Competition horses, Stallions, Showjumpers, Event horses and Connemara Ponies.

Irelandhorse

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Click on this for  [ Our first News 2001 to 2004]

January 2005 News  Happy New Year to you all. We are aiming to run a social night in aid of the Tsunami disaster this month, so if anyone has any offerings to be auctioned, it would be most welcome. We had a great Christmas with family and friends. Conan, now six has suddenly gained an interest in riding and Kells Equestrian Centre kindly lent us 'Dolly' for a few days. Pictured here right and left, with Conan riding on his own in the fields! An exceptional pony and a hard one to find, which we are now trying to do. This pony is 12hh and will do a course of fences, hunt or ride quietly where ever her little rider wishes to go, amazing. If you know of one for sale or to loan, please let us know. The stallions have all had their Christmas brake and will now start back into work (the ones that do) The horses that are out get fed haylage and nuts twice a day. If I can get into gear I have my first dressage show with Patrick at the end of the month. 8/1/05 I cant say how bad a day this was for us. That morning I managed to loose our sweet little Cockatiel, as I said in Sept last, she was a new member of the family and that is how it felt. She would sit on our shoulders so often for attention and on this occasion I never realised she was there as I stepped out the door and off she flew, appearing to enjoy her freedom until the wind took her flight and we completely lost her. Searching the fields since, and leaving an empty place in our hearts. The poor little bird has probably perished by now. I know it has no relevance to the worlds problems, but it is hart braking for us. We will remember her always for the little character and friend that she was. Jessop and Conan

12/1/05 We have heard the good news that Ard VDL Douglas is having his re-examination for full approval into the IHR main Stud Book this Spring, instead of having to waiting until the end of the year. This will be great news for breeders and for those who have used him. We have to have is front feet re-x-rayed and they have to make a judgement on it then. I think it is to check that there is no or little change in his sidebones, now that he has done another seasons jumping. They may take his performance into account too, which is marvellous.

Hugh McMahon from International Competition Stallions in Scotland sent me this picture of Maximum Clearance jumping in the US in 1997. I hope to get more information on him this week to put on his page plus some pictures of his offspring. I gather he only covered about five to seven mares a season  in America. I think he will suit us here as I have heard that his progeny move just like him. A much needed input from a Thoroughbred over here if we are hoping to maintain our lead in breeding eventers. His first mare has arrived today, Weijshe, belonging to John Reid. She is the dam of Accolade and Wishful Thinking among others, both Internationals, both represented Ireland this past year. She is very old, so lets hope we get her infoal. Actually John corrected me, Weijshe is the dam of four International horses, including two approved stallions!

We got two email today which is the fun side of what we do. This was the first with the picture;

From: TaMmy
Sent: 15 January 2005 23:44
To: info@irelandhorse.com
Subject: Ard Katalina

To Heather and Richard Wright,
                                            I just thought id let you know how Ard Catalina is doing (we call her Kat for short ). She is such a wonderful horse, so honest and gives everything a go. I wouldn't sell her for the world now.  She has been doing really well in dressage, She is up to elementary level now and she just loves Cross Country and eventing. I was on your website the other day and was looking at her dad and Granddad. Its a really good site and i cant wait until you put the new bit about Ard Black Kat on so i can find out more about her dad. I was just wondering if you have any photos of her mam that you could E mail to me as i would love to see what she looks like. My address is Tammy***. She also is doing well show jumping as well. I have had her all over the country showing and jumping last year and she has come home with lots of trophies and prize money. I have included some pics of her jumping at a local show when i first started jumping her. I will try to get some xc and showing ones sent to you as well when the computer behaves it self. I just thought Id let you know how she is doing and just to say thanks for selling such a wonderful horse. I knew i would find one like her one day. Thanks once again.

 Yours sincerely, Tammy.

And then we got one from Pat and Ian Mouser saying Ard Black Cat is coming home. With a picture of himself 'Ard Black Cat' attached, competing down under (see below). Coincidentally, he is the father of Ard Catalina above.Last Friday the 14th January we purchased a pony for Conan. A normal thing to do, but we did it in an 'abnormal' way, (At this point as I write, Richard walks past saying "Tell the world, why don't you" as he puts his eyes to the sky. "so everyone can laugh at us when it all goes wrong" He could be right, but it is what WE did!! We bought her from the Internet without seeing her!  She is a little mare pony, 9 years old, 12hh roan which has hunted off the lead and jumped over 40 consecutive clear rounds in those tiny kiddie classes, so we bought her over the phone. Its in England and we have to ship it home. I will then have to tell you how we get on. I do have a list of reasons for doing this; I liked the people. The children had grown out of it and are still riding. (I always feel that when a child looses interest in riding, that it is often due to the pony) The pony was mainly ridden off the lead. It hunted, letting horses pass it (rare in a pony hunting) and if a child under 8 can ride clear rounds all the time it must be a saint. Lastly, I am sad to say, it was better value than what I was asked lately for older ponies over here. I think that these tiny ponies under 12.1 are more numerous (well used ones anyhow) in England, or maybe just easier to find due to the use of the internet. One good site here for buying and selling little ponies etc. in Ireland is http://www.irishequimarkets.com/. Anyhow, watch this space and see how we get on.

