In the beginning…

In the early 2000’s, my family was able to purchase three horses from Shery Jespersen’s La Reata Ranch in Wyoming. Shery not only knew how to breed one hell of a horse, but was never afraid to put her money where her mouth was. Sure, her horses were using horses, but many from her program went onto be successful in driving, endurance, eventing, dressage, and other disciplines. Of course, they made great all-around family horses as well.

Shery’s stallion, ML Meadowlark Jazzspur, was just one of the coolest horses you’ll ever meet. Bred by Linnea Sidi of Meadowlark Morgans, Jazz was really the whole package. From dressage, to toting kids around, Jazz was perfectly happy to step outside his working horse role and try something new. When time came for doctoring or branding though, Jazz could still always be found working in the pens.

Shery has been, without a doubt, my greatest mentor and influence in our program. Not only were her horses incredible, but the ones we’ve bought from her were no less special. Each of them were the kind of horses you knew you could count on - when there was a job to be done, they went out and did it. No fussing, no messing about.

Of the horses Shery had, the absolute pinnacle of La Reata Morgan was her Apple Pi Dolly Rose. Instead of trying to capture all that Dolly was, I’ll simply link some articles that Shery wrote about her adventures with this once-in-a-lifetime mare. Not only was she THE queen, Dolly had near-human intelligence and would eat a cow - a trait passed straight down from her sire, Triton Dallas, who also makes an appearance on Jazzspur’s pedigree. Triton Dallas is one of those horses I spend a fair amount of time digging into when I can spare it - tracking down progeny who are still of breeding age.

Onward And Up Words - A tribute to the great Apple Pi Dolly Rose

The Fairest Belle - A tribute to the kindest of them all, Apple Pi Bluebelle

More of Shery’s blogposts can be found here.

Notable Horses

Line breeding, or trait stacking, has been a friend to breeders throughout history. A truly gifted breeder will both line breed, and carefully outcross to isolate and improve certain traits. Some of our favorite Morgans, and their stories, are listed below. Unfortunately, I can only add in one or two as time allows, but someday, I hope to have all the wonderful stories on these horses written up, as told by the people who loved them.