The first American horsebreed got started with the birth of a colt named Figure in 1793. Justin Morgan, a music teacher, acquired the horse two years later and brought it to Vermont where the horse had to earn his keep as a logging horse.
Figure turned out to be extremely strong in spite of being just 14 hands, and he soon got quite a reputation in his home town of Randolph.
Soon he was competing on the racetrack and became legendary by being the fastest horse of his time.
The Disney movie " Justin Morgan had a horse" as well as several books tell this touching and amazing story in detail.
Figure was used extensively for breeding, and he turned out to be quite unique in that all his offspring inherited all his features regardless of the dam. Figure may have had Arabian, Friesian or Throroughbred blood, but being different physically as well as a genetic mutant, he sired the start of a new breed all by himself.
After the death of his owner Justin Morgan in 1798, Figure became known as Justin Morgans horse and then eventually Justin Morgan, hence the name Morgan Horse. Figure died in 1821 from an inflammation caused by a kick from another horse. The Morgan breed soon spread all over America, and it was used for driving, riding and as a cavalry mount.
In 1906 the US Government started a Morgan breeding program to help maintain the original bloodlines. Today there are 147000 Morgans registered in the American Morgan Horse Association and its affiliated registries in Canada and the UK.