19th Jan. We are standing Glenayre Mystical Bobby this season (pictured here right, jumping ). He is a dun 14.2hh Registered Connemara stallion and a grade 'A' showjumper, jumping this coming year with Nicholas Butler. His sire is the famous Ashfield Bobby Sparrow, ranked 16th in the "Best pony jumping stallions of Europe" (all breeds) when I  looked in a 2000 Zangersheide magazine. Ashfield Bobby Sparrow (by Carna Bobby) won the Pony European Individual Showjumping Championships with Edward Doyle. Bobby is a lovely pony for us to get from his owner Peter Meehan. I'll put a page up for him soon. There are a few additions to the 'Jobs' page and updates elsewhere. We have two stallions joining us shortly. One is 'Natal' a fully approved KWPN horse that has superb breeding. And a young stallion by Indoctro out of a Cor de la Bryere mare that we feel has a lot of potential. His pedigree has three lines of Cor de la Bryere, sire of Cavalier. Pages are not ready yet but I am working on them.
27th Jan, Conan's pony arrived yesterday evening, thanks to McMahons transport. And thank goodness too, as this little mare pony 'Tiffany' looks to be marvellous. Conan rode her around the arena last night, a new place to her, all spooky with shadows from the light, but she didn't put a foot wrong. Today, Conan rode her around the big fields on his own, trotting as well, and she was a saint. All she did was shake her head in a funny way sometimes. To see this work out is such a relief. AT LONG LAST The Irish Horse Board have agreed to accede to our request and have Ard VDL Douglas re-assessed now this Spring. I think they realised that we were treated incorrectly at our appeal with Douglas. Together, we decided that this was the best resolution. 27th Jan. We took Ard VDL Douglas to the veterinary clinic to be re-examined and these X-rays go to the IHR. Hopefully we will hear back next week. The knowledge I have gained on sidebones leads me to believe that this is just a formality at this point. Hopefully now Douglas will be fully approved with the IHR, a better start to the 2005 season ahead.

Feburary News

Here is Tiffany (below), Conan's first pony. She is working out to be a real success, We changed to a stronger bit as sometimes she would walk off in her own direction, not Conans, but always behaved in trot in open field etc. Now he is in control again all the time and is gaining confidence. He has fallen off a few times in the field, but a canter in the arena has now been achieved without falling off and Conan is delighted.

We contacted Mr Otto Schalter, Assistant Breeding Director on Germany of the Rheinland-Pfalz-Saar Studbook as Maximum Clearance is approved by them, to ask what they thought of Max, He kindly gave us this reply:

Monday 7th Feb. Both the new stallions arrived today. VDL jumped the the young horse by Indoctro before he left (as he had been away at another yard). they said that he was as 'good a jumper' as anything they have. Sounds good. Netal is a lovely kind horse too, we are pleased. 8th Feb. We had our first visiting mare Weijshe (aged 25), owned by John Read, scanned infoal today to Maximum Clearance. Well done Max! I said I would let you know how we are getting on with Conan's new pony 'Tiffany'. Well, it could be better. Like a typical little pony, she is realising that Conan comes off very easily! Now, I will say she is behaving very well, but we find that when Conan looses his irons and his legs grip back too far or he flops out of position unexpectedly like any little beginner, she doesn't like it and flies off. I now realise that she could be described as being 'too good', she jumps so well and is sensitive. We also made the mistake of feeding her and keeping her in at night. We made a bit of a mistake along those lines. But even if we had seen her and had her on a weeks trial we would still not have been any the wiser. But because she is so good to ride generally, we are going to keep her and get Conan a pony for this year until he is better ready for Tiffany. If we tried to persue, I think we could run the chance of ruining them both at this stage. The only problem is the extra cost, so lets hope we have a good stud season with the new stallions and that Douglas gets fully approved with the IHB. Sunday 20th Feb. I am still on the pony theme for the moment. Last Thursday Conan and myself went to England and looked at Pepper, another 12hh pony. This time jumping was not important, we were out looking for a bombproof pony. I managed to only organise one pony to see as another had been sold. I had a fair idea that all the others were not what we wanted. We tried her, we bought her and she arrived yesterday! Today Conan rode her in the arena and off around the fields. He even had a canter in the fields and jumped a little double of fences back in the school when we got back. Believe it of not, he did not fall off or get bucked off. Pepper is great but does not like to jump, and even though she is 15 we still hope that Conan will manage to do little jumps, and sure enough he did (picture below). She is such a kind pony and her previous owner Ben has progressed with great confidence on to a bigger pony. (I always feel that when a child has lost interest it has a lot to do with the pony they have.) It is only from December the 11th that Conan started to ride, before that he had no interest and only sat on our old pony and be led, he seems to have come a long way since then.

Monday 28th Feb. I set off to Essen for the huge equestrian Sports World Fair 'Equitana'. It was fascinating. I took a great interest in the western riding and the Parelli, now that I find it difficult to ride, I may be able to enjoy a new training method and still get great enjoyment. The halls of stands in Equitanna were numerous and of course, I bought a few things too!. Came home via the International Stallion Show in Zwolle (NED) to watch a day of the jumping. The standard was impressive and interesting to see our stallions pedigree lines in action. 

With regards to Ard VDL Douglas and his approval with the IHB, we are confused. His re-examination of his x-rays (which was agreed by the board of directors to be conducted at this time) has been assessed and passed by the Horse Boards veterinary panel, but the Horse board have not informed us of their intention to approve him!. We await a reply while Richard is becoming increasingly frustrated and annoyed with the intransient attitude of the Irish Horse Board. As we understand it, Douglas has now passed his Conformation, his performance test, his open competition results and his x-rays have been fully passed by the IHB Veterinary panel, headed by Mr Tom Hurley. Does this not classify him as approved?

