When the fight for Morgans at risk becomes fighting for the survival of the breed.
While I did not attend this past weekends Mel’s Morgan Sale, there were people in attendance on behalf of many groups and much to be learned by its goings on.
This weekend was busy on many the sales front in Pennsylvania. There was a New Holland Specialty sale on Friday night followed by a Mel Hoover’s Morgan Sale on Saturday, as well as many smaller auctions that were brought to my attention. The power of technology and social networking can be a wonderful thing. Because of social networking and gadgets, these tools allow us to be in places we cannot be. They allow us to connect with people cross-states and cross-continents allowing us to attend events virtually that we may not otherwise be able. But these same tools can also give us the power to judge harshly and unfairly without all known facts. The same tools that can be so empowering to opening doors can shut them just as fast.
As reported in my reports from my visits to PA, New Holland and Mel’s Sales are quite different from one another. Not every auction that Amish and/or Mennonite attend has the threat of kill buyers being present. Mel’s is not one of them. Mel’s is a venue for anyone searching for a good quality Morgan to serve another useful purpose besides being used down the road to purchase at a very fair and reasonable price. New Holland is as well but yes, those horses are at a higher risk of being purchased for meat or at the very least being locked in to a broker shuffle from auction to auction in hopes they bring a dollar to the table.
I had been in touch with my Amish friend John King and we had perused the Mel’s catalog for this sale. We were both surprised that the feature horse this past May, Ultra’s Most Wanted, who also sold for $5200, was being run back at this sale. In fact several that were run through in May were coming back through. Why? Most likely for the same reasons Kandle’s Jessie James is being offered for sale, they were too much for the work they needed them for and/or not enough. Where do they have at this point to take them through to re-home or replace? That’s right, auction.
At this Mel’s Sale, through the power of this networking tool called Facebook, many would come to learn of a 3 month old filly being run through independent of her mom and being weaned at the sale. Do I agree with weaning a baby at 3 months? No, and definitely I would not wean in a situation that is unknown to either horse. Would the filly survive at 3 months without nursing from her mother? Most likely so. Is taking the baby away directly like that a harsh reality in weaning? Well I would have to say yes. I know many breeding farms and grew up on one that that is what you did. Come weaning time mare got put in a stall and baby put out in a separate paddock. Lots of screaming and did seem very harsh, even as older babies. But that is what you did. That was the process. So what makes this process so wrong because they are Amish? Well through this tool called Facebook we are allowed a window in. Time is short. Information is little because everything is going fast at auction. Because we are all passionate about our horses and are desperate to help…even though so separated from being there…our emotions get the best of us and we are quick to judge, and often harshly. Because of this choice the owners made to run them through separately, harsh criticism were made once again on the Amish. That saddens me. And then posses another thought, what defines surely being at risk?
While Mel’s Sale was going on I was contacted directly by another person attending an Amish Benefit Sale in Reedsville, PA. There were two Morgans there to be run through, the rest ponies. One was a beautiful black mare of old style breeding. She had papers and had been bought from Indiana. She was a broodmare the last 2 yrs and used as a buggy horse in Lancaster PA. She was 16yrs old. The other was a very flashy, correct ,flaxen mane and tail, chestnut filly of 3 yrs, no papers, said to drive. We were having this person watch them and bid if necessary. I really felt that the 16yr old would not sell high because of her age. I also felt both may be at risk to be bought by another broker and eventually be run through New Holland. This was a highly attended Amish sale but anyone could attend so brokers were on hand, both Amish and English. The waiting game began for them to run through and I was shocked by the result. The owners are allowed to speak about their horses to the auctioneer to try and tell interested parties about them. However the Amish dealer is the one who spoke on behalf of these horses and he lied. The black mare (who had papers at the start of the sale) was run through without papers and sold as a 10yr old buggy horse for $1650. The flashy little chestnut brought $1025. Both the person attending for us, and myself were very shocked that it even happened. Amish don’t want driving horses over 10 yrs old and the mare looked great! Run through with no identification to get the extra dollar a younger horse would bring…now unidentifiable without her papers. So again now, a horse out there without papers, what then defines a Morgan at risk?
Well for starters both these circumstances should raise huge red flags to every owner/trainer/breeder out there that this problem within the Morgan breed is bigger than all of us put together. Any group pulling horses from sales/auctions, whether it’s MSNF or another is not going to solve the problem. In a quote shared with me from a friend and founder, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The enemy is not the brokers, the Amish, the auctions …it is us. WE all need to be responsible for the direction of the breed and where it’s headed. It is time to open our eyes and see where this is going and make a difference for the sake of these wonderful horses who give us so much before they are all gone.
So what makes a Morgan “at risk”? Well let’s get real. The Morgan breed as a whole IS at risk. EVERY Morgan is needed, not just for us to breed more. There are great Morgans out there NOW being lost. More than any one-group can keep up with. As breeders/owners/trainers, you are allowed to sell your horse to anyone you want, but for the sake of the horse, and the sheer fact the horse cannot be responsible for itself when it leaves your hands, you need to be aware of your buyers limitations. The Amish and Mennonite cultures are different and we have to adapt to that. Just as we should leave doors open for private buyers, so should be the window of opportunity beyond these cultural lines. Not every culture is the same it doesn’t make it wrong. That said because of how the Amish culture is set up, auction is their way for trading horses. Papers and identification may not stay with your horse. The value, to us, is lost without their papers, yet to the Amish/Mennonite these Morgans can gain value simply by taking away the papers and lying about age. Great Morgans are being lost on a high scale out there and yet could come back into the Morgan community to continue to serve a new useful purpose. It’s up to us to create that window and keep their value alive.
I am aware there are trainers out there selling directly to the Amish/Amish brokers. Let’s not sugarcoat it. The horses aren’t working out as the quality they expected or are a little harder to manage, so they might figure some time on the road working for the Amish may suit them better, but there is no way back for these horses once there and maybe a little time with the Amish is all the horse needed to turn it’s mind around. It is not the selling that is the issue, as is the one-way doorway. Once there, often that is where groups pick them up, at risk, because auction is the only current answer for this culture, in hopes they’d find a better home. That alternative needs to change. These horses are quality enough to find a suitable job within the Morgan community and not be lost. If the average life span of a Morgan with the Amish is only 10yrs –12yrs, that doesn’t give much hope for the breed at all. Our Morgans go strong well into their 30’s, but maybe not pounding down the concrete road.
The power of social networking has given us a great tool but it has also made it easier for us to judge and cast blame. We are all different. We all have different views on training, working, and using our Morgans and we will not all agree and that is okay. But we cannot let our differences block us from helping the Morgans we love so much. We can continue to sit back and cast blame on the other guy and have these groups continue to pull horses, ask for donations, and try to home, but that would only be the equivalent of putting tape on a shattered window. Eventually it’s going to give and fall to pieces. This solves nothing. Our window has already been taped together and can bear no more. The time to act is now and come together for the survival of the breed.
Our tag line is “be a voice for a Morgan at risk.” It’s time to unite and give the Morgan a strong voice!
Colleen Saint Loup
President/Founder Morgan Safenet Inc.