Morgan Horse
The Morgan Horse is one of the oldest United States horse breeds.
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Mammalia
Order - Perissodactyla
Family - Equidae
Genus - Equus
Species & Subspecies – E. ferus caballus
Common Names – Morgan Horse
Morgan horses are known for their stamina and hard-working nature. They are intelligent, eager and bold, and mostly mild and even-tempered.
Morgan horses are known for compact forms, strong legs, upright necks, and muscular hindquarters.
They can reach just over five feet tall at the shoulders.
Morgans come in many coat colorations, including bay (reddish brown with black points), chestnut (reddish brown with similar or lighter colored mane and tail) and black. While these colors are most common, others exist including gray, dun, roan and pinto.
The foundation of the Morgan breed was a stallion named Figure, born in Massachusetts in the late 1700s. His eventually owner was named Justin Morgan, and soon the horse became known as Justin Morgan as well. This is where the breed gets its name.
Morgan horses are good for a wide range of general use, from riding to harness racing.
There were thought to be as many as 175,000 Morgans throughout the world as of 2005. However, there may be as few as 100 foundation horses left for the breed, since it has been heavily crossed with other breeds including the Arabian.