Friday 11th Feb. Glenamaddy stallion parade. It started at 6pm and we took three; Ard VDL Douglas, Irco Lhee and Maximum Clearance. It took us nearly three hours to get there and by 1/4 past 12 we had not jumped, so decided to head home. Richard jumped Douglas in Cavan on the week end, with another lovely double clear in the 1.30m class as a warm up for the 'mini 1.35m Grand Prix league', the first being held in Kilronan, Co.Dublin next Sunday. Also, Irco Lhee jumped in the 1.10m. He had the fastest time, but unfortunately one down. At home Conan has been gaining confidence riding Pepper around the farm and doing a few little jumps. I think we have a long way to go before Pepper thinks jumping is for her! We have to keep it small. So small, that as she approaches a new jump and slows down to stop, that we, as bystanders, can lead or push her over it. Maybe she'll get better.

March News

St. Patricks Day Thursday 17th March. Patricia (or French student) rode Irco Lhee in the parade today in Clonmellon as our 'first ever' 'float'! He behaved brilliantly. As you can imagine it was scary as the parade turned back up the street again passing Irco on its way, with all its balloons and banners. Richard is getting Ard VDL Unlimited ready for the IHR inspections next week and the stud work is getting underway with visiting mares and semen away. Also, we now have the ability to accept credit card payments for stallion fees directly through this site. Just go to our 'Stallions' page and click on the 'pay now' button which is processed through 'paypal', a secure service we have been using ourselves, for a number of years.

Saturday 19th March. The problem with Douglas and the IHB made the headlines of The Irish Field today written by Siobhan English, it described our situation pretty well.

Sunday 20th; Richard and Ard VDL Douglas was placed 4th in his first Grand Prix which was held at Kilronan Show, Co. Dublin. This is the first of a five part league sponsored by Knightfield Equestrian, the owners of the famous stallion 'Guidam'.

We have just heard that Irco Lhee, has two graded sons in England now. I found this picture of one of them, 'Goss Green Mirage' out of a Welton Crackerjack mare, owned by Peter and Alison Jenkins. One of them, I was told, scored 10's for all his jumping at his grading.

Richard is jumping Ard VDL Douglas hopefully at two Grand Prix Shows this Easter weekend. Sunday in Kill, Co. Kildare and Monday in Glenamaddy, Co. Galway.

Easter Sunday 27th of March. A very sad day for me as I had to have my beloved Khana put to sleep. I had two wonderful horses through my life and she was one of them. She was with our others mares due to foal getting fed every day and Richard said she was in good form that morning. After lunch I went out to find her standing looking terribly shook. Thanks to our vet, who was here within the hour, who said her vital signs were very bad and knowing Khana had cancer, we knew that we had no option. Thank God I managed not to cry all over her and she passed away peacefully, but I miss her so.  I bought her from my mother thirty one years ago with money I had saved. I spent many hours a day playing with her as a youngster, and when she was old enough, she was the first horse I ever trained. As I had then started with my 15.2 Khana went on loan to Adrian Sharpe who hunted her and successfully represented Ireland in WHP. After that  Heike Holstein borrowed her to ride soon after her Father died. She won a lot with Khana including a first at the RDS Dublin Horse Show, giving Heike back her confidence. Khana was also a great broodmare. She bred among others, Ard Conneely who became the Supreme Champion at the Clifden Connemara Pony Show and the RDS. It was only last week Richard and I stood and watched as she galloped down the field with her friends, that is how I will remember her.

Richard rang later that day to see how we were and to tell me some good news; Ard VDL Douglas had a super double clear in the Guidam Grand Prix, Kill, to finish 5th. What a day.

I see that a full report from Kilronan Show March 20th, when, is featured in Jumpingaround.com a great site with up to date news and superb photos. A great shot of Douglas on page 2.

Monday 28th Richard headed down to catch another Grand Prix, this time in Glenamaddy and also to give some mare owners down there, a chance to see him jump. He went very well until the 11th fence, a double where Richard checked him on the corner a bit too much and Doug thought he had finished, he just about came to a walk!. Richard had to 'hoosh' him on again where he jumped the first part, but had the sense to run out at the second. Came around again and jumped it fine. Richard was kicking himself as there were only three clears into the jump off. Wednesday 30th Ard Cherry (by Ard Allez Cat) had our first foal of the year, a fine big colt again by Douglas and very like him, maybe a touch more quality than his full brothers, we will have to see.

April News

Saturday 2nd This month is starting well. Conan had his first ever show with Pepper and they actually had a double clear. We were so pleased for him as poor Conan had two falls the day before while having their last practice, Pepper decided to stop when she was going a bit fast and then she jumped a bit big from a standstill, still, they are both getting more confidence and learning a lot.

Sunday 3rd Richard and Douglas jumped in their fourth Grand Prix today and finished 5th. It was so exciting and he looked great even though I say it myself. It was the 'Guidam' class again which is a nice step up into this level. This time it was in Cavan with a good entry of nearly forty horses. To give you an idea of what goes on on a day like today. I will start at the beginning with a 'behind the scene' here at Ard Cherrymount Stud.

Its the 22nd of April today, I have not entered any news for a while. I guess when we heard that the IHB Directors decided to keep Douglas as S2 we were in a low frame of mind, not in the mood to see the good things in life. Yesterday we lodged a cheque with our solicitors as we have no more options open to us. We feel breeders deserve to have their progeny in the top section of our IHR studbook, deserve to be treated equally and in accordance with the IHB rules. We will just have to see how it goes.

