The Blue Grass Country of Kentucky was unwittingly the birthplace of the Morab Breed some 150 years ago. Though other breeds have made Kentucky famous, the first known and registered (Morgan Registry) Morab was foaled just outside Louisville in 1855.
Mr. Hoke bred the daughter of the Arabian stallion Zilcaadi (referred to as the Hoke Mare), a chestnut to Vermont Morgan # 69 (Dorsey) in 1854. Vermont Morgan #69 was a great-great-grandson of Justin Morgan, from the Woodbury Morgan # 7(son of Justin) line and the great-grandson of Justin Morgan, from the Sherman Morgan #5 (son of Justin) line. The resulting foal was Golddust # 70 (Morgan Register Vol. 1) named for his brilliant gold coat and was sold as a yearling to L. L. Dorsey of Eden Stock Farm of Louisville.
Harness Racing was well established in Kentucky and Morgans were well-known for their trotting speed and capabilities and did well at the track. Golddust, with his strong Morgan trotting heritage, was put to the task and was very successful. At the age of 6, Mr. Dorsey entered Golddust in a particular match in 1861. Dr. Dorsey=s account of this particular match was, A In 1861 Golddust trotted a match race for ten thousand dollars with Iron Duke over the Woodlawn Track, Kentucky…mile heats, best three of five. The record shows that Iron Duke won the first heat, but Golddust won the next three in a row.
The Morab is a blend of the Morgan and Arabian Breeds. Even before 1855, Morab breeding was occurring to produce a fine harness horse for carriage driving during the colonel era. At the time, there was no breed name for these horses. SMS Ranch in Stanford Texas in 1883 bred Arabians with Morgans for ranch and cow work. From the first Golddust of Kentucky, it took another 65 years for the development of the breed to come into its own. During the 1920’s William Randolph Hearst, Sr. desired to have a surefooted mount to do ranch work on the San Simeon hills of his California ranch and found this quality in the breeding of Arabians to Morgans. His breeding program used Ksar and Ghazi Arabian stallions with his Morgan mares. While the program dissolved in 1937, it did plant the idea of the Morab and their value in the heart of some horse breeders, and it was Mr. William R. Hearst, Sr. who coined the breed name, MORAB.
The task of registering Morabs did not start till the 1970’s. In Clovis, California the Fuller family began the Morab Horse of America organization. This started the public interest in Morgan-Arabian breeding. Shortly after their creation, another organization was created and it was named the Hearst Memorial Morab Horse Association. The Clovis records were lost when the family closed the door to the public about 1980. Some of the registrations through this organization was based on appearance rather than pedigree.
The Hearst Memorial Morab Horse Association attempted to capture some of the Morabs formerly in the Clovis registry and continued with the registering of Morabs. Soon thereafter, the North American Morab Horse Association was formed to encompass all prior Morab registries and to register Morabs across the
United States. NAMHA was active from 1984 – 1998 at which time it changed to the Purebred Morab Horse Association. PMHA retains the North American Morab Horse Register, with Morabs from prior registries or Morabs who do not meet the documentation standards of PMHA. Currently, PMHA registers Morabs with documented Morgan to Arabian bloodlines in the Purebred Morab Horse Registry®.
The Purebred Morab Horse Association is a registered association in Kentucky and features an annual Morab Championship and Futurity Show at the Kentucky Horse Park, the home of the FEI 2010 World Games. This Morab show is sanctioned by USEF and AHA and offers Class A divisions for the parent breeds, Morgans and Arabians.
The current day Morab is a complementary blend of the Morgan and Arabian breeds. It is said that the young Morab looks more like an Arabian, but at maturity, the Morab looks more like a Morgan. Differences will vary depending on the Morgan and Arabian bloodlines used in a breeding program. The Morab should look smooth, well muscled with the appearance of powerfulness. The short back is classic for the Morab in addition to close coupling, rounded croup and well muscled hindquarters. The legs should be of good bone, have large joints, short cannon bones with broad, round feet. The head should be attractive, may have a slight dished profile, eyes widely set apart, large nostrils and broad jowl. The throat latch joins cleanly at the neck, without undue narrowness. The Morab should be able to collect his head easily and perform working off their strong haunches. In movement, the Morab exhibits the power and strength of the Morgan and floats and flags it tail like an Arabian.
The Morab is very intelligent, energetic and loves human attention. They make great family horses, 4-H project horses and their silent claim to fame is in the endurance/competitive trail venue. The trail disciplines do not require registered horses, so the Morab utilized in trail competition does not receive the recognition that it deserves. Other disciplines the Morab is found in include: dressage, driving, western, hunter/jumper, hunter on the flat, country English, gymkhana, cow and others. The large heart and deep heart girth give the Morab the stamina and endurance to perform in strenuous equine pursuits over many other breeds. The Morab learns quickly and is easily trained, though training should not start till they are 4 years old to allow for their slow maturing bones and joints. In-Hand showing and ground schooling or driving are excellent ways to bring up the young Morab.
Kentucky, the horse capital of the world, has for its history the birth of the Morab Breed and is home to the Purebred Morab Horse Association and Registry. The breed is thriving in its own namesake and wishes for others to get connected with the Morab Breed.