Photos

I have promised a new photo of Banner. Pat was over a week or so ago so I asked her to take some. One was okay(meaning not horrible). She actually looks a heck of a lot like her Mama now. She's by Silver Granite out of Loguestown Classic by Annaghdown Star



Pat also took a photo of Brian. He looks great! Now if only I wasn't in the way! Brian is by Regalia Prince Arthur out of Magrathea by Ten Yard Star xx

Bone

I will briefly reiterate my points from my previous blog. The system of inspection used is a minor consideration. However, the inspectors need to be in agreement about the ‘’type” that they are inspecting for the system to be successful. The continental warmblood organizations are successful for the simple reason that their ‘vision’ of the horse they are selecting for is uniform regardless of inspector. What you are seeing currently in the Irish Draught breed is the result of the inspectors selecting and passing horses based on their own individual idea of what the ‘Irish Draught type’ is. Until breeders tackle the elephant in the room and come to an agreement about type the breed will continue to flounder.

I am also concerned about bone after reading what the task force recommended. “The task force indicated that nine inches of bone should be a goal for IDs.” This statement is inexplicable to my understanding of bone and its function. To say that nine inches of bone is the goal for IDs is to say that 4 x 4s are the goal for columns in all buildings – from a shed to a skyscraper. 9 inches of bone in a 15.2 hh horse is more than adequate. On larger 16.2 hh or so 9 inches of bone is inadequate.

In a series of articles by Dr. Deb Bennett in Equus magazine, she discussed conformation in detail using photographs, illustrations, table and graphs. The article on proportion, was in the January 2010 issue which is where the gist of the following information was obtained.
Dr. Deb Bennett used an example of a 10 hand pony and a 20 hand heavy draught horse. You will note that the 20 hand draft horse is 2 times the height of the 10 hand pony. Duh you say. The pony weighs in the range of 320 to 350 lbs. Does the 20 hand horse double the weight making him 640 to 700 lbs? Certainly not. The 20 hand horse weighs between 2600 and 2800 lbs. for an eightfold increase in weight.

Dr. Bennett recommends B-T (bone-tendon circumference) measurements of 8 inches per 1000 lbs in a riding horse. This figure is also in line with what the old Quarter horse folks told me many years ago. The 20 hand horse would have 12 inches of bone at the average 1700 lb horse of 6 inches of bone per 1000 lbs. At the recommended B-T measurement o 8 inches of bone per 1000 lbs. in a riding horse, the 20 hand/2000 lb horse would need 16 inches of bone. This B-T figure is impossible to attain.

In studies where actual measurements of horses were taken and graphed, suffice it to say two things. Large horse = large limbs and feet , & bigger horse = less substance. The survey included data about whether the horse was lame or not. The lameness tended to “lie toward the high end of the weight range and toward lower substance. This data suggested that “regardless of a horse’s breed or weight, if his B-T circumference falls below six inches per 1000 pounds, he has an increased chance of experiencing unsoundness.”

Dr. Bennett briefly touched on bone density. She said that density means mass per unit volume. It doesn’t indicate anything about quality of bone. “Abnormally high bone density is a condition called pachyostosis; osteoporosis is its opposite.” In horses of the riding type weight of 900 to 1300 pounds, the normal bone density is about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, with a range from 15 to 22 considered the norm. The findings from the data collected indicated three things.
-Bone density is related to weight not breed.
-The smaller the horse, the greater the chance that bone density will be normal.
-The larger the horse, the lower the bone density is likely to be.

To summarize, Dr Bennett recommends that you select riding horses between 900 and 1300 pounds with B-T measurement equaling about 8 inches of bone per 1000 pounds but no less than 6 inches per 1000 pounds.

Rooney's cross country and Stadium jumping

Rooney is such an impressive lad. I am very proud of him. Carol would have been thrilled to pieces with his presence and his progress.

Declan's cross country round

This is Declan's cross country round from this past weekend. He won 2nd place in his 1st ever horse trial. I have discovered that I made his name too long...... Poor Declan

Final Otter Creek update

Ralph Hill walked the course with Sarah and then boosted her up on the Rooney. While they were walking the course Christina was holding Rooney trying to keep him awake. ;) He's pretty laid back unless he's working. Rooney pulled one rail down by a hair so ended up fourth. Ralph proclaimed him an excellent jumper and everyone's happy. :D Hope to have photos soon (maybe video even!)

Otter Creek update

Here's the update from the field:
"Rooney did great, awesome, fantabulous. He gota few time faults but was truly spectacular. Ralph Hill was there and coached Sarah in the warmup. After the scores came out she told him she was disappointed in the time faults and he threw his hands in the air and said "WHO CARES??? YOUR HORSE WAS AWSOME!"

