The Blarney. Yup... a virtual Show. Meet a Sister Society. irish Draught Mare Families. idhsna News. interview with allison Springer.

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1 The Blarney Spring is in the air! Yup... a virtual Show Meet a Sister Society irish Draught Mare Families idhsna News interview with allison Springer Rolex 2008 Cover Contest & MoRe Spring edition 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 1

2 irish offered FoR Sale to SeRiouS BReeDeR or SHoW BuYeR.

3 The Blarney - Spring The official Newsletter of the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America Inc. Next Deadline: JULY 15, SUMMER edition Co-Editors: Judie Framan - JAFraman@aol.com Kate Triplett - theblarney@irishhuntersandjumpers.com Advertising/Design/Production: Laurie Monroe 9885 NW 127th Court, Ocala, FL (352) / blarney@grafxbylaurie.com The IDHSNA Inc. is the North American organization recognized and approved by the IDHS Ireland and the IHB, to register Irish Draught and Irish Draught Sport Horses. The Blarney is the official newsletter of the IDHSNA and is published quarterly. The Blarney assumes no responsibility for the truth or accuracy of the advertisements contained herein. Statements, opinions, and points of view expressed by the contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of The Blarney staff and/or the IDHSNA Inc. We reserve the right to edit any editorial materials received and deny placing advertising or written material that is deemed damaging or contrary to the goals of the Society. The Blarney is copyrighted by the IDHSNA Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be re-printed in any form without the written permission of the IDHSNA Inc. Subscriptions: The Blarney is included with most memberships. Non-members may subscribe to The Blarney for $30 per year. Contributions: Articles, photos, news items, and horse show results are always welcome. Contact the Editors at the addresses listed above. Advertising: Advertising rates are available from the editor, online at or in The Blarney Executive Council President: Nanette Levin / nlevin@halcyonacres.com Vice President: Charles Yates / charles@tullycrossfarm.com Secretary: Lyn Lindstrom / tllindstrom@earthlink.net Treasurer: Open Position Directors: Jennifer Stevens / longfieldrid@yahoo.com Brianne Sells / briannes@aol.com Fleur Bryan / fleur@parkmorestud.com Gina Kirby / gina@irishhorsefarm.com IDHSNA Registration Services: 4037 Iron Works Parkway, Suite 160 Lexington, KY Phone/Fax: (859) Information Officer: Rachael Cox HC65 Box 45 Pleasant Mount, PA Phone: IDHSNA-1 / info@irishdraught.com Member Services Coordinator: 4037 Iron Works Parkway, Suite 160, Lexington, KY Phone/Fax: (859) idhsna@hotmail.com COVER PHOTO Taken by member Sue Holland at Moses Cone Estate Park in the mountains of Blowing Rock, NC. Sue trailered her Irish Draught mare, Texas Diamond Belle & her Connemara pony mare to the park so that their French foreign exchange student, Gloria Vadeau, and friend from Texas, Bunny Steele, could experience the beauty of the North Carolina mountain trails. The trails at the estate are designed for carriages, hikers, dog walkers, & riders of all disciplines. From Our President... This has been the toughest breeding season I ve ever faced. I lost three foals one twin DOA, while the second struggled on to no avail and broke her mother s heart (and mine too) when she departed. The third was a borderline dummy foal and underdeveloped, likely due to a late-term illness in the mare. She couldn t get up alone, but put in a determined and remarkable effort to hold up her weight (all 45 pounds of it) on her crooked and weak legs as I bottle-fed her hourly for the better part of a week. All of this happened within a span of two weeks during the month of April, which certainly made any kind of detached thinking impossible and awareness of anything beyond the immediate crisis difficult. Sometimes it is hard to stop fighting to save or keep - our babies, even when we know it would be better to let them go. If we can step back, though, and view the situation from a big picture perspective, the cost in effort, energy, resources and stress put into digging our heels in to make things the way we want, or the way they were, vs. accepting a new and possibly better scenario for all, is time not well spent. It s the hardships that force us to reexamine what and how we are doing, and whether it s time to consider a course correction. This Society has faced some considerable challenges of late. They re not over yet. Many volunteers are working tirelessly to try to develop strategies and initiatives with an eye toward what went wrong in the past, and have dedicated energy to develop solutions that position us to be players on a much grander scale all the while seeking general member input and participation to accomplish this. Business as usual isn t working for the IDHSNA, but change is painful for those who are entrenched in a culture that has traditionally made activities and interpretations personal. To succeed, we need to come together and let go of old attitudes, splinter factions and umbrage. The twin mare continued to urge her dead foal to stand and nurse for a full day (I couldn t remove the foal or the mare from the stall during this time period without a ballistic response). We re fortunate to have some super volunteers that stick with us when their efforts go largely unappreciated and more often, criticized. They serve as super moms to help us succeed when we come together to produce a live and viable concept or project. If only the weak foal had this mom s kindness, encouragement and example to help her survive and thrive, who knows? The other mother dismissed her foal immediately, ultimately savaging her as she drank from the bottle. Maybe she was right to attack what she saw as flawed goods by rejecting a likely lost cause. Perhaps, though, the twin mother would have given this filly with a lust for life the love missing to ensure she won her hard-fought battle to live. Sad that the birth mother didn t appreciate an opportunity the other mother would have relished a chance to help her baby survive. Right now, the IDHSNA is faced with a challenge for survival. Think about it. What kind of mom would you like to be? Throughout this issue of The Blarney, you will see articles and announcements of activities in progress, initiatives being explored and updates on work in progress. We will also be sending periodic announcements through the Notices List (go to IDHSNA-Notices@yahoogroups.com and request to join members in good standing only) and posting appropriate announcements to the website. We ve also been exploring the formation of new committees based on individual member expressed interest. If there s a project that interests you, or you have an idea, join us. I look forward to seeing more of you getting excited about ideas that include your participation. As always, my virtual door is open (include IDH- SNA at the start of the subject line if you don t want to be deleted as spam) at Nlevin@HalcyonAcres.com. Nanette Levin, President - Nlevin@HalcyonAcres.com

4 2008 Board of Directors - Contact Information... President Nanette Levin Halcyon Acres 996 State Route 247 Rushville, NY nlevin@halcyonacres.com (w) Vice President Charles Yates 2450 Frizzellburg Road Westminster, MD information@tullycrossfarm.com charles@tullycrossfarm.com (h) Secretary Lyn Lindstrom 1399 S.W. Clevenger Lane Port Orchard, WA tllindstrom@earthlink.net (h) Treasurer (Open) IDHSNA PO Box 37 Hartwood, VA WildhareSR@aol.com (h) Directors At Large: Jennifer Stevens Dairy Ave., Lester Prairie, MN longfieldrid@yahoo.com (h) Brianne Sells Yellow Schoolhouse Rd. Round Hill, VA BrianneS@aol.com (h) Fleur Bryan 1279 Bates Lane, Smithfield, KY Fleur@Parkmorestud.com (h) Director: Gina Kirby 259 Barrel Valley Road Spring Church, PA gina@irishhorsefarm.com (h) Regional Chairs: Central Region Doug Mackay Manu Forti Farm 2002 South Greenwich Rd Wichita, KS sdmackay6@aol.com (h) South West Region Shirley Kahlert 1531 Gurr Road, Atwater, CA stoneleigh@clearwire.net (h) North West Region Liz McFarland Indian Creek Ranch Box 145, Ashland, MT indiancreek@rangeweb.net (h) North East Region Nadia Cook-Grisewood 672 Milford Warren Glen Rd Milford, NJ stallionagent@yahoo.com (h) (fax) South East Region Sue Rowdon P.O Box 78, Hartwood, VA wildharesr@aol.com (h) South Central Region Bill Appel 101 Sena Drive, Metairie, LA shapel@bellsouth.net (h) IDHSNA 2009 ANNUAL SHOW: The BOD is currently working on revising the existing RFP for our annual show and also exploring strategic alternatives to the former process and policies. We expect to have a modified proposal guideline and/or announced conceptual ideas prior to The Blarney hitting the streets and will notify the members via the Notices List (IDHSNA-Notices@yahoogroups.com - you must sign up and be approved as a member in good standing to belong to this list) when this is completed and approved. Please disregard the prior April 1st submittal deadline. We will provide reasonable lead-time with associated appropriate information once this project is completed for anyone interested in putting forward a proposal for consideration. The April 1st deadline will be a target date for future years. Hopefully the time and thought put into long-term goals relative to this initiative will help all complete the process in a more effective and efficient manner in the future Life Members... IDHSNA LIFE MEMBERS Melissa Cason Karen Cobb James W. Cogdell Rachel Cox Elizabeth Drake Patrick J. Flannery Marion G. Georgiev Brian Gwartz Jutta Heinsohn James B. Keogh Patricia Orgas Brianne Sells Maggie Tyler Susan Yates Charles Yates 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 2

5 In This Issue... From Our president BOD Contacts Calendar IDHSNA Financials IDHSNA Reports , 7 Regional Reports Foals - Sneak peek virtual Horse Show , 15 Year End Award Correction Summer Cover Contest Member News , 19, 20, 25, 26 Member Form It s A Wrap - Rolex , 23, 24 Road to The Olympics , 29 Welcome Susan Royal Equus Survival Trust Show Update Exploring Mare Lines International News , Forks Results Horseman s Tips and Tricks Advertising Insert Order Blessing of the Blarney at Red Hills Merchandise Order Form Advertiser Index... Kinson Stud Inside Front Cover Wild Hare Farm Manu Forti Farms Tully Cross Farm Finncastle Farm Homesick Angels LLC prescott Farm & 40 Ben Mar Farm & 24 Celtic Manor Farm Classifieds Judy Woodruff Halcyon Acres Kinsale Farms Adsagsona Farm Inside Back Cover Blackberry Ridge Farm Back Cover 2008 idhsna Calendar JuNe th - Deadline for Inspection Applications 30th - Nominating Committee Appointed JulY th - Summer The Blarney Advertising Deadline 15th - Summer The Blarney Content Deadline august st - Nominating Committee Nominee Deadline SePteMBeR th - Festivale of Endangered Species TBD - Inspection Schedule october st - Nominating Committee Report to Members 10th - Fall The Blarney Advertising Deadline 15th - Fall The Blarney Content Deadline 31st - SWR performance Award Deadline 31st - Deadline for Budget Items to Treasurer, Review of all Committees, programs, policies etc. NoveMBeR st - Record Date, Independent Nominations Due 10th - Ballots go Out 15th - Budget Due DeCeMBeR th - Ballots Returned 15th - Year End Award Cards Due 15th - IDHSNA Stallion Reports Due JaNuaRY 1, st - Membership Fee Due 10th - Yearbook The Blarney Advertising Deadline 15th - Yearbook The Blarney Content Deadline MaRCH st - Memberships Considered Lapsed april st Annual Show proposal Deadline 10th - Spring The Blarney Advertising Deadline 15th - Spring The Blarney Content Deadline 23rd - IDHSNA Office 1st Anniversary, KHp 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 3

6 Financials... FiNaNCial CoMMittee RePoRt 1St QuaRteR Respectfully submitted, Financial Committee of the IDHSNA The financial committee is pleased to submit the financial report of the condition of the IDHSNA through the first quarter. We continue to provide oversight of the operations of the Society in conjunction with our recently adopted Financial policy and procedures document. The committee is preparing our 501(c)3 application with the assistance of Shirley Kahlert and have been consulting with other professionals concerning it. We will provide you with details as it progresses. If you should have any questions about the statement provided please contact any member of this committee. Irish Draught Horse Society of North America Balance Sheet As of March 31, 2008 Mar 31, 08 ASSETS Current Assets Checking/Savings KHP Office PNCBank Northern Trust 18, PNC Bank General Operating 16, Total Checking/Savings 34, Other Current Assets Accounts Receivable Loss Recovery Receivables 29, Total Other Current Assets 29, Total Current Assets 64, Fixed Assets Furniture and Equipment 1, Accumulated Depreciaiton -1, Total Fixed Assets TOTAL ASSETS 64, LIABILITIES & EQUITY Liabilities Current Liabilities Other Current Liabilities Due to/from Regions 6, Accounts payable 2 5, Payroll Liabilities Total Other Current Liabilities 11, Total Current Liabilities 11, Total Liabilities 11, Equity Unrestricted Net Assets 50, Net Income 2, Total Equity 52, TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 64, Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 4

7 IDHSNA Reports... Spring Membership Report Submitted by Jennifer Haas, Membership Services Coordinator First, let me introduce myself. I am Jennifer Haas, your Member Services Coordinator and I m very excited to be with the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America. I have ridden and shown hunt-seat since I was eight years old, but most of my professional career has been spent in the Thoroughbred racing industry. I look forward to representing the Society at the Kentucky Horse Park and working to improve the efficiency of the registration and membership process. There are currently 283 active members in IDHSNA. This includes 43 new members since late 2007, 22 honorary members and 15 life members. If you have not already, renewed your membership, please submit your annual dues, which is now easier than ever with the ability to pay online at In the coming months, we will be looking at ways to reach out to lapsed members and bring new members into the society. In other news, nearly 50 horse registrations have been completed since I started in early March. If you are still waiting for your horse s papers, I encourage you to call me in the office, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10AM-2PM, at (859) , or me at IDHSNA@hotmail.com. There are dozens of pending files to sort through, and it helps bring them to the front of the line if an owner checks in. log into the Member section of the website by using your unique login ID and password. To access the Member sectio of the IDHSNA Website, select Member Login on the left-hand side menu and foillow the prompts. Once you are logged in, you can make changes to your personal information under the Profile tab! Unlike change requests made for your horses (which require monitor approval), your personal profile changes will be seen immediately upon saving them, and since the member/user profile interacts with other sections of the web, areas such as Breeder lists and horse profile information that has already been initiated and tied into your profile, will also reflect those changes - automatically. For more helpful tips, please check the FAQ section of the IDHSNA Website under the Support Tab on the top menu. I would especially like to thank Lucy Stevenson, Brianne Sells, Charles Yates, Sue Rowdon, Lyn Lindstrom and Kerianne Robertson for helping ease my transition into the office. I look forward to working with all of you. TREASURER SEARCH REPORT Submitted by Bill Appel, Board Liason, Treasurer Search Committee The Treasurer Search Committee has been working hard to find the best qualified person for this very important position. After soliciting the membership for qualified volunteers, we have received resumes from six candidates. We are in the process of evaluating all of their information, and we are working on the next step, interviews. We hope to develop a shortlist to present to the board shortly for their consideration. We look forward to fulfilling our task as given to us, and thank the Board for the confidence it has shown in us. IDHSNA WEB - DID YOU KNOW?? Submitted by Laurie Monroe Did you know you have the flexibility of making member profile updates yourself?? The beauty of the IDHSNA Website ( is that each member in good standing is able to access their own member profile and make changes, to both ease the burden on web maintenance once profiled, and to allow the member greater interaction! You can 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page

