One of the oldest Morgan horse clubs in the country…

Our New York State Morgan Horse Society members have been cherishing our history from the very beginning, in the summer of 1950. On this page, we’ll share our archives digitally and we hope you enjoy this peek into the archives.

In the summer of 1950, a small group of Morgan owners in and around the Buffalo area succeeded in getting breed classes for Morgans at the Erie County Fair at Hamburg, N.Y. Five Morgans were shown and interest in Morgans in the Buffalo area was stimulated. There was some talk of organizing a western New York Club but, nothing was done at the time.

In 1951, 15 Morgans at Hamburg and here V.J. Rogers, Philip Hess, F. Eisenhard and Dr. Gibson talked of a local club. When National show time came, some of the local boosters attended and the idea of an organized club really began to take shape. It was agreed that the club, if organized, should include the whole of New York state.

Actual organization of the society took place in Akron, N.Y. on Sunday, June 29, 1952. Charter members at this meeting were Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Rogers, Philip A. Hess, Mrs. Ayelien Richeards, Miss Hortense Lynds, Willard Hoefen, Mr. and Mrs. Rolland H. Sanders and Mr. and Mrs. F.H. Eisenhard. The original membership was 16 members.

Meetings were held in most sections of the state, planned to make it possible for people of different areas to attend. In 1954, the first yearbook was prepared by then Vice President Earl Langley, consisting of a cover and eight pages, in the hope that it would serve as a source of information to all who would like to know where the Morgans in New York State and their owners were located.

The year 1957 brought a complete Morgan division to Hamburg and the State Fair with Morgan classes added to horse shows over the entire state. On March 16, 1959, then president Bill Hoefen accomplished the incorporation of the club and it became the New York State Morgan Horse Society, Inc.

The futurity was started in 1959 and was a big year in the progress of New York State Morgans. The 12 entries were judged by Dr. C.D. Parks at our first field day, held at the O-At-Ka farm of the Eisenhards at Warsaw, New York that fall.

In 1960, the first New York State All-Morgan Horse Show was promoted at the New York State Fairgrounds and the Davis Memorial trophies were established in memory of the late National president, F.O. Davis. The following year saw the start of the high score awards system with trophies for six divisions: stallions, mares, geldings, versatility, equitation and amateurs. In 1962, the futurity high score trophy was added and in 1965 the addition of futurity alumni classes to the annual show.