Also, today Ard VDL Douglas was father to a Palomino foal! a filly out of our lovely jumping dun mare Ard Spun Sugar (by Ard Ohio) Here it is pictured on its very first day.

I would love to study genetics a bit more as coat colours are so interesting. This young mares mother was a dun by a Tb out of a dun Connemara, and every foal she had was dun. But to be homozygous both her parents would have to have been dun but her sire was bay. Even though Douglas is dominant as a sire in temperament, shape and (so far) his jump, he often throws chestnuts, probably from his sire Darco, whose sire was a chestnut. It is this chestnut gene which is so interesting. It is a dilute gene and I believe when crossed with a cremello (albino) can produce a palomino! and maybe there is a similar story with the dun gene.

Three weeks ago, Ard Cherry had this lovely bay colt which I took a picture (below) of today, also by Ard VDL Douglas.

Another reason for my absence is that we are on top of our heads with the stud work, we have visiting mares everywhere and they all seem inseason for ages. Clifford, who was with us from S Africa, is coming back on the 4th of May which will be fantastic.

May News

It is the 11th today and I have not had a chance to fill in any news for ages. This must be the busiest time of the year for us, but I think the busiest time is not until the end of May! so I can't imagine how it is going to be then. We have a field full of barren mares (43!) and as the season progresses the main field of mares gradually changes to a field full of mares with foals.

Last week end, Ard VDL Douglas jumped in Barnadown near Gorey where he came 6th, with a steady round in the 1.30 as a warm up for his biggest Grand Prix yet. This was a 1.40m, where he did a very good round but had two down, with what Richard said "was greenness, he hardly touched one and the other, he caught the upright". There was a record entry in this class, I think only 8 clear in the first round, and Richard was sure Douglas was the youngest in that class. Douglas seemed confident and showed his usual flair.

I took our Dalmatian 'Smarties' to a lovely dog in Milltownpass, so I hope to have a litter at the beginning of July if all goes well.

Saturday 14th May Marily Power has this on her web site and urges us to enter it here;

" The Irish Horse Board is having elections in the Leinster region shortly and we have nominated our friend and colleague Richard Wright.  Not only is he very knowledgeable but hardworking and conscienscious and extremely concerned with the future of breeding in Ireland.  He would also like far more transparency in the workings of the Horse Board. We would urge all those who can vote to support him."

Richard is one of five candidates for our region of the Irish Horse Board.

Richard will be jumping at Cavan show today and Abbervail Stella, Abbervail Dream's full sister, had a lovely colt foal by Douglas this morning for Robert Verburgt, her owner. I have heard how Richard got on. He jumped in the IJM Grand Prix and had two down. He was still confident even though it was 2nd big Grand Prix. The time was tight and it was just greenness, one he knocked because Richard felt he kicked back over the fence as his leg moved on him, sensitive fellow! (jumping in Cavan left)

Wednesday 25th May Ard VDL Douglas won the Barnadown Show 7 & 8 year old qualifier for the Dublin Horse Show. He had a superb double clear with the fastest time. Cian O'Connor was 2nd with Gain Dot Com. A third round was not needed as there were only four double clears for eight places so the time was not important. So Douglas has now qualified for the fourth year in a row for the RDS.

We sold one of our lovely Connemara mares, Ard Nola by Village Boy, with her filly foal at foot by Monanstown Prince. She is the lady on the right in this picture, the day before she left, standing beside Jennys Easter Storm by Spring Con and her filly by Crosskeys Rebel.

Monday 31st May. I have good and bad news for you. The bad news is that our lovely Cruising stallion Ard Abbervail who some of you probably knew, was in Holland in training with Albert Voorn and jumping at a few shows (he thought a lot of him). Ard Abbervail originally left us here because he was finding the environment among the other stallions here, difficult to accept. He was angry at the stallions stabled next to him, it was just upsetting him too much. He had even started to wind suck slightly. In Voorns yard he had settled in well. Until recently, where he started to wind suck more. He had started to get colic attacks which were getting more frequent. Today, by a rectal examinations it was diagnosed that he had a tumour giving us no option but to put him down. So disappointing with such a talented young stallion only six years old, not to mention the €16,000 spent on him over there so far!

Good News, VDL Arkansas is coming back to Ireland and will be standing with us for the remainder of the season, thanks to VDL and Suma Stud. It was Marily and Suzie's idea, as they were having so many enquiries for him. To think, if it was not for Marily and Susie we would never have been fortunate enough to have Ard VDL Douglas in the first place.

VDL Arkansas jumped successfully last weekend in Zelhern wining  the 1.40m. As International stallions that are neither old or retired do not grow on trees so you can imagine how delighted we are.

June News

Tuesday 1st and the news is that Ard Abbervail on further examination, does not have a tumour, I was surprised, I thought he was put down yesterday! It must have been the torsions in his gut from the colic that gave the impression of a tumour. The plan now is to castrate him, do an operation to help prevent him wind sucking (which sometimes works), get him home and work on what is troubling his gut, possibly the windsucking.

I forgot to mention that the Ard Ohio colt named 'Hi Kilrainey', owned by Mr Vincent Loftus won the RDS 4 year old qualifier in Barnadown last week, on the day Douglas won. I looked out a picture of the colt taken when his dam came back the following year. And here is a picture of him now from the show. I hope he goes on to do well. A four year old from VDL Arkansas first crop, finished 4th in that qualifier too.

