Irish Draught Horses

Stable Express has an extensive database of Irish Draught horses, as well as information on breeders if Irish draght horses, stud farms and listing of irish horses for sale in our equestrian classifieds. Leading Irish Draught Horses include Sea Crest the farther of Cruising, King of Diamonds and Clover Hill. Stable Express has information on Irish Draught horses from around the world, past and present.

Pure Irish Draughts

Our policy is pure and simple- to always breed the PURE bred Irish Draught! - Our registered stud prefix is `PURE` and you will see this in front of the names of all our home-bred stock. Many people are of the mistaken impression that `quality and draught’ do not come in the same sentence- how wrong they are! We have learnt from studying this wonderful breed and from attending many shows in both Ireland and the UK that it IS possible to have both. One of our favourite books on the Irish Draught Horse is by Alex Fell and if you can find a copy I highly recommend it! In her book is this very old picture of a mare called Horna Honey(see top left) who would appear to us to be what we consider the elusive `Perfect Draught` that we all aspire to. It is this image of a wonderful quality mare with superb bone and substance that stays with us and we will be aiming for this `type` of horse in our future breeding. Our aim is to always buy quality and to always be aware that the Irish Draught is bred to do a variety of jobs, the very reason it is so versatile and sought after. There is little point in breeding ANY horse if the end result is not useful in some capacity and we will always aim to produce a horse that is bred firstly for soundness and capable at the very least of being a good allrounder for the leisure/riding club market. Of course we all dream of breeding that one `special` horse that goes on to great success at top level and we can only hope that we are able one day to breed an animal of this quality. Therefore, they must not only have type, conformation and temperament but, most importantly to us, must have good ground covering movement and give a great ride. At the end of the day owning horses is about having the time of your life and there is no better feeling than giving your horse a good gallop- what fun can even the most beautiful horse give you if they are a nightmare to ride?!

Email - info@pureirishdraughts.com

RARE BLOODLINES
We have a particular interest in some of the rarer outcross lines and are fascinated(maybe a little obsessed!) with research into pedigrees and breeding. It is extremely important to maintain the genetic diversity of this wonderful breed and we have tried to find a variety of bloodlines with our mares and the stallions we use so that we have a wide gene pool to breed from. It is very important to us to find suitable stallions who complement the mare in type, are particularly strong where the mare is weak and also are not closely related- a task which is getting increasingly harder. Many problems of poor temperament and limb deformity have been attributed to the widespread practices of too much in-breeding. We all have our own idea of the ’Perfect Draught’ and it would of course be boring if we were all the same! We hope in time to increase this interest by standing our own pure bred RID stallion concentrating on a genetically important line to promote the breed.

THE IRISH DRAUGHT FOR SHOW, PERFORMANCE AND LEISURE
Whatever discipline you are looking to ride in: Showjumping, Eventing, Driving, Showing, `Happy Hacking’, or purely breeding then there is a Pure bred Irish Draught out there for you! Over 80% of the horse owing public are leisure riders wanting safe, sound, loveable horses to enjoy and this market has often been ignored. The beauty of the Irish Draught is that it will not only compete nationally and internationally with the best at top competitions but it will also be quite suitable for a novice to learn on, be sane and sensible out hunting and have enough presence and quality to compete at the highest level in the show ring. Add to this the most wonderful cheeky characters and loveable nature and ask yourself why would you buy anything else?

STRENGTH AND BONE- THE FOUNDATION BREED
We are very mindful of the fact that the Irish Draught is a foundation breed(NOT a sporthorse) and that once bone is lost it can take many generations to get it back and on many occasions has been sadly lost altogether. If we look at the 3 pics to the left of the famous mares Pink Carnation, Kiltowra Glee(dam of prolific show mare Roma Blue Wind) and Samantha(great, great grand dam of our own colt Ferdi) they are all true traditional draughts. Unfortunately they are also a `type` of mare that we see less and less nowadays, the long, low heavy mare. We have a personal preference for the heavyweight with 10” of good quality, flat bone and a strong short cannon bone which indicates weight carrying ability. Where do we go for bone if our very foundation stock is too light to be crossed with the TB?? Having said all that, we would not discount something a little lighter if they were right in every other way. Sometimes a mare of slightly lighter bone, with good breeding can produce quality stock with good bone when put to the right stallion. We also believe that although the Draught is undoubtedly a strong `foundation` breed that can be crossed successfully with the TB to produce excellent sport horses that this must not be confused with a heavy ploddy `cart horse` with no use in the modern day. In fact the original type of Irish Draught was a small, compact, true middleweight horse capable of doing many jobs whilst remaining sound and cheap to keep being very good do-ers. Clearly, not many owners of Draughts nowadays are farmers wanting a horse to plough their fields! We as owners and breeders must therefore be realistic in producing quality stock that will predominantly be used for riding(not for ploughing!) and this will inevitably lead to a slight change in the `type` required by the market. There is a balance to be struck and we are confident we must always be commercial in what we are striving for whilst maintaining breed standard.