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9 Additional IDHSNA Reports... ALLTECH WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES 2010 Submitted by Fleur Bryan, IDHSNA Director at Large and IDHSNA WEG-2010 Committee Chair I am sure many of you (if not most) are aware that the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, which represents an unprecedented awareness and promotion opportunity for breed and discipline related organizations to reach an anticipated on-site audience of over 800,000 spectators from around the globe, will be held in Lexington, KY from September 25 October 10, As chair of the IDHSNA WEG-2010 committee, I am pleased to announce that, with committee-raised funds, we have placed a deposit on, and completed the initial application process for, breed booth space for the IDHSNA, which will be located in the Equine Pavilion at the Games. In addition the IDHSNA WEG-2010 committee prepared and submitted a 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Special Events Request for Proposal (RFP), the first major step in a series of formal requirements for the Society, committee and membership to be considered for an opportunity to host an exhibition or demonstration at the event. I would like to thank the committee for their commitment, hard work & dedication to date in putting together the initial framework and helping set the stage for us to have a presence at these world-class Games. While we have several additional benchmarks to meet, we have leapt that first hurdle! Special thanks go to Bill Appel for raising the money for the required deposit & his continued efforts to secure the funds we will need all the way to the Games. Personal thanks also go to Jutta Heinsohn, Nanette Levin & Laurie Monroe for pulling the RFP together at the last minute and having such a professional initial presentation delivered on time. Moving forward will mean setting up several sub committees to handle the numerous tasks at hand and I can now invite all members to come forward and volunteer. Since this project is so big, with many members having already expressed an interest participating in many ways, managing the sheer numbers needed to pull this off is going to be challenging. We have decided the best way to track everything is via an application process that gives everyone a chance to be considered and be on record. If you are interested in volunteering on a sub-committee, please initially contact fleur@ parkmorestud.com. A form will be posted to the IDHSNA Website in the very near future to cover committee involvement, volunteer and demo applications. IDHSNA Breed Booth The booth will be open to the public for 16 days during the Games, so there will be a need for multiple booth assistants. Booth assistant applications should be compiled and ed to fleur@parkmorestud.com with a cc to feemsterfarm50@wildblue.net and longfieldrid@yahoo.com, indicating how many days you would be available to work the booth & how many hours per day you would be willing to work. There will be limited passes & we will have to carefully juggle usage so that the booth is never unattended. A sub-committee will be convened to oversee the design and development of our booth space, with the professional venue in mind. This will include gathering data, photos, video, and developing handout materials, etc., to set the IDHSNA stage. Exhibit/Demonstration Opportunity 2010 may seem a long way off; however, the demonstrations will need to be professional and polished, so we need to gather now! The selection process for exhibit and demonstration slots within WEG has only just begun, and there are several more hurdles to cross (not the least of which will be logistics), but we need to gather applications for horses, riders, drivers, handlers, gophers & set up crews interested in participating in the breed demonstrations early and move this train forward. Proposed demos are being designed to show the temperament & versatility of our breed & will include jumping, dressage & driving. The IDHSNA WEG-2010 Committee is planning exciting demonstrations to show our horses to the very best of their ability and raise interest & awareness for the Irish Draught & Irish Draught Sport Horse. Parties interested in having more information or participating should initially apply via outlining what discipline you are interested in & what experience both horse & rider have. Demo s should be sent to fleur@parkmorestud.com, with cc s to weg@grafxbylaurie.com, and Nlevin@FulcrumNY.com. DVD applications may be sent to Parkmore Stud, 1279 Bates Lane, Smithfield, KY I d like to especially call on stallion and performance-oriented owners to grasp the opportunity that the Society is being given to spotlight this wonderful breed & give them the exposure & recognition they deserve on a world performance stage. Fund Raising Finally, I ask for fund raisers & sponsor seekers for assistance. It is the hope of the Committee that we can raise enough funds to cover every cost: fees & dual logo apparel, much of the volunteer expense, training, practice sessions, logistics and transport & stabling for participating horses. While we cannot commit to full-funding for demo participants at this time, our goal is to provide enough financial support so that all members who have a horse and/or rider that is top notch, can afford to be considered as a participant in the demos. We also want to help defray some of the costs of the wonderful volunteers that come forward to help with all the grunt work and the fun, but time-consuming task, of manning the booth. As time rolls on there will be a need for the entire Society to come together & make this happen. This event is not really for us but for our horses. We, after all, have a common interest & a common goal. No one in the Society would be here if it wasn t for our love of, and determination to preserve and promote, our breed. In the forefront of our minds should be the group of Irish farmers who traveled by bicycle or cars without power steering or even heaters all over Ireland to form the Irish Draught Horse Society in 1979 to save what we can now hold dear to our hearts. I feel the need to show our mother society and our counterparts across the world what we are doing with our horses & how we can come together as a group to pull off a world class professional event! I look forward to working with all of you on this IDHSNA WEG-2010 project and meeting all attending the Equus Survival Trust Festivale in September 2008 (see Page 28 for an Equus Survival Trust Festivale update) Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page

10 Regional Reports... SOUTH WEST REGION REPORT Submitted by Shirley Kahlert, SW Regional Chair The Southwest Region held an Irish Draught Education Day at Lone Tree Farm in Waterford, California on Sunday March 26 during a hunter pace there. Members Claudia Colo, Lucinda Romero and Lisette Healy participated in the hunter pace on Irish Draught and Sport Horses JP Young, Kleary s Grace, and Coronea Son, respectively. John Lyons spoke on the heritage of the Irish Draught Horse at the well attended lunchtime demonstration. Members of the region put on a fundraiser luncheon and met briefly to talk about inspections and priorities for the region, particularly a regional show. We will have quite a few horses to bring forward for inspection. Framan s mare Glenogras Keepsake RID showed in the Level 1 Jumper division at HITS Tucson, AZ, and placed nicely in the ribbons. Each class contained more than 35 horses. (see photo on page 33.) We d like to welcome new members Melissa Tozzi, who plans to drive the Bridon Beale Street colt she just purchased, and Debbie Davis, a seasoned eventing competitor who just purchased Harkaway Trelawny, aka River Pearl, who is by Mountain Pearl and out of Misty River Lass. Debbie will also be riding at Twin Rivers in young event horse classes on a 4 year old imported Clover Hill ISH gelding named Cloverfield. Some foals are on the ground and others continuing to arrive, making life difficult for the mare owners, but substantially increasing the Irish Draught and Sport Horse herd in the southwest. If you re having trouble getting on the discussion board, or haven t received an invitation, me at stoneleigh@clearwire.net or call me at (209) Members have posted a number of lovely photos. Please add yours, especially those really cute foal photos. SOUTH CENTRAL REGION REPORT Submitted by Bill Appel, South Central Region Chair JP Young RIDSH, owned by SW members Lucinda Romero & Karen Young, who placed fourth in Young Event Horses at Twin Rivers Southwest Irish Draught and Sport Horses and their owners again gathered at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California. On April 17, JP Young entered the USEA 4 and 5 year old Young Event Horse competition and placed fourth! Shortly thereafter, Lisette Healy competed in the Spring International Three Day Event and Horse Trials CCI**/*, N-P FEI/USEF/USEA. The SW Region maintained an information table at that event, as well as display a program ad generously supported by Tully Cross Farm. A special treat for us at thehorse Trials was Gina Miles visiting us at our table (see photo below: Gina is on the right of member Karen Young)! Spring has sprung, and our enthusiastic IDHSNA members have set forth in quest of their equestrian goals. Part of our regional goal is to reach out to other equestrians. We placed a ½-page ad in the Holly Hills Horse Trials prize list. There were more than 200 entries in the horse trials, and our ad was viewed by many. We are hoping to repeat this at other venues in the region and possibly have a booth. Cynthia Lurix has graciously volunteered her barn as an inspection site in the event we are able to get enough horses committed to have one. Lynn Quast is the proud mama of a sporthorse colt by Dandelion Diamond Rebel (Conor). There are many events and shows coming up this spring and summer. If you hear of any accomplishments by our Irish horses, let me know so we can acknowledge them in The Blarney. I may be contacted at: shapel@bellsouth.net (504) SOUTH EAST REGION REPORT Submitted by Sue Rowdon The Southeast Region got off to a running start in Megan Gillenwater has already taken her IDSH colt, Kegan MacCruise ( by Macha Breeze RID and out of Eireann Cruise RIDSH), to two shows this year with impressive results. The Ark FEH, Monroe, NC Feb % 1st of 5 entered; Dressage Across the Lake I, Folsom, LA, March % 2nd out of 8 entered. If you check out The ARK on the US Eventing web site, Megan and Paddy s photos illustrate the results! Larry and Michelle Robbins were asked to bring their ID Colt, Kilronan s Glenstone, to participate in a special FEH demonstration during the Rolex competition. He was a shining example of the breed and generated lots of interest in Irish Draughts from those in attendance. Thank you Michelle and Larry for your efforts to promote our breed. Connie Arthur rode Bridon Beale Street RID to double clean cross country at training level at a recent USEA Horse Trials at Ram Tap. Judie Again, we presented ribbons and julep cups to the highest finishing IDSH s at the Rolex Three-Day. Can you imagine how thrilling it was to have Connaught and Phillip Dutton be the highest placing IDSH and 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 8

11 Region Reports (con t)... the 2008 winner! This year, more than 20% of the horses competing had ID blood. Sue with Nicholas Finnerty and Phillip Dutton Friday evening, we had a party at the Only Fools and Horses tent on Sponsor s hill. A huge THANK YOU to Blackberry Ridge Farm, Tully Cross Farm, Bridon Irish Draughts, Serendipity Irish Draughts, and Wild Hare Farm for making this happen. What fun to meet members from as far away as California and have the opportunity to visit and share our enthusiasm for our horses. We were joined by Nicholas Finnerty and Alison Corbally from the IHB. We enjoyed discussing our common interests and Nicholas reaffirmed his desire to work towards establishing a world wide Irish Draught Studbook. Look for Jutta Heinsohn and KEC Double Diamond who will be performing a dressage demonstration at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Estates on May 22nd (music & narrative will go with the display). The Kentucky Breeders Classic will again include an Irish Draught Breed Class in and now it is time to turn our Regional focus to Upperville and the ID and IDSH divisions scheduled for Sunday, June 8. See You There! We will have booth at The Jersey Fresh Three Day CCI** and CCI*** Event, held in the Horse Park of New Jersey from May 8th thru May 11th. It s a great day out for those who can take a Friday, Saturday or Sunday (or all three days) off. While you are at the park, come and visit our booth, which will be close to the barns. We would love to see you. We will have some polo shirts and hats for sale with the new IDHSNA Logo on them. The new logo was designed by one of our talented SE Region members, Laurie Monroe, and has been getting great reviews and compliments. The polos and hats look super, I m certain that everbody will want them. We are looking forward to our inspections this year and hope to have a great turn out of mares, geldings and stallions, so make sure you all get your paperwork in on time and hopefully we can make for a great day. As soon as we have our registration numbers figured out, we will be able to get a venue that is more centrally located to those who wish to attend with their horses. Everyone have a great spring, and we ll update you all on our efforts and accomplishments in the next Blarney. Please note, any Northeast region members who are not on our Northeast Region Yahoo groups and would like to be, please get in touch with me so we can get you added on to the group and communicate with ease. North West Region Report Submitted by Liz McFarland, NW Region Chair In late January, an intrepid group of NW members gathered in Spokane WA to discuss and plan activities for the Region. Almost one third of current NW membership were in attendance with members from the eastern most corner of Montana to Bellevue Washington and with several members from western Canada calling in to express their interest and support. The group attending represented upwards of 67 ID and IDSH horses and four of the six registered stallions in the NW Region. The group worked on developing a three year plan - the basis of which is marketing for the next three year period. For instance, in 2008 the focus of activity would be to update the NW booth while all other activities would require funds to be raised or donated (i.e., Rebecca Farm). For 2009 funds would be allocated to the WEB site and two print ads in Regional periodicals and for 2010, funds would be allocated for the WEB site, two print ads and support of Inspection advertisement. Other decisions included a plan to focus on an Inspection every two years which would give all members in the Region a timeframe in which to plan. NORTH EAST REGION REPORT Submitted by Nadia Cook-Grisewood, NE Regional Chair IDHSNA The North East region has very little news to report at this time, due to my efforts to get a grasp of the region, and catch up on all I have missed since my term started this past January. Activities currently scheduled for 2008 include the Irish Extravaganza scheduled for late July in Langley BC (contact Duncan Kerfoot), Event at Rebecca Farm also in late July, Kalispell Montana and an Inspection in September, location to be determined. And finally, thank you to all who took the time to make the long awaited meeting In January. Your commitment, support and effort to travel very significant distances in tough weather, made the meeting a success! 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page

