MONTPELIER – It isn’t very often that horses get to graze on the lawn of the Vermont State House, but these weren’t your average horses.
The Morgan horse is Vermont’s State Animal, and “UVM Havana” and her three-month old foal “UVM Opie” were at the State House on June 20th, 2006, to greet several European Morgan horse breeders who were visiting Vermont both to shop for horses and to participate in an industry briefing here.
“We were very pleased and honored to welcome our European guests to the birthplace of the Morgan Horse,” said Steve Kerr, Vermont’s Agriculture Secretary. “That they have chosen to look at Vermont Morgans speaks volumes to the quality of our farms, and the special relationship this breed has with the state.”
Sponsored by the Vermont Department of Economic Development’s Global Trade Partnership, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and the UVM Department of Animal Science, the five-day buying mission included visits to several farms to view animals for possible purchase to improve the European bloodlines of the Morgan horse.
“This is really a great opportunity to both promote the Morgan horse and increase trade between Vermont and European breeders,” said Mike Quinn, Vermont Commissioner of Economic Development. “We have buyers here from Sweden, Germany and England.”
According to Fred Braden, Executive Director of the American Morgan Horse Association, Inc. there are 47 farms raising Morgan horses in Vermont, and there were 3,323 Morgans in the state in 2005 out of a national population of 106,000.
There were approximately 35,000 horses living in Vermont last year, and roughly 9.2 million horses in the United States. The horse industry has a direct economic effect on the U.S. of $39 billion annually and employs the equivalent of 460,000 people.
UVM Opie is this year’s “raffle horse,” according to Betsy Greene, University of Vermont Extension Equine Specialist, and one lucky $2 ticket holder will get to take the colt home in October.
“Every year UVM chooses one of its foals to raffle off,” she said. “It’s a major fundraiser to support the upkeep of the UVM Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge.”
“Figure,” the founding stallion of the Morgan breed, was born in 1789 and later owned by Justin Morgan, a teacher, composer, businessman, and horseman who lived in Randolph, Vermont.
Figure’s compact, muscular body and stylish gait became widely admired, and tales of his strength, speed, endurance, and ability to produce sons and daughters bearing his likeness spread throughout New England.
His stud services were offered throughout the region and over his 32-year lifespan he became known as “the Justin Morgan Horse.” In 1961 the Vermont Legislature designated the Morgan horse the official State Animal.
On Thursday, June 22, the Vermont Morgan Horse Association (VMHA) and the UVM Department of Animal Science hosted a celebration of Vermont’s Morgan horse at the National Morgan Horse Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, followed by a discussion among the Vermont breeders of establishing programs to attract more attention from potential buyers in the EU market.
The European Morgan Horse Buyers Mission was funded by the U.S. Livestock Genetics Export program through the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. The Vermont Global Trade Partnership, located in the Department of Economic Development, is part of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
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