We welcomed six healthy foals in 2023. In the photo, Apprentice Ryley Dubois stands next to a 2023 colt sired by UVM Nobel, and UVM ASCI alumna Lila Barker holds the dam, UVM Beloved.
This year’s Raffle Morgan, name UVM Fletcher, is a stunning colt by UVM Unchallenged out of UVM Serendipity. On October 28, we pulled the lucky ticket belonging to Penny Ramirez from Oklahoma. Penny and her family show Morgan horses and were ecstatic to win UVM Fletcher. UVM Fletcher has headed west to his new home with Penny under the direction of LaRica Performance Horses.
This summer the apprentices took two mares to Heritage Days and brought home several tri-color ribbons. Ryley Dubois showed UVM Olwen, (Otter Brook Xenophon x UVM Devana) and won Champion Sporthorse in Hand and Reserve Champion Open Green Horse- All Seats. Gable’s Northern Lights with Shea Bograd was Open Hunter Pleasure Reserve Champion.
This fall, 200 UVM animal science students engaged with the Morgans on campus and in Weybridge, thanks to our collaboration with Equine Faculty Jenny Wilkinson and Chrissy Rohan. These students experienced young horse handling and training techniques, a horse-health practicum, and advanced clinical topics.
We enjoyed a steady tourism season despite the rainy weather with guests visiting from across the country and the globe. We closed the season with the first-ever Haunted Barn when thrill-seeking guests experienced an after-hours tour and learned the supernatural side of the barn and it s proprietor, Joseph Battell.
Off the farm, the apprentices joined the Vermont Morgan Horse Association at the Champlain Valley Fair with UVM Olwen as a Morgan breed ambassador. Thanks to a breed promotional grant from the American Morgan Horse Association, the Morgan Horse Farm held a booth at the Equine Affaire at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA. We are already eagerly planning next season’s outreach and hope to see you at the farm or on the road in 2024.