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13 Foals - Sneak Peek... Just to whet your appetite for The Blarney - Summer Edition, which will contain a spread of 2008 Foals (start sending in your foal pics NOW)! Please rember to state in the Subject Line: 2008 FOAL GALLERY - The Blarney and send to: blarney@grafxbylaurie.com. Tully Mac s Square Peg (ID filly) by Harkaway Lionhawk RID x Winmaur Bright Olive RID CLARE (ID filly) by Pride of Gloster RID x Moylough Countess RID PEBBLES (IDSH filly) by KEC Double DIamond RID x Aquila Lion IDSH kilkelly twice stung (ID colt) by KEC Double DIamond RID x Penmerry s Vespa (RID) UNNAMED (IDSH filly) by Mountain Pearl RID x Thoroughbred dam Indigo Art (IDSH filly), by Touch of the Blues RID out of Artful Luck (Appx QH/ISR) DECLAN (ID colt) by Mountain Pearl RID x Manu Forti s Wild Rose RID 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 11

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15 Virtual Horse Show??? Irish Draught Virtual Horse Show by Charles Yates As many of you may remember, Tully Cross Farm hosted a Virtual Horse Show the weekend before Thanksgiving. The idea of a Virtual Horse Show came to me in while attending the Society s Annual Show at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, IL. I was worn out! Between packing for the show, driving all night, getting stalls ready, setting up displays, mucking, cleaning, and all the work involved in showing, I was worn out. Thanks to Susan, Allie, Blaine, and Craig who made my job tons easier, but I was still worn out. Real shows require work. During the Society dinner, which was held at a lovely Irish pub, I talked with several other members about doing a virtual horse show on the internet. Almost everyone was intrigued by the idea. All through October, the idea kept popping up. Here was a way to avoid a lot of the stress of showing. Travel? No problem with the information superhighway. Care for horses? No more work than their normal stay at home. Showing the horses? Four pictures would cover all that was needed for a halter class. Feeding the horses? No problem, virtual horses could eat virtual hay. Showing? No problem, lay the pictures on a board and we could compare horses side by side. I was expecting a few entries, 20, maybe 30. Instead I got 99 entries from 54 owners. We had 10 stallions, 14 colts, 24 geldings, 45 mares, and 6 fillies. Horses came from all over the United States, Canada, Ireland, England, Germany, and South Africa. Considering the fact that I had not contacted any of the other Irish Draught Societies until a week before the show, I think we did well on the international front. I was overwhelmed with the number of entries. Clearly I had seriously underestimated the amount of work involved in a virtual show. (My hat goes off to those who put on real shows). As I said, I expected 50 to 100 photos. Instead I received 377. They came in all formats, jpg, gif, bmp, pdf, doc, etc., arriving via and regular mail. It nearly overwhelmed us. Virtual Challenges To begin with, I did not take my internet service into account. I have satellite internet access, and there is a limit on how much material can be downloaded at high speed. All the pictures arriving at once The only problem was judging. Then it dawned on me. If we held a party at the same time, I could have the guests do the judging for me. This would be the easiest horse show of all time. How could I go wrong? I announced the show and party the first week of November, and invited every member possible through and regular mail. We requested for four photos, Left, Right, Front, and Back. When it was pointed out that the JeanAbernethy.com notice was too short notice, we said we d accept even one photo. We wanted this to be fun and not work Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 13

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17 Virtual Horse Show (con t)... sent me over the limit several times, and as a result we had incredibly slow internet. My boxes filled up, and I had ended up using several accounts to handle the volume of mail and pictures I was getting. Second, I had to save the pictures and keep them organized. In some cases, I got multiple horses in one message. I had to take the time to figure out which one was which, and confirm data like Sire, Dam, etc. Then I had to save each horse to an individual folder so that I would not mix them up. Third, I had to print the pictures out in a way that I would not confuse Them, which meant I could not do a huge batch print. I had to go to each picture individually, and make sure it included the horse s number. There were other factors, like getting food for the party, regular farm chores, and life in general. Without my wife Susan s help, plus the workers at our farm, Blaine, Allie, Craig, and a bunch more, I couldn t have gotten it all done. On the day of the show, and I was still printing out photos. I finished just as the guests arrived., and with the help of early arrivals, we decided what classes to have. I printed up score sheets. I asked every guest to judge all the classes. If you plan to have a virtual horse show, give the guests a class to judge, and call it a day. Having all guests judge each class, meant they spend the entire party hunched over a table looking at pictures. I m not sure how much fun that was for them, though none of them complained. Not all the classes got finished that day. I lucked out by having some Irish Draught fans come for Thanksgiving dinner. Part of their holiday fun was judging the remaining classes. I have already announced there will another show the weekend before Thanksgiving This time I will be doing things a bit differently. I will give more notice of the show, and not just try to do it all in two weeks I may even try to get a real approved judge (not that the judges I had didn t know horses or for that matter Irish Draughts, in fact, one could look at almost every picture and tell us who it was, or who it s dam was. The virtual show has given me a lot to think about. It removed distance, and for the first time, we could compare horses from all over the world at the same show. I m hoping the next virtual show will have horses from New Zealand and Australia. Distance and travel time are no longer factors to keep a horse away. But, then I got to thinking, it also removed time as a factor. For this show, the requirement was that the pictures show what the horse looked like today (give or take a few months). But, there is no reason a horse shouldn t be allowed to compete in a class as long the photograph was taken at the correct age. The photos from this year s yearlings could compete against next year s yearlings. Given enough time, sire and get could compete in the same class several times over (foal, yearling, two-year olds, etc). I think we have just scratched the surface of possibilities. Just the ability to include video (as we all get faster and faster internet service), would make it more like a real halter class show. Under saddle classes could be added with a critique of the horses form, or the riders form, or both. The possibilities are endless, and it s nice to see Irish Draughts leading the way. The Judges said it was very hard to judge the horses by photographs. You often saw something that might or might not be there depending on the light. The inability to look a bit closer and see the horse in person made things especially difficult. Also, it was hard to compare pictures that varied in what was being done. How do you compare action pictures with conformation shots? How do you account for the difference in the angle of the shot? A horse photographed outside didn t look the same as one photographed inside. Comparing pictures was harder work than we expected. I found my score sheets and added up the scores and calculated class ranks (lowest score, highest place, etc), and used Excel to do the math. I then realized I had not seen all of the results. So, I went and updated the spreadsheet and results. I still shudder to think what a chore it would have been if I had to do the calculations by hand. Once I had the final results, I ed them to the participants. If nothing else, this experiment has improved my use of Excel and Word. Trends and Musings I did find an interesting trend. Often, the top and bottom horses would be completely different. What one Judge ranked at the top, another Judge would rank at the bottom. However, the middle horses generally stayed in the middle Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 15

18 Year End Award Corrections YeaR end awards update and CoRReCtioNS Lyn Lindstrom, Chairperson for 2008 Year End Awards The ribbons for the 2007 Year End Awards have just arrived will probably be in winners hands by the time this Spring edition of The Blarney reaches you! We have a couple of corrections to the 2007 Year End Awards Winners list: The high point score, as published in the 2007 Yearbook, for In-Hand 1 was Bally Shannon, owned by Jenny Lynn Day. However, it turns out that Bally Shannon should have been entered in In-Hand 2 because of her age. As a result, we have Co-Champions for In-Hand 2. They are Clover s Amazing grace, owned by Jess Walker, and Bally Shannon, owned by Jenny Lynn Day. The error also means a change for Champion and Reserve Champion in the In-Hand 1 class. Champion is Today s Irish princess, owned by Anthie Booras, and Reserve Champion is Kilronan s glenstone, owned by Larry and Michelle Robbins. We congratulate all the winners of the 2007 YEA and look forward to the entries for today S irish PRiNCeSS, handled by owner Anthie Booras. photo credit: Diana Field of photos By Field. Today s Irish princess (Erin) also had a few other accomplishments in 2007! She was placed 6th in the Zone Farnam/platform USEF Horse of the Year Award program for yearling Hunter Breeding. She also placed 3rd in the USHJA Foundation Awards for Zone 10 for yearling Hunter Breeding. Congratulations to anthie and erin! Member News... MY NoRtH WeSt visit Submitted by Jennifer Stevens, Longfield Farm, MN Executive Director of the IDHSNA My name is Jennifer Stevens, and I am one of the Executive Directors of the IDHSHA. Its not too often one gets a chance to meet some of our more remote members of the IDHSNA family but, through an opportunity provided by my company to take on some additional training, I found myself in the state of Washington! It might not seem such a big deal but any chance for a native Minnesotan to get out of the state (snow) especially since Ol Man Winter can t seem to let us go you can t get us airborne fast enough! However, that didn t stop Kate and Rick from showing me their wonderful horses and hosting a small lunch with some other members, Lyn Lindstrom, and Dale Skrivanich, at their home for me to enjoy. If anyone ever has the opportunity to visit the Tripletts I completely recommend it. If you want to see a good quality traditional Irish Draught Stallion, they have Manu Forti s Touch Down RID (aka Ollie), or if you want to see what to breed for in an equally high quality Irish Sport Horse you won t be disappointed. Another surprise was being able to watch the Spring National Jumper Show which was held at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds One of our members, who also just happens to be one of the editors of the Blarney, Kate Triplett, was gracious enough to open the doors to her and her husband Rick s home to me for the weekend. Folks, I am telling you it was quite the treat! Also, quite the sight as Seattle, the home of ever and always raining, decided to add significant snowfall to the repertoire. I guess the state of Washington was hoping to make me feel more at home since I would be gone for 10 days from mine Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 16

19 the idhsna BlaRNeY team is actively seeking 2008 Foal PHotoS for consideration for the Summer Cover of The Blarney and for our 2008 Foal gallery. If you are a member in good standing and have a foal photo you would like to submit for the 2008 Foal gallery, please send it in hi-res to Laurie Monroe at blarney@grafxbylaurie.com with FOAL gallery as the subject line by NO LATER than July 10, If you are a member in good standing and have a photo that you would like to enter in our 2008 ColoR CoveR CoNteSt, it will need to be approximately 8 x 10 (min) at 300 dpi to be considered, and should be sent to Laurie at blarney@grafxbylaurie.com with COvER CONTEST as the subject line NO LATER than JulY 1, persons will be randomly selected from the IDHSNA membership roster and contacted to be judges of the contest. Once the three judges are named, photos received for COvER CONTEST that meet the basic specs will be gathered and the selection process will begin. If you have questions, wish to confirm receipt of, or report any issues with submissions or mail outages, please contact: laurie MoNRoe at (352)

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21 Member News... in Monroe, Washington, only fifteen minutes from the Triplett s farm. (What was really funny is that Kate had plans to attend the show anyhow, as their mare Lydia (Dare to be Blue RIDSH) was loaned to be used for leadline. Rick, aware of my pending arrival and the timing of the show, was worried about how I would handle having to go to a horse show I don t know who was laughing harder Kate, knowing that any self-respecting horsewoman would never turn down an opportunity to go to a horse show, or me, hearing about the concern but bless Rick for his thoughtfulness.) At the horse show we were able see a lot of good quality horse and riders and some other Irish Sporthorses but the highlight was watching Lydia taking her small charge through the paces in a leadline class. They were in among the jumps, and she absolutely lit up when she got near the fences, never seen a mare so intent on wanting to jump but yet minded her responsibility to keep her young rider safe. It was a beautiful moment and really drove home the good natured temperament of the breed and was another reminder of why we love the breed so much. Many thanks to the folks of the Northwest Region for their willingness to open their homes and offer friendship to a stranger from Minnesota. It made the long time away from home easier knowing I was among friends! Katadore Farm, Tennessee Submitted by Jennifer Dunlap Our purebred mare, Manu Forti s Wild Rose, had a beautiful big colt by Mountain Pearl on February 28th. Declan is everything we could have hoped for and more. He s definitely a keeper! As soon as he s weaned Wild Rose will be started under saddle and shown this fall in the hunters. ADSAGSONA FARM, FLORIDA Submitted by Laurie Monroe Eight years ago, Jutta Heinsohn purchased and imported K.E.C. Double Diamond RID (Oisin) from Bill and Anna Kennedy of Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland as her personal riding horse (he remains the special man in her life today). We had the distinct pleasure of hosting Bill, Anna and their son Cormac Kennedy on their recent visit to Florida and the Ocala area, where they came to visit horses they have sold in the area at HITS (just a half-mile from our home). While in Ocala the Kennedy s also had the opportunity to reintroduce themselves to Oisin and the strapping fully-developed purebred athlete he has become. Bill and Anna were thrilled with the way Oisin has developed and really enjoyed watching him work. Bill seemed particularly pleased with his work ethic around mares and other stallion distractions. When he works, he is very focused, Bill said, and it s obvious he is happy! Manu Forti s Sea Hawk is doing wonderfully in his hunter/jumper training with his trainer, J.C. Engel. He s been consistently in the ribbons at the shows. Sea Hawk s first foal out of our Thoro u g h b r e d mare Brass Facts was born recently during an unbelievable lightning and hail storm. She literally hit the ground running and stood up within 10 minutes. She s very tall and elegant and the spitting image of her sire. We couldn t be more pleased with little Emma. From left to right: Jutta Heinsohn astride K.E.C. Double Diamond RID (Oisin), Bill, Anna and Cormac Kennedy. Oisin remains the only RID stallion Jutta owns and she really adores him. Jutta says, My boy is back in training now that we are settled in Ocala and the horses are home. Look for him this Fall on the Region III USDF circuit... when he s not jumping. Oisin would like to welcome his first foals of 2008: ID Colt - Kilkelly s Twice Stung (Sting), out of Penmerryl s Vespa RID, owned by Linda Cowasjee of Virginia, and IDSH Filly (to be named) out of an Aquila Lion ISH, owned by Sally Chappell of Ocala Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 19

