of Corey's stall come crashing down on both of us... while I was screeching and flailing about in an attempt to avoid being flattened, he exhibited his usual response to loud noises and airborne objects ("Oh cooool! What else does it do?") and tried to follow the grate into the barn aisle. Managing to close the bottom door in time to prevent on-site accident investigation by the Horse Patrol, he had to be content with 'assisting' me and another boarder in wrestling the grate back on to it's brackets. While I truly do love the courage and curiosity of the Morgan horse, sometimes I think if this animal were a kindergartner, he would come home with report cards notated "runs with scissors".

Morgan Horses: Artemisia AMHR# 02731

Color & Markings: Dk. Chestnut; star & snip, anklet near rear

Height & Weight: n/a

Breeder & Location: Frank Orcutt; West Burke, Vermont

Pedigree:

                    Wood Horse                                              
               Peter's Vermont
                    Jennie                                    
           Peter's Morgan
                    Morgan Hunter 2nd                                             
               Wilson Patridge Mare
                    bay x General Hibbard
       Ethan Allen 2nd
                    Black Hawk                                              
               Ethan Allen
                    gray x Red Robin
           Stephen Doe Mare
                    Green Mountain 42
               Jennie
                    Phoebe                  
   Ethan Allen 3rd
                    Gifford                                                    
               Green Mountain 42
                    mare stb Woodbury                            
           Green Mountain 493
                    Billy Root                                               
               bay mare
                    Crane mare                       
       Wiggins mare
                    Black Morgan
               Charley Watson
                    mare x Wood's Comet                                  
           Thurber mare
                    Morgan Tiger                                                  
               brown mare
                    mare x Dr. Abel Brown Horse
Artemisia
                    Peter's Vermont                                                     
               Peter's Morgan
                    Wilson Patridge Mare                               
           Ethan Allen 2nd
                    Ethan Allen                                        
               Stephen Dow Mare
                    Jennie                                                    
       Bob Morgan
                    Green Mountain 42                                                      
               Green Mountain 493
                    mare x Billy Root                                  
           Topsey
                    Black Morgan                                              
               Dinah
                    Canadien mare
   Lady Laura
                    Green Mountain 16
               Black Morgan
                    gray x Levi Wilder's colt                         
           Morgan Tiger
                    Comet                                                  
               chestnut mare
                    bay x Wilson horse                    
       Laura
                    Billy Root                                           
               Dr. A. Brown Horse
                    stb Morgan mare                                 
           chestnut mare
                    unknown                                             
               stb Morgan mare
                    unknown

History:
An intensley line-bred mare of the old Vermont families, there is little record of Artemisia's life prior to her purchase by the U. S. Government farm. She was briefly owned by A. Fullerton Phillips, whose breeding program produced many of the foundation horses of Robert L. Knight's "Lippitt" horses.

An excellent producing mare. Artemisia's foals were to have an enormous impact in the Government breeding program. For all that Bennington became one of the principle sires of the U.S. Government Farm, Artemisia rightly stands beside him as the dam of his noted get. All but three of her thirteen foals were sired by Bennington, including the notable sires Mansfield 7255, Querido 7370, Ulysses 7565 and Canfield 7788, as well as productive mares Redfern 04360 and Willys 04622. Interestingly, her son Ajax 5302 was exported to Japan. The only of her other three foals whose line survives today is that of her daughter Agatha 02680, sired by Croyden Prince.

Competition History:
There is no known competition or work history for Artemisia: her contribution to Morgan history has been entirely through her outstanding foals. The catalog of her produce is as follows:

Name	Reg. #	Gender	Color	Year	Sire
Agatha	02680	mare	chestnut	1913	Croyden Prince
Ajax	5302	stallion	bay	1914	Donald
Donaldson Jr.	7040	stallion	bay	1917	Donaldson
Mansfield	7255	stallion	chestnut	1920	Bennington
Palmyra	04223	mare	bay	1922	Bennington
Querido	7370	stallion	bay	1923	Bennington
Redfern	04360	mare	chestnut	1924	Bennington
Slydell	04385	mare	chestnut	1925	Bennington
Topsham	7514	stallion	chestnut	1926	Bennington
Ulysses	7565	stallion	brown	1927	Bennington
Willys	04622	mare	bay	1929	Bennington
Artiben	7702	stallion	chestnut	1930	Bennington
Canfield	7788	stallion	chestnut	1932	Bennington

References and Related Links AMHA Registry CD, Volume I
The American Morgan Horse Association

AMHA Morgan Archive Cards
The American Morgan Horse Association

Algranti, Laura Stilwell; A Blue Hen Mare: Artemisia
The Morgan Horse Magazine, July 1986

Longmaid, Dale; Government Notebook: The Mares and Foals Part V
The Morgan Horse Magazine, December 1984

Mellin, Jeanne; The Complete Morgan Horse
The American Morgan Horse Association
Shelburne, Vermont 1992

Owen, Mabel; Gold Star Mares
The Morgan Horse Magazine, September 1967
reprinted, The Morgan Horse Magazine, December 1986

The Hazard of Versatility

[posted to Morganlist, 30 June 1997, not long after making the switch to reining from dressage/eventing/hunters]

...is the occasional cross-training bobble. To wit: I was doing some fast, extended lope work in the jumping ring: it has far and away the best footing on the property for reining work. Since Corey was wanting to hold back a bit on the extensions, to encourage him I had lifted my rear end out of the saddle in more or less an approximation of my usual eventing seat. (Heels down, legs relaxed and loose at the horse's side, backside just slightly out of the saddle, weight balanced and carried on thighs, rolling with the horse's motion.) Worked great -- he really zoomed out on the extensions and zipped right back into collection as soon as my seatbones were back in contact with the saddle, asking for a slower cadence.

The trouble came when I turned on a circle in such a fashion that for a brief instant we were lined up on one of the jumps in the ring. Those foxy little ears snapped forward in target acquisition mode, his hindquarters sucked up underneath, forehand lightened, and every fiber in the little horse's body was fairly giggling "FENCE! ohmyohmyyesyesFENCE!" In the normal course of things a 2'3" jump is no big deal, but I am still less than rock-solid in a western saddle, and the thought of going over anything other than tiny X's in one makes my blood run cold. To forestall what looked like a real disaster in the making, I gave a half-halt, sat down on the horse and and made my seat very slow. Unfortunately, what I got back translated to "Wheeeeee! BIG fence!" and a powerfully collected and forward moving horse. At this point we are four strides out and in Do or Die mode. A slightly stiff outside rein and a goodly shove with the outside knee managed to snap him off the line to the jump... thank the Powers That Be. We continued on a long diagonal and did a couple of jog laps until Corey no longer seemed, by some perverse gravity, to be sucked into a line on every fence we passed.

The burning question that remains in my mind is have any of you experienced similar, unexpected training cross-overs with your multi-discipline horses, or is this merely my Guardian Idiot in action?

Merchant of dreams...

[farm advert from 2000 Diamond Jubilee horse show premium]