Sharing our Morgans around the world!

It is with great excitement I share this story with everyone about delivering three of our Morgans to Europe. I was traveling for two and a half weeks and it was an incredible journey to see so many places in the world. Meeting so many people who are interested in learning more about the Morgan horse, and those who are already very interested in this devine breed, was so rewarding. Pictured below are the three Morgans we sold. JMF Midnight Expose', RBD Immortal Cyrus and RBD Midnight Lace. The photo below was taken at our farm in October 2011 before we started this incredible journey. Enjoy ~

Before I begin sharing the details of this great adventure, I first must give very special thanks to Alina & Chris Danielewski from Lamerdingen, Germany, for contacting us to purchase JMF Midnight Expose', the black mare, and RBD Immortal Cyrus, the chestnut colt, and to Aniko Halmai, from Budapest, Hungary, for the purchase of RBD Midnight Lace, the black filly. This whole journey only began because of the love of Morgan horses and these very special people who wanted these Morgans. After researching the breed, Alina & Chris aspired to begin a Morgan breeding program in Germany, and it was Aniko's dream to own a Morgan and introduce the breed to Hungary. I contacted the AMHA registry and RBD Midnight Lace is the first Morgan in history to go to Hungary, and it is an honor to help fullfill such magnificent dreams.

The Journey Begins

On October 19, 2011 we transported the three Morgans to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, where they would begin 30 days of quarantine at Nedpoint LLC. It is Katie Forest, pictured below with Derrick and I, who offered for me to travel with our Morgans as a groom. We give special thanks to Katie for such a wonderful gift.

.

November 20, 2011 quarantine is finished and the horses were transported to Houston, Texas to prepare for flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We loaded them into portable stalls and then they were loaded on a 777 jet from KLM airlines.

.

..

They were loaded on the plane with a lift and slid securely in the back of the plane.

.

.

There is not too much room once they are inside the plane. There were 19 horses on this flight. All three of our Morgans were in one portable stall together, and during take off and landing I stood inside the stall with the horses to comfort them. We gave them water and hay during the flight. They did great in the plane, however, I must say their eyes were as big as mine when we took flight and landed.

.
It took us 8 hours to fly from Houston to Amsterdam because we had a strong tail wind. I snapped this photo of the screen during flight as we approached Amsterdam.

Once we landed in Amsterdam the following morning, we went to the KLM Animal Hotel at the airport with the horses to wait for the them to be inspected by a vet, and have all the necessary paperwork to import further into Europe. We waited at the horse hotel all day and finally at 3:45 p.m. we received paperwork to load the horses and begin land transport to Germany. I do not have any photos during this part of the trip as there was very strict regulations and no photos were allowed there. Tomek Transport, a german transport company, hauled the 3 Morgans to Lamerdingen, Germany. I was allowed to accompany our horses all the way to their final destination.

O.k., now the trip is getting real long!!! We departed from Amsterdam at 4:00 p.m. and arrived to Alina's at 2:00 a.m. It was so great to finally meet Alina after so many e-mails and talking over the phone about the Morgans. The horses and I were tired and ready for a rest, but we made it safely. We put them in stalls for the night, and after a good night sleep, we returned to the horses in the morning. Alina & Chris and their family were so happy to have the Morgans arrive!!

.

.

.

Alina & Chris purchased the black mare, in foal to our stallion, JMF Basic Black, and the chestnut colt, RBD Immortal Cyrus is destined to be a future stallion in Bavaria. Alina has big plans for Cyrus in the future. Aniko Halmai puchased the black filly, however, she will stay in Germany with Alina until she is weaned and then transport to her new home in Hungary at a later date.

.

I stayed with Alina and her family for 4 days. It was a great pleasure getting to know them, sharing many stories, and talking about the Morgan horse. Their new farm name is Morgans by Design. Alina is a special woman with a twinkle in her eye and a passion for horses. I believe her success will be great.

.

Beautiful sites, wonderful hospitality, great food, strong coffee and the beginning of a new friendship. I send very special thanks to Alina and her family for giving two of our Morgans such a wonderful home and for welcoming me into their home.

My time with them has made an ever lasting impression and I look forward to watching them develop a successful breeding program. I received a special gift from Chris and Alina . . . Pictured at the left is the plaque Chris created for our farm. Beautifully done! Many thanks ~

Alina and I will be submitting an article to the Bavaria Equine News about her Morgans arriving and her plans to begin breeding in Germany. Spreading the word about the Morgan horse is so wonderful to promote the breed internationally. Alina and I also visited two Morgan farms while I was there. We met with Regina Reiter of Stone Hill Morgans and and Elke Mettevi of Emperer Mountains Morgans.