22 More Member News (con t)... KEGAN SPORT HORSES, MISSISSIPPI Submitted by Megan Gillenwater I just got back from a wonderful experience with my yearling colt, Kegan MacCruise, aka Paddy, at The Ark Horse Trials for the FEH classes they offered. This whole trip was to get him experience at being a show horse, and it was a complete success. Paddy is a home bred and home raised Irish Draught Sport Horse by Macha Breeze RID and out of an imported IDSH mare, Eireann Cruise. I have the pleasure of owning both sire and dam, and am proud to say Paddy got the best of both. Paddy s pedigree is a combination of some of the best producing and performing Irish Draughts in history. He had the luck to be born on St. Patricks Day, hence the barn name of Paddy. Photo credit: Karri Henning I started my journey Wednesday February 27 by leaving from Mobile and traveling with Paddy to Birmingham. This was Paddy s first trailer ride longer then 20 minutes, and he was a trooper the entire four-hour trip. We arrived at my friend Karri Henning s farm in the afternoon, and he calmly hopped off the trailer to enjoy some turnout before getting pulled into the barn to have dinner and some final grooming done. He settled in so fast for his first time away from home, acting like an already seasoned show horse. When we tried to load up on Thursday morning, Paddy told us NO WAY! At first, but was easily persuaded to hop on for some grain. Karri s colt, Kryptic (a Trakehner), followed closely on his heels, and we were off. We were pulled over by a Georgia Department of Agriculture official near the South Carolina boarder to check our health certificates and coggins, and I was glad to see our tax money at work to protect equines everywhere. When we arrived at The Ark, the boys were grateful to get off the trailer. 9 hours is tough! Paddy settled right into his stall, helped along by the prospect of fresh hay. After dinner, Karri and I took the boys for a short walk to the arena, where we were able to show them what they would encounter the next day. Paddy gave me no trouble when we practiced our walk and trot around the triangle, and really got into extending his trot to show off. We approached the judge, who asked us to go right into the walk to help get the babies settled. It was nice to present to a judge who understood how babies can get. He walked around very nicely, and actually started to swing through his back as he relaxed. We were then asked to go directly into the trot, and Paddy relaxed even more. This is a job he knew how to do! He was respectful of my space, and got his first turn very well. I asked him to trot on, and he responded with a huge extended trot. We made the second turn and settled back into a respectful jog. The judge asked us to stand up, and proceeded to judge his conformation. She made a comment on his size to me, and asked his breeding. I am always happy to brag on my guy, so she got a detailed response. Paddy stood quite quietly for her to judge, with some nervous shuffling thrown in. The judge thanked us, and we left the ring. As we waited for the other horses to be judged, we were able to talk with the other competitors. I learned there was another Irish Draught colt being judged, and was excited to see another representative of the breed! The other Irish horse turned out to be a purebred colt, MFF Magic Touch, owned by Lisa Parent. Finally, the ribbons were handed out, and I was shocked and surprised to be awarded the blue for Paddy s score of 77.5 and the other Irish colt took second place with 77.0! It was nice to get a second opinion of Paddy, more to confirm that I was indeed seeing an overall nice colt in my pasture, and wasn t as barn blind as I expected I was. Looking at his score sheet, I as in complete agreement with what the judge had to say about his conformation. I showed a sense of humor in her comment about him being a touch plain in the head. Paddy has a great Irish head, but it is plain, and is framed with a set of big, goofy ears we hope he grows into. Our return trip was uneventful, though the boys were both tired when we got back to Karri s farm. Paddy enjoyed the night in turnout to stretch his legs, and hopped right on the trailer alone for the remainder of his trip home. He was very happy to be home, and was greeted warmly by my other horses as we pulled up the drive. The first thing he did was get a long drink, and then settled into a long, well deserved nap with his dam standing guard. It was a nice reminder to me that although he handled himself away from home like a mature, well seasoned horse, he is still a baby. The day of the class dawned bright and cold. Braiding is tough with gloves, and even tougher with frozen fingers, but the job got done, and Paddy looked stunning. On went his bridle, and the look was complete. Paddy started to get nervous on the walk up to the ring, calling to anyone who would listen. He never calls at home, so it was funny to hear his little voice. Photo credit: Karri Henning 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 20

23 2008 Membership Form Irish Draught Horse Society of North America PLEASE CHECK ONLY ONE NEW Membership RENEWAL Membership / Existing Mem. No. PLEASE PRINT ALL INFORMATION MEMBERSHIP LEVEL FEE IN US DOLLARS NAME OF INDIVIDUAL LIFETIME (1 vote) $1, Voter #1 (listing in The Blarney ) FARM (22 votes) $ Voter #1 (Two The Blarney subscriptions) (farm listing in The Blarney ) Voter #2 FAMILY (2 votes) $ Voter #1 Voter #2 GENERAL (1 vote) $ Voter #1 JUNIOR (no vote) $ No Vote PLEASE NOTE: ALL membership levels include the quarterly IDHSNA publication, The Blarney. Farm Membership entitles Farm to receive two copies of The Blarney. PAYMENT OPTIONS: Payment may be made with a check or online at using a credit card or Pay Pal ( Please indicate with an X your elected method of payment: CHECK (enclosed) CREDIT CARD (online). Online Confirmation #: THE MEMBERSHIP YEAR BEGINS JAN 1, A NEW MEMBER S FEE PAID AFTER OCT 30, 2007 SHALL ENTITLE MEMBER TO MEMBERSHIP PRIVILEGES UNTIL DEC 31, ALL MEMBERSHIPS INCLUDE THE QUARTERLY IDHSNA PUBLICATION, THE BLARNEY. Name Contact (for Farm Memberships) Address City State/Prov Zip/Postal Code Country Phone Fax Website The submission of a Society membership application or membership renewal or participation in a Society event constitutes acceptance of the Society s Bylaws, Rules, and policies and procedures - and all amendments thereto - that are posted on the Society web page (www. irishdraught.com) and that you are advised to review. Member s Signature Date Member s Signature Date Privacy Issues By applying for membership with the IDHSNA, the members name and contact info may be used in the annual Membership Directory, unless the member directly contacts the Member Services Coordinator and requests that the information not be used in such directory. The IDHSNA does not sell, give out or allow members to use for advertising purposes, our membership information. However, this information may be used for IDHSNA business such as elections and special news/notifications. The IDHSNA may, if a member competes or takes part in an IDHSNA activity or competition, use a members name and contact informtion in publication in the Blarney, press releases and/or on our website unless the member directly contacts the Member Services Coordinator and requests that the information not be used in such a manner. The Member Services Coordinator may be contacted at: idhsna@hotmail.com PLEASE COMPLETE THE ABOVE INFORMATION AND ENCLOSE THE COMPLETED & SIGNED FORM WITH CHECK FOR APPROPRIATE AMOUNT (PAYABLE TO IDHSNA) OR PROVIDE RELEVANT ONLINE CONFIRMATION INFORMATION, AND MAIL (OR FAX) TO: IDHSNA MEMBER SERVICES COORDINATOR, 4037 IRON WORKS PARKWAY, #160, LEXINGTON, KY / PHONE/FAX: (859)

24 It s a Wrap! ROLEX It s A Wrap!! By Sarah Bright The Irish Draught Horse Society (NA) was represented in full force at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Members were observed to be volunteering, participating in demonstrations for the Future Event Horse program run by the USEA, spectating, peddling their various and sundry wares and of course chatting about Irish horses whenever they had the chance. By the time we ve all received our The Blarney, the highs and lows of Rolex will be widespread throughout the horse world. What might not be so widely publicized are the highs the IDHSNA contingent experienced Michelle and Larry Robbins were the first to arrive with their two year old colt, Kilronan s Glenstone (Stoney) who participated in the demonstration for the Future Event Horse program sponsored by the USEA. Michelle and Larry have already earned a fabulous reputation for themselves and their stock by participating in this program. Judging by the response from the clinicians and spectators this program is a great way to be promoting both purebreds like Stoney and sporthorses like Crossfox Dewdrop who was last year s participant. Friday evening, Only Fools & Horses hosted society members and those interested in Irish horses or the society for some light refreshments. Everyone took the opportunity to meet or catch up. Whoever has the group shot from this shindig please send us a copy! Saturday the reason 50% of the spectators attend Rolex (the other 50% for shopping) dawned, and though there were showers in the early morning, the torrential rains which threatened the day never came. True to form, the Irishbred horses tackled the course with characteristic vim and vigor. Casual observers (read non-id) identified Kim Severson s Tipperary Liadhnan (Fast Silver RID ex. Gypsy Star IDSH) as one of the cross-country standouts. Photograph kindly supplied by Rolex photographer, Shannon Brinkman ( after she heard the our own photographer s equipment tragically failer her. Thank you so much for this incredible photo of Connaught and Phillip Dutton out of the water! Sunday s stadium brought a swift conclusion to Phillip Dutton s outstanding win on Connaught (IHS). The course was open for walking Saturday, and members who took advantage of this confirmed that the questions weren t over for horse and rider combinations as the show jumping course was no walk in the park. Through the course of the weekend many spectators stopped to chat about the Irish horses they 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 22

25 It s a Wrap!! Rolex 2008 (con t)... owned themselves. Disappointingly, most of these people were not members, nor were their horses registered. Mark your calendars now for next year s event, it s an ideal opportunity for the realization of our goals to promote and register! Plan on staying in the campsite with all the IDHSNA there s no such thing as roughing it. The United States Eventing Associations (USEA) Future Event Horse (FEH) Demonstrations at Rolex, Kentucky Horse Park - Submitted By Michelle Robbins The Future Event Horse demonstrations at Rolex this year took place on Friday, 25 April 2008 around 1130 in the Walnut Arena. Five breeders were invited to bring a horse and we were flattered to be one of the five. We took Kilronan s Glenstone down for the event and were very proud of our boy. He was, for the most part, very mannerly and handled the flapping flags, vendor tents, loud speakers, and crowds of people pretty well. Each horse was handled during the demonstration by Bruce Griffin who was assisted by his wife Stacie. There were three colts and two fillies presented by USEA s CEO, Jo Whitehouse. Ms. Whitehouse read a short bio on each horse providing information on the horse s pedigree, sire and dam lines, accomplishments of siblings and the featured horse s accomplishments. We were very proud of how well he looked and presented himself. We hope that our bringing him will spread the word about just how well suited the versatile Irish Draught is to the sport of eventing. I[D]SH wins Rolex **** Submitted by Megan Gillenwater Kilronan s Glenstone RIDSH in the Walnut Arena at Rolex. Connaught, an I[D]SH gelding by Ballysimon ISH (Pere Hubert TB x Whitehall Girl [Pal Gondomar TB x Colghera Lass RID), and rider Phillip Dutton (USA) finished on top at the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event CCI ****. The win was especially sweet for Dutton, who has been a bridesmaid many times at Rolex. Connaught had a stunning dressage test, scoring 41.3 penalties to sit in second place behind American Becky Holder riding her TB gelding, Courageous Comet. Connaught and Dutton made the XC course on Saturday look easy and held on to second place by only adding 0.4 time penalties to their score. Sunday s show jumping round saw a double clear from the pair, which secured the win when Ms. Holder s horse pulled 2 rails. In all, 9 IDSH s were entered this year, with 5 completing the course. Finishing 5th was Tipperary Liadhnan, ridden by Kim Severeson. Tipperary Liadhnan is by Fast Silver RID and out of Gypsy Star IDSH (I m a Star TB x Gypsy Duff AID), and was bred by the late Tobias Corbett of County Tipperary, Ireland. This was the first **** for this pair. Severson is well known as the partner of Windsome Adante, who was retired in a ceremony at Rolex. Severson and TL had an excellent dressage test, with many comments about how well he could move from the spectators. Their XC round was a textbook example of how it s done at this level, coming in double clear. Unfortunately, TL had a rail and 4 time faults to add to their score to finish with 62.6 penalties. Finishing 11th was Kirby Park Irish Jamie, ridden by Cammy O Rourke (AUS). KPIJ is by ESB Irish Enough (AUS) (McCartney TB x ESB Irish Anna [Glenside RID x Annaughdown Rose RID]) and out of Yellow River TB. This duo has enjoyed success in Australia before coming to the US this winter to prepare for Rolex. Watching this pair s XC round was like watching a clinic on how a partnership between horse and rider should work. There was no pulling or tugging, merely a lift of a shoulder by O Rourke, and KPIJ would respond. An interesting tidbit was that KPIJ was the mount that carried O Rourke through the levels of Pony Club. They finished with 69.1 penalties. Finishing 13th was Arthur, ridden by Allison Springer. Arthur is by Brandenburg s Windstar RIDSH out of an American TB mare named Kelly. Arthur was the only US bred IDSH to compete. This was also the first **** for Arthur, and he proved how ready he was to compete at this level. They finished XC double clear, but dropped 5 rails in SJ to finish with 73.7 penalties. Please see the interview with Ms. Springer in this issue of the Blarney for a more in-depth look at the pair. Last but certainly not least, was UN ridden by Jane Sleeper, who finished 27th. UN is by Cavalier Royale (HOLS) x Never Enough ISH (Bahrain TB x Grange Twilight ISH {by King of Diamonds RID}). UN was one of only two mares entered in this competition. IDSH s who were entered but did not complete were: Dun to A T ridden by Jon Holling. Dun to a T is by Cruising RIDSH (Sea Crest RID x Mullacrew ISH) out of Yours Faithfully ISH. Holling had taken over the ride for injured Darren Chiacchia less then 3 weeks prior to Rolex, and had a wonderful Dressage test. They did not present for XC. Hugh Knows and Karen O Connor. Hugh Knows is by Able Albert TB x Lupez ISH (by Diamond Lad RID). This was the first **** for this horse and looked like a promising go until the Double Diamonds (fence 16abcd) on the XC course. Hugh Knows had a run out at the first corner, and was skillfully nursed around the remainder of the course by O Connor. He was presented to the Ground Jury on Sun Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 23