Declan was also a star. He was very looky the whole time around and Jenn had to encourage him to gallop on, but that's normal for a beginner. Went clean with no time faults. He was 7th after show jumping yesterday and finished 2nd for the competition. GO DECLAN!

Rooney's group starts show jumping about 9:30 in the morning. Don'tknow the order yet."

Hip hip hurray!!!!!

Some Pearls go to Otter Creek Fall Horse Trials

Placings after dressage:

Padi's Copper Flash "Rooney" 1st place with score of 31.80 in Training Championship

Padi's Shuttlewood Danny Boy "Declan" 4th place with score of 33.30 in Open Beginner Novice

Thoughts on the 'Irish situation'

Many months ago a friend requested that I read some material on the current status of inspections, the Irish Draught, the methods being used etc. and share my thoughts. My friend probably thinks that I blew the request off but in actuality I’ve been contemplating things on and off for quite some time. As an Irish Draught breeder and admirer I feel that it is not only my right but my duty to add my thoughts. It isn’t about politics. It is about the survival of the breed and those that breed them.

Inspections provide an opportunity for breeders to learn an expert’s opinion of a certain horse through the use of scoring a certain selection of traits that should be breed specific. I’ve said for more years than I care to admit that in the end inspections are just numbers on a sheet of paper and the opinion of the horse for the period of time of the inspection. I don’t think they serve any purpose whatsoever unless the results are published. The scoring of the horse for each trait can then be used by the owners of any horse that may want to breed to that inspected horse. For example, if a certain mare scores low in hind end, hind leg then the mare owner could look for a stallion that scored strongly in that area. The publication and access to this information is what makes inspections effective. Without publication and access the information is worthless. My first action would be to publish the scores of all stallions inspected and have access to mare’s scores available upon request. I would publicize the accessibility and purpose of publishing the data. The current practice of publishing negative comments (such as: “He has a long back, flat croup, shallow girth and is slightly toed out. He is close in behind in walk and trot but shows good extension although he was slightly incorrect in trot.”) is unnecessary, bad for the promotion of Irish horses in general and the Irish Draught in particular. Let the scores do the talking. There is no incentive for anyone to associate with an organization that works against the members’ best interests.

If you are breeding warmbloods and want to develop an inspection process you might gather information from other warmblood organizations or create your own system. If you are working with a specific breed than any scoring system you use needs to somehow reflect the unique characteristics of your breed. Type is the most important score on the entire inspection sheet. The warmblood organizations have been successful because they have defined the type and purpose of the horse that they are breeding and then utilizing inspectors that envision the same ‘type’ during the inspections.

I read with dismay that ‘type’ is not formally defined and is left to the individual inspector. I found this exceedingly distressing because ‘type’ is the proverbial elephant in the room. It is paramount that an agreement about the purpose and type for the Irish Draught horse is settled.
One need not look far to exemplify the problems associated with a lack of a united vision. Tors Gentleman Farmer’s status of approved, failed, failed again and then approved again plus two wins at the RDS stallion class illustrates the significance of inspectors using the same vision of the end product. In a seminar about the Irish Draught, the audience was told to look at the horse from a distance and ask “Does it look like an Irish Draught?” first. Experienced Irish Draught people might think it is an easy question to answer. To those unfamiliar with the breed and without a consistent result coming out of inspections to use as examples it is a question that is impossible to answer. What makes King of Diamonds, Clover Hill and Pride of Shaunlara such influential bloodlines in the breed? How can three such diverse horses typify one breed? If I didn’t know better I would never guess that they were all considered one breed.

I know what I think an ideal Irish Draught looks like and which mare & stallions are most likely to produce that ‘type’. I also know that there are as many visions of what an Irish Draught is as there are breeders. The Irish draught breed will stagnate and disappear without a vision of one ID ‘type’.

Next topic: Bone

A grand-Pearl

Pearl's of Faith gave birth to a bay colt by Hangon Johnny a few months ago. I received some photos I thought I would pass on. Is this colt more proof that Mountain Pearl is a broodmare sire? Enjoy :)



Pearl's of Faith gave birth to a bay colt by Hangon Johnny a few months ago. I received some photos I thought I would pass on. Is this colt more proof that Mountain Pearl is a broodmare sire? Enjoy :)

Half siblings

Two horses out of our homebred thoroughbred mare Incredustar (Portia). Calum (in halter) is a 2 year old gelding by Regalia Prince Arthur (Cork Arthur/Mountain Heroine). Una (in fly mask) is a mare by Mountain Pearl (Mountain View/Grey Streaker.

