Any opinions on this breed for hunting. I have talked to a lot of folks who told me to buy a mule. But Im resisting. I live in rolling foothills of timber. Nothing too steep really.

In my limited experience they are nice horses, but too ornery for my taste. An outfitter I know swears by them, but even he admits they can be a handful.

Canuck

Thanks! Thats not what I need. I will have enough trouble learning to ride. I dont need a horse giving me static too!

Big, strong draft horses....

We had a 16 y.o. Morgan mare with a foal for a while, didn't have them long enough to work with the colt, and we had to plow reign the mare. When we first got her, as soon as you got on her back she'd head for the woods and find some low branches to swipe you off the saddle. Eventually I got her to quit that, and she wasn't bad.

I think horses are like dogs - there are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners. The dog/horse is as good as its' "trainer".

Regards, Bill

There is nothing wrong with the Morgan they are good using horses but stay away from the lines that have been bred for show.The military or working type morgans are good all round horses.The U.S.Cavalry at one time established breeding farms with morgans and used them for remounts.w/regards

People but too much stock in the breed of a horse. Find a good solid mount that will do what you want and handle to your experience.

I had a Morgan/QH cross that was smart as a whip. This mare would work cattle from dawn to dusk and still want to go at the end of the day. I used her for cutting and penning as she was short-coupled and agile as a cat. The biggest problem was.... she held a grudge. If she perceived a slight on your part, she became more stubborn than a mule until apologized to and given a treat. Come to think about it, my girlfriend is alot like that, too.

Bill:

My family has ridden, raised, and trained morgans for about 40 years. I personally love them, but like dogs or people breeding makes all of the difference. The two mares that I currently have are smart, easy to handle, and extremely kind. The breed standard for morgans is a smallish, compact well muscled horse, with a faily short neck, small ears, and a kind eye. The morgan "typical" temperment is for a horse that is willing without being willful. The breed was developed as a versatility horse, and a well bred morgan is supposed to do most anything well. There are breeds that are better at individual things, but in my opinion, morgans as a breed can do a wider range of things well than any other breed. I have used mine as cow horses, hunter/jumpers, trail horses, harness horses, snaking timber out of the woods, english and western pleasure show horses, endurance horses, and anything else that looked like fun on horseback. The other nice thing about a good morgan is that they can be had at a reasonable price compared to other pure bred horses. However, before you buy, check the bloodline with the American Morgan Horse Association. There has been some crooked breeding in the show horse lines, where a breeder was outcrossing to sabblebreds, and registereing the offspring as Morgans.

If you are truly interested in a morgan, e-mail me, and I can recommend some breeders who raise working morgans that should make excellent hunting horses.

Dave

One of the best horses I ever had was Morgan. I love them for a good all around working horse.

Just the way I see it,,,,,,,

Forget Breed. find a horse that fits you, your country isn't rough and you don't need a big horse thats hard to get off and on on a side hill...15 hands and 1000 lbs should suit you find..Get a gentle, and well trained horse or you will ruin him from the get go since you havn't learned to ride...Take lessons, you owe the horse that much and get some help from a professional or someone you know that has that kind of knowledge on buying a horse...Decent horses are not cheap anymore...

They are feisty, proud little fellows (some not so little these days!), very athletic, have plenty of stamina for trail work, are good looking, and can do anything THEY decide to do!!

Once had a five-year old Morgan gelding brought to me for training! No-one had ever done a thing with him, and at first, you couldn't even give him a bath without getting kicked! It took three of us to give him his shots, (first-ever), and he had never heard of a twitch! He didn't even notice one on his nose! But after working with him for a couple hours every day for about a month, he finally let us actually climb on him (with a saddle, or course). And after two more weeks of round pen and ring work, he was asked if he would like to go on a trail ride. He insisted that he had to lead all the other horses up the mountain, and he was very good on the ride. No silly stunts!! Being quite intelligent, he was not spooked by the grouse or wild turkeys he encountered.