26 It s a Wrap!! Rolex 2008 (con t)... day morning, but was held for re-inspection. He was never re-presented, and withdrawn. McKinlaigh and Gina Miles. McKinlaigh is by Highland King ISH (Highland Flight TB x Aishling RID) out of Kilcumney Hostess ISH (Stetchworth Lad TB x Thomastown Baroness RID). McKinlaigh suffered a light bout with colic after the first horse inspection, and was withdrawn before his dressage test. Cahir and Emilee Libby. Cahir is by Glidawn Diamond RID (King of Diamonds RID x Kildalton Countess RID). Cahir had a spectacular dressage test, placing them 6th going into XC. Rolex Commentator, Sally O Connor had wonderful things to say about the ride, and promising that this was a Young Rider to watch. Unfortunately, Cahir had a refusal on XC at fence 4, was sticky through 5, and refused again at 6. This was a very uncharacteristic offering from Cahir, and Ms. Libby retired to thunderous applause from the spectators. I hope to see them at Rolex again next year. The beauty of Rolex weekend was tainted by tragedy. Laine Ashker riding Frodo Baggins, a New Zealand TB, suffered a rotational fall at fence 5. Ms. Ashker is currently listed in critical but stable condition suffering from a severely broken jaw, broken ribs and clavicle, and punctured lungs. Frodo Baggins was humanly euthanized as a result of his injuries (a fracture at the base of his skull and a severe lung injury). Also humanely euthanized was The Quiet Man (a Holstiner/ISH by Cavalier), ridden by Sarah Hansel, who suffered a fall at fence 13, severely fracturing his scapula. Ms. Hansel suffered only minor injuries. MEGAN GILLENWATER generously donated her time to take photographs for us at Rolex again this year. Regretfully, her photographic equipment failed her - a fact she only realized after taking over TEN ROLLS of film in to be processed. We would like to thank Megan for her efforts on our behalf and hope her equpment operates as expected soon! Congratulations to Steeped in Luck RID on a stellar beginning to his formal dressage show career in May At an Equine Canada Gold (National) Level horse show (KLDA Spring Fling) with Tom Dvorak riding, the six-year old stallion obtained his Canadian Sport Horse Stallion Bronze Premium status by earning five placings over 65% at Second Level from an Equine Canada/USEF recognized dressage show! Judges Stephen Clarke (FEI O Great Britain), Lorraine MacDonald (FEI I Canada) and Brenda Minor (FEI C Canada) provided Steeped in Luck with the following scores: 68.33%, 68.03%, 67.84%, 67.67%, 66.49%. As a result, Steeped in Luck has completed his requirements for Bronze Premium status in one weekend! In addition, Steeped in Luck and Tom placed 1st across the board and were awarded the 2nd Level Championship at this Gold (national) show. Page 24

27 More Member News (con t)... Kinsale Farms RID Impressions Anna Sprecher My roommate from college has no idea what she is missing. During our senior year at Averett University we were both on the hunt for a great job in the horse industry. We both majored in Equestrian Studies, and searched in the same places. Somehow, she found the open position at Kinsale Farms before I did. As luck would have it, she decided not to pursue the opening and passed it on to me. Despite my 15+ years of experience with horses, I had never heard of the Irish Draught, yet now I can t imagine not staying involved with the breed. The gentleness, athleticism and generosity of the Irish Draught have definitely won me over. It certainly helps as well that the people I ve met within the breed are also super friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, I am leaving Kinsale Farms and moving to Delaware this spring. What is probably the most difficult thing about my move (aside from the cost of fuel!) is leaving the RID stallion Lionwood Kinsale s Lad, who has become a best friend and willing partner over the past two years. Angus, as he is affectionately known, has been both a wonderful pupil and teacher for me and I am thankful for every day I was able to spend with him. The Irish luck has followed me again, as Angus half brother Lionwood Ranger (both out of Bonnie Belle Supreme RID) is located just 30 minutes from where I will be living in Delaware! His owner has graciously invited me out to visit, ride and work with her Irish Draughts and Sport Horses so that I may stay connected to the breed. A couple other Irish Draught owners in surrounding Maryland have also invited me out to visit, and I really look forward to being able to see friends from shows as well as meet new people. Hopefully I will still be able to attend the annual shows and see even more! I want to thank everyone, especially Ken Haley, who has introduced and guided me through the Irish Draught breed. I wish Jenny Fisher, who is taking over for me at Kinsale Farms, the best of luck with Angus and the rest of the horses. I also want to thank the horses for being such wonderful educators and helping me decide the next horse I would like to purchase! Atrianna Sprecher and Lionwood Kinsale s Lad RID Jenny Fisher After 15 years in the horse industry I had never put much thought on breed emphasis. My career choices have taken me from barn to barn over the years. Like all professionals in the horse world, an eclectic range of breeds have passed by me for training, for purchase, to be used in lessons or for business in one form or another. Horses have always made my heart beat faster and that is why I chose this profession over another. Never before have I ever had the urge to praise a breed like I do the Irish Draught. Having recently taken the position as trainer at Kinsale Farms in Virginia, I am thrilled to have this career opportunity to continue doing what I love best; training and competing, teaching lessons and having some serious fun on very cool horses. Lionwood Kinsale s Lad RID, our 2004 stallion whose show career began successfully in 2007 under trainer Atrianna (Anna) Sprecher, has proved to be a speed bump on my road of miscellaneous breeds. Affectionately known as Angus, this stallion and his fellow ID/ IDSH family won me over immediately. Their attitude, their aptitude for learning and their overall charisma has caused me to blink a few times, re-evaluate my non-involvement in breed registries and become a champion for the Irish Draught horse. As a trainer, I recognize the ease that Angus brings to our daily regimen with his correct combination of attitude and athleticism. Riding up and down mountains, through creeks and over bridges is something that, as an eventer, never fails to thrill me. Being able to do so on such a young stallion shocks and humbles me. He applies himself in the dressage arena and is an absolute ham in the show arena. In the past I have helped many clients with the purchase of their horses. When I go through the checklist of qualities that people look for in their horse, whether for competition, for a young rider or for a first time horse enthusiast, I can not help but shake my head and wonder where all the RID or RIDSH horses were. I look forward to being a part of the Irish Draught fan club. I will continue to praise these horses and their qualities, and strive to help bring this wonderful breed more recognition. Jenny Fischer and Lionwood Kinsale s Lad RID 05/08/08 - NEWS ON REBEL S RUN, RIDSH Gayle Sheahan I am happy to announce Rebel s Run (2001 RIDSH by Rebel Yell x Galarose) had a great week-end at the Tulsa Classic Horse Show and has qualified for Harrisburg this fall. He is slated to go to Lamplight in June for his next show. He placed 1st in the Modified Jumper Classic Level 6 & 1st in the Jr. AO Classic Level 7. For photos, check out: and select Tulsa Classic Show Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 25

28 More Member News (con t)... FROM B. C. Canada Submitted by Adele Mahaffy Priceless Clover (aka Liam, Clover Cliste x Mirabelle) is enjoying his very small jump schools with me, at least until I finish my degree in the Spring. I then will get him back to the trainer to start getting him ready to show this year. KINSON STUD, MONTANA Submitted by Jenny Carbonari-Ford Melissa Cason s stallion O Leary s Irish Diamond RID is in training with Jenny Carbonari-Ford. This spring, five of his offspring, all of whom are TB x ID (IDSH), traveled to HITS Tucson for three weeks in February. Some of the results for them follow: Dream of Diamonds, 7 year old gelding, owned and ridden by Jill Bentley Lobban, was Level 4 jumper champion. O Leary s Kidd Diamond, 5 year old stallion, owned by Jim Leary and ridden by Jenny Carbonari-Ford, competed in his first show in the Level 1 jumpers with two 7th place ribbons. Diamond Gemini, 9 year old gelding, owned and ridden by Kayla Seaman, had several placings in the Low Children s jumpers (a 3rd, a 6th, and numerous others). Polly s Irish Diamond, 7 year old mare, owned and ridden by Jenny Carbonari-Ford, showed in her first show schooling in the hunter ring and competing in the Level 1 jumpers. Rumspringa, 8 year old IDSH gelding, owned and ridden by Jenny Carbonari-Ford, showed in the Level 5 and 6 Jumpers after a year off, with several placings. O Leary s Irish Diamond showed in The Novice Adult Hunters with owner Melissa Cason, earning a 2nd and 3rd, and with trainer Jenny Carbonari -Ford in the Level 4 Jumpers with several high placings. Priceless Clover (aka Liam, Clover Cliste x Mirabelle) Clover Cliste (D Arcy) is enjoying getting fit again by going trail riding. We are anxiously awaiting our only 2008 foal. If Belle goes her usual 346 days it should be May 5. This is a full sibling to Clover All Over, Priceless Clover, Classic Clover, Ciaran Clover, Clover s Deja Vu & Clover s Finnigan. Crossing our fingers for a healthy foal and an uneventful, easy foaling. Lori Olshaski reports on her IDHS gelding: I am having the best time with my boy! I started him myself a few months ago, and we thoroughly enjoy our walks down the road and hacks through the parks, you can t beat the super disposition of the breed!. I will attach a few pictures of him. Clover s Limited Edition aka Riley is by Clover Cliste out of my TB mare Angel s Last Dance (deceased). We have recently updated our website with a news page and more photos. Rumspringa IDSH, 8 year old gelding, owned and ridden by Jenny Carbonari-Ford, at HITS Arizona. Clover s Limited Edition, a.k.a. Riley IDSH Directly before this edition of the Blarney was due to go to print, we learned that tragedy had befallen Liz McFarland and Mike Wigan, as they lost their RID stallion, Happy Ending, to a heart attack. Happy Ending was 20 years young and his loss will be strongly felt in the RID community. Look to The Blarney Summer Edition for an article on the life and times of Happy Ending. The Blarney assumes no responsibility for the truth or accuracy of the advertisements contained herein. Statements, opinions, and points of view expressed by the contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of The Blarney staff and/or the IDHSNA Inc. We reserve the right to edit any editorial materials received & deny placing advertising or written material that is deemed damaging or contrary to the goals of the Society Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 26

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30 Road to the Olympics... Interview with Allison Springer Interview by Megan Gillenwater I recently had the opportunity to interview Allison Springer about her IDSH gelding, Arthur. Arthur is by Brandenburg s Windstar RIDSH (I m A Star TB x Kildalton Seabreeze ID by Sea Crest RID), and out of the Thoroughbred mare Betty Wilson. Arthur has recently carried Allison to incredible finishes at the Advanced level of Eventing, and together they are working towards qualifying for the Olympic team. Enjoy! How long have you worked with Arthur? 4 years. I bought him at 5 from Michael Godfrey. something new. He is my favorite dressage horse because he is perfectly sensitive and has good gaits and is very supple. What are your competition plans for this year? Trying to get qualified for Olympics. We just ran at Red Hills in the World Cup qualifier, and placed 3 rd. He was amazing. He has the Fork this weekend, which is his final run before Rolex, and another World Cup course. [Arthur and Allison placed 3 rd at this event.] We are on the High performance list, so we are part of the winter training sessions with Mark Phillips, which are going very well. I do envision him being the horse I get to do Badminton and Burghley with eventually. He is very young and will only keep getting better with maturity. He keeps stepping up and showing me he is going to be the horse to take me to my goals. How did he come to be with you? I needed a new horse, and looked at tons and tons of going horses, and couldn t find anything I was crazy about. Randy Ward had called me about Arthur, who was competed by Virginia Jenkins for Godfrey, at lower levels, and said he is one to bring along and that he was one of the best athletes he had ever ridden. I rode him twice, and had a great feeling about him. What qualities does he have that most enable him to perform at the top level of Eventing? He has beautiful conformation, sensitive, which I like because it makes them so trainable. He is an absolute love, and very trusting. He has an amazing gallop and endless scope over fences. How would you describe his personality? He is very playful, loves attention, not a leader, a follower in the herd. His favorite buddy is grey, and at the shows he loves to be near a grey horse, it s when he is the most at ease. He loves his friends (horse and people). How would you describe his training routine? Well, we are gearing up for Rolex right now. Almost every day he walks for 45 minutes to an hour, to help build endurance and soundness. He has long trot sets multiple times a week. Gallop sets, wind sprints, every 5 days. Some type of dressage every day. I try to keep it entertaining, but he enjoys the going out and doing something daily. He really loves his job. He understands what I want, and is happy to try Allison Springer riding Arthur. Photo courtesy Shannon Brinkman ( Do you find Arthur is impacted in any way by the amount of Irish Draught blood he has? He is so thoroughbredy in build. Don t know much about the stallion [Brandenburg s Windstar], but Arthur is out of an American TB mare. I don t think he is typical of an Irish Draught cross. He is 17.1 hands, long and narrow through the body. Does he require special attention to conditioning? I m more concerned about him going over the top in his fitness. He is a very efficient gallop. He is easier to get fit, and stays fitter, then TB s. He has an unusually fast gallop, feels like a fit racehorse. For example, we were at the end of Jersey Fresh *** last year, and it was hot. Near the end of the course, he stopped pulling on me like he thought he was done, but we had some fences to go. I put my leg on, and he zoomed off. He had plenty of run and gallop left in him. Tell me a bit more about Mozart, Arthurs brother, you have coming up the ranks. Is he a full brother? They have the same sire (Brandenburg s Windstar), Mozart s dam is warmblood mare (Holsteiner). How does he compare to Arthur in terms of personality, temperamant, and build? Mozart is a sweet horse loves humans, very similar in that regard. He is a little heavier, but still very TB in build. He is very leggy and very tall. Does he show the same potential as Arthur? It s really hard to tell now. Arthur had experience at Training when I got him, Mozart just did his first BN. Nothing that limits him from having the potential, but 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 28

