The Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show is the largest annual competition for the
Morgan horse
The Morgan horse is one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States. Tracing back to the foundation sire Figure, later named Justin Morgan after his best-known owner, Morgans served many roles in 19th-century American histo ...
. The "Grand National" was first held in 1974 in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
and was held there again the following year, before it permanently moved to State Fair Park in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
in 1975.
The Morgan Grand National averages attendance of about 5,000, and over 1,000 horses compete over the course of the week-long show, which is held in early to mid October. The show offers classes in disciplines such as western, hunt seat, saddle seat, dressage, and reining. The show offers $300,000 in prize money. It includes a wide variety of classes, including
saddle seat
Saddle seat is a style of horse riding within the category of English riding that is designed to show off the high action of certain horse breeds. The style developed into its modern form in the United States, and is also seen in Canada and Sout ...
,
western pleasure
Western pleasure is a western style competition at horse shows that evaluates horses on manners and suitability of the horse for a relaxed and slow but collected gait cadence, along with calm and responsive disposition. The horse is to appear to ...
,
harness
A harness is a looped restraint or support. Specifically, it may refer to one of the following harness types:
* Bondage harness
* Child harness
* Climbing harness
* Dog harness
* Pet harness
* Five-point harness
* Horse harness
* Parrot harness
* ...
, and
show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...
.
References
{{reflist
Equestrian sports competitions in the United States