Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge, VT

Vermont is Morgan horse country. In 1961 the Morgan horse was designated the official state animal. The first "Morgan" was born in the 1790s from unproven parentage. This one stallion became the founder of an entire breed of horses because of his genetic ability to pass on his characteristics to his offspring regardless of the mare's configuration. The stallion, named Figure, belonged to Justin Morgan of Randolph, Vermont. Figure's compact, muscular body, nervous energy, stylish way of going, and his remarkable endurance captured the attention of many settlers throughout New England. History has given the horse the name of his owner, Justin Morgan.


We drove through Randolph and stopped at the train depot to have coffee on our way to the University of Vermont's Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge, just north of Middlebury. The farm belonged to Colonel Joseph Battell who began breeding Morgans on his farm in the late 1800s. He is credited from saving the Morgan from extinction. He spent years tracing pedigrees that resulted in the first volume of the Morgan Horse Register. In 1906 he donated his farm and Morgans to the United States Government. They provided Morgans for the U.S. who donated it to the State of Vermont in 1951. The University of Vermont now operates the farm.


The statue of Justin Morgan (the horse) was given to the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1921 by the Morgan Horse Club to in memory of Justin Morgan.

We were given a tour of the property by one of the apprentices. There are four apprentices each year who live on the property and learn about horse husbandry. Here one of the apprentices vacuums 2-year old UVM Nina before her workout. We were able to stand in the barn and watch them work her.



Every year they raffle a foal and we bought ten tickets for UVM Priceless , the 2007 raffle foal. John is convinced he is going to win. The drawing is October 31st. We'll keep you posted.