31 Road to the Olympics (con t)... he is still quite green. He loves galloping and XC, and is showing signs of wanting this as a career. In the future, would you prefer a horse with the same, more, or less Irish Draught blood? Same. Why? I ve always been a thoroughbred person. I think that a little more ID blood wouldn t be a bad thing, but every horse is an individual. for eventing, but also gives breeders a place to showcase their stock. Riders would love to help breeders showcase and produce their horses, and get them known. Eventers are by far the most approachable group of riders. Find one who you like the results of what they have made, and contact them. I love bringing a young horse along. What qualities do you like or dislike about the breed? I don t know enough about the breed. Arthur came to me out of luck. Mozart s owners heard of my success with Arthur, and brought him to me to bring along. Do you have any suggestions or comments for breeders, owners, or trainers of Irish Draught Sport Horses in North America? I think the Young Event Horse program is a great way to encourage breeding Allison Springer riding Arthur in the showjumping phase. Photo courtesy Shannon Brinkman ( Muffin says, Read more about Allison and Arthur in our Rolex section! WELCOME SUSAN ROYAL Susan is an IDHSNA member and an IDHSNA Web Administrator in training! ABOVE: Rhyds Sea Diamond RID (2000 RID Mare by Rhyd s Sea Quest out of Rhyd s Classic Diamond) at the USEA Adult Camp in March, 2008, at Tulip Springs in Kennewick, WA. We went with only six hours on her back ever. She really put people in awe with her talent, size, temperament and sense of humor. She was a true ambassador for the RID. Because of her I was asked a lot of questions about the Irish Draught, everyone liked her. The little girl in the pic was out shopping for a horse to replace her pony she feels is too small for her now... she wanted her mom to take Anny home! Jessica Walker I am a Pilates Instructor developing individualized programs addressing what that particular person needs to achieve harmony within their bodies. Pilates is just fabulous for equestrians and it helps to rediscover our bodies and perform to our utmost capabil- i- ties. Prior to that, I have been a graphic and web site developer. I still main a small client base, but mainly do it now on a volunteer basis. I have had horses just about all my life, and discovered the Irish Draught years ago when I saw an ad for Touch of the Blues. I was quite smitten wtih him, and was absolutely delighted when upon moving to Kansas, met Simone and Doug Mackay and of course, their Touch of the Blues. I own a KEC Double Diamond purebred gelding...now 2, and a bay yearling 3/4 Irish Draught Touch of the Blues daughter. These two keep me busy and I certainly enjoy every minute of it! Susan Royal Look for Susan s contact information on the IDHSNA web contacts page Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 29

32 Festivale of Endangered Equines... Equus Survival Trust - Festivale of Endangered Equines - Submitted by Fleur Bryan The IDHSNA has committed to support an exciting event The Festivale of Endangered Equines which will take place at the Kentucky Horse Park Sept 5-7, Designed to spotlight rare breeds, offer educational opportunities and feature conservation issues and outcomes, this event is expected to draw spectators. It is a wonderful opportunity for Irish Draught aficionados to spotlight the breed to a large and interested audience, while learning from other breeders, competitors and organizations. The gathering also provides a great venue for those savvy members interested in networking and marketing to a highly qualified and sympathetic audience. Traditional type conformation and appearance will be the primary criteria in judging, but this Festivale isn t really about competition, rather more about learning, teaching and perpetuating interest the existence of endangered breeds. Class registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis from May 1st though August 1st (Sport Horse entries will begin June 1st) through the Equus Survival Trust. See www. Equus-Survival-Trust.org for updates on program specifics, show developments, registration details or for additional information. The Society has committed to: Reciprocal membership with Equus Survival Trust (this is already done) An Association Booth (we ll be forming a committee to develop and man this booth) Corporate booth participation ($200 for the entire weekend per booth) Room rental for our AGM and other Society events Sat. Sept. 6th from 8 a.m. 10:30 a.m. Participation in breeders row (we ll need people and horses for this spotlight opportunity) Development and presentation of a demonstration during the show (another committee) Basket for silent auction (members are encouraged to make suggestions/provide product) Minimum 10 RID competitors, 20 total ideal, including IDSH Champion awards for some classes (not cash) Sponsorship of any RID awards We hope members will come forward to make us proud with their support. We are also looking for members to provide and/or sponsor champion awards for all classes featuring RIDs and IDSHs, as well as those that include them. We also hope we can make a strong showing with ads in the program (we now have a new IDHSNA logo that can be included in these ads). Volunteers will be needed on the day of the show and committee members prior to the event, beginning in May. The IDHSNA membership will be kept apprised of IDHSNA developments, activities and participation via our Notices List and the IDHSNA website at Please consider how you can help make this event a huge opportunity for spectators, the Equus Survival Trust and, of course, the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America and our wonderful horses. For direct updates / registration details, please visit the Equine Survival Trust website at: CMF MAYA Born 05/05/07 (Cinco de Mayo baby), out of a Dutch bred mare, by our RID Stallion Flag of Diamonds. This filly has the 4 key ingredients to make a top class event horse... Temperament, Brains, athletic ability, AND movement to give you an excellent Dressage score. Offered for Sale by: Celtic Manor Farms (gina@irishhorsefarm. com), , www. irishhorsefarm.com Sweet and Sensible Irish Draught Sport Horse Filly Jan 2008Unique opportunity to own one of the last Mountain Pearl North American Foals. Flashy bay filly already exhibits floating trot. Has sweet, people-loving attitude of dam and sire. Hand leads, used to human contact and daily grooming. Dam is athletic and experienced TB eventer from racing lines (Nearco, Mahmoud,Nasrullah). Half-siblings excel in dressage, eventing, and jumpers. $8,500 Contact Carol or carolstrank@hotmail.com Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 30

33 Exploring Mare Lines... The Irish Draught Mare Families, Black Beauty Submitted by Elizabeth Freeman, DVM In search of Black Beauty During the 17 years spanning 1954 to 1969, two mares were foaled in County Cork who between them produced more approved RID stallions than any other modern mare line in the breed. The recorded dam of these mares was an unnumbered (and assumed unregistered) mare named Black Beauty. Admittedly, Black Beauty was a popular mare name in Ireland there are at least 6 individual occurrences of this name in Charlotte Moore s mare book and even more to be found in the various published editions of the Irish Draught and Irish Sport Horse mare books. The question that remains to be answered is this: Is our Black Beauty the matriarch of both mare lines and thus the founder of this one phenomenal stallion producing family? The definitive answer will have to be provided by mitochondrial DNA. But in the meantime, here is the story of Black Beauty and her descendants, as provided by Irish and English studbook sources. Records show that our Black Beauty was sired by the influential Irish Draught sire Gortlee (426). Gortlee, a bay horse, had a long and influential career in Cork during the 50 s, 60 s and early 70 s. During this time he sired a great many approved stallions and mares. Samuel Kingston, the Cork man listed as breeder of Black Beauty s daughter Irish Sunset (5471), may have owned our Black Beauty for at least some of her working years. Samuel Kingston s family own and breed Black Beauty s female descendants in Co. Cork today. Another Cork resident, Michael Mennis, is listed as the breeder of Black Beauty s second daughter Rena Grand (7762). Little else is known about our matriarch except that she lived in Co. Cork during the post World War II years. Assuming there was only one unregistered Gortlee daughter bearing purebred foals in Cork during the 50 s and 60 s, our Black Beauty lived during a time of great hardship for the Irish Draught sisterhood, a time when the mares of the countryside were sent by the thousands to the factory. Irish Sunset Black Beauty s first Registered daughter was the grey mare Irish Sunset (5471). Irish Sunset was bred by Samuel Kingston in Cork and was sired by the grey stallion Irish Pearl (193) who also stood in Cork. Irish Pearl was 21 years of age when Irish Sunset was conceived in Irish Sunset produced three foals: all purebred draught and all full siblings by Gortlee (426), which means they were all inbred to Gortlee. Irish Sunset s first RID daughter was Glounphooka Dolly (6122), born in 1963, grey like her dam. Irish Sunset s only son, the bay RID stallion Carrigbawn Lad (595), was born in Carrigbawn Lad, his son Moorpark Boy, and Moorpark Boy s son Moorpark Image all demonstrate Gortlee s strong bay coloration. The USA-based Moorpark Image is now the sole RID representative of Carrigbawn Lad s male line. Irish Sunset s last offspring was Flirty Gertie (8028), born in Flirty Gertie was black in color as was, one would assume from the name, her granddam Black Beauty. Flirty Gertie was the only of Irish Sunset s female offspring to produce purebred foals. She produced some important ones an

34 Exploring Mare Lines (con t)... RID stallion and 3 RID mares (two of whom went on to produce RID stallions themselves). Flirty Gertie was owned by the very same Kingston family who bred her dam and granddam. Her productive years occurred during a time of great decline in the Irish Draught herd, as working draughts were replaced by tractors and motor cars all over Ireland. Flirty Gertie was the dam of five foals all purebred draught. Three became RID mares and her only colt was approved as an RID stallion. Flirty Gertie s first approved daughter, the grey Carrigbawn Coleen (9418) was born in 1974, two years before the formation of the Irish Draught Horse Society. Carrigbawn Coleen was by popular broodmare sire Ben Purple (580), who was also grey and stood his first year with the late John McCarthy in Co. Cork the year Carrigbawn Coleen was conceived. Carrigbawn Coleen was the dam of 10 foals. She produced three consecutive colts that later became RID stallions: Riverbank (748) was born in 1981, and the full brothers Diamond King (756) and Silver Glider (770) by the Conqueror (725) were born in 1983 and Carrigbawn Coleen produced one RID daughter Creagh Dolly (10727) in 1985 who was a bay full sister to grey brothers Diamond King and Silver Glider. She produced one AID daughter Groobany Coleen foaled in 1989 and sired by Young Golden ISH. Groobany Coleen produced one RID granddaughter for Carrigbawn Coleen, Cusher Pride (120009) by Annaghdown Star (791), but sadly Carrigbawn Coleen s female line ends here as Cusher Pride has not produced a replacement, and Creagh Dolly produced no purebred fillies at all. Flirty Gertie s second RID daughter was the black Tullough Lassie (9663), who was foaled in 1975, and like her sister was sired by Ben Purple. Tullough Lassie produced three RID daughters and one RID stallion son from five foals. Tullough Lassie Two (10543) by Kintara (696) was foaled in 1982, and full sisters Irish Mollie (10898) and Tullough Black Beauty (10975) by The Conqueror (725), were foaled in 1987 and 1988 respectively. Like their Cork cousins, these mares failed to produce any RID daughters to carry on Flirty Gertie s female line. Tullough Lassie did however produce an RID stallion, the IDHS(GB)-approved Tullough Hero, a black horse foaled in By Grove Hero (629), Tullough Hero stood in England and showjumped with John Whitaker. Flirty Gertie s next RID offspring was the stallion Carrigbawn Prince, a grey horse foaled in 1978 and exported to England were he was later approved as an RID stallion. Flirty Gertie s third RID daughter, the grey Carrigbawn Lady (10345), was born in Carrigbawn Lady was sired by Flagmount Boy (683). Out of seven foals, Carrigbawn Lady produced one AID daughter, Sunset Girl (by the Thoroughbred horse Amazon) and one RID daughter, Bean Rua (11639) by Red Hackle (792). Sunset Girl went on to produce a ¾ sibling to Bean Rua in the RID mare Carrigbawn Doll (11905) also by Red Hackle (792). Bean Rua born in 1992 and Carrigbawn Doll born in 1994 are the only RID female descendants of Irish Sunset still breeding in Ireland as of the 2006 edition of the Irish Draught Horse Marebook. Bean Rua gave birth to a grey filly foal by Glidawn Diamond in 2005 and Carrigbawn Doll was due to foal to Fast Silver in Rena Grand Black Beauty s second female offspring was the Rathlin daughter Rena Grand (7761) who was born in Co. Cork in Rena Grand was the dam of 14 foals, giving birth to her last foal at age 23. Of these she produced an RID stallion as well as four RID daughters and a number of ISH. Her RID son was the chestnut grand prix jumper Rathlin Star (707), who was foaled in 1977 and sired by Armada Star (566). The chestnut mare Missihippi (10914) was foaled in CO. Cork in The first of Rena Grand s RID daughters, she was by the Gortlee grandson Armada Star (566) and was thus linebred 3x3 to Gortlee like her full brother Rathlin Star. Missihippi was the dam of eight foals. Two of her daughters were approved RID and one was approved AID. Her RID daughters were the chestnut threequarter siblings Missihippi Cross (11481) by Holycross (765) and Glenogra s Keepsake (12004) by Holycross son Pride of Glenogra (811). These two mares were foaled in 1991 and 1994 respectively. Missihippi s AID daughter, foaled in 1988, was Deerpark Heidi by Leabeg ISH. Missihippi Cross went on to produce four RID daughters out of seven foals as of 2006: Crosstana (12117) and her full sister Derryhea Kelly (12451), both by Castana (837), both chestnut, and foaled in 1995 and 1997 respectively; Cooper Mullinary Maid (12450) by Rockrimmon Silver Diamond (846) foaled in 1999; and Cooper Classic Star (12916) by Classic Vision (827) foaled in Of these four mares only Crosstana has any recorded progeny most recently a colt by rare line stallion Clonakilty Hero (860) born in Rena Grand s second RID daughter Rena Grove (10408) by Grove Hero (629), was born in 1980 and produced no RID descendants from her five foals. Rena Grand s third RID daughter, Rena Grey (10544), foaled in 1982 by Kintara (696), bore one RID daughter, Blarney Bumble (11855), a 1994 grey by Dangan King (613). Blarney Bumble produced no known foals so Rena Grey s female line ends here. Her branch of the family is carried on through her son, RID stallion Young Prospect, a 1990 grey by Prospect Pride (738), now standing with Alison Ives in Yorkshire, England. Rena Grand s fourth RID daughter was Grey Curragong (10604), foaled in Grey Curragong was by The Conqueror (725), grey like her dam, and she produced nine foals of which two went on to become RID stallions and one became an approved ISH stallion. The RID stallions are the Glidawn Diamond (754) sired full brothers, O Leary s Irish Diamond (845), foaled in 1994 in Co. Kerry and now standing at Kinson Stud in Montana, and K.E.C. Bluejay Diamond (869) foaled in 1997 and standing with the Leacy family in Co. Wexford. Leeside Ranger ISH is Grey Curragong s third approved stallion son. Though approved as an ISH stallion, he is a purebred draught by Silverstone (656). Modern Representatives Only three of Black Beauty s female RID descendants produced foals in 2005, the last year of data reported in the Irish Draught Mare Book. These mares were Carrigbawn Doll (still owned by the Kingston family who bred her great great granddam in Co Cork), Bean Rua, and Crosstana. Carrigbawn Doll 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 32