Calum at 21/2

Our Calum is 2 1/2 now. He is spectacular. Official name is Padi's Copper Key with barn name of Calum. He is by Regalia Prince Arthur out of our homebred TB Incredustar.

Declan goes to work.

Padi's Shuttlewood Danny Boy (Declan) is by Mountain Pearl out of Diamond Shuttle by Cream of Diamonds. He is Ennis' 1/2 brother and best buddy. Declan is also know affectionately known as 'The Big D' -- he is very big. :) Like Ennis a few posts ago Declan also very recently went to work. There will before before-work-began photos and some after-I-started-my-new-job photos.

Padi's Celtic Measure

I found some current photos of Padi's Celtic Measure (by Mountain Pearl out of Magrathea). She may have found her niche. Three of her brothers were here in the blog a couple of entries ago (the look-a-likes).

Three Mountain Pearl/Magrathea sons

It's been mentioned that 3 of the Mountain Pearl/Magrathea geldings look an awful lot alike. 'Tis true. Aside from the bad color on photo #3 of course.

New Banner video

New video of Padi's Classic Banner (by Silver Granite)

and it includes a tiny bit of her dam

Loguestown Classic

Ennis goes to work

Ennis (and his 1/2 brother Declan - more later on him) have spent their early years staying at home doing a little trail riding and the like. They have been given a job now and appear to be having a grand old time. Ennis is by Mountain Pearl and is out of our Magrathea (by Ten Yard Star xx).

Last but certainly not least we have Maggie

Here's the old lady keeping up with the young'uns


Magrathea by Ten Yard Star xx out of mare of unknown breeding

Ellie from today

Ellie was coming to a halt after galloping down a steep hill -- that's why her hind end looks the way it does


Padi's Classic Elegance by Mountain Pearl out of Loguestown Classic by Annaghdown Star

Una today

Una greeting Grania after a few months separated

Padi's Copper Bling by Mountain Pearl out of Incredustar xx by Ten Yard Star xx

photo of Grania today

Shuttlewood Rose by Silver Granite out of Diamond Shuttle by Cream of Diamonds

Abbeyleix Imagination

Valerie shared this photo of Abbey (Abbeyleix Imagination by Moorpark Image out of Pearls for Diana by Mountain Pearl). She says:

A friend borrowed Abbey (Abbeyleix Imagination RID) for her mount at a Medieval reenactment equestrian event. Doesn't my girl look regal?

What exactly is a warmblood?

An inset in an article that appeared on page 82 in the January 2010 Equine Journal posed the question What exactly is a Warmblood? The response was written by Tonya Grant-Barber and follows here:

Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds, primarily originating

in Europe, registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook selection

and the aim of breeding for equestrian sport. The term distinguishes these horses from both

heavy draft horses (cold bloods) and refined light saddle horses such as the Thoroughbred

and Arabian (hot bloods). Warmbloods not based in continental Europe are the American

Warmbloods and the Irish Sport Horse.

Open studbook policies separate most warmbloods from all other breeds that have closed

studbooks and require two purebred parents. Most warmblood registries accept horses from

other breeding stock to continuously improve their own horses. The Trakehner is an exception;

This horse is considered a 'true breed'. I find that they can be stiff with a straighter movement

from the shoulder and a bit too straight in the hind legs making it hard for them to bend their

hocks; however, on the positive side, I have found many Trakehners to be good at passage, a

difficult Grand Prix movement. Having said that please note that 'open book' warmblood registries do combine Trakehners into their breeding program.

The most important characteristic of a warmblood registry is that the breeding goal is to

breed sport horses. Most breed primarily for show jumping, dressage, combined driving, and

eventing. The old fashioned, heavier type warmbloods have found their niche as family horses

and in combined driving.

This sentence bears repeating: "The most important characteristic of a warmblood registry is that its breeding goal is to breed sport horses". What is the breeding goal of the Irish Draught studbook? The Irish Sport Horse (or Irish Draught Sport Horse in the USA) is the sport horse or warmblood. They are specifically bred for sport.

I believe the Irish Draught is a 'true breed'. Like the Trakehner, some thoroughbred blood is allowed but it is not an open book. I also believe that the Irish Draught is not being treated as a true breed by any of the organizations that are charged with the breed's preservation. I would even go so far as to say that a lot of what occurs in the breeding of Irish Draughts is contrary to it's preservation and it's continued existence as a true breed.

