2008 News. All kinds of news from people with pearls the past couple months:

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1 2008 News All kinds of news from people with pearls the past couple months: Seelie Court RIDSH moved up to Training Level at the October Jump Start Horse Trials in Lexington, Kentucky with a strong weekend. Congratulations to owner/rider Lynn Cronin and Bonnie on this milestone. Mountain Blues RIDSH placed 5th in his first competition in Open Novice at the October Hunter Oaks Horse Trial in Bloomington, Illinois. Danny is owned by Mary Hanson and was ridden by Lisa Marie Bishop. Padi's Copper Flash RIDSH finished the season with a 6th place in Open Novice at the Queenie Park Horse Trial in St. Louis, Missouri. Rooney is owned by Carol Strank and ridden by Sarah Hauschild. Blue Mountain Meadow RIDSH has joined the first field on the hunt field October 25 after leading the second field for a while. In fact she thought she should still be leading at first! Meadow was bred and raised by her owner Carla Whitebred, who had this to say after the hunt "She is going to be a perfect hunt horse, since she has the spirit to go when we need to, but then at checks, she just hangs around and visits with the other horses." Padi's Celtic Rose RIDSH has been shown this season by her owner Mary Jo Welsh and their trainer Amy Hunter in both the hunter and jumper rings at a number of shows. As Mary Jo said, after Roisin experienced the fun of the jumper ring she just tossed aside her hunter princess tiara and was ready to jump! They turned in successful performances at Otter Creek, Mason City, and the Harvest Show in St. Paul. Congratulations to all of you on another great year.

2 Fox Hollow Sport Horses was well represented at Central Region Inspections September 25 near Chicago. Two full sisters by Mountain Pearl out of our Loguestown Classic were presented for RID approval and passed with excellent comments from the inspectors. One is our own 2- year-old Padi's Classic Elegance, the other Christina Moutray's 3-year-old Padi's Classic Design. Two Mountain Pearl sport horses were also presented and approved at the inspection. Shown here in a group shot of all the pearls, the chestnut mare is Pearls Prized Ceara RIDSH owned and bred by Belinda Jones, PC Design, PC Elegance, and the bay gelding is Mountain Blues RIDSH, owned by Mary Hanson and bred by Liz Freeman. Celtic Games This year marked the return of real Irish horses to the Celtic Highlander Games of the Quad Cities in Davenport, Iowa. A few years ago our friends Bruce and Vickie Buckrop took one of their IDSH by Mountain Pearl and their purebred mare. This year we attended the 10th anniversary of the games on August 23 with our 6 year old RID gelding Jasper (Dandelion Jazz Man). It was a lot of fun meeting people from all over the area enjoying a beautiful day filled with Celtic activities like bagpipe competitions, Celtic dancing, and sheep dog herding demonstrations as well as athletic competitions in: Caber toss Stone throw Sheaf toss

3 Weight toss (height and distance) All in all it was a great day. And no, we didn't have to compete (although Al did try his hand at stone throwing). All we had to do was hang out with Jasper and tell people about the Irish Draught Horse! What could be better than that? Padi's Copper Flash was a superstar at the Catalpa Corners Horse Trial Aug 2-3. He finished in second place at Open Training level in a large field of horses. Mountain Piper has also been showing in the hunter ring this summer, bringing home 2 firsts, a second and a third at the Huntermark Summer Series July 19. Seelie Court turned in another great performance at Lost Hounds Horse Trial in June. Placed 6th after dressage with all 7s and 8s she moved up for a 4th place finish for the weekend.