35 Exploring Mare Lines (con t)... and Bean Rua are representatives of the Irish Sunset side of the family, while Crosstana is the sole representative of the Rena Grand side of the family currently breeding. None of these mares had produced an RID daughter who was breeding as of Black Beauty s female family is represented by at least three horses in the United States: RID stallion O Leary s Irish Diamond (out of Grey Curragong) stands in Montana, RID mare Glenogra s Keepsake (out of Missihippi), makes her home in New Mexico, and RID gelding Glendubh (out of Sunset Girl) resides in Virginia. RID stallion O Leary s Irish Diamond (Irish), out of out of Grey Curragong) RID mare Glenogra s Keepsake (Grania), out of Missihippi at HITS Tucson 2008 Heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers in 2008 who have invested thousands of selfless hours to support and try and help improve the Society.. Nanette Levin Turning Irish and Thoroughbred Challenges into Exciting Solutions 996 State Route 247, Rushville, NY q (585) q q nlevin@halcyonacres.com

36 International News... The Blarney team encourages their sister and parent organizations to submit articles and items of news that may be of interest to the IDHSNA Membership. We would like to foster the idea of sharing news across international lines as a way of keeping each other up-to-date on ID and IDSH happenings across the world. We look forward to being able to bring you periodic and timely articles from around the world and to do that, we need your help! If you know about an issue or happening of interest, let us know! The Blarney Team. IDHS Canada Has a new board of directors By Lesley Kerfoot Chairperson; Duncan Kerfoot Vice Chairperson: Janene VandenBorn Secretary: Jennifer Brownlow Treasurer: Anthea McLauchlan Directors at Large: Cheryl Anderson and Nikko Konyk The web site may be found at Membership numbers are an ongoing issue in Canada, as our Irish population is small in comparison to yours. Nevertheless, we still produce the epitome of the Irish breed. The Irish Horse Board must be thanked and recognized for the support they have provided over the last years, not only with money but their physical presence on this continent. I believe our two societies have at last overcome many political differences and now have a focus towards the preservation, accomplishments and marketing of the great Irish horse. We wish to mention particularly Charles Yates, who accomplished the first ever Virtual Irish Horse Show. He and his volunteers did the most incredible job! With pictures of horses from all over the world the task must have been formidable, both to post all the horses and then judge them! Thank you Charles, it was FUN! The third Irish Extravaganza will be held at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC on July 25 and 26. The judge will be Philip Scott, Co. Mayo, Ireland. He will also host a clinic on July 24. The show will be open (with individual classes) to pure bred Irish Draught horses, pure bred Connemara horses, part bred Irish Draught horses and part bred Connemara horses. Classes, entry forms, clinic details etc. may be viewed on the new IDHS(CA) web site soon. There are many good stallions but few good mares. It is spring already, so we are all eager to see what these amazing horses produce this year. Happy foaling everyone! Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) Colt Inspections 2008 by Heather Chaplin St. Valentine s Day is perhaps not best spent freezing in a concrete yard, not even the very smart concrete yard at Warwickshire Agricultural College, but it has become an IDHS(GB) tradition to have sub zero temperatures during the Colt Inspections, and we had no desire to break with tradition this year. In fact after a day shivering outside, I doubt that very many of us helpers had any desire for anything except a log fire and a warm mug of something soothing. Despite near-hypothermia, we did have much to celebrate this year. For some, as always, there was crushing disappointment. We have all had stock inspected, and it is bad enough when a mare or filly does not quite make the grade, but the years of preparation that go into producing a stallion are even more costly in terms of money and time, not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of the inspection itself. Our inspectors have a very difficult job to do, and sadly some horses will not be successful, and some members will not be happy. But this year we did have an unprecedented Grade 1 pass rate, with four out of ten colts and stallions passing both conformation and vetting. At this point I must thank our dedicated inspectors, Mrs. Charlotte Moore from Ireland, Mr. Duco Van Joolen from Staffordshire, Mrs. Jane Stacy from Leicestershire and referee Mr. John Brewster, from North Yorkshire, and of course our long-standing veterinary advisor, Mr. Sandy Bell MRCVS. Mr. Tom Hudson and Mrs Liz Edgar were the B.S.J.A. representatives. They all worked very hard and their efforts are much appreciated. Well done also to Mary Wilson, our Vice Chairman, colt inspections organiser and inspectors steward, who together with Chris Hewlett and Ellen Walton in the arena and on the door respectively, steered everyone through what can be a challenging day with good cheer and professionalism. Our hostess Gaynor Mitchell looked after everyone, stable security was in Mandi Meer s safe hands, with Brian Gates managing the stables and myself on health and safety. John Newborough was the vet s steward, Graham Chaplin the trot up steward, Bryan Bane on photographs and Carol Malin dealing with the administration. Gina Newborough, as ever, provided delicious refreshments and appeared with steaming hot drinks at exactly the right moment. The College provided not only a splendid venue as always, but had first aiders on call, thankfully not needed, and were very good about helping us with the stabling requirements. Our President, Mrs. Pam Symonds, provided the commentary as well as presenting the inaugural BLS Awards to the successful Grade 1 colts. This new award is given in memory of Pam s late husband and long-standing Irish Draught enthusiast, Bernard Leckie Symonds, who was a great supporter of our colts and stallions. It consists of a valuable 200 prize, a sash and a beautifully made rosette in Bernard s favourite colours Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 34

37 International News (con t)... County level including Newbury, Hertfordshire and East of England, he impressed everyone with his presence, tremendous movement and athleticism over the fences. Sired by the Thoroughbred, Infantry, his dam is Silver Rose, a British bred RID mare by Fast Silver. Silver Rose was successfully hunted by Mr. Hewitt for some time with the Vale of Aylesbury Hunt. She is now retired and in foal to the highly successful RID sire, Roma Diamond Skip. President Mrs Pam Symonds presents Mr A. L. Thomas s Bridgeford Ferryman RID with his B.L.S. Award. Photo: Heather Chaplin The first colt to pass into Grade 1 RID was Diamond Lodge from West Yorkshire, a lovely dark grey three year old by Glidawn Diamond, who is a successful sire of international show jumpers and dressage horses from the King of Diamonds line. Diamond Lodge s dam is Reilly s Lodge, by Glenagyle Rebel, another renowned show jumping sire who traces back to the outcross Glenside line. Diamond Lodge is a quality, athletic horse with substance. Currently standing at 16.1 ½ hh, he already has 24.5 cms. of bone, and he is not yet fully three. He was bred by Mr. J. Cawley, and is owned and produced by Caroline Saynor. He has been successfully shown in hand at County level, and is now being broken in. Caroline will school him on towards a career in dressage, because his elastic movement should give him a natural aptitude in that discipline. Caroline can be contacted on , but because of his continuing education, Diamond Lodge will not be standing at stud this season. Killar ney Jack has b e e n p r o f e s s i o n - ally broken and schooled and is doing well under saddle. He will be standing in Princes Risborough this season. Mr Hewitt can be contacted on , mobile Presence personified: Mr G. M. Hewitt s 4 year old Another four Killarney Jack, Grade 1 SHR. Photo: Heather Chaplin year old made quite an entrance with an impressive in-hand piaffe along the trot up strip, so spectacular that our jaws dropped in amazement and for a few minutes we almost forgot how cold we were. Blackwater s intelligence and character had the stewards in the arena chuckling, as he played to the audience in fine style. A stunning jet black horse, he is traditional in type with tremendous power, presence, and movement. He passed into RID, delighting his owners Mr. W. Grieveson and Miss Tracey Southern. There often seems to be a fairy tale behind a good horse, and Blackwater is no exception. He was bred by Mr. F. Day and was just rescued in time from the floods in July 2007, having been spotted in grave danger by a police helicopter. Mr Grieveson took him on, and he was given to Miss Tracey Southern to produce, with the proviso that she took him forward for inspection. The gamble certainly paid off. A son of the famous Enniskeane Prince, who has certainly stamped him, he traces back to Milestone and Woodranger on his sire s side. His dam is Our Lily, with the much sought-after Heather Breeze bloodlines. Tracey can be contacted on She is based in Nottinghamshire. Mrs C. Saynor s Diamond Lodge RID. Photo: Heather Chaplin Second to join the list of Grade 1 sires, and the only Sport Horse, was Mr G. M. Hewitt s homebred four year old, Killarney Jack. Another striking grey, who has had outstanding successes in the show ring with a series of two and three year old championships at The final RID stallion to pass inspection was Mr. A.L. Thomas s 15 year old grey Bridgeford Ferryman. He is by Timahoe Heather out of the wonderful mare Mountain Light, by Deerpark Leader, a mare close to my own heart because I was privileged to meet her and her owners, Mr and Mrs King, when I was part of the inspection team that awarded her, in her old age, her last Hornby Premium Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 35

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39 International News (con t)... Mountain Light died in 2003, but her owner was there to witness the success of her son. Bridgeford Ferryman is a lovely traditional stallion, whose type is rarely seen nowadays, indeed he had attracted quite a fan club by the end of the proceedings. He popped down the jumping lane in grand style, and he has a wonderful kind eye and outlook. Bred by Mrs C. Wragg, Bridgeford Ferryman combines Timahoe Heather s substance with Mountain Light s quality. There is, predictably, another fairy story attached to this horse. He was lost to the breed for many years, much like his sire Timahoe Heather (who for a long time was assumed to be dead, until Robin and Margaret Cook located him and bought him). Bridgeford Ferryman also more or less disappeared from view. He ran with a small band of mares on a Welsh mountainside for about eleven years, when he was bought by a dealer as part of a contingent, and luckily the Thomas family were contacted and went to see him. They bought him initially without his proper papers, to run with a mare that they had previously had trouble breeding from. The dealer eventually managed to retrieve the papers, which prompted some internet searching on his pedigree. At this point, and with Robin Cook s advice, the Thomas family realised how special a find he was in terms of his type and bloodlines. They have had just nine months to transform the horse from a woolly and self reliant mountain dweller to the impressive, kindly (and clean) stallion we saw that day. Our president was commentating as Bridgeford Ferryman came into the arena to collect his B.L.S. Award, and just before she came down to the arena to present it, she said with characteristic wisdom, I was going to call him traditional, but since everyone likes him so much, I suppose he must be quite modern as well. Mr and Mrs Thomas can be contacted on , and they will be standing the stallion near Swansea. There have been times when I have come away from the colt inspections feeling quite despondent, but what a rare treat it was this valentine s Day, to be able to welcome four stallions of this calibre onto our books, all in one go. Let s support all our RID and Sport Horse stallions this year, and if you were thinking of using another breed on your RID mare, I implore you to think again. Let s support our stallion owners and produce some lovely foals for the future of the breed. a SuMMeR in ireland - FoR those WitHout an irish guide - Submitted by John Shortill If you are thinking going to Ireland this year consider centering your trip around the Irish horse show season which runs from June to Sept. totaling about 135 shows including 25 Championship shows. While the shows are to numerous to list below is a sample for members to consider. The three stars of your Irish Draught Summer would likely be: August 6-10, 2008 the RDS - RoYal DuBliN SHoW August 7, 2008, is Irish Draught Day August 2, 2008 the 23RD NatioNal irish DRaugHt BReeD SHoW, Mullingar. mullingarequestrian.com September 30 - October 1, 2008 the NatioNal irish DRaugHt Sale, Cavan The list of shows below bear the warning that these are approximate dates and members should check for updated dates for 2008 shows,contact information, etc. RoSCoMMoN irish DRaugHt YeaRliNg FillY CHaMPioNSHiP (Lietrim) Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17, 2008 the leitrim irish DRaugHt BReeDeRS CHaMPioNSHiP FINAL: Sunday, August 17, 2008 limerick id 2 YeaR old FillY CHaMPioNSHiP FINAL: Saturday, August 23, 2008 PleaSe Note: My Irish cousins are not very good at posting signs, let alone large ones, directing you to the show grounds thus calling ahead to the show committee contact person listed by the ISA for directions is recommended! lapsed Members: Please consider renewing your membership before June 30, 2008!! You don t want to miss out on the BlaRNeY Summer 2008 publication - do you? 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 3

