I have been breeding easy gaited ponies for about five years now.  The current economic crisis is a problem, for sure.  I recommend the video from the MFT breeders to better understand the many different gaits as they do the best job I have seen of presenting the different gaits.  Also if you are serious the book EASY GAITED HORSES is a must have on the shelf. 

 

I am 5'2" so most "adult" sized equines are too tall for me to mount from the ground as I have only a 28" inseam to my jeans.  I have a little mixed bred mare, looks like Figure in conformation, and she would be typical of the first generation Morgans since most if not all were bred from the Narragansett Pacers that were the forerunners of the Morgans. 

 

They split into different breeding types over the years as the demand in the markets changed.  As the settlers moved off the backs of their horses and into the carriages and buggies they opted for the trotters.  The legendary bloodline of Black Hawk was able to both trot and gait from what I have been able to find.  Black Hawk's dam was obviously a part Tbred due to her size, speed, and athleticism.  By the time Ethan Allen appeared the gaiting had been bred out of THAT bloodline although we can see that the Black Hawk bloodliine kept the gaiting action as it was his grand babies that went into the Standardbreds and TWs.

 

Being that I am short and not into speed sports the more substantial skeleton structure of my pony mare works for me.  I can see why the first generations of Morgans were popular as people were shorter in those years and mounting a tall horse is not fun if you are short and have to do it from the ground.  Black Hawk took the breed in a new direction, he was speed, elegance, very "uptown" and then there were the traditional stout morgans who could better pull stumps and haul heavy loads then not eat their Yankee owners out of house and home at the end of the day.  The Morgan breed like all the others has a type for all, tall, gaited, short, trotters. 

 

Sue