Congratulations to the three winners of the 2nd Annual Merriewold Morgans Photo Contest!

Each of these three photos displayed the best qualities in our three criteria: the beauty and character of the Morgan horse; artistic style& creativity and a natural setting.

We had so many great photos that we also selected several entries for Honorable Mention. These contestants were surprised with a free organic tote bag from the owner of Merriewold Morgans, Diana Wold.

You can view the winning photos in our Finalist Album

Merriewold would like to thank our Sponsors and Judges, Entera, Samy's Camera and Bj. deCastro - not only for the donation of prizes, but also for the time and help they provided..

Please visit their links below, when you are shopping for their products and services.

Congratulations to all the winners! Here are the contest results:

If you feel satisfied you have completed your ground training work with your three year old...it is now time to consider the next steps to the saddle.

I would suggest that you take an inventory on all the skills you have developed from the ground training to  make the smoothest transition possible. 

You may ask yourself some of the following questions to check off the list...does the horse follow the rein left and right without bracing against the rein?  Is the stop and back understood?  Are there any areas sensitive or reactive to touch such as the area where the riders leg touches and is it understood to move away from the pressure?  Can you turn your horse with the rein to move the hind quarters laterally into neutral (i.e., not pushing forward and therefore stopping as a safety tool)?

These are just a few questions to go over in your mind before mounting for the first time.  It is important to be careful and wear a helmet and proper boots as well as having proper tack for the horse.

Ideally, I would be just beginning formal training for a young horse.

I believe the horse is now mentally and physically ready to go into a full routine of training for going under saddle.

If you have been grooming, leading and ground schooling for the trailer...and instilled good manners in general, you should be well prepared for the next phase of training.

At this point, you should have a really good idea of the type of student you have and have a real feel for the pace you need to build trust and acceptance for going under saddle.

A properly groomed horse is a healthy horse. When we stable and confine our horses it becomes necessary to not only clean a horses living area but to also clean your horse.

I think many of us fall short of this due to time limitations but I can assure you if you develop a grooming routine with certain steps it can be an efficient and quick way to clean your horse.

The benefits include better overall health and pride in your horse in front of a show judge or on the trail.