........to be continued

The Equine Journal is available online in full text. The link is :

http://www.equinejournal.com/equine-magazine/

Regalia Prince Arthur RID aka Tristan

Mr. Tristan is off to a new adventure. We trailered him up to Whispering Pointe Farm in Michigan. He is now in the very capable hands of Martha Denver. She will be continuing and advancing his training and has plans to breed some of her mares to him. His traditional type and small size are ideal for all of the waaay too tall Irish Draughts that have been produced in recent years.

People always seem to say that it is best to keep Irish Draughts busy because if they get bored they can find all sorts of trouble to get into. Tristan proved this to be true. On the long (9 hour? 10 hour?) drive we found it necessary to stop on the shoulder of the interstate numerous times (10 or so). It is incredibly frightening to look in the side mirror while traveling 65 miles an hour to discover that the side 'people escape' door is open. The first time it happens you assume that you probably just hadn't gotten it closed quite tightly enough. When it happens again you decide that Tristan has somehow learned how to unlatch it. We tried locking the door to no avail. He still opened it. After we closed it again, we tried to open it but couldn't because it was locked???? We then resorted to tying him in such a way that his head had to stay toward the center of the trailer. He still managed to open the door. Perhaps he's a magician as well? All I know is that I was a nervous wreck and exhausted by the time we reached Martha's place.

There are 2 Pearls within 15 minutes or so from Whispering Pointe so Martha took us over there after Tristan was settled into his new stall. Tom and Marcia were very gracious, have a gorgeous place and have two fabulous Irish Draught geldings. We got to see Liam (Padi's Granite Summit) and Kieran(Padi's Granite Partner)looking pretty darn grown up now. Liam is full of himself as he always was and know he is drop dead gorgeous. Kieran is the same old practical joker. Tom told us a story about his morning. It turns out that somehow the electrical fence was out. Tom went out to check it out. While he was working on fixing it Kieran sauntered up, put his foot in the water trough and splashed away. Tom just happened to be right next to the water trough. He ended up soaking wet and Kieran had a good laugh.

It was wonderful to see all four of them again. If we hadn't been drop dead exhausted it would have been great fun to stay and chat. As it was we needed to go to bed because we had an equally long drive home. It was a nice drive home -- too long of course. It was a much less stressful drive when you didn't have to worry about the door popping open at any time.

Alanna video :)

Here's a new Alanna video that my sister Pat put together. Registered name -- Loguestown Classic

And the Pearls keep winning!

Results are in from the past weekend's Indiana Eventing Association Horse Trials, T3DE/N3DE

Congratulations to Lynn and Bonnie (Seelie Court) for finishing the 3 day and bringing home the purple

Sarah and Rooney (Padi's Copper Flash) held their 2nd place dressage score to finish clear in stadium and XC at training level

Andria and Danny (Mountain Blues) place 3rd at IP which I'm told is Intermediate dressage and show jumping and Preliminary XC

Bravo one and all!

Jasper

GOOD NEWS!!!

My sister Pat received confirmation that Jasper is fine. She says: "Jasper is FINE!!!!! Fat and happy and ruling his barn. His trainer has been out of town for 2 weeks and just came home to find the messages."

Jasper now lives in Webb City Missouri. Webb City is less than 10 miles north of Joplin. We have been trying to get information on his and his family and friends well being but have been unsuccessful so far.

Jasper is Dandelion Jazz Man by Mountain Pearl out of Heathercombe Silver Satin

Pearl news

Mary Hansen emailed to let us know about her 'Pearl'. She reports: "Danny (Mountain Blues) is doing nicely at Prelim and will be doing his first CIC* at Fox River Valley in June. Here's a picture from cross country at Longview May 14. He LOVES the water!" He sure looks happy in this photo. I think he likes his work. :) Congratulations to Mary and Danny.

We'll start with Brian

Brian Donn by Regalia Prince Arthur out of our 1/2 TB mare Magrathea

He's a nicely proportioned substantial 2 year old. He's built to last. He's the kind of horse that used to be very easy to find but not any longer.

Look for a few new photos

Had a nice day -- took 3 mares down the road to the leased pasture and had the youngsters looking cute -- still some winter coat but much better.

