Scandias History

....Scandia Morgan Horse Farm was established with the purchase of our first Morgan in 1971. It was not long before we bought more Morgans, and we registered the Scandias Prefix in 1972. Our marriage, both our lives, and our Morgans have been intertwined for 38 years. Our marriage started in 1970, after college and we began our life together with a half Morgan mare. Both lives, the family, and the horses have endured, as all good things do.

....We have never waivered in our love for the Morgan Horse, even through a multitude of changes in our lives and the breed itself. We have lived in several locations, learning about the Morgan Horse and the breeders of each area, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia; Oxford, Ohio; Battleground, Wa; and St Helens, Or. We have continued to like and perpetuate as breeders, the classic Morgan Horse. Living in different locations has given us a unique perspective on the regionality of the Morgan and some of the different lines that were developed for certain areas, such as the Pineland breeding that was an early color line in the Georgia area, or the Serenity and Devan horses of the Midwest, or the Ranch lines, or Western Working of the west coast. With the advent of the Grand National our horses have a more consistent standard.

....Our first Morgan was Gra Vand Cornell, a big trotting stallion by Devan Del and out of Cap's Shadow. A typically bred horse for the Ohio area, and we first saw him at Mr R's Morgans in Columbus, Ohio and fell in love. We hauled him to Alabama, and shortly thereafter bought two breeding mares, Cove Farm Kathleen by Springdale King and Valencia by Hi Mist Buddy and out of Heart's Desire. So the first three
Morgans we owned taught us a lot about the Lippitt lines, gov't lines, and the Brunk Lines. Valencia was bred to Lippitt Moro Alert at the time, and had a filly by her side by Alert called Bama Anna Moro. Anna was sold, and Vali foaled a colt by Alert the following year. This was the first horse to carry our prefix, with the prophetic name of Scandias Bjorn. Kathleen was bred to Cornell on several occasions, and had two colts for us. When we moved from Atlanta, Kathleen stayed behind, and became a great riding and broodmare for Bob and Patti McDonald. Bob and Patti also were the first to show one of our horses, with the purschase of Scandias Cassanova. He was their stallion and their show horse.

....After moving back to our home state of Ohio, Cornell was sold, and Bobby McGee, who was born in Atlanta took over our breeding program. Bobby's dam was sold to us by the Epperson's (see the Bobby McGee story) and she was bred at the time to UVM Promise. We had also purchased Oldwick Indira who proved to be a great producer too, being the grandmother of The Scandinavian, owned by Barb Fink. Indira was bred to UVM Viking while we were in Ohio, and produced Scandias Moonbeam. These early horses taught us a lot, and were the foundation for a life long history with the Morgan horse.

....The stories of Trademark and Bobby McGee tells much of our later history. This has been an accumulation of seeing many changes in the breed, and our society. From good and bad economies, Video production, to DVD's, and the advent of the computer and email. Cooled, frozen semen, embryo transfer, blood typing, and DNA have come into play.The Sport horse, Western Working, Color horses, high white, Cremellos, and genetic testing have all come into the breeding process. We have steadfastly stood by that "Classic Bay" horse that we originally perceived as the MH.

....Our horses have taught us much, but most of all they have taught us to be versatile. We have learned about English Pleasure, dressage, driving, CDE's, halter, and more on Western. Many new clinicians have been brought on the scene, but natural and good basic horsemanship has always stayed the same. Our background is Western Riding, and great trail horses. The two seem to go hand in hand, but we have had all types of Morgans in our program and have had well over the number of 100 different horses in the years past. Some horses of note have been Scandias Bobby McGee, Scandias Ben Holly, Scandias Kristiann, Oldwick Indira, Nemour's Royal Adora, Beckridge Modonna, Lyonhil Ambition, Scandias Moonbeam, The Scandinavian, Scandias Carribean Blue, Scandias Shimmeree, Scandias Ice Princess, Scandias Crystal Promise, Scandias Mark of Destiny, and most recently Scandias Mademoiselle. These horses have done well reproducing or in the show ring. We have been through several mare families, as noted above, and four stallions, starting with Gra Vand Cornell, Scandias Bobby McGee, Townshend Norseman, Scandias Trademark, and now UVM Coming Attraction.

....Having Morgan horses for so many years, we have gone to The Nemour's Sale, the Charlestown Sale, The LCS sale, Worked at the Year of the Morgan at the Kentucky Horse Park, were involved in the Morgan Breeder's Assoc. and the Video Review, we've been to numerous conventions, Grand National a multitude of times, and shows from all over the country, East to West, North to South. It has meant knowing and visiting many great farms, and seeing horses and farms such as Chasley Superman, Applevale Boy King, Treble's Willy Wild, Courage of Equinox, Waseeka's in Command, Waseeka's Skylark, Chief Red Hawk, Windcrest Ben Davis, Doc Davis, UVM Flash, I Will Command, Criterion,Tedwin Topic, Arduns, Townshend, Quietude, Serenity, Mohican, Cedar Creek, Green Meads, Orcland, Rum Brook, and of course, the UVM Farm. The list goes on, the horses go on. Names change, people change, but the breed remains strong and true in our hearts, as does the story of our life, our horses, and our marriage. A constant venue in a world of change. And now we can visit the many farms and friends that own a Scandia bred Morgan horse.

Scandia Stallions:

Scandia Mares: