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[RC] Moyle Horses - Andrea DayI'll second what Becky said about Moyle horses being tough stock. They were selected to be tough, they had to be tough for several reasons. The first reason is that Rex was a true horseman, and he probably knew more about picking a functional working horse than most. That said, I will admit that he was a horseman of the old school, meaning ride 'em hard and ride 'em long, and if they don't/won't work, or fall apart, they were not fit to breed. I'm not saying he was abusive, but he knew what he wanted in terms of type, and culled his stock stringently by using the 'unfit' to raise minks on his mink farm.Rex raised his stock as if they were wild--let them grow out on the range without vet or farrier attention, and ran them in when he was ready to start them as mature horses. I saw the herd come in once---beautiful, tall, lean, strong horses, mostly dark bays and browns, with overall excellent black, hard feet and supurb muscular condition. (Becky, didn't the buckskin color come out of one particular stud?) I wouldn't be surprised if they got thin through the winter, but I saw them when the grass was on, and they were fit and sleek as seals without being fat. When Rex was done handling them, they were SOLID horses, and you knew you had something under you that wouldn't quit. To my regret I never owned one, but I rode a couple geldings and a mare named Matilda one long summer after cows in some pretty rough country--they never ONCE put a foot wrong, could 'out-think' a cow and do the job the easy way, but were always quietly willing if a tough job came along. I saw Matilda buck like a demon a couple times, but she never did it with me, and I think a lot of it was personality and/or the rider's ability (She could do wonders under a real rider.) I liked her and she knew it, and I got off her head and outta her way and she did the job. Eventually, I was her only rider. I used to sing Waltzing Matilda to her on the way home in the evening, and she'd nod her head and lip at the bit--the only time she ever did it. A music critic! The Moyles were used almost every day that summer, even though most of the QHs were rotated. A lot of them were shipped to the Mid-west and East coast as driving horses and hunter/jumper. Some were exported to Europe. I understand a lot of the those tall, TB looking Amish buggy horses are Moyle bred. Oddly enough, they are not very well known here in Idaho where they were bred. There's a book written about them in the Boise State University library that details their background from the Mormon/mustang/Pony Express/remount stock. Are they a true breed? Ummmm, I'm not so sure about that. Is it possible to develop a breed in one man's lifetime? They're for sure descended from a closed herd, are very 'typey' in being 'upstanding' horses having a distinctive head with extra bone above the eye and a very muscular and free shoulder. I don't know if there's any effort to follow Rex's 'vision' for the horse in any breeding, or if the herd is just being sold off as land becomes more expensive and attitudes change toward horse breeding. Moyles are a lot closer to a breed than Idaho's other home grown horse, the Blazer. There's absolutely NO type or continuity them, just a collection of sorral/chestnut horses, a real Mutt and Jeff bunch. There are at least two websites I know of with info and pics of Moyles on them: The best is www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/moyle/ This is a nice site, but mainly for those German speakers: http://home.datacomm.ch/michaela.wiedmer/MoyleHorse.htm One other point of history. The first meeting for the endurance group SWITDR (Southwest Trail and Distance Riders) was held in Rex and Marge's living room. Lucky you, Becky, for having FOUR of these guys! Andrea _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
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