.

I'm pictured above with Regina Reiter and two of her mares of Stone Hill Morgans. Regina is a wonderful woman with a deep interest in the Morgan horse and I truly enjoyed our visit.

Regina is the author of the book, "Das Morgan Horse." During our visit she gave me a signed copy of this special book that is beautifully done explaining history, Morgan families, their versatility and more. It was so wonderful to finally meet Regina, and I need to give her a very special thank you for referring Alina to us to consider one of our Morgans, and for offering to put an ad on her website for RBD Midnight Lace . . .

Regina and Alina together decided to post an ad about Lacey, as she could transport with her mother to Europe and offer a great opportunity for a buyer to get a beautiful filly for a better transport cost. Transport costs are better if you transport several horses at once. Aniko from Hungary, found Lacey on Regina's site. Thank you for connecting Aniko with Lacey ~

.

.

Pictured above I'm with Elke Mattevi, and Alina. Elke has a beautiful Morgan farm, Emperer Mountain Morgans, in Austria where she is a breeder of colorful Morgans. Alina and I truly enjoyed our visit with Elke. Thank you Elke for sharing some time and your Morgans with us. After 4 days in Germany, I boarded a train in Munich and traveled to Budapest, Hungary, where I finally got to meet Aniko Halmai, who purchased RBD Midnight Lace.

I'm pictured below with Aniko, and her friend David, who was a translator for us while I visited. It was so wonderful to finally meet her and spend some time together. It has been a dream for Aniko to own a Morgan and bring a beautiful filly to Budapest. She has long admired the Morgan horse and when she saw the ad for Lacey on Regina Reiters website, she said Lacey made her heart beat fast and she contacted me. It is such an honor to have the first Morgan in history to be imported into Hungary. I know Aniko, her family and friends will fall in love with Lacey ~

.

Pictured below is RBD Midnight Lace and I before we left our farm. Aniko is so excited to bring Lacey to her farm, hug her for the first time and introduce her to everyone. She will arrive soon, after she is weaned from her dam. I look forward to photos of Aniko and Lacey finally together at Bellandor.

.

Aniko, her husband Akos, and her family own Bellandor, which is a beautiful riding/training facility in Budapest, Hungary. Lacey will have a beautiful home. Aniko's future plan for Lacey is to show her. She says she will first ask Lacey what discipline she likes and move forward from there. I think the versatility of a Morgan will suprise her ~ I will look forward to updates. Pictured below are photos of Bellandor where I stayed and Aniko riding her Standardbred Stallion.

.

.

Pictured below is Aniko and her trainer, Suza, and Aniko giving riding lessons to children.

.

I had a wonderful time in Budapest! The people were welcoming, the food was excellent, and the city was beautiful! Pictured below is a photo of the city and a castle we visited. The first night I was with Aniko we ate dinner on a river boat on the Danube River that runs through Budapest. Aniko is also planning to write an article and submit it to Hungary's largest equine magazine about Lacey being the first Morgan horse to come to Hungary. We give many thanks to Aniko, her family and her translating friend, David, for the great time in Budapest. My stay was culturally enriching and so great to meet new friends.

.

From Budapest I flew to Paris, France, our friends Nicolas and Daniele picked me up at the airport. They live in Mansigne, France, which is about 2 hours from Paris. Paris by night was stunning with all the lights. Nicolas and Daniele contacted us two years ago and came to our farm and stayed for 5 days. They purchased two Morgans from us and it was so wonderful to see them and the Morgans again! I'm pictured below with them in France ~

.

.

Above, we went for a trail ride at their farm. I got to ride Angel, one of the Morgans we sold to them. They also have paints, and Nicolas is riding his paint stallion. It was a wonderful ride! Nicolas also made arrangement with Marie-Catherine, a journalist from the NeWestern magazine in France, for an interview. She spoke French and English, and we had a great interview about the Morgan horse. We visited surrounding villages and towns, and spent the last day in Paris and saw many sites including the Eiffel Tower, before I took a train to Amsterdam to fly back home.

.

This trip was such an exciting adventure, meeting so many people and talking about the Morgan horse along the way. I visited many places so rich with culture, and was surrounded by such friendly welcoming people. I hope to return again one day sharing more of our Morgans with people in Europe. I give special thanks to everyone who made this trip possible, including my family who was home taking care of everything at the farm. I missed them very much while I was away, and even though it was a trip of a lifetime, it is so wonderful to be home with my family, going to my barn in the morning with my Morgans . . .

 

Believe in yourself ~ Follow your dreams ~ Cherish every moment