We worked with this little fellow for about six weeks, and he was progressing nicely. Then his "parents" decided he was "trained", and took him home. It didn't take them long to decide that they were still afraid of him, and so, nothing more was ever done with the poor little guy. What a shame, he was a nice horse, and had lots of potential.

In sum, I would call Morgans "spirited", and would NOT recommend one to anyone who is not an experienced horse-handler!!

I've always felt horses, like dogs, are just as varied in personality as we are. Temperment, to a point, can be a genetic trait, but not personality. As someone wisely mentioned earlier, don't base your decision on breed alone. Take your time, look at a wide range of animals, and pick the personality that most closely matches your needs. Might be a Morgan, Quarter, Arab, or whatever. Take your time and don't be afraid to spend the extra money it might take to get a good one.

loud-n-boomer has said most of what I would say about Morgans. I raised them for several years, not 40 like Dave, but found they weren't much different that any other breed. The one thing that stands out regarding the ones I owned is their heart. They will go all day and then some.

You have received a lot of good advise by other. It is not the breed,it is the individual horse. Take lessons with the horse you buy. As WyoJoe stated you are going to pay for a good horse. Buy a horse that is already trained. If you buy a young horse and have it trained you have an unknown product. Buy one that is ready for you to learn on.
Steve

I got a "Morgan" when I was about twelve. Bought him from a "horse jockey", not the crookedest man ever but close. He told us the "Morgan" was a perfect horse just don't touch his belly. He had a kid climbing up and over him but stayed away from his belly. I named him Blackjack as soon as he got off the trailor. Then we poked him in the belly to see what would happen and I was amazed at how a horse could lash out! Coulda killed someone if they weren't careful! I got on him and discovered he didn't know how to neckrein, well that's normal, I guess. (Grandpa was in hysterics-women and kids shouldn't have a hand in buying horses). Somehow I decided the scrubbiest horsee ever was for me and me for him.
He turned out to be the easiest training horse I've ever been around. Took about three days to learn to neck rein. After that I often just carried a twine string in my pocket and when I wanted to ride Jack I'd push it through his mouth then through a loop in the end and ride with the string on one side of his neck, pull one way or neck rein for the other. I broke him of the squealing and kicking when we touched his belly. We tied him short, hooked a long handled brush to a hose and every time he acted up I turned on the hose full blast and scrubbed his belly (standing way back of course). I kept it up past the squealing and kicking, past the squealing and finally until he quit humping up. Eventually he allowed us to touch him any where we wanted with no problems.
I hunted everything but deer off him (that was illegal- didn't need the sheriff taking away my horse). Squirrels worked well- they thought he was just another horse, we just walked underneath and I blasted them. I used to throw rocks at the silo scaring the pigeons out, then jump on Blackjack (bareback, I don't think he had a saddle on him the whole time I had him) and race around the barn to head off the pigeons and bang away with my twenty guage. Even hunted pheasants with our black lab. Blackjack knew to stop the second the reins were dropped and let me swivel all around trying to get a shot with my shotgun.
We used to play cowboy and indian shooting my bow and homemade arrows under his neck like indians. I'd drop a rag on the ground and pick it up on the way by on a dead run, he never swerved or stepped on my hand. Dad and I were trying to get a polo team together but the nieghborhood kids were too squeamish to try it.
I tried showing him in county fairs but the arrogant purebred horse owners laughed at my poor mount so that didn't work out. Little did they know their poodle-horses weren't worth jack in the real world!
I would have liked trying him in jousting tournaments but there weren't any in the area and he, and I, were too small to compete with an 1800 lber running at us full blast.
What I'm getting to is find a horse that someone loves, get on him, or get someone else on him and put him through his paces. Keep an open mind. A great horse doesn't have to be registered just like a great dog doesn't have to be. And maybe, just maybe you'll find a horse that will love you as much as your spouse, your kids and your dog.

Save yourself a lot of grief. Buy a well trained saddle mule. Pay whatever you have to pay but it'll be worth it.

Now if you want to talk about a animal that will carry a grudge if he thinks you've done wrong by him..........