Red Bluff Morgan Horse Stud was established in 2000 but it’s foundations go a lot further back than that.

Jennifer Bird, Red Bluff’s founder, was born to a farming family in the Alexandra area of Victoria. She was raised and cultivated as her father’s “right hand man” so she learnt to keep up on the back of a horse from the age of three. She wore out her first pony in twelve months and then progressed to others. She begged, borrowed and bought horses. Along the way she developed skills and acquired knowledge that have stood the test of time and which have been applied to the love of her life …. Equines in general and Morgans in particular.

Experience is the best teacher they say so Jenny was indebted to the fact that she was “lent” to local cattlemen and horsemen for a day's work often enough to assimilate some tutoring from the experts of the time. Back then, everybody had horses. The neighbours bred thoroughbreds and ponies, showed at Royals and stood stallions at stud. Cattlemen used horses for real stock work on a daily basis. Fencing was erected using draft horses and sleds to get up the hills. Jenny rode her horse to music lessons 10 miles each way regardless of the weather. She was the unpaid “hired” hand for any activity that involved horses.

Jenny became a special education teacher and by the age of 21 she had purchased her first farm and stallions and mares. Her work was her hobby and her horses were her part-time work. She enjoyed endurance riding in the sport’s early days and she still maintains an interest in that sport, limited only by other commitments. The highlight of Jenny’s endurance career was having her mare compete and finish 11th in the Heavy Weight division at the 1990 S.A. Tom Quilty with a guest American rider Dr Christine Marks up.

Coming from a background and life which revolved around horses as part of daily life, it was only natural that Jenny would be attracted to the Morgan breed, known to be extremely versatile. In 1987 Jenny became a Morgan owner with the purchase of Aura Dell Charlie Brown [Saddleback Sultan X Saddleback Sundance] and the lease of  Wawayanda Watch Out (Imp), Lizotte Lil Bridget (Imp), Aura Dell Misty, Aura Dell Peekie and a part bred, Aura Dell Break of Day. Jenny began her breeding program under the prefix Mt Tawonga in partnership with W. G. Powell. At a later date, these horses were all purchased under the company name Tan Dan Pty Ltd.

In 1994, Jenny purchased and imported the Lippitt Morgan stallion Marvelous Encore from Ellie Mason of Marvelous Morgans. At this time Jenny also purchased Woodrun Trillium in foal by frozen semen to Royalton Ashline from Linda Eiben of Woodrun Morgans. Jenny also purchased frozen semen from Equinox Royalty and Wood Run Mandrake and then she had to “import” Linda Eiben to teach her how to A.I. The result of Jenny’s first A.I. breedings were Mt Tawonga Tobey and Mt Tawonga Kate.

Jenny then visited the USA and Canada to see more Morgans in the flesh and help her evaluate the quality of what she was breeding back home. She met many breeders and saw a lot of horses returning to Australia with confidence and justified satisfaction that her breeding program was producing good Morgan types.

Jenny had developed and expanded her ideas about the direction she wanted to take with her Morgan breeding program and in 2000 she decided it was time to sever her business ties with Mt Tawonga. She took with her an elite group of mares and stallions and established Red Bluff Morgan Horse Stud.