THE FUTURE OF THE STUD
We are totally committed to breeding the pure bred Irish Draught and are following a `breeding up` programme from our 2 graded AID mares- half sisters from our foundation SID mare Ballina Lass. We have a long term breeding plan to ensure that type and movement are retained and from this we hope eventually to be able to breed our own stallion which is a long held dream of ours. We have been lucky to breed 4 quality foals so far all with great quality and movement and we hope with the acquisition of our rare bloodline colt Ferdi(shown as a foal to the left) we have some really exciting times to look forward to. We are very pleased with his first foal, our colt Monty(shown with his big sister Honey x Tobias Corbett). We have a very particular interest in some of the rarer Draught founders- the Woodranger line, Prince Henry line and Laughton line. Woodranger was all but lost to the breed until Timahoe Heather was discovered by Robin and Margaret Cook and stood for just one season at their Roma stud and amazingly produced 3 stallion sons from his last crop- Huntingfield Heathcliff, Huntingfield Proud Tim and Bridgeford Ferryman. We have done alot of research into this line and the quality of the horses produced from this blood with their reknowned jumping ability and superb temperaments is amazing. From our research it is clear that unlike many `outcross` lines, which were seen as dying out because of poor quality or coarseness from imported cart horse blood, the Woodranger family actually suffered from having TOO MUCH quality! Many old breeders thought this line produced more of a `half-bred` type of horse which were possibly too sharp for many farmers. Most colts were gelded as they were either superb workers or hunters and the line became more scarce as a result. Similarly the Prince Henry line was saved almost from extinction by the Suma stud in Ireland who stood the fabulous old Draught stallion Glenside in the hope of producing a successor to him- he is universally known as probably the best moving draught ever who astounded everyone with his amazing light action and passed this down through his line via his 2 sons Uibh Fhaili and Glenagyle Rebel. A small chestnut stallion at 16hh he had an incredibly short cannon bone which is something we are looking to re-create in our breeding programme and was said to be a `proper` old fashioned type with `pure` draught breeding all the way back in him. We have been lucky enough to buy Rebel Rose by his son Glenagyle Rebel and she is so similar in both her looks and colouring to Glenside, something which struck us very much when we first saw her(pictures of them both to the left). Laughton stock is known for alot of quality and producing superb jumpers and hunters with good temperaments. This line was known for its ability to correct many of the faults of mares particularly in their limbs and produces a very `typey` Draught. Sadly Laughton stock is becoming more scarce especially in the UK, to a lesser degree in Ireland with only a handful of sons, many quite old now and with no male successor, on the register. We belive strongly in the importance of the mare in breeding, we are fortunate to have some lovely mares with fantastic bloodlines and are always in pursuit of that `dream mare` who is to us perfection- we hope we will find that one day- our own Horna Honey or Pink Carnation- she is out there somewhere! Most important to us and to the future of our small stud, is the hope that our homebred stock will go on to be loved by their new owners and give many years of pleasure which is something we see as more important than anything else- once experienced the Irish Draught is never forgotten!

Irish Draught Stallions

Grange Bouncer RID - Sire of our Splodge, he is 16.3hh with 9" bone and is a grade A showjumper and intermediate eventer so is a real performance sire. He has just had his first son approved as RID in Ireland, Moylough Bouncer. Grange Bouncers dam, Grange Heather, was a full sister to the RID stallions Paddys Pride and The Squire who stood in the UK- all by Kilmore Heather ex Casting Vote x Tara.

Ben Purple RID - Grandsire of Tiddy, he has had a profound affect on the Irish Draught breed being the sire of no less than 10 RID stallions: Clontoo Lad, Lissarda Star, Purple Heather, Powerswood Purple, Holycross, Ben Ross, Ben Calverstown, Snowford Benson, Torspark Benedict and The Bard. Ben Purple was born in 1965 and was a 16.3hh grey horse with 10" bone. He was a tremendous short coupled horse and was said to have had the `perfect Draught head`.

Amber Legend RID - Sire of our Amber, he was born in 1989 and was 16.3hh with 10" bone. He sadly has no sons on the register but Barracaberry Orbit RID stands in Lancashire who is also by O`Sullivan so thankfully the influence of this bloodline can still be seen. Both Amber Legends dam and Grand-dam were hornby premium and champion mares. His dam Crofters Diamond produced many county winners including the select hornby premium and champion mare Irish Charm x Mountain Prince. Similarly his grand-dam, Crofters Golden Heather, was the dam of the RID stallion Crofters Realm also by Mountain Prince and the select hornby premium mare Brockvale Silver Heather.

