Final weaning

This past Sunday, we picked up Maggie, Brian, Alanna and Banner from the pasture down the road and brought them home. Brian and Banner joined Calum and Aoife. It was uneventful -- tons of mud from the 3 1/2 inches of rain we had gotten a few days before. Brian is pretty darn chunky and Banner looked a lot like her 1/2 sister Lia which surprised me. Everybody's home (except Tristan of course who lives at Sarah's place).

Response to question from a reader - Part 1 of ? parts

"Greetings, I have recently discovered the Irish Draught. My interest in the horse "To Be True" has led me to "Mountain Pearl" I watched his video and am smitten. I have been raising foundation bred quarter horses for almost 30 years and did not miss your comment on the "Irish Draught" being beyond saving. As a someone who has recently become aware of this obviously fantastic breed I say I sure hope not. I would like to know how tall "Tristan" is. And also how much his stud fee is and why you have chosen a smaller draught. (Also my interest)"


Welcome to the joy of the Irish Draught horse! To Be Sure is a fabulous example of the TB/ID cross -- he picked up the best of both breeds. In the past this cross was often called the Irish Hunter but these days I think the term Irish Draught Sport Horse is more descriptive and probably more accurate. Mountain Pearl makes it very easy to become smitten by the breed and by Himself of course. He is the ideal ambassador for the breed and has many fans worldwide. Most of his fans have never actually seen him in the flesh so I find this even more remarkable.

I am not an objective observer of course but I think Mountain Pearl is as close to perfect as a horse can be. He is easy to be around and to deal with. He dutifully takes care of the novices that have ridden him and wowed the professionals that were lucky enough to catch a ride on him. Mountain Pearl arrived in the States late fall of 1997 and sometime in 1998 I crawled onto his back. He hadn't been ridden since his performance test in 1993 (I think that's the date) and I hadn't ridden for years and was recovering from multiple surgeries earlier in the year. He took it all in stride and it seemed impossible that no one had ridden him for five years or so. The only thing I would fault Mountain Pearl for is his height. 17.1 hh is too tall for pretty much all horses and it's especially too big for an Irish Draught. I refer to an excellent article about horses and size. Although I have been unable to locate the article online, you should be able to locate a copy through your local library. If they don't carry the magazine they should be able to provide you with a copy through their interlibrary loan program.

Barakat, Christine. "Why Size Matters." Equus, October 2007, Issue 361, pp. 36-42

Mountain Pearl

Mountain Pearl is 20 years old this year (2009) so I thought I'd share a photo of him as a yearling.

Additionally, Eddie and Cathy Meehan in Ireland shared a video of Mountain Pearl at play as a 2 year... oops I mean 20 year old stallion Here's the link for that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtS9NP8Su3o

Regalia Prince Arthur RID aka Tristan

October 11, 2009 Central region Inspections
Inspectors : Oliver Fleming and Noel Collins

Head - 4 out of 5
Neck - 4 out of 5
Shoulders & withers - 16 out of 20
Body - 15 out of 20
Topline - 16 out of 20
Hindquarters - 16 out of 20
Forelimbs & feet - 20 out of 25
Hindlimbs & hocks - 20 out of 25
Presence - 16 out of 20
Pedigree - 18 out of 20

MOVEMENT
Forelimbs - 18 out of 25
Hindlimbs - 18 out of 25
Athleticism - 42 out of 50
Temperament - 20 out of 20

Points - 243 out of 300

Another top notch mare

Colman's Gift

Colman's Gift RID is by Colman RID out of May Queen 2 RID by Blue Peter RID
What was that someone said about Colman stock?

YEA!!!!!!

I've had a weight lifted off my shoulders. I decided long ago that I'd stop when it wasn't any fun anymore. Well it''s not fun any more so the time has come. The breed is beyond help at this point anyway -- only a handful of people worldwide are breeding real Irish Draughts. I've provided many people with great horses and that was my goal from the beginning. One of Sarah's good friends and I had an interesting talk a few months ago. We talked about good horses and what made them good. We ended up concluding that a good horse took care of novices but provided exciting rides for the more experienced riders. The other kind of horse took advantage of novices. The real Irish draught was always a good horse. The Irish Draughts that are being bred now are the other kind.
I wish the best of luck to the two Irish Draught breeders in the USA that are still true to the breed.

The big day nears

I am stressed and apprehensive with the inspections a few short days away. People ask me what I'm going to do if Tristan fails the inspection. That is easy to answer but it brings up the question of what am I going to do with him if he passes. Not so easy to answer. There is a lot of dirty, nasty baggage that goes along with breeding Irish Draughts. It's a topic that could be discussed for hours and hours and hours and hours but in the end is meaningless. It all boils down to something very simple. Do you believe in the traditional Irish Draught or not and what are you willing to withstand to preserve the Irish Draught type? I haven't come up with a definitive answer on that yet.

Mare identification

Pink Carnation RID by Goleen RID out of White Carnation RID by Merrion RID

This is my number one RID mare that I've seen in the flesh or in photos. Unfortunately we don't make them like this anymore.

Mare identification

Okay -- I know, I know. I may be barn blind but I don't think that's the entire reason that I include her on this list. I have had any number of Irish ID breeders who have commented about her. Anyway -- it's my list so I guess I can include her if I want to. :-D I loved this mare and I know she is irreplaceable. Her pedigree is:

Heathercombe Cousin Rachel RID by Fintan Himself RID out of Heathercombe Forest Glade RID by Coosheen Liam RID

photo courtesy of Liz Freeman

Mare identification

This is Doon Princess RID at the age of 23. She is by Cornamona RID out of Windgap Star Two RID by Windgap Hero RID

Kieran

Young Kieran gave us a scare this morning. He didn't come up for hay with the other boys. Bruce & I were out looking for him with flashlights. My first thought was that he had been struck by lightning but then I realilzed that it hadn't stormed since last night when he was present and accounted for. Bruce spotted his wide white blaze behind the back fence. Kieran had somehow gotten on the other side of the fence in the timber. Between the timber and the fence were a lot of brambles. Stomping my way through the brambles to put a halter on him and then try to lead him through the thorns was interesting to say the least. Bruce cut the fence so that we could get over it. We checked him over in the light from the flashlights and saw nothing amiss so we let him go to tell his buddies all about his ordeal.