Clarion of Quietude, May 1980—Aug 2012
Ch.
Stallion (Criterion x Dolly Ashmore)
At the end of May 1983, we finally
were moved to our new place in Sage. Just a week later, Clarion shipped out
from his breeders’ in West Virginia.
He has been here ever since, except for a short time leased out up north and I
visited him several times up there before he came back home.
And then, it was time to say
goodbye to him. Just so quick, his quiet, dignified presence was gone.
Clarion had
29 progeny, 27 Morgans, 1 Morab and 1 out of a grade QH. His get have done some
dressage, carriage driving, hunting in the mountains, reining, showing, but
mostly are excellent trail riding companions from Vermont
to Montana to Colorado
to Arizona and here in California.
There was an interesting aspect to
his pedigree. On the standard pedigree form of 4 generations, every one of the
16 horses on that last line were registered in Registry Volume 5 or earlier.
Volume 5 covered up through the year 1927. For a horse born in 1980, he got
back to the old Morgans very quickly. Except for his full siblings I never saw
another pedigree that did that during his breeding year. His first foal came in
1985 and the last one was in 2005.
He passed on to his get his good
mind and good sense along with his excellent hindquarters, correct legs, and
his three very correct gaits. He had a fast walk, a tremendous Morgan road trot
with power, and a very correct canter coming with power from the rear.
Clarion,
although a worrier, was very sensible. When he was young, he got himself into
trouble with fences twice and both times he just waited for a human to come
along and help him out. He was a quiet horse, but had a bit of humor to him
sometimes. He was always willing and a gentleman.
On the
trail, he was alert and eager. He liked getting out and going places. He had a
bit of speed and sometimes Dave would ride Clarion’s son Zebulon with Clarion
and I. We had a place where we could let them run and it would be a race with
each stallion wanting to be faster then the other. Then both would come down on
command and walk calmly the rest of the way. I only rode one time with some
friends on their horses, not Morgans. It was slow and finally there was a nice
place for a good trot. I asked if it was ok if we went ahead and they agreed.
We all started off trotting but then I let Clarion out into his road trot. The
other two faded into the distance, although I think I heard some galloping back
there at one point.
Now he is
gone. He was with me nearly half my life. I am missing his quiet dignity and
his gentlemanly demeanor. I miss his funny little actions. I miss him.
I am sure
there was a huge group of horses greeting him when he crossed over and now he
is in his prime again, trotting and running freely, hanging out with friends,
romping and playing.
He was a
grand horse and a piece of my heart & soul went with him.
Here is another photo of him--
http://oldmorgans.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
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