4 Padi's Celtic Rose continued right where she left off the end of last season. Ridden by her trainer Amy Hunter Roisin competed in her first Hunter Derby in Mason City in June. Mary Jo reported the event as follows: "Friday - Hunter Derby Day (*gulp*)!!! We got Roisin all spiffed up and off we went for the jog.the course in the grand prix ring was wow what can I say scary as ****. Although max height was only 3'3", there were many oxers. set at max width. I walked the course with Amy and we were both wondering what the heck we had signed up for. Princess was about to go from junior high to college in the span of an hour. Most fun moment was the bank...leaping UP and out into space. She must have had a 5 foot drop looked like Rolex. The whole crowd went "whoooo!". Amy held on and off they went down that scary line like champs! Second to last fence was a max height/width oxer with a stone wall thing-y at the base and they ended up with a long distance so Roisin had to fly like a bird. Last fence was birch poles I think I started to breathe again at that point. Amy did an amazing job and Roisin trotted out of the ring quite proud of herself, I think. Definitely happy to be done, but not rattled one bit. She did it. Not everyone got around and she was easily the greenest horse in there. The rest of that evening is a little hazy, as I proceeded to have a few beverages to celebrate!! Princess got lots of treats and hugs!!" Floods rampage through Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and many smaller communities in Iowa Thank you to all who have called and ed their concerns for us as we live through record smashing floods from several area rivers. Fox Hollow Sport Horses is located near Shueyville, Iowa between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City and fortunately the farm is not directly affected by the devastation. We are all at home and safe, as are all the horses. Diane and Bruce both work in Iowa City, but can not get there due to closed roads and bridges. Pat's office has been relocated out of downtown Cedar Rapids. June 15, 2008 The Saddle and Leather Shop Very sad and upsetting news to the Iowa horse community is the total flooding of the historic Saddle and Leather Shop in the Czech Village neighborhood of Cedar Rapids. Our thoughts and prayers are with our old friends Kris Jones and Nan Barta as they struggle with the devastation of their business which has been at the heart of area horse activities for over 60 years. June 15, 2008

5 For information on how you can help, or to send assistance to members of the Silver Bits Pony club who were devastated in the May 25, 2008 tornado check their blog Silver Bits Pony Clubn contact: Silver Bits Pony Club Tornado Relief c/o Bridget Bryson Westbrook Street Cedar Falls, IA Padi's Copper Flash and Sarah Hauschild finished 5th at the Silverwood Horse Trial June 7-8, their first competition at training level. Despite horrendous weather that resulted in cancellation of the cross country phase and a long drive home in driving rain they were very pleased with their performances. Seelie Court and Lynn Cronin started out their competition year at Greater Dayton Horse Trial May They kicked off their weekend with a 35.5 in dressage that included all 8s on her canter work. Show jumping proved to be an adventure on a VERY windy day followed by a super cross country round on Sunday which put them in 10th place when all was done. A great start to the season! Seelie Court is owned and was bred by Lynn Cronin. The young Morgan cross Mountain Piper competed in a schooling horse trial with Ralph Hill on May 25 finishing second in the dressage portion. Piper is owned and was bred by Barb Laughlin and ridden by Andria Pooley. Many thanks to Belinda Jones who posted her photos from the day on her web site Galloping Winds Piper #4624 #4625 #4629 #4633 Mountain Blues #4621 & #4656-#4659 Mountain Blues also competed with his owner/rider Mary Hansen. He was bred by Liz Freeman of Flying Harp Farm. Padi's Copper Flash and Sarah Hauschild participated in a Training Level Event clinic with Ralph Hill the next day and proclaimed it to be a top notch learning experience.

6 Padi's Copper Flash and Dandelion Jazz Man traveled together to compete at Bara Trac I Dressage Show in Mason CIty, Iowa on May 24. Both showed they could ignore the 30+ mph wind all day and turned in excellent tests under Sarah Hauschild's riding bringing home between them a first, two seconds, and a third. Dandelion Jazz Man was bred by Dandelion Farms In Montana and is owned by Pat Jensen. Padi's Copper Flash was bred by Fox Hollow Sport Horses and is owned by Carol Strank. Eyes are smiling in Ireland! The decision to send Mountain Pearl back to Ireland last year has paid off for the genetics of the Irish Draught breed. When we partnered with Eddie Meehan of Longwood Stud we had high hopes that Irish Draught breeders in Ireland were ready to use his outcross bloodlines. Coupled with his enormous talent and world renown temperament, Mountain Pearl found 35 mares waiting for him, including 22 RID mares with a wonderfully wide assortment of bloodlines. We are delighted to announce that the foals have started to arrive - the first was this lovely filly out of an RID mare by It's The Quiet Man.

