| Our Morgan Stories |
| Limerick's Apollo |
| My first home was with Ray's sister- Maria. She was a good sort- even gave me 6 cows to play with. It was great to be able to boss them around after being at the bottom of the pecking order at John's. I used to round them all up and walk them all the way to the top of the race and make them stand at the gate until I got bored. If they tried to escape I used to herd them back to the gate and then when I'd had enough, have a quick bite , then start again. They didn't mind too much, even came to the gate and waited for me while I was out, I began to like them more than the horses and spent all my spare time with them. I was quite upset one day when I returned from an outing and found that Maria had moved them, spoilsport! Then Ray and Kerry moved to their new home, the paddock were right behind the house so I could keep and eye on them. If I stood in the top corner and craned my neck around I could see them coming and going, I used to stand in that corner alot.. It's interesting what these humans get up to, I even helped Ray fix a fence one day but he didn't seem too grateful - told me to move out of the way and stop being nosy- I was only showing him where to hammer and now they call me nosy. I think that I am just inquisitve- us Morgans are well known for taking an interest in what's going on around us. Then came the hard work, schooling , training, outings etc., I tried hard, even won a class for the nicest trot at my first show. The problem is that my legs just seem to get tangled up in knots being so long but they are improving and everyone always admires me when I trot around. Anyway , the harder you work the more food you get and I like food! I'm not to keen on having my mane pulled though, why do they have to do that? Last time Kerry pulled my mane I shook my mane a few times to show her I wasn't happy but then it looked a long was up to the top of my neck for those arms of hers so I put my head down so she could reach because I'm a caring sort. I've taken a bit of a shine to Endurance riding, Ray rode me as a novice and then Kerry took over when I qualified. I was even first to come in , in the 40 k ride at Taupo in October, it took me 1 hour 59 min and my heart rate was much lower than most of the others. I took Ray to the 55 k ride at Counties in January and we got 4th, not with out a slight mishap though. You see now that I'm a teenager I have a bad habit( just one though) , it is bucking when I get excited- I just can't help it. It was so much fun, there were 10 of us cantering along and I just gave a few little bucks for joy and the next minute Ray was sitting on the floor. Thank God, I thought, I'm 102kg lighter( yes that's how much he weighed with his saddle), off I went behind the others. Then I thought of him sitting there on his own in the middle of nowhere, and he looked very lonely when I turned to check he was OK, so I thought I better go back and pick him up. We carried on( I could have done it much faster on my own but see what a thoughtful chap I am?), it was hot and stony and hilly but we kept going- that's what us Morgans do, keep going all day long! We got 4th, Well I got 4th - won all sorts of prizes including some more food and a huge ribbon, they were very pleased with me and I must admit I was rather pleased with myself.- Who needs an Arab? I have also just been to the North Island Teams Event (NITE) in Taupo, the rest of my team were fairly experienced but because I am a Morgan I was just as calm and unflappable as the rest of them. Well actually I was until I saw those horses dressed up in cardboard cutouts, that was scary- freaks.! I did rather well on the obstacle course if I may say so myself, I also behaved impeccably doing the quadrille. Humans have some funny ideas, the team called themselves the Tauranga Chicks, their song was the Abba song, Chickatitta which was all good , but I dont see why they had to look so silly. Making themselves look silly was one thing but they made me a silver bridle cover, put silver bows in my mane and tail, silver bandages on my legs and sprayed me with silver glitter- it was a good thing no one knew me, Kerry looked even worse, I hardly recognised her when she turned up in flare and a blond wig. Not that the blond wig was any good, as we were warming up I hear her shout"help my wigs slipped down- I can't see". I took her over to this nice man sitting under a tree who held me while she repaired it: he thought I was great so I helped him eat his licorice allsorts. The rest of the Quadrille was good, well the humans went the wrong way but we all did well. I enjoyed my outing to NITE Well , that's me just about finished, I hope you have enjoyed my life story and I'm sure if you haven't got yourself a Morgan already that you'll be rushing out to find one very soon. By Limerick's Apollo (Teddy Hoon) |
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| My earliest memory is when I was sitting in my paddock one day at about 3 months old having a snooze in the sun and John appeared with a group of about 10 young Japanese girls. Of course when they saw me they were so impressed with how handsome I was that they surrounded me and gave me lots of pats, stokes , and prods and a few shrieks in my ear . Any other horse may have been freaked out , but us Morgans are well renowned for being laid back so I let them carry on for a while and then went back to sleep when they had gone. The next couple of years were uneventful: I had alot of other part Morgans to keep me company and play with.Janice decided that when I was three that it was about time that I earned my keep so I started to be ridden and see the world, then I was sold to my current humans ,Ray and Kerry , and moved off to Tauranga. |
| Hello, My name's Limerick's Apollo, well that's my registered name, my real name is Teddy Hoon. It's quite an appropriate name , Teddy because when I was a young chap I was rather cuddly, and Hoon because that's what I like to do in my paddock. There's nothing like a good hoon, I usually like to stand at the top of the cliff face (well hill ) and gallop to the bottom as fast as I can - quite a mission when your legs are as long as mine. I am 16.1 to the top of my withers and 16.2 to the top of my rump - that's rather tall for a part bred Morgan, I keep growing but I should stop soon now that I am five. Any way I'll tell you about myself because that's what I've been asked to do. I was born in Whakatane , my human at that time was Janice de Raad who breeds lot's of part bred Morgans with her business partner John Fairbrother, who also runs horsetreks.My mother was a thoroughbred warmblood cross and my father was Tuatahi Song.I inherited her height and his temperament as I believe he is a pretty chilled out sort also. |
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