Statesman Farm Morgan Horses
The Beginning 
Lynne Shpak has been riding horses all of her life. Her mother put Lynne on a horse at the age of four and a half and Lynne refused to get down! Lynne rode hunters and jumpers and broke yearlings at the track until her early twenties when she came to dressage, carriage driving and long distance riding. In 1968, while in Vermont to compete in the South Woodstock 100 mile competitive trail ride, Lynne visited the farm of Marilyn and Harold Childs in Tumbridge Vermont, and fell in love with a yearling Morgan colt named "The Statesman". The Statesman was one of the last offspring of the very famous Morgan stallion "Lippitt Mandate", owned and shown by Marilyn Childs. The Statesman, lovingly called "Mandy" by Lynne, promptly became her horse. Over his career, Mandy was hunted by Lynne with the Harold County and Carroll County Hounds and was shown very successfully through 4th level dressage. In these days before dressage was a popular sport in this area, The Statesman was a prominent figure. Mandy was also shown extensively in carriage events in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. In the days before combined driving, pleasure shows offered pleasure and obstacle classes, carriage, and marathon classes. Mandy remained undefeated in these combined events throughout is career. Mandy and Lynne also went to many local and regional pleasure shows showing against all breeds, and acting as an ambassador for the Morgan breed. Mandy also won the English Pleasure Championship at the Mid-Atlantic Morgan horseshow twice, and at the Mason Dixon Morgan-Arab show three times. He preformed in parades and in 4-H and pony club show-and-tell sessions in harness and under saddle. He was very popular. Colonel Donald Thackery, a highly respected and admired judge, used Mandy as a model and would often say that there was no contest in the carriage and dressage arena. Mandy is pictured above with Lynne in 1972.
A Breeding Program Defined
The Statesman Farm breeding program developed from the ideal exemplified in the The Statesman. Mandy's conformation, long floating stride, balanced canter and cadenced walk were Lynne's model for producing the ideal Morgan sporthorse.
Lynne defines the optimal sporthorse conformation beginning with the head. "The head should be beautiful, with a large eye, a wide space between the eyes tapering to a well formed delicate muzzle, a big jowl, and a naturally fine throat latch. The eye should be 1/3 of the way between the bottom of the ear and the nostril. The neck should be long and well shaped. It should fill the wither and come up out of the chest high. The shoulder should be long and well laid back, with a 90 degree angle from the point of the wither to the point of the shoulder to the point of the elbow, with the wither falling behind the shoulder blade. The bulk of the shoulder should equal the bulk of the rear end giving the horse a balanced appearance. The hindquarters should have a strong loin attachment and when you drop a plumb line from the point of the hip you should bump into the stifle joint. That plumb line should be one side of the equilateral triangle formed by the point of the hip, the point of the rump and the point of the stifle. Furthermore, a line drawn from the point of the rump, through the point of the stifle, should hit the heal of the front foot. A line drawn from the point of the shoulder through the point of the elbow, should hit the heal of the hind foot. You want to have legs that are correct with the front foot facing squarely forward with a nice flat plane to the joints. The flat planes of the hind legs (stifle, hock, ankle) should all be the same and face slightly out from the body." Posing for conformation above is Chief of State.
"The legs should not be positioned base narrow or base wide. When the horse is in motion, the hind legs should not be too far apart, which denotes a lack of balance, nor should the hind legs travel too close together which would cause the horse to interfere. The flight of the hind feet and the front feet should be straight so as to not dish, wing or swing. If a horse is built in this way, he should have a long floating stride with good reach both behind and in front with a balanced way of going and a good cadence. Temperament is, of course, of primary importance since even a sound, good moving horse is of little value if the temperament is poor. A good sport horse will be tractable, quiet but willing, confident, easy to train, and will possess self confidence and kindness." Pictured to the right is Ensign's Patriot, son of Statesmans Signature, grandson of Chief of State, and great-grandson of The Statesman. He shows a very strong resemblance to Chief of State. Patriot was bred and is owned by Kate Farris of Ensigns Grace Farm.
Over the years Lynne has learned through trial and error what bloodlines she feels she can use to produce consistent results. She believes strongly in the old Vermont bloodlines which include the Lippitt horses, the old Government bloodlines, the Brunk bloodlines and the working western bloodlines.
Being faithful to these criteria has stood Lynne in good stead over the years. The Statesman horses are known worldwide for their exceptional temperament, beautiful eye, long floating stride, balanced canter and cadenced walk. The consistency with which the Statesman horses pass on these attributes is astounding, even when bred to mares of a different type and breed. A judge once commented to Lynne that he could tell a Statesman horse from a distance just by it's silhouette and way of going.
Statesman Farm; Present and Future
While The Statesman led Lynne down the garden path and helped to establish the successful Statesman Farm breeding program, his descendents have continued his legacy. Lynne currently stands a son, Chief of State, who has produced some of the most successful and recognized sport Morgans alive today, including Statesmans Signature, Statesmans Silhouette and Statesmans Courage. Statesmans Skyhawk, a son of Chief of State and full brother to Statesmans Signature, holds the position of Junior Stallion at Statesman Farm and shows great promise. Please visit the Stallions page to learn more about these exceptional stallions.
Lynne continues to breed two to four mares a year and the youngsters are usually sold as weanlings. Occasionally, Lynne will hold back one or two to train and sell as adults and loves the process of training young horses and watching their minds work. When the weanlings leave the farm they all have excellent basics. They lead, tie, cross-tie, pick up their feet, respond to verbal commands, and are very people oriented. Please see the Morgan Horse for Sale page to see Statesman Morgans currently for sale.
In addition to working with her own horses, Lynne takes two to four outside horses in for training per year, and of course she loves being involved with the training of horses that she has bred. Statesman Farm offers boarding and has 7 - 10 boarders at any given time. Please see the Boarding and Training page for further information on these services.