I rode up on a rattlesnake and my horse jumped clean away,
Then he went to buckin' and jumpin' as though on earth it would be his last day.
Well, we just kept on riding and talking about anything on our brains,
When the wind started blowing, lightnin' started flashing, and then it began to rain.

It sure came down in buckets so we put our slickers on,
Pulled our hats down tight to our ears and just kept movin' along.
About two hours later the storm had passed us by,
When we came upon a hole in the fence which we fixed in minutes - only five.

We kept on riding over rocks, hills, and through deep ravines,
But then ol'd Jeff's horse thew a shoe. That's when Jeff let out a scream.
After awhile longer, we gave the horses a break.
Seems we had no choice - the next wash was a lake.

So we unsaddled our horses and let 'em eat awhile,
Until the wash was finally subsided and we saddled back up with a smile.
We finally got back to the ranch fourteen hours hence,
Then we looked at each other and started to laugh - all this to fix five minutes of fence.

The qualities that made the Morgan an ideal working stock horse on the Western ranches - his intelligence, maneuverability and stamina - were also at a premium in the cavalry horse. It's impossible to determine how much of the performance of Morgans in battle during the War Between the States was responsibile for their introduction later as a stock horse. Be that as it may, and notwithstanding, the field marshals who have been immortalized on improbably white chargers, it can be said that the Morgan made notable contributions as a breed during this war.

Specifically, the 1st Vermont Regiment was mounted exclusively on Morgans, one thousand of them from the northern hills of the state. And thet were reported to be the best cavalry mounts and artillery horses in the entire Union Army. the 1st Vermont was the first cavalry unit to take to the field from the New England states in 1861. One daily newspaper, the Newark (New Jersey) Advertizer described the march on the First Vermont Cavalry through the city this way:

"The Green Mountain Boys arrived about four o'clock and marched up Market Street amid the liveliest tokens of enthusiasm...The horses are small, compact and sinewy and evidently capable of great endurance. It was a general remark that so splendid a body of animals had ever been seen together in this city."

That tthe regiment lived up to is appearance is history, for nothing but the highest praise was accorded to men from Vermont and the brave little horses they rode. In seventy five major battles and skirmishes, some of the bloodiest of the war, the First Vermont displayed the stalwart courage which was so much part of its heritage. Of the otiginal one thousand Morgans which answered the call to colors, two hundred survived to the end of the war; records state that some of these were brought back to their native Vermont.

Rienzi, Sheridan's mount, was rode in many a forced march and pushed from sunup to sundown with scant rations at the days end, yet he never showed signs of the exhaustion which might have been expected. He was wounded on several occasions, but miraculously escaped death under fire. He was greatly admired for his strength and tremendous endurance.

Morgans were used in the Indian Wars as cavalry mounts, and even in World War I, they saw service across the Atlantic. The old Morgan hardiness and endurance never went unnoticed wherever it was found and made a lasting impression on horsemen everywhere.

Morgans are found in every discipline in the show ring, and out of it today. You will find them on ranches working cattle, endurance riding, pleasure riding, still in pulling contests, and all kinds of English events, even dressage. They are showing up more and more as therapeutic mounts, due to their gentleness, calmness, and love of people. They are being bred now days to look different (to me they're starting to look more like Saddlebreds), but they still have that "Morgan" look and stmaina, and are a neat breed to be involved with. Some of the blood lines and horses still resemble the "old Justin type Morgan" and these are the most 'true' loking to the breed. Morgans are your all-around horse breed!

Up from the South at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.

And wider still those billows of war,
Thundered along the horizon's bar,
And louder yet into Winchester rolled
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled,
Making the blood of the listener run cold,
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.

But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good, broad highway leading down;
And there, through the flush of morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night,
Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight;
As if he knew the terrible need;
He stretched away with utmost speed;
Hills rose and fell; but his heart was gay,
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.

Still spring from those swift hoofs, thundering south,
The dust, like smoke from cannon's mounth'
Of the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster,
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master
Were beating like pris'ners assaulting their walls.
Impatient to be where the battle calls;
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away.

Under his spurring feet, the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
And the landscape sped away behind
Like an ocean flying before the wind,
And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire,
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire.
But lo, he is nearing his heart's desire;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray,
With Sheridan only five miles away.

The first that the General saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the rereating troops;
What was done? What to do? A glance told hom both.
Then striking his spurs, with a terrible oath,
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzahs,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.
With foamand with dust the black charger was gray;
By the flash of his eyes, and the red nostril's play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say:
"I have brought you, Sheridan, all the way
From Winchester, down to save the day."

Hurrah! Hurrah for Sheridan!
Hurrah! Hurrah for horse and man!
And when their statues are placed on high
Under the dome of the Union sky,
The American soldiers' Temple of Fame,
There with the glorious General's name
Be it said in letters bothe bold and bright,
"Here is the steed that saved the day
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester - twenty miles away!"

Morgan information found in the book "The Morgan Horse" by Jeanne Mellin 1961

For more information visit:

• Bibliography