Tristan in April 2011 :)

Regalia Prince Arthur

Mountain Pearl making his name as performance sire

Double Pearl owner and good friend Marcia passed on some good news that she ran across. She and good friend Mary Jo always find things like this. I relay on them and other owners to keep me up on various competitions. Looking through placings and following competitions put me to sleep -- I don't have much interest in them. Free and Clear is an Irish Draught sport horse by Mountain Pearl out of a lovely thoroughbred mare and was bred by the Douglases of Pairadox Farm of Canada. He has been doing very well in the eventing world and was ridden by Philip Dutton for one year. 2010 appears to have been a real stellar one for him and his owner Colleen Hofstetter. Free and Clear was awarded the 2010 Silver Stirrup award for eventing. :) Congratulations to Keith and Elizabeth and Colleen and enjoy the accolades. While I was there I thought I'd check on the list of leading eventing sires for 2010. Success! Mountain Pearl placed 28th in the USEF Leading Eventing Sires of 2010. I saw 3 purebred Irish Draughts on the list. Mountain Pearl was 28th, Clover Hill was 34th and Banks Fee Daniel was 200th. Does one proud -- Mountain Pearl is making his name as a performance sire. Not surprisingly, I hear from Ireland about the good jumpers that he is producing as well.

As promised - Aoife video

Aoife has a playmate!

Woo hoo!!! I just received some Aoife photos!

Dear Aoife is turning into a wonderful Irish Draught as I had hoped. She is Regalia Prince Arthur's (aka Tristan) 1st (and only unfortunately) purebred ID. She is out of our lovely mare Shuttlewood Rose (Grania) I'm grinning from ear to ear.

Aoife's registered name is Padi's Granite Charm

I'm excited and thrilled.

Like father, like son

The inspectors at Tristan's inspection said that he looked exactly like his sire had at the same age. Here's a couple of photos that indicate they might be right. It's quite uncanny.

Cork Arthur

Regalia Prince Arthur

Running out of titles for these

Sorry -- no pictures. It's an unillustrated blog this time.

Dr. Deb's been at it again! She is the greatest. She did a couple of columns on the head which were interesting. Basically -- don't try to put an Arab head on another horse. (duh) She also included a Guess the breed test with pictures of heads and you had to decide what breed it was. It wasn't multiple choice and I didn't do very well alas. Just got the newest Equus magazine today in the mail and the article this month is on the Source of Power. I'm looking forward to this one.

Judy Wardrope's Conformation Corner in the Jan/Feb 2011 Warmbloods Today feature is intriguing and of great interest because of the breed of horses she was comparing. She had pictures of 2 Irish Sport Horse geldings that were related through the sire line. One was a winner in international eventing and the other that she says isn't built for international competition. A brief glance and they look remarkably similar so it was remarkable to find out what she thought made the difference As we all know, sadly many Irish Sport Horses have no Irish Draught in their blood. I don't know about these 2 geldings. There was no mention of Irish draughts at all. Someone who follows international competitions might know what horse it is. The clues given:
--5th in Young Horse World Championships in 2006
--youngest horse to win an FEI World Cup Event qualifier (2007)
--Member of the gold medal team at 2008 Olympics
--Competed in the 2010 WEG
The other competed nationally in the Young Event Horse category finishing 4th.

I've been meaning to mention this for sometime but just haven't gotten to it. The Nov/Dec 2010 issue of Warmbloods Today in an article entitled "Allison's Amazing Comeback"(Allison was a grand prix show jumper), there was mention of two new horses that the rider Callan Solem was working with now. One of them was Magic Cruise. Magic Cruise was described as a Belgian-bred Selle Francais by Cruising. I don't know about you but I find it extremely irritating that Cruising's Irish bloodlines (much less his Irish Draught bloodlines) are not mentioned. Instead of trying to destroy the Irish Draught horse why can't the HSI market the Irish draught better? Emphasize what makes the ID unique and so very special. Who the heck wants another continental warmblood? The world is glutted with them as it is.

grumble, grumble, grumble.

Be sure and let me know if you've figured out who the aforementioned horse is! :)

Calum, Brian and some stuff

Someone asked about Brian and Calum and their heights so I measured them this evening. Calum is currently 15 hh and Brian is 15.1 hh. I am finding that more and more people are looking for smaller horses these days. I find that refreshing. I should have measured Banner too but I didn't think of it until I was back in the house. Duh

I've been thinking about warmbloods. What constitutes a warmblood? I reckon I'll get around to writing about it eventually.

Dr. Bennett's latest article in the series was about the horse's head. Needless to say, she was pleased with the idea of changing a breed's head type to suit fashion. I couldn't agree more. She is going to continue on the subject of equine heads in the next issue I believe.

I continue to procrastinate and haven't sent in the paperwork and fee for the registration of the two remaining youngsters. I read an interesting blurb about the difference between how buffalo and cows react to a storm. Supposedly the buffalo runs toward the storm and gets through it more quickly than the cow that tries to run away from it. I need to become a buffalo I think.....