Flintstone Our lovely Miniature horse is looking for a home. He is four years old, I think now. He is a chestnut gelding very kind. He is like having a dog 'free-ranging' around the house. He is very small and was a great nanny to foaling mares. Money is not as important as a kind home, complete with his own grazing muzzle if needed

It is four weeks now and Smarties is defiantly in pup, so hopefully in about another four weeks we will have a larger family.

16th June VDL Arkansas has arrived and has five mares already covered. We have just passed 370 mares on our records and it is still very busy. Ard VDL Douglas is up on last year and Maximum Clearance and Irco Lhee are proving popular. Richard was voted for Director onto the Irish Horse Board. The only bad thing at the moment is some visiting barren mare brought in a cold, so we are not taking in any mares until we have it cleared. It is always a worry when this happens as you don't know what you are dealing with. We had the vet take some samples today to be on the safe side. It is three days now and already the few that have it, are improving. Flintstone, mentioned above, went to his new home last week end and will be sorely missed. The High Court has granted a Judicial Review on the Douglas case for the 7th of July, but it could be a later date. And the only other 'goings on' since the beginning of the month is that I (Heather) was judging the dogs in Mullingar Show and the Ridden Connemaras in Ballinalee, a nice break from the hectic life here on the stud.

Sat 25th June I travelled up to Donegal and judged the Connemaras an Finn Valley Show. The weather was glorious and there were a great number of classes with nice ponies. These included a performance class which consisted of a Dressage test, a round of jumping, finishing off with a conformation section. Pictured here is the final line up.

Ard VDL Douglas has had three weeks off as he needed a break, but still busy with mares. VDL Arkansas has a 3 year old qualified for the RDS loose jumping by winning the Dublin Qualifier and two 4 year olds have qualified for the RDS  from his first crop, giving a good start to his breeding career.

July News

Sat 8th July Smarties had her puppies, seven beautiful ones. No patches, five bitches and two dogs all spoken for. For those of you who don't know Dalmatians, it is interesting as they are born white with slight spots showing under the hair. I wonder will any become Champions like their Dad.

Ard VDL Douglas is back in work and jumping this coming weekend in Mullingar (if the new sand arena is OK) or Ross House on Monday.  It is four weeks since we had any sick visiting horses and we managed to contain it to just five barren mares in one field. It turned out to be the dreaded Strangles. I did not know but Strangles is the commonest respiratory disease in horses for one thing, and secondly, a horse that has had Strangles, can be a carrier for a number of years, showing no signs. So how can any of us prevent it entering our yards and farms? In future we will have to vaccinate. Luckily, it did not enter our yard at all, we were so lucky. For your interest do read this information page as it is very informative (click this line)

Sunday 10th Richard and Douglas jumped well being placed 3rd in both the 1,20m and 1.30m classes. He is hoping to jump in another Grand Prix class shortly which is not at the furthest end of Ireland as we are still very busy with mares. Thursday 21st Richard jumped Douglas in the Balmoral Grand Prix but having met the third fence on a long one they tripped on landing and Richard ended on the floor, luckily both of them were ok. So to make sure no confidence was lost Richard jumped Douglas in Cavan the following day, 22nd, and won the 6 and 7 year old qualifier for Cavan. That evening Conan took his pony Tiffany and had a double clear in Kells Equestrian Centre which had classes run by the Meath Pony Club.

The pups are doing great, the best litter yet which is great, all with homes to go to before they were even born.

Wednesday 27th. Our registered 3 y'old filly, 'Ard Rebelina' (by Crosskeys Rebel) qualified for the 3 and 4 year old loose jumping final being held the day before Clifden Connemara Pony Show on the 18th of August. On Monday she qualified for the Westport final  too. She will be offered at the Clifden Sales on the19th August, after the show. And because she is a very potential prospect, I suggest that if you want a good Connemara mare which should make 14.2hh (she is 14.1hh now), which shows top quality jumping ability, has a lovely attitude and is by a dun Grade 'A' Connemara jumping pony, I suggest you put your hand in your pocket and buy her. I really like her myself.

End of July. The pups are three weeks old now and doing great.

August News

Ard VDL Douglas is jumping in the10.45 Thursday and 9.15 Friday classes in Simmonscourt, RDS Dublin Horse Show.

Thursday 4th. The first qualifier Douglas didn't get through, but today he jumped like a star and with a double clear, fast against the clock and came 3rd. Sunday, the final went out the window. He jumped in the main ring and started the first half of the course in wonderful style, maybe he became slightly bold with confidence, as the course appeared slightly easier than Thursdays. But it went wrong down the last line and he had three down. Richard was so disappointed. We will think ahead about our next shows and then next year hopefully he will be in that class again (he is only seven) with more experience.

We suddenly decided to head off to the UK with Douglas for the AES SJ show. John Mullen, a friend of ours, lent us his jeep and trailer, booked the boat and we headed off on Tuesday night. Richard and Douglas came 5th the first day with a lovely double clear. In the final he jumped even better but kicked back at the last fence to have one down. We had to head straight for the ferry and arrived home on Friday morning the 12th. Friday evening Conan had his PC Jumping finals where he had a double clear with both Pepper and Tiffany, both going very well. We have decided to narrow his ponies down to one, which is enough for any seven year old! so Tiffany will be here for anyone who is looking for a 12hh pony. We will keep Pepper, even though she is not as keen on jumping but being Conan's first, he doesn't want to part with her. It may not be so easy to get him to part with Tiffany either, so it will have to be a very good home.

