Vermont Morgan Heritage Days is happy to host once again two exciting competitions open to all breeds at the show, Dressage and Carriage Driving.

Dressage, from the Old French "dresser," to arrange, means simply, training. The means of communication between every horse and rider--seat, legs, hands--are the building blocks of the relationship everyone desires with a horse--a partnership. Dressage is the discipline that teaches communication. It applies to all styles of riding, from huntseat to reined cowhorse, and no rider no matter how advanced ever stops learning how to more effectively communicate with a horse.

This year Heritage Days welcomes Mary Savage, Washington, Vermont, as our judge. The Open Dressage Competition will take place on Friday, July 4th.

From a way in which several family members can enjoy one horse together to the challenging sport of Combined Driving, Carriage Driving has a place for every level of expertise and is one of the fastest growing equine activities. For many, it is simply another way to enjoy a versatile riding horse. For others it becomes a passion that tests their skills every time they drive. Vermont Morgan Heritage Days is pleased to offer the Open Carriage Driving Competition as an all-breed competition on Sunday, July 6th.

Heritage Days is happy to welcome Rob Marsh, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as our Morgan Horse classes judge for 2008. Beginning on Friday evening and running throughout the day on Saturday, the Junior/Amateur Morgan Horse Show features 75 classes of competition encompassing a wide range of activities and disciplines. The 2008 Class List featuring a complete rundown of events will be posted shortly.

On Friday evening, July 4th, the Vermont Morgan Horse Association presents the 2008 VMHA Breeders' Futurity for Yearlings and Two Year Olds. This popular competition showcases our region's promising young Morgan horses at the beginning of their careers. As well as entertaining to watch, the Futurity yields useful insight into the production of many of the breed's active sires and dams, and serves as an indicator of where breeders are headed with their programs.

On Saturday, July 5th, Heritage Days is pleased to present the Morgan Stallion Exhibition, a noncompetitive event very reminiscent of an older time in Vermont when owners would gather to present their stallions as examples of the Morgan breed. This year, in the spirit of Morgan country shows of decades ago, a variety of stallions will join in Heritage Days for the simple pleasure of demonstrating the unique characteristics of the breed, both individually in brief performances and then together in a parade on the grounds.

There are many remarkable horses that excel as individuals in versatility and usefulness, no matter their breed or bloodlines. The Morgan is unique in that it excels in versatility and usefulness as a breed, across the board, with only the individual desires or abilities of its owner to limit a Morgan's capabilities. The Justin Morgan Performance class, named for the breed's foundation stallion, comprises four distinct competitions stemming from the very early days of Morgans in America when versatility was not a happy circumstance, but was an absolute necessity. The class's four contests for an individual Morgan are the half-mile race in harness, the half-mile race on the flat, saddle equitation, and the 500-pound stoneboat pull.

The Heritage Days Justin Morgan Performance Class is the only remaining competition of its kind in the country. This class will be held Sunday afternoon, July 6th.

From its days of brilliance as a roadster on the highways of early America and its development as a competitive trotter on the track, the Morgan has long been identified as a superlative performer in harness. The Morgan's compact, robust stature, coupled with a powerful, ground-covering trot, combined to produce a horse of great endurance and style. These attributes gave partially to the development of the Standardbred, one of a number of American breeds to which the Morgan directly contributed.

As in bygone days when crowds would line the rail at country tracks throughout New England, Heritage Days will once again feature Sunday Morgan racing on the half-mile oval at Tunbridge Fairgrounds. Our full slate of eight races kicks off at noon and includes the exciting $500 Randolph National Bank Open Mile Harness. Come and enjoy one of the most popular American pastimes of another era.

Photo credits: Tracy's Photography, Debbie Uecker Photography, Denlore Photography