7 Competition Season Has Begun! Mother's Day Weekend: Padi's Celtic Rose turned in solid performances to start her year at Mason City bringing home a number of ribbons despite a range in weather from 80 degrees to cold, windy, and rainy. Padi's Copper Flash competed at the Longview Horse Trial near Kansas City scoring a 31.5 in dressage to lead after that phase and finishing 9th for the competition. Harkaway Trewlaney has settled very nicely into his new home and career in California. Bred by Maggie Tyler of Wisconsin, this purebred ID by Mountain Pearl out of Misty River Lass RID is now owned by Debbie Davis. "What a star he is! He s my hero." Debbie exclaimed as she reported that he placed second at his very first competition, the Galway Downs Spring Horse Trials. Liam is competing under the name of River Pearl. Many thanks to Cory who raised Liam and forwarded us this recent update.

8 Mirassou Pearl - American Saddlebred Sport Horse Champion again! Apologies to Rachel Alexander for not posting this wonderful news last fall! Rachel's saddlebred cross Mirassou Pearl (Mary) was awarded the 2007 FEI American Saddlebred Sport Horse Champion for the second year in a row. In addition, they took home home Reserve Champion Sport Horse In Hand and Reserve Champion Intro Dressage at the Oueen City Dressage Circuit for 2007, which is the greater Cincinnati area. Congratulations! USA foals are arriving! Last year, in order to allow Mountain Pearl to return to Ireland, we started his breeding season earlier than usual. As a result the foals are here early in the year to cheer us up through this long snowy winter. Rachel delivered the last for Fox Hollow for the year on February 19 - a spunky colt who was ready to stand the minute he felt earth under him.

9 It's a healthy sport horse colt for our friend Dan Hinkel of Cedar Rapids born 5/6/08. Emerald Mountain Filly foaled 3/5/08 out of Diamond Godiva RIDSH owned by MaryLee McGee "Deklan" colt foaled 2/28/08 out of Manu Forti's Irish Rose RID owned by Jennifer Dunlap

10 "Spider" colt foaled 2/19/08 out of Heathercombe Cousin Rachel RID Fox Hollow Sport Horses for sale "Brody" colt foaled 1/29/08 out of Loguestown Classic RID Fox Hollow Sport Horses for sale "Neelah" filly foaled 1/27/08 out of Dapple n Dimples TB owned by Carol Strank for sale

11 "Kieran" colt foaled 1/17/08 out of Shuttlewood Rose RID Fox Hollow Sport Horses for sale

12 A Legend Passes Tribute to John McCarthy This morning we received word that our friend John McCarthy had passed away in County Cork, Ireland. John was, in a word, legendary in the world of the Irish Draught Horse. Spurning the tractor, he continued to work with horses through the seventies continued the family stallion master tradition which began when his grandfather stood Brian Boru and The Conqueror around beginning of the 20 th century. John bought the great Ben Purple in 1973, who was followed by many of the finest stallions the breed ever produced including Flagmount Boy, The Conqueror (named after his grandfather s stallion), Mountain View, Ben Gold, Red Hackle, Mountain Pearl, Glenlara, and Welcome Diamond. Always fearing for future of the breed John McCarthy joined Mrs. Mary Quinlan as one of the founders of the Irish Draught Horse Society where he served as the first Treasurer. He and his friend Billy Cotter traveled the country helping other counties to form branches. He worked tirelessly to educate people about the breed ever since. Our own Mountain Pearl owes his very RID status to this visionary man. John purchased him from a family member who had bred him while John owned Mountain View. Inspectors advised John to not keep the young bay horse a stallion due to the amount of white markings he carried. John refused to heed such nonsense and brought him forward for inspection and performance testing as a 4 year old where he passed with flying colors. John was reunited with Mountain Pearl in September 2005 at the IDHSNA Central Region Inspection in Iowa, USA (pictured above). Our horses are something we can always be proud of John McCarthy in Irish Draught Horse Society, 25 Years You were right, John, and much of the credit belongs to you. We can only hope to be worthy to carry on the tradition. Thank you, old friend. January 7, 2008