Following Ramul Dvarishkis’ lead...

Ramul was born in North Dakota in 1910 and raised in Wyoming, where still lives today.  As of this year, 2003, Ramul is 93 and still very involved and very active with breeding, raising, and riding horses.  These are not easy afternoon rides, but rather, they are long days of ranch work.   He told me that he has a two-year-old to start in the spring of 2004, if his health holds out!

Ramul bought his first Morgan stallion in 1931 using money he earned trapping coyotes and bobcats.  With the help of his Morgans, he developed a guiding outfit in the Absaroka Mountains.  Ramul was 81 years old when he lead his last client to a successful hunt in those same mountains.  At the same time, he developed his own cattle ranch that he operated until 1994.  In its prime the ranch ran 250 head of Hereford cows.  With his guiding outfit and ranch, Ramul needed a horse with tremendous endurance that was surefooted and smooth gaited.  When asked about the focus of his breeding program, his reply was, “All I wanted to do was raise a good tough ranch horse.”    The old-timers that he knew had said, “If you want a good tough dependable horse, you need a Morgan!”

So with this good advice, Ramul set out to develop a breeding program.  Ramul was looking for horses with speed, size and cowiness.  He found all of these qualities in horses with Peter McCue bloodlines so he purchased 5 Peter McCue grand-daughters for a man named Nations.  Some time later he purchased 3 more Peter McCue bred mares from his brother-in-law.  Very close to the same time Ramul purchased the Morgan yearling stallion “Discontent”, from the Mile City Remount Station.  Ramul bred this stallion to his Peter McCue mares. 

With the use of many well known Morgan stallions, Ramul shaped a breeding program that produced athletic, sure-footed, tough, cowy horse. Ramul preferred horse around 15-2 hands high and between 1100 to 1200 pounds.  He culled accordingly and raised over 200 well bred horses, not all of them registered. Ramul’s first registered Morgan mares, Annabelle and Ann Royal, were bred by Mrs. Greenwalt of Brunk Farms.  Some years later Mrs. Greenwalt  visited the ranch and was impressed with the quality of Ramul’s herd of horses.  She assisted Ramul to register most of his horse under the X rule before the registry was closed in 1938.  Many of the ranches of that time started their Morgan Lineage with foundation stock that other than pure Morgan.  Once the registry was closed, only Morgan horses were able to be registered as Morgan.

Ramul owned stallions
Discontent      (Revere x Cleptomania – Headlight Morgan x Baby Girl)
Bought in 1931 as a yearling from Mile City Station for $150.00.  Ramul said, “Discontent was of good size, with lots of bone and a good head.  His colts were gentle easy to handle at weaning and easy to train and work with through the rest of their training.”  Discontent was sold at 8 years old because of his ability to learn and perform tricks.

Adams Black Oak
Bought as a 3 year old, was an active stallion and was eventually sold to Africa.  Ramul remembers Black Oak as “a good traveling horse.”

Prince Dandy
Purchased through Ramul’s brother who was foreman at the T A, a ranch at Wood River.  Dandy was a light chestnut of L U Sheep Ranch breeding.

Stetson
Ramul traded cows to purchase this stallion.  In Ramul’s own words “Stetson was smooth gaited and could be ridden or driven.  He was 5-2 hands and a very good saddle horse, far better than Flyhawk and Stetson had better hind quarters”  After a time, Stetson was traded to the LU ranch for another stallion.

Flying Colors
Brunk breed (Mrs. Greenwalt).  Flying Colors was a small chestnut horse that was very cowy.  Although Flying Colors was small, his get were of good size

Dickie
Purchased from the LU Sheep Ranch.  He was a roan color with a gray mane and tail.

Domino Joe
Ramul raised.  Sold to Margret Nellie of Tetonia Morgans as a 2 year old.  Mrs. Nellie also purchased many of Ramul raised fillies.

Billy
Another stallion raised on Ramul’s ranch.  Billy was a full brother to Domino Joe.  Billy was a light bay.  Ramul believed that Billy was the better of the two horses.  Billy was also sold when he was 2 years old.
Funquest Pat Hand (Flyhawks Blackstar x Cornwallis Pat)

Stetson Showman (Stetson x Fantasia)
This pair of blacks and another pair of blacks (Ramul couldn’t remember their names), were used for chariot racing.  “I didn’t win a lot with them, but this was a good way to draw attention to my horses, matched blacks impressed a lot of people”.  Ramul used chariot racing for fun and attention all through the 1960’s.

Twin Ida Ben Don
Purchased in Idaho – couldn’t recall much about him.

Beckridge Como (Montey Vermont x Milholm Coronation)
Raised by Leo Beckley.  Most likely one of the blacks that Ramul chariot raced.

Bombo (Beckridge Como x Midnite
Purchased from a preacher in Cody Wyoming.  Bombo was a dark bay, heavy built the stood 15-2 hands high.

Ramul’s Justin (Bombo x Bernadett)
Ramuls Justin is a dark mahogany bay standing 15-2 hands and possessing lots of bone.  Sold to El-D-Bars Morgans of Stony Plain, Alberta as a 6 year old.  Sold again at 18 years old to Noble-T Morgans of Grindrod, B.C.  Still going strong at 27 years young.  Producing athletic babies with lots of bone, depth and hind quarters to make the work easy.

Ramuls Rascal (Ramuls Justin x Shawnee’s Pam Pam)
Rascal was a trim 15-2 hands chestnut who liked to work.  Ramul said that Rascal was his ideal saddle horse.  He too was sold to El-D-Bars Morgans.  Rascal passed away after a couple of years in Canada.  Ramuls Bener, a son of Rascal, also passed away at a young age.  This bloodline is hard to come by and not available for sale very often.