Wednesday 17th. Off to Clifden, in Connemara, we travelled with Ard Rebelina for the finals of the 3 and 4 year old loose jumping. From 48 finalists, Rebelina finished a well deserved 4th. The only disappointment was it rained the whole day. Show day on Thursday was lovely (the Clifden National Connemara Pony Show) and Friday's sales were very good with Connemaras making good prices even though we did not sell Rebelina. I think it was a change of mind on our behalf.

Tuesday 23rd. Today Richard and I headed off to Roscommon this time, to check out our mares colt by Irco Lhee. He is a lovely black and white, tall, blood type, with a kind look to his eye. We didn't get any closer as Ard Eagle Eye took him away, off over the hills! He is five months old and will have to make the journey home soon to partner our Douglas colt, who is also the same age.  Wednesday 24th Richard headed off to another EMRT course in the UK saying goodbye to Clifford who is off back to South Africa on Thursday. Over there the stud season will be just starting and he has gained a partnership in a business there, so he will be sorely missed by all of us here. It is great to have someone who gets on so well with all the mare owners and is also is a joy to have living with us as family. Ola will be with us for another month and hopefully by then the stud season will be truly over.

September News

Thursday 8th. It is catch up time on all the news. The stud season is still hanging with only about fifteen mares left! It was a tricky year with more returns than usual which seems to have been the story across the country. Probably due to the unusual weather at the start of year. I heard that the moon had something to do with that! Two of our own most regular breeders (mares that is) decided to take the year off. I feel sorry for the Thoroughbred breeders though as they have so much more money wrapped up in their programme. One bit of great news for us, is our two new additions to our stallion roster; Clover Flush and Ard Black Cat, home after all these years. It is great to get a balance to the type of stallions we stand, as over half of our sires were turning out to be foreign bred. We like both Irish and foreign to suit the wide variation of mares that come here and maintain a balance. We believe that using both foreign and Irish bloodlines can only do good for the future of breeding the Irish Sport Horse. To quote the famous saying "breed from the best, to the best and get the best" and as the Irish Sport horse is a 'type' not a 'breed' we are lucky enough that we can do this, while still maintaining the type of horse we like to breed.

Anyhow back to the news. On the Dalmatian front all the pups have gone to their new homes, which included a trip for me to England taking one of them to the outskirts of London. Last Sunday, Conan won the First Ridden at Trim Show  with Pepper (pictured right), and Tiffany has gone to her new home. We are looking for a new helper here on the stud as Ola finishes her visit here at the end of this month. It will be awful to see her go as she is so much a part of the family. We brought back our coloured colt (pictured left) by Irco Lhee out of the Ard Allez Cat coloured mare. He is just five months old now, weaned and ready to join the two others we hope to get weaned this week. We hope this guy will be a jumper and be a future sire here at the stud as Irco Lhee goes back to the UK for the next season. We have also added another couple of well bred broodmares to our herd. A grey mare by Cruising out of Killea Beauty, the dam of Abbervail Dream (see the Horse and Hound below, and her picture above that) which we hope could breed very well, and a yearling Tb filly out of Paul Darragh's great jumping mare 'Scandal'. Shortly I will try and get a chance to write up pages on the new stallions with a few pictures over the next few days.

Friday 9th Sept We heard that a Cruise On four year old made €20,000 at Gorsbridge Sales today

All our foals have been entered in the forthcoming Cavan Sales early October. When I say 'all' I mean three! Two colts and a filly, all by Ard VDL Douglas, we are pleased with them this year. We have managed to gather a band of mares together that breed well, easier said than done.

14th Sept Natal jumped at his first show yesterday with a clear and four faults. Today he had a double clear, so improved. He is such a sweet tempered horse. He tries in everything we do with him, it would be great if he could become fit and able for the big tracks again.

Tuesday 20th Sept. Richard went off to jump in the Cavan six day show with Douglas. I got an email today from Anne Bekaert to tell us the good news on Ard Conneely. Last Saturday at the Belgium National Show, Ard Conneely won the stallion class. He also won the overall championship. So for one year he is the Belgian Connemara Champion, which is not bad at his age. The Cavan show did not cover us in glory, Richard qualified for the finals and jumped in the Grand Prix, jumped very well but Richard missed into the combination on both occasions. At least it is a solvable problem and the next shows should be more successful.

October News 2005

We have been searching for another pony for our 7 year old son 'Conan' to enable him to hunt and cross country this winter. His pony Pepper is great but she has a lot to learn in this area, so want him to learn first. Trawling the internet and newspaper adverts has taken us to the UK on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately ponies are not always as they are described "suitable for the tiniest of jockeys" is the most confusing. We looked at one of these and Conan would defiantly not have wanted to be any smaller, but he did need to be a lot stronger!. I realise that this type of pony we need, has to have an 'auto' button too. Conan approaches a jump on a nice loose rain, he is straight and kicking but again these ponies did not have this magical ability of wanting to jump. They take this light contact as a sign to stop or run out. My horses wouldn't even do that. So back home again we did another of those crazy things, We bought a pony over the phone, again from the internet, so I suggest you come back here again in time to amuse yourself in our progress, and see if my judgement is up to par, yet again.

Here is the picture of the mare, she is 12.2hh, 13 years old and comes with a guarantee from lovely people so I don't feel we will be going too wrong.

As for prices on all the ponies I see advertised, they generally range around £2,500 sterling. High you may think, but safety for my child at this stage, is more important than my car. How much is your car worth? I have to say when time goes on, a young pony with only a little experience will be a doddle to find in comparison, and a lot cheaper (I hope).

