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Left to right; Amelia Ladd, Donna Barrett,Michelle Hoyt, Karen Thiel, and Linnea Sidi.Fort Robinson today. Only a fraction of the buildings remain, but the State ofNebraska maintains them beautifully and is a gracious host.Supporting cast. These longhorn cattleprovide an undeniable photo opportunity.Family reunion. As the group settles in for the evening in the officer’s housing,relationships of participants’ Morgan horses are charted and pictures passedwhile the Sears boys provide the evening entertainment.occurred here. From this fort, the U.S. Cavalry soldiers, manymounted on Morgans, made their mark in history for better or forworse. From the historic horses at this cavalry remount station,including the famous Morgan stallion Linsley, descended some ofthe horses we would be riding tomorrow.The State of Nebraska has beautifully restored and maintainedmany of the original military structures, including barns,barracks, and officers quarters that now serve as guesthouses.Because we were there in the off-season, some of the amenitieswere closed, but we had all that we needed though, including agreat cook in Merideth Sears of AFS Morgans, and a cowboy rightout of “central casting” in her husband, Tony.Friday morning finally arrived and it was time to ride. I awoketo the smell of breakfast before the sun was up and gradually all ofthe riders appeared for a superb meal. Even Amelia was awakebefore the crack of noon, a sure sign of her enthusiasm for thisremarkable event.Before long, we were mounted and headed to the plains. Mymount for the morning was named Arapaho Kate (SidehillThunder x Sidehill Electra), who was big and bold and had beenspecially selected as the HBFGBE (Horse for the Big Fat Guy fromBack East). Amelia was riding on Trailhead Scarlet Rose (TrailheadCyrus x Trailhead Primrose), a choice bay mare bred and ownedby Bob and Donna Barrett.Riding through the fort and a few gates, we soon foundourselves in an open plain and headed for a spectacular butte.As we rode toward it, I was totally absorbed in the open space, thescenery, and the joy of riding with this bunch. Suddenly, I becameaware of some slight alarm at the head of the column. As I focusedmy attention, I was overcome by the magnificent sight of a herd ofabout 30 horses galloping toward us over a slight rise that had,until now, been hidden from our view.The spectacle of those horses charging toward us against thisbackdrop of classic western scenery completely enveloped me inthe moment. My attention soon was diverted, however, as Iassessed the fact that I was sitting on a horse with 30 days of training,who I had ridden a total of ten minutes, and who also was“off-the-reservation” (so to speak) for the very first time.Moreover, we were being charged by a herd of 30 horses!To my delight, Kate took it in stride and stood quietly whilewe determined the intention of the now integrated herd. As I sat,I had yet another opportunity to reflect on the born nature ofthese Morgans. None of the 15 or so horses in our group stirred asthe other horses ran upon them. One could attribute this to theiruse as ranch horses, but not all were; clearly the steadfast naturewas part of their breeding.With Linnea Sidi leading us, we picked our way throughthe herd of horses and made our way toward the looming
Top, middle: Stan Todorovich of 777 Morgans, ahorseman’s horseman astride Krila’s Avalanche.Right, top: Marty Thiel of Blackheart Morgansfrom North Dakota models full cavalry tack andattire ...some of us never outgrow it. Right, bottom:Post Headquarters historical marker.rock. The sheer faces of these buttes are set in more gentle, butoften steep, hills of sand, washed from the faces of rock throughoutcenturies. Few options exist when mounting these giants, asthe paths often cut through narrow passages. Thus steep climbsand descents are the menu of the ride.Around every corner and over each rise, the scenery changed.We would traverse ridges bringing us to peak after peak, manywith abrupt ends that provided scenic overlooks in every direction.Our band would make its way into, then through, a group ofevergreens, only to emerge with a new vista and a nearly differentenvironment. Clearly this was all foreign to us New Englanders;our senses were filled with this new experience. On our way backdown, as I was thinking it, Amelia turned to me from her horseand said, “I feel like I’m on a movie set.” We had just experiencedour first ride in the Wild West. This would be our sole ride onFriday, as the afternoon would be our only opportunity to visit thefort museum and the natural history museum. The latter featuredthe fossilized remains, discovered nearby, of two giant mammothsthat became locked in battle and died together.Later that evening, the much-awaited Shery Jespersen arrivedwith her horses. Shery is, to the Working Western Morgan Internetlist, a blend of Zane Grey and Joe Rosenthal. Her thoughtful writtendescriptions of daily ranch life accompanied by artistic photographyallow many of us to live ranch life vicariously. These talentsare topped off by Shery’s ability to create fine jewelry. Manyin the group, including me, were anxious to meet the womanbehind these talents and her mare, Roseta Sage LR, who is featuredin many of her pictures.In addition to bringing two of her Morgans, Shery brought anassortment of jewelry that she had made at the request of those ofus who had seen pictures. Thinking I should bring back somethingfor my wife who couldn’t get time off to come to the ride, Isent Amelia to scout out the jewelry. I ended up buying a smallsomething for my wife and a whole bunch of bling for Amelia.We finished the evening in good company in the living roomof our shared officers quarters. All of the riders assembled, alongwith a herd of dogs, and were serenaded by Andy and Skeeter Sears.As might be expected, conversation centered on our commonbond, the Morgan horse. Shared pictures and lineage diagramsmade the event seem more of a family reunion than a meetingof new friends as we found our horses’ common ancestors.One memorable discussion centered on the point that somany in the country and in the Morgan community aren’t awarethat cattle are still worked on horseback and in particular onMorgans. The ranchers in the room take their work and attendantlifestyle as a matter of simple reality. It’s what they do, it’s hardwork, and their Morgans are their partners in their daily routine.As we discussed their lives, I noted that few outside of it cantruly appreciate that this lifestyle still exists. Using my own experiences,I explained that many riders and Morgan owners I knowseldom ride outside of an enclosure and if they do trail ride, theytend to be only a few acres.Saturday brought us another unseasonably warm day. Italready was in the upper 80s when we finished breakfast and wouldreach 95 by midday. You know what they say about dry heat? It’strue! At 95 degrees back home I would be hiding in air conditioning,but with no humidity, it was downright comfortable.Saturday’s ride would start east of the fort buildings and barns,so we trailered our horses to a starting point called Soldier Creek androde from there. I changed horses this day as well. My mount for theday would be a young bay mare owned by Shery Jespersen namedBahia Belle LR (ML Meadowlark Jazzspur x Apple Pi Blue Belle).Soldier Creek seemed to be the only waterway still flowing inthe area. Though hardly a raging river, the creek provided somespectacular oasis environments as we rode through the highdesert. We descended from steep hills of dry vegetation and cactusinto lush wild gardens of green vegetation and even flowers.Horses would stop and play or take a drink as we crossed, providingan opportunity for the rider to enjoy the view.Taking a position at the rear of the group, I had the opportunityto appreciate the size of the now expanded group of ridersand the spectacle of the long line of Morgans moving up anddown the steep terrain. I could clearly see that my daughter andher roommate of the trip, Michelle Hoyt, had become friends andperiodically rode together. Michelle, who could talk a dog off of abone, was very proud of her Morgan gelding, Payton Breeze, whoreveled at every challenge.While not an accomplished trail rider in the terms of many, Ihave ridden trails with many horses before. The loose, steepascents and descents of these trails would challenge any horse and
Page 1: David and Amelia Ladd. One of those

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