40 International News (con t)... Greetings from Down Under From Debbie Hewitt, Secretary / Newsletter editor IDHS (New Zealand) When I was asked to write something for The Blarney from the New Zealand Irish Horse Society perspective, I wondered what on earth I should write about. After a bit of thought, I decided I would start at the beginning of the Irish Draught Horse story in New Zealand. But first, a bit of background for those unfamiliar with New Zealand we are NOT a part of Australia. We are 3 hours flying time (1600km -not sure how many miles that is) from the nearest part of Australia and fierce sporting rivals in everything. New Zealand consists of two main islands (appropriately named North & South) and has a population of just over 4 million people. Around 70% of the population live in urban areas, 1.2 million of whom live in the city of Auckland in the North Island. There are nearly 40 million sheep, 5.1m dairy cattle, 4.4m beef cattle and 1.7m farmed deer. New Zealand also has a thriving Thoroughbred bloodstock industry that produces many millions of dollars annually. The spin off of this industry, from the sporthorse breeders point of view, is a pool of slow or retired thoroughbred mares ideal for breeding Irish sporthorses. The New Zealand Irish Draught Horse Society was formed in 1987, when two RID stallions and an RID mare were imported into New Zealand on the same flight! Kingsway Diamond (x King of Diamonds) and the RID mare Kilmangh Banrion were brought to New Zealand by the legendry Thady Ryan when he and wife Ann a New Zealander, moved from Ireland to New Zealand for their retirement. Thady, having spent his life preparing and hunting Irish horses as Master of Scarteen Hunt was determined to introduce his beloved Irish horses to New Zealand. The second stallion, Laughtons Legend (x Lahinch) was imported by breeders Glynn & Edwina Morris with the idea of providing New Zealand sport horse breeders with an ideal sire to cross with the New Zealand Thoroughbred. Neither party was aware of the others intentions. Both stallions initially stood in Canterbury (South Island), but after a few years Kingsway Diamond was sent north to Auckland. In 2003, Kingsway Diamond died, he was in his early twenties, he had sired numerous foals and left useful halfbred stallions in Kingcroft Wicklow and Kings Ransom. Laughtons Legend Laughton s Legend in New Zealand in was based solely in Christchurch until he was exported to Australia in early Unfortunately he died in a paddock accident shortly after arriving in Australia sadly before his new owners had collected semen or covered any mares. He left the halfbred stallions Te Mania Blue Fable, Willie John and Wynyard Agile (exp to USA). New Zealand at present, has only one resident RID stallion, Coalmans Touch (x Touch of the Blues) who was imported into New Zealand on Christmas Eve 1998, by a syndicate of Irish horse breeders intent on keeping the breed alive in New Zealand. The use of frozen semen has become more popular a costly exercise, but the only option for those wishing to breed up to purebreds with their Coalmans Touch fillies. The breeding of purebred Irish Draughts has been a slow process, with most people opting to breed the more commercial half and quarter breds. However in the last 4 5 years a number of enthusiasts have begun concentrating on breeding purebred horses realizing that to produce the valuable half & quarter bred competition horses, we need purebreds, and preferably purebreds of different genetic lines from those already here. Breeding up from RID x Thoroughbred mares or through the offspring of Kilmangh Banrion RID and her daughter Scarteen Regaan RID (x Kings County), who was gifted to the New Z e a l a n d s o c i e t y by her b r e e d e r the late T h a d y Ryan. Coalmans Touch RID, by Touch of the Blues. NZ s only purebred Irish Stallion. Photo: Kilmanagh Banrion & foal Banrion (now in her early 20 s living on a remote high country station). A purebred Irish mare, she was bought to NZ by Thady & Ann Ryan in 1987, & is now cared for by Lisa & Blue Clark of Coleraine Sporthorses, North Canterbury NZ. She is pictured with her 2007 colt foal by Coalmans Touch RID. Photo: Lisa Clark 2008 Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 38

41 International News (con t)... Komplete Kaos by Kingsway Diamond out of a NZ Thoroughbred mare (x Imperial Seal). Competes at top level dressage in NZ, represented NZ in Australia in Winner of the IDHS(NZ) Ridden Performance competition for 3 consecutive years. Owned and ridden by Karen Anderson of Northland, NZ. Coniston Maisie (by Coalmans Touch RID). Winner of South Island Irish Horse Championship 2007 & IDHS(NZ) In Hand Performance Competition as a 3 year old. Winner of many Saddle Hunter Championships. Owned and shown by Tracy Crossan, Otago, NZ. Photo: Tracy Crossan Northwood Jet Stream by Coalmans Touch RID out of a NZTB mare. Jet Stream was awarded the South Island Irish Horse Championship for 2008 as a three year old. Bred by Barbara & Scott Dobson of Christchurch. At present he is to be retained as a stallion. Photo: Dobson family. There are now about nine New Zealand born purebred Irish Draught horses in New Zealand and around 820 Irish horses have been registered with the society since its inception in Horses of 50% or more Irish blood are accepted into the Society s register, with registrations for ¼ breds and one eighth horses accepted into an appendix. I think we can be assured that the Irish horse is here to stay in New Zealand, not in great numbers in the purebred form, but in many one eighth and one sixteenth offspring. Eyreleigh Finnoula Coalmans Touch RID x Kilmangh Banrion RID. Purebred RID filly bred by Lyn & Neville Turner, Christchurch. WEDDING DOWN UNDER Rhiannon Moss, Ataahua Lodge Quarter Horses & Sport Horses Ths photo was taken at our wedding on the 11th of January 2006 (here in New Zealand). The chestnut & white pinto mare is White Dove. She is a NZ Stationbred (crossbred) who is 1/4 Irish Draught. Dove is by Tobacco (IDSH - by Kingsway Diamond RID) out of a TB/ Stationbred mare). Dove is out of a Grade A show jumper mare called Split Splot (NZ Stationbred). That s me, Rhiannon Moss (nee Horridge), riding her. My mare, Dove, won the Pinto Mare of the Year title at our NZ Horse of the Year Show 2007 (she s in foal this year so I didn t take her to HOY in March to defend her title!) She s due to foal mid July to our QH stallion Wrangler. I think we desperately need more ID Bloodlines here!!! If I had the money I d do it tomorrow - I ve really fallen in love with the ID s! The bay horse is Bay Roulette (normally known as Wrangler ). He is a Quarter Horse stallion by Billy Sans, out of Little Hope. Riding Wrangler is my husband John Moss Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 39

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44 Results... Horsemen s Hints & Tips... By Kate & Rick Triplett The Fork CIC3*W and Horse Trials, Norwood, NC 4/3/2008 to 4/6/2008 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Advanced Level LANDSCAPING THE IRISH DRAUGHT Well, it s Spring. Supposedly! The horses are shedding like crazy, in the midst of mud season in the Pacific Northwet. We have found it a real chore to curry and brush in the Hair Season, as you inevitably get more hair on the groom than you get off the horse! This season, Rick has found a New High-Tech Shedding Device which he d like to share with all of you. (see pictures!) This tool is only found in the best lawn and garden stores, comes in a nice variety of sizes to suit the size of the horse you will work on, and is inexpensive enough that most stable managers can have a nice assortment. Ollie has given this method his stamp of approval! CONNAUGHT (ISH) gelding, Ridden by Phillip Dutton 1991 ISH/TB gelding by Ballysimon ISH. Owned by Bruce Duchossois. 8th after dressage with penalties, 4 penalties in stadium and four time panlties in XC, this pair placed 2nd in Advanced level. [Ballysimon (ISH), by Pere Gubert (TB) x Whitehall Girl (ISH) Whitehall Girl by Pal Gonsomar (TB) by Cloughera Lass (RID) Cloghera Lass (RID) by Ardoon (RID)] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CIC***W Advanced division for the Gold Cup Series Arthur (ISH) gelding Ridden by Allison Springer Irish Sport Horse gelding by Brandenburg Windstar x Kelly leading after dressage with a score of 38.40, 10 penalties in stadium and 4 time penalties in XC, finished third overall. Tipperary Liadhnan Ridden by Kim Severson Irish Draught Sport Horse gelding, By Fast Silver (RID) x Gypsy Star (IDSH). Third after dressage with a score of 46.20, 16 stadium penalties and a clean round XC, brought this team to 10th overall. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jr. Young Rider Open Preliminary Irish Odyssey (ISH) Mare Ridden by Callie Judy 6th after dressage, no stadium or XC penalties made this combination the winners at this division. Go Callie. by Master Imp (TB by Imperius) x Ryehill Queen Ryehill Queen (RID) is by Clover Hill (RID) x Sandstone Lady RID (by Flagmount King) IODINE FOR WINTER WOES Another effect of the very long and wet winter we have had is a rash of minor hoof issues. In conference with our vets and farrier, we have been extra diligent in cleaning feet, but still have a few horses who have needed a bit of extra care, due to white line fungus. The easy cure is to clean the hooves REALLY well, using a hoof knife to pare out crumbly areas and get ALL the sand or gravel out of crevices or cracks. A really stiff scrub-brush is helpful. Once the hoof is prepared, a scant application of iodine to all crevices or infected places. Our farrier recommends strong iodine, which is now hard to get 7% solution but our vet states that regular applications of povidone iodine solution (not scrub) also works well to kill out the fungus that causes the problems. Try not to let it run into the hairline, as it will scald some sensitive horses. Two or three applications a week have cleared up our most stubborn case, a barefoot older mare, in under three weeks. APPLESAUCE FOR GIVING MEDS Thanks to Gina Kirby for sharing this one! When you have to give meds orally, the easiest way is to grind up the pills, mix with spoon of sweetened applesauce, and use a large dewormer syringe to administer just get it way back on the tongue and hold the muzzle up, stroking the throatlatch, until the victim er, patient swallows it down! The Blarney Editorial staff invite our Membership to send in their proven Hints and Tips for easier horsekeeping! As with anything, check with your horse s veterinarian before giving any medications Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 42

45 2008 IDHSNA Advertising Rates and Insertion Order Form All space reservations must be made BY THE 10th of the month preceding publication. AD MATERIAL must be submitted and paid in full by THE DEADLINE PROVIDED AT THE BEGINING OF EACH The Blarney EDITION! Any members wanting to place an advertisement in future The Blarney editions are asked to submit an advertising insertion order. Orders may be placed in writing via ; or submitted via snail mail, using this form. All ad orders/material should be forwarded to: laurie MONROE, 9885 NW 127th Court, Ocala, FL / Phone: (352) Payment arrangements must accompany your ad space reservation. We accept check, money order, credit card or PayPal payments (in US funds). Credit card and PayPal payment may be made directly online at If payment has not been received by press time, the ad will NOT run. Ads reserved by check may be made by phone, and, as long as payment is received within one week of the ad reservation, the space will be held. All and postal reservations will be held according to the date received. Please PRINT Name Address State/Province/Country Zip/Postal Code Phone Fax Ad Size QTY x Cost of Ad $ Total $ PAYMENT OPTIONS: CHECK MONEY ORDER CREDIT (online) paypal (online) Credit Card / PayPal Confirmation Number: Technical Specifications: Ad design is included in the quoted price, if required, and is proofed by advertiser prior to publication. If submitting a camera-ready ad, please note that all photos/halftones must be 300/175 dpi or better for optimum reproduction quality. We can accept ads in the following formats: PDF, tiff, eps, illustrator, in design, and pdf. NO Publisher Files please. Contact Laurie Monroe (352) with any other questions. Ad Sizes & Prices... NOTE: There are a limited number of advertising pages available. Allocation: first come, first served. Inside covers: call regarding availability and add $20 to the full-page ad cost please. Full Page Half Page (V) Half Page (H) Quarter Page (7.5 x 10 ) $ 100 b/w (3.65 x 10 ) $ 75 b/w (7.5 x 4.75 ) $ 70 b/w (3.65 x 4.75 ) $ 45 b/w Photo Classified 1 Photo / 75 words $ 30 b/w

46 Blessings of the Blarney at Red Hills... Blessings of the Blarney at Red Hills (by MaryEmily Pitt) Charges of excitement surged through the crisp cool Tallahassee air as the competitors and their horses slowly rode down the red dirt roads through the enormous tall oaks gracefully dripping with steel grey moss as if to bow in reverence to the best of the best horses and riders in the Equestrian World. Riders and their mounts were readying themselves for the wonderful camaraderie and intense competition awaiting them in the Dressage arena, the challenging cross country course and the well manicured and beautiful stadium jumping is the hallmark of these trials. As the volunteers worked tirelessly to put on the magic and natural beauty of the festivities: everyone; including the competitors, owners, grooms, sponsors and Kirby Park Irish Jamie (ISH), ridden by Cammy O Rourke (AUS). KPIJ is by ESB Irish Enough (AUS) (McCartney TB x ESB Irish Anna [Glenside RID x Annaughdown Rose RID]) and out of Yellow River TB. These shots were taken at the 2008 Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee, Florida. Photos courtesy MaryEmily Pitt. volunteers renewed old friendships and began making new ones with the best of the best in the equestrian world. Old favorites were back and eyes were peeled for the up and coming rising stars. What a joy it is to be able to witness the culmination of thousands and thousands of hours of rigorous conditioning, practice, and lessons all of the competitors and their amazing athletic mounts displayed. All the sacrifice and hard work are securely behind each of the riders and their owners as they begin enjoying the spectacular scenery and hospitality that each of the 400 volunteers have tirelessly prepared. The magnificent array of Irish Sport Horses was truly awe inspiring. As a virtual newcomer to the Irish Sport Horses and the sport of Eventing I was bursting with sheer delight as I made my way throughout the Red Hills Magazine to spot the specific horses and riders that I wanted to meet. I wanted to hear their stories who they were, where they came from, what they wanted to achieve what it was like getting here etc. I simply could not wait to pick the ones I wanted to pray for and cheer on throughout the weekend. I feel sure there was hardly a rider, or mother of really young riders I didnt talk to, or dogs I didnt pet or hold or watch while their owners did their jobs. I talked so very many owners, trainers, grooms, photographers, county mounted sheriffs, shopkeepers in the avenue of shops and wonderful sponsors that make Red Hills and the sport of Eventing what is today. The awe inspiring technical skill required for the weekend can only really be understood from the ground as one walks the course with the greats. I had the enormous privilege and pleasure to walk with Buck Davidson his riders Laine Ashker, her mother Valerie, Imtiaz Anees, and Jessica Kiener. I wish I could have videoed the walk for Buck and posted it on Youtube. I am so thankful for the opportunity to gain first hand knowledge, and the privilege of gleaning safety tips and ideas on how to approach and properly assess each question. Just a few of the outstanding individuals gracing this event included: Cammy O Rourke, Phillip Dutton, Buck Davidson, Imtiaz Anees, Laine Ashker, and Jessica Kiener. AND SINCE RED HILLS?? by MaryEmily Pitt I recently talked to Cammy who said Rolex was really, really tight. Cammy and Jamie were 11th after dressage and five seconds over in XC, so they were tied for 4th until 3 rails rails on stadium jumping bumped them to 11th place. If they had one less rail they would have been looking at 4th or 5th overall finish - It was THAT CLOSE. Overall --Cammy was very pleased with a solid performance. Both horse and rider did really well. Cammy has returned to Ocala where she will be beginning her career as an Equine Vet. I know if she is as good a doctor as she is a person, both equine and human athletes in Ocala are very very lucky to have her stateside!!! After she finished Rolex she moved into her new place. Currently she has no internet access so I can only talk to her by phone. She and her three horses are settling in nicely and work is keeping her busy, as you can imagine. She said Ocala seems quiet now as most people have gone North for the Summer Spring Edition - T he Blarney Page 44

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