Sunday 2nd October Natal Unlimited and Irco Lhee will be sadly leaving in the next few weeks, Natal to Italy, where he is also fully approved and will probably cover more mares. I will be particularly sad to see him go as he is such a lovely horse in so many ways. Unlimited goes back to Holland again as we hope to replace him with another young horse. Then lastly, Irco Lhee is badly needed back at home in the UK. He is in demand again with the success of his youngsters, unfortunately we don't own him.

Don't forget, the Cavan Sales are on this week, with 20 lots catalogued by Ard VDL Douglas including three of ours. There is another which I have entered on our For Sale page of horses. A few Cruise On, VDL Arkansas and Ohio's. Then there is the Goresbridge sales again with nearly the same number of foals by our sires too.

Thursday 6th Oct. We sold our three lovely foals by Ard VDL Douglas. They made €2,600, €4,100 and €2,600. The colt out of our Ard Allez Cat mare only made €2,600 and as we showed him jump over a small fence, to a few people and I would judge him as 'brilliant', it showed how poor the trade was. There was a definite lack of people buying, infact, if you took away the people involved with selling their foals I would say it would leave about 30 or 40 customers. We had originally planned to sell all our foals, but hen we had sold him, I had a definite feeling that we did something rather stupid.

Monday 10th. I cancelled the purchase of the pony. The video arrived today and it looked totally unsuitable. I was so shocked. Firstly, it was in a standing martingale, and secondly, it just galloped at each fence as soon as it turned to it, no way would it have ridden to a fence on a loose rein with a light seven year old. I have lost complete confidence in what people say. I am still stunned. Thank goodness they sent me the video first, otherwise I would have had the expense of returning the pony (which they agreed to if it was not suitable, that was the guarantee) I am now going to leave getting a pony for a while, Conan is going so well with Pepper, who must be priceless at this stage. We went to a cross country run yesterday, held here in Clonmellon. We managed to find about five jumps small enough for Conan to do. She never ran off after the mad galloping horses as they flew past her, she just did as she was asked. Here she is over a little drop, it was her third attempt as Conan was a bit windy, and I think he was pulling her up. I think if my knees were that loose I would be a bit windy!

Tuesday 25th Oct. We took two three year olds to the Cavan loose jumping qualifier. They both jumped well, nice and correct but they both needed to show more 'bird like' qualities, The dun gelding which is a lovely compact 16hh hunter type qualified, we also sold him, so Fiona Crowe, his owner, was delighted. The Ard Ohio filly should gain confidence from the class, we will try and bring her again next week.

The case with Ard VDL Douglas is progressing. These court proceedings are so slow but with documents going back and forth, it probably lessens the time which is eventually spent in court. Hopefully there will be a result some time this Winter.

I (Heather) have done it again. I purchased a pony (subject to vet) without seeing it. Richard wanted me to make it clear that he suggested we look at it first. This time I liked the people, I liked the video of the pony and she would be a step up from Pepper as she is probably more forward going. She is slightly bigger and looked to jump, over all types of fences, very nicely. I have begun to see that Pepper is not replaceable at Conan's stage of riding, but a pony like this would be great for the indoor jumping this winter and hopefully Conan will be OK doing HT PC etc with her next summer. Since I last wrote up this site, I have seen rather a number of ponies, one was nearly suitable but I just felt something was not just right. In the end I could nearly spend the price of a pony looking so I just relied on my judgement and hope. As always I'll let you know.

I heard that the Connemara Pony Society have finalised their studbook sections into 3 categories, 1 for the main register, 2 for over height, insufficient grading marks and blue eyed creams. 3 for vet failures and part breds. section 1 and 2 's progeny are equally eligible for section 1. I hope I got this correct but it sounds good to me.

Clover Flush at last has his page, just click on his name. I also found this picture of him.

Clifden Connemara Pony sales were manic, like the Irish Draught, they have taken a leap in popularity and ponies were making excellent prices, even for the 'not so good' ones. Top price was €11,000. We actually paid top price the first day for a 14.2 dun gelding, which was just part Connemara, we believe will make it as a showjumper.

November News '05 I never mentioned it, but in Clifden we also bought a 15 year old Connemara mare by Loobeen Larry. She was also dun and we felt she was the nicest mare there! There is a story though. Nobody knew anything about her, she appeared never to have had a foal registered (according to the CP office as one interested party told me). So we took a gamble knowing it was likely that she may never go infoal again. During the bidding we chickened out and a dealer bought her for €1,600, afterwards we had to give €400 extra to get her. Since we had her home we found out who had owned her up to a year before. We also found out that she did in fact breed two colts. Before that she had a still born when she was younger. Her last foal was born about three years ago. She then went to stud last year and kept coming up with fluid in her uterus, she was given the odd wash here and there, but still would not go infoal. On this site I will give you a progress of what we will do and see if we can get her breeding again. We also found she had suffered badly form an attack of laminitis a few years ago and is susceptible to colic, a right set of problems for us. Her name is Deveney Rose and I will write down all the progress in 'Mauve' writing so you can follow it easier. We may not get a successful result, but it may be interesting to see the costs and effort involved. To start with we had the equine dentist do her teeth which were very sharp, at a cost of €35 on 8/11/05 if a pony can't chew properly, it can be one of the causes of colic. We put a waterproof outdoor rug on her and will start feeding her cider vinegar over the winter, about a cup a day. As soon as we get the vet we will PG her, probably for a few consecutive days so she will come into season, enabling us to take a swab and a biopsy just encase we are wasting our time.