O`Sullivan RID - Sire of Amber Legend, he was born in 1982 and was a 16.3hh grey horse with 10" bone. O`Sullivan was a full brother to the well known prolific RID stallion Grey Macha also by Pride of Toames. Their dam Ballybane Grace was an outstanding type of Draught who was phenomenally successful in the showring in Ireland being a Dublin, Kerrygold and Greenvale Champion. All her sons were approved as stallions the 3rd one being Ballybane Shamrock IDSH x Chair Lift(TB) who stands in Cheshire.

Copper King RID - Sire of Tumbles, he was by the famous stallion King Of Diamonds. Born in 1978 and a dark chestnut, he stood 16.3hh with 9 1/2" bone and was known for his showjumping ability. He sadly died in 2006 and leaves no sons on the register to carry on his line. Interestingly, his dam side breeding goes back to Woodranger via Mount Loftus as do both Tiddy and Amber.

Ladys Tralee Raj RID - The sire we have chosen for our 2008 foals, Raj is a great example of his type with tremendous presence and bone which is hard to find. He was born in 1991 and is by the black stallion Touch of the Blues who is now in America, standing 17hh with 10" bone. We have seen many of his progeny and he is really stamping his stock which is a sign of a good stallion. We look forward very much to our foals by him.

Tobias Corbett RID - The sire we have chosen for our 2009 foals. He was born in 1986 and is by the RID stallion Slyguff Hero who was a full brother to King of Diamonds. Interestingly Tobias himself had a full brother, Silvermine Hero RID, who stood for many years in the UK. We think he is an outstanding type of draught combining over 10" of bone with cracking presence, quality, movement and the best shoulder we have ever seen! He is the sire of the young RID stallions Hillviewfarm Superstar and Hillviewfarm Trevelyan. We very much hope that our girls take in foal to him as we would be very excited to see the resulting progeny, which would be guaranteed chestnut!

Glenagyle Rebel RID - 16.2hh, Sire of our Rebel Rose and the saviour of the Prince Henry line. Known for great movement and jumping ability he was a successful International Grade A showjumper and also sire of stallion sons Huntingfield Rebel and Rebelara who both now have dynasties of their own. He left excellent quality stock and his mares are known for being good mothers. Owned and bred by the Suma stud he spent his later years in South Africa and died in 2007.

These are all very different types and clearly show the diversity to be found within the breed. It is very interesting to see how many of the top stallions from prolific bloodlines stamp their stock. In particular King of Diamonds, Pride of Shaunlara, Ben Purple and Legaun Prince can be well identified for their individual traits especially in the head and limbs of their progeny. It is amazing really how these traits survive many, many generations and how similar the modern day stallons are to their ancesters. Of course this rule also applies to poor traits and this too has shown through in some modern day sires(to remain nameless)! A very important part for us in learning about this wonderful breed is to view as many stallions from different lines as possible and to see the youngstock classes at shows to gain an understanding of what each stallion throws to a variety of mares. Through this knowledge and `sight` of the stock and their progeny you can make an informed decison as to what is the best cross for your mare.

Silver Rose RID mare, Stable name: Rosie, Born 1995. Sire: Fast Silver RID, Dam:Killarney Rose RID x Creggan Diamond
17hh, grey she was highly graded with 129. Rosie is living proof that traditional bone and substance with quality does exist! She has had a few foals, the most prominent being the IDSH stallion Killarney Jack who was a multiple county show champion in-hand. She will visit Diamond Lodge early 2013 and we look forward very much to seeing her foal by him. Rosies dam line is superb and her dam was 1/2 sister to prolific Irish champion show mare Sheans Lady. Her sire Fast Silver is out of the most winning mare ever, Fast Woman, who won the prestigious Kerrygold championship in Ireland 4 times. Looking back at pictures of her I can see very much her type in Rosie. Fabulous bone, type, length of rein and the all important great temperament. Rosie has been a real performer herself being a fabulous hunter and team chaser in her youth. She has been shown in-hand only once, coming 2nd in the RID class at the National Breed Show in 2010.

Rebel Rose RID Premier mare, Stable name: Rose, Born 1996. Sire: Glenagyle Rebel RID, Dam:Amber Rose RID x Ginger Dick
15.3hh, 9" bone, liver chestnut. Rose is a Premier RID mare- now a Class 1 Bronze merit mare under the new HSI grading system. She has a fantastic pedigree, a complete outcross containing all our dream bloodlines- tracing back to Glenside and Rusheen Hero on her sire line