Ayelien Richards, Richards Ranch

On Sunday, June 29, 1952 The New York Morgan Horse Society was officially organized.

Charter members at this meeting were Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Rogers, Philip A. Hess, Miss Hortense Lynds, Willard Hoefen, Mr. and Mrs. Rolland H. Sanders, Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Eisenhard and Ayelien Richards (our first Corresponding Secretary.) R ead this notice published in the September, 1952 issue of The Morgan Horse Magazine, announcing the formation of the NYSMHS. Reprinted with permission from the AMHA.

A member of our Society for over 53 years, Ayelien still treasures the memories of her Morgans, and the wonderful friends that made her originally select our breed over any other.

These days you'll find Ayelien in Dublin, PA near her beloved son Billy, and with two miniature Shetlands in the barn.

There's the adorable Brandy, a smaller version of her favorite Morgan mare - Mandate's Peggy Lou. Ayelien's still cleaning stalls, feeding hay and grain and hooking the cart!

It's the exuberance and warmth that seems to be what those who knew Ayelien, remember about her best. Mention her name to any of the "longtime" members who were her friends, and you'll see them smile almost immediately.

I can tell that she was great fun!

It was a treat spending two days this past October as Ayelien's guest, and I hope that you enjoy the results of our conversations as much as I did.

Happy Trails to you Ayelien!

Ayelien was born in Wheeling West Virginia in 1921, and started riding at the age of 8 (after reading Black Beauty.)

Her first horse was Streak of Lightning, a Standardbred mare her dad got her when she was 17.

Streak ran off and fell on Ayelien, but after Ayelien figured her out she would trot off with her when hooked to the sleigh or cart. Ayelien says she was a "very exciting" horse. That's typical Ayelien!

In 1948 she moved with her husband to Elmira, and wavered a bit between walking horses and Morgans as she planned to acquire a stallion to start a breeding operation. You can download an article she wrote for The Morgan Horse Magazine that tells you about Gipsey Allen - the Morgan Stallion with "the look of eagles" that won out.

In the article, Ayelien talked about training Gipsey Allen, but a year or two later she came to the realization that she'd rather have him as a gelding, and would look outside for her breeding stallions.

Then in 1951, she purchased Ruthven's Nancy Ann from Marilyn Childs (shown with Ayelien in one of the many Parade classes they entered.)

When bred to Lippitt Mandate, Marilyn Childs stallion, and other top stallions of the day, Nancy produced several offspring, but Mandate's Peggy Lou is Ayelien's favorite.

During 1955 and 1956, Ayelien published a series of articles in The Morgan Horse Magazine. "Horse Tails" are delightful stories about the activities at Richards Ranch. From daughter Salle's travels with her mother, to the cow that she brings home from Anna Ela's Townshend Farms , Ayelien's ability to find fun in most any experience shines through.

At about that same time, it's through her relationship with the Rodee's (very early NYSMHS members, and the breeders of the original "Pepper" horses) that another mare joins the ranks. Little Miss Pepper goes on to win in the show ring and produce several lovely babies. Little Miss Pepper also opened the door to a lifelong friendship with John Lydon and Elizabeth Power of Waseeka Farms.

It's decided at Richards Ranch that to limit the amount of horses in the barn, they would breed to outside stallions, keep only a favorite mare or two (Peggy and Little Miss Pepper) and focus on developing show quality geldings which could be more easily marketed.

Over time, nearly 30 well bred, good tempered Morgans left the Richards Ranch to make their way into Northeastern stables.

In the late 60's life presented Ayelien with a series of challenges; a divorce, the horses needing to find homes where they will be well cared for, her son Billy is born with special needs, and Mandate's Peggy Lou unexpected death. She moved to Dublin, PA to be close to her family, which is where you'll find her now.

Share with me Ayelien's memories of the "early" years - the friendships that started our NYSMHS, thoughts on some of the magnificent horses of that time, and a sampling of photos from her personal collection.

* I'd like to thank Linda Burke, who knowing the value of this story to the club, introduced me to Ayelien.

On the following pages we're proud to present Ayelien's scrapbook. On many of the pages you'll see a link to a short video clip that offers up a commentary related to the photo. I've attempted to keep these clips as small as possible to reduce download time, but in some cases if you are not on a broadband or cable connection the wait time might be a few moments. Trust me, it's worth the wait.

With the clips you'll have the opportunity to view Dial Up clips or High Speed. If you're using a standard modem, select Dial Up as the High Speed will not play properly on your computer. If you have a cable or DSL connection, opt for High Speed as the audio and picture quality is much better (and larger.)

Should you have any problems viewing these files, please contact me and I'll try to help.

And now we're privileged to share with you Ayelien's scrapbook....