Ard VDL Douglas has just gone back to VDL in Holland. He has entered into quarantine so that they can have frozen semen collected then he will come back to us just after Christmas. Richard was so disappointed not to be jumping in the Cavan International show this week, but stud work often has to come first. Richard travelled over with Douglas and them flew back.

We sold the dun gelding 'Bob' that we bought in Clifden the previous week, to a lovely English lady who is sure to produce him well. We wish them the best of luck. He was pictured here left in Clifden but is even nicer in person.

I have found myself in the position of being the Westmeath 'representative' for  in the Midland Connemara Pony Breeders Group. So for any of you in Westmeath who wish to put forward ideas, send them to me. That includes any enquiries for Comemaras, or anything to do with Connemara Ponies at all, I will bring it to the next meeting. I have to say I was very impressed with the group as they are so aware of the need for good ponies and performance. The meeting was so well run too, it was a breath of fresh air.

22-24th Nov.  Richard travelled over to Holland again to VDL and this time decided on our two new stallions for this coming season; a three coming four year old, Corland out of a Libero H mare, who was the winner of the performance test in Germany (his dam is a full sister to the international showjumper O'Llbero), and a two coming three year old, Cassini out of an Athlet Z mare.

December News

We sadly decided to sell our lovely 'oversized' Connemara colt last week 'ArdCeltic Art. He was just finishing his two year old year and measured 150cms. Such a lovely pony, luckily he is going to very nice people in the US via Yvonne Monaghan, who is a credit as an agent as is is always bringing customers to Ireland. I gather he will be used on Tb mares as well as ridden. He was everything we were looking for in a Performance pony stallion, he just went over height. It surprised us when we competed in the Clifden Championships loose jumping this year with our 3 year old bay mare Ard Rebelina, as we herd so many comments during the class "isn't it a shame she just isn't just a little bigger". Well yesterday, the 4th of December, we attended the SJAI measuring to get her measured for the coming year (which can be done at the end of three). Where she measured 147cms, leaving her just one cm left before she grows over height. She does look very mature, but how many ponies must get measured out, just before their last measuring for life? It could be a costly situation and one to be very cautious of.

Monday 12th Dec  Richard has asked Conor Swail to take on the ride of Ard VDL Douglas this coming year. He is a great rider and has more chances to go abroad. So Richard, Connor and Barry O'Connor travelled to VDL in Holland today, where Conor rode Douglas for the first time. As expected they got on great, Conor was very impressed with the feel Douglas gave and the quick responses he felt for such a big horse. Douglas will now stay over there to freeze more semen and do a parade on the 1st of April. Then straight back here where he will get ready for the competition and stud season. I also want to tell breeders that his stud fee will be going up to €1,000 for 2006 which we think, is still good value. Then on Tuesday we had to say farewell to out lovely 2 y'old Connemara colt 'Art' whom we had just sold. He flew out that night to the USA via Shannon. I hope he goes on to do well for his new owners.

Thursday 15th The pony we found in October, arrived at last today. Dorwyn Rhapsody, a lovely 12.1hh liver chestnut mare for Conan to do a bit more jumping. We had never seen her so it was rather exciting. He rode her in the arena after she arrived (as she had a nights rest with the transporters already) and then into the field. She was great, forward going as expected but super. Conan has to learn to hold a little more but he was thrilled, even jumped a few logs. Saturday is the Christmas show in Cavan and a class there will be a great start for them both, all in the Christmas spirit without expecting too much. It will be a first for Pepper there too, so we will see if she does it too! It was this show where Conan first rode into the ring, perched on top of a friends pony, so it is rather a milestone for us all.

Saturday 17th Cavan's Christmas show was a success. The new pony was fast but Conan managed, with just one steering problem, which brought him to a walk before fence three, he then came around again, otherwise went clear. Oh, he was so intent on getting going, he started off over the first fence from the wrong side! Pepper did two classes. I think she did not want to be outdone and was clear all the way, better than ever. Here are pictures of both ponies, Rhapsody's picture was taken outside at the beginning. They are very alike, don't you think?

Sunday 18th We were off again to a Pony Club ride at Ardmulchan, near were we first lived. This time it was with Pepper. Eighty five ponies were reported to be out. It was a mock hunt and all the young kids had a ball. The grand finale was where the well dressed fox finished by jumping the cross country jump of three steps down and then flung himself straight into the water below, which we managed to catch on camcorder.

Friday 27th Was another outing with Conan on Pepper on their first cross country. It was over tiny fences which accommodated those on the lead rain. The first round caused a few run outs as Conan thought he could approach the little fences which were out in the open and had no wings (for parents who led) on a loose rain, but it was not to be. He went again and had a super clear the next time and he was chuffed. More crisps and sweets!

Rhapsody, we find, is a bit forward going for Conan, maybe I should have looked at her first! She is kind though and when Conan is just that bit stronger in his seat, they should be great together so we will not do more with her till later.

Then on the 30th it was Conan's very first hunt. The Children's meet with the Meath Hunt at Fordstown about six miles away.  Richard had planed to go on a friends horse to act as minder, but at the last minute the horse seemed to have a cough and Richard decided to take the marvellous Ard Black Cat who was smi-fit. Here they both are (pictured left) as they were waiting for to set off. Pepper never knew life could be such fun, she behaved as always but had stars in her eyes by the end of the day. So did Conan actually, and he said he was looking forward to another hunt. Black Cat was, as usual, a star. Happy New Year to you all.

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