Color: Dark Bay with small star
Height: 15.1 hands
Foaled: May 3, 1990
Sire: Chief of State
Dam: Meadowrock Melanie
See pedigree and ancestors
Registries: American Morgan Horse Association; American Warmblood Society (Approved and Branded - one of only three Morgan Stallions "Approved" by AWS)

With his wonderful Morgan temperament and exceptional sport horse movement, this athletic stallion has bred an average of a dozen mares every year while competing successfully through 3rd level dressage, winning almost 70 percent of his classes during his career, and seldom placing lower than 3rd. He added jumping to his repetoire in 2003 and took home the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships Sport Horse Award. (See Major Honors) He also enjoys driving and may eventually compete in that discipline.

What makes this remarkable is that Silhouette suffered a severe, life-threatening injury in a fence as a yearling - cutting halfway through his right hock, severing the ligaments and tendons, compromising the joint capsule and fracturing the cannon bone. After 6 weeks in a cast, more than 6 months in physical therapy which included being trotted for 2 miles every day behind a pickup truck and subsequent hock injections to provide relief while the joint stabilized, Silhouette has gone on to a productive competition and breeding career - a fete that has defied pessimistic predictions by his veterinarians, but points out his Morgan heart and determination.

Silhouette has competed on equal footing with horses of all-breeds in open competition because of his correct sport horse conformation, with an especially strong, deep hindquarters that gives him the ability to sit and move from the rear. Powerful athleticism goes hand-in-hand with a playful intelligence and superb work ethic that means he's extremely trainable and just plain fun to be around. These traits, coupled with his typically Morgan charisma, gives him a natural presence in the competition ring and have helped make him a winner.

No sport horsehorse is successful through sheer talent and heart - it takes years of careful training and dedication from a rider, and we at Spring Hollow are lucky that Silhouette has been ridden and competed throughout his career by Lori Shoemake. In 2001, Lori won the prestigious Van Schaik Dressage Scholarship from the American Morgan Horse Institute and used the funding to work with international clinician Uwe Steiner.

But of course the value of a sire is in his offspring, and here Silhouette has been remarkably successful. You can see examples throughout this web site and on the Silhouette Offspring web page, and we've also compiled a synopsis of some of the accomplishments of just a few of his sons and daughters.

Breeding by shipped semen.

Stud Fee: $1,250, LFG. $450 non refundable booking fee; balance due when mare declared in foal.

Please note: Silhouette is not standing to the pubic in 2008 due to his owner's time constraints, but his book will reopen in 2009.