In Memory: Robert Reali

Robert Reali and Galtridge Spar Chief

Robert S. Reali, age 62, who bred Morgans for many years in the Mid-Atlantic area, crossed over from this life on May 20, 2024. When Rob was 15 yrs old, his father gifted him with his first Morgan, a weanling stud colt named Galtridge Spar Chief who would go on to be the foundation sire for their Baron Crest Morgan Farm in Coatesville, PA. A few months later they purchased the versatile gelding, Trey Acre’s Vigilsun, who Rob showed for several years until Spar was of competition age. Spar went on to become a Champion in the Western Pleasure Division with wins in English Pleasure and In-Hand as well. 

Rob and his father, Silvestro, bred/owned/showed Morgans throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s in the Mid-Atlantic area with help from friends and Trainers such as Sullivan Davis and Harry Sebring. When Paramount Farms dispersed, Rob purchased the successful show and breeding stallions Paramount’s Notice Me and Black River Premier to join Spar on their stallion roster. The three stallions produced dozens of Morgans bearing their Baronet’s prefix. 

Rob battled Multiple Sclerosis for many years, but he never let it get him down. He always had a smile on his face, a joke ready to be told and a prank waiting to be played. He enjoyed tracing Morgan lineages and creating pedigree charts for his friends, often documenting them back to Justin Morgan himself. 

Rob requested that the Garth Brooks song “The Dance” be played at his funeral and it summed up his life and outlook on things perfectly. Rob is survived by his sisters Kathleen Reali Ponto and Tricia Reali Swinty who filled his life with love and joy and gave him his much-loved nieces and nephews. He also lives on in the hearts and minds of a host of friends met through his Morgans and if you ask any of us what we remember most about him, it’d be his ready smile, his love of family and friends and his love of the Morgan Horse. 

When next you hear the thunder rolling overhead, that’ll be Rob and Spar galloping over the fields of the Rainbow Bridge.

Obituary and photo courtesy of MaryAnn Schafer. 

Online obituary and Guest Book for condolences HERE.