Southern Cross Morgans – What’s in a Name?

With my husband’s background as a mariner, for almost 40 years, when we started looking for a name for our little farm, and the Morgan breeding operation that is becoming our life, we looked to the sky for a solution. There it was, shining above the southern horizon… the Southern Cross, the smallest constellation in the sky, but one of the proudest, kind of like our Morgan horses.

The Australians affectionately refer to The Southern Cross as “Crux,” and their national flag bears its image. We took “CRUX” as our prefix, registered with the American Morgan Horse Association. We are anticipating the arrival of our first foals, in 2008, and they will be the first to bear the CRUX prefix.

We have also taken the liberty of registering our brand, the Rockin’ Anchor, taken from a relic my husband found on a steamship that sank in 1874. It is a mariners cross, an anchor and chain, and the symbol of the mariner’s belief in God. As is the tradition of the West, all of our horses will wear this brand, frozen onto their hip.

Though we will strive to preserve the Morgan legacy, our mission, at Southern Cross Morgans, is not to try to relive history, to live in the past. It is, rather, to learn from the lessons that developed into the branch of Morgandom known as the Working Western Foundation, and, like the horses that we love so much, to move forward with our head held high.