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