Welcome to Morris Performance Horses!
Let me start by introducing ourselves. We live in Central Montana, where we primarily raise grain crops. We share our home with four amazing children, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1, as well as three labs. For the most part, we are your typical family farmers. I am fortunate enough to stay home with our children and dabble in scrapbooking and photography. Brandon loves farming, but is also a RN in case we are ever in need of a back-up. We truly believe that babies grow up too fast and life is too short, so we try to enjoy life everyday by doing things we are passionate about: as a family and as individuals.
Morris Performance Horses was started for that reason: Passion! Growing up, I was surrounded by horses. My family did trail rides, cattle drives, Omoksee, sleigh rides... You name it, we probably did it. As I grew older and went to college, it became almost impossible to keep a horse, so my love and passion became a fond memory. Shortly after I married, however, I was given a very special mare, Dixie. She wasn’t special because of her high powered pedigree or exquisite color (sorrel), but Dixie was the last foal sired by the stallion that we stood on our ranch when I was a child. She was injured as a two year old, making her unsound for riding...a broodmare!
After convincing my “never had a horse” husband, I bred her to a gorgeous black stallion my aunt had at the time. Then I took it one step further. In September of 2007, I attended my very first horse sale. Boy did I have FUN! I purchased two mares that were “in foal”. For months after that sale, my ever supporting and understanding husband drove me, literally, to the northern, southern, eastern, and western borders of Montana to select mares and stallion prospects for my little breeding operation.
My ideas of “perfect breeding stock” has changed a little bit...in fact, many of the mares and prospects I selected at the beginning of our adventure ended up not being what I wanted at all. My vet told me, on one of his many trips to our place, that I was on a giant learning curve. He was absolutely right! I’m not sure I will ever get off that curve, nor am I sure I want to. My lessons have helped me choose horses with exceptional disposition and conformation to pass to their foals. I guess I had to have a few of the bad ones to recognize the good ones.
I have spent many hours reading in books and on the internet, teaching myself about conformation, horse health and care, genetics, and pedigree. All of these things fulfill my passion, and help me make wise decisions about my breeding choices. Foaling season is so rewarding for me. I get to see these amazing foals that all my experiences, trial and errors, and lessons have helped me create.
And it all happened because of passion... Well that and the patience and love of an amazing husband!
Thank you and please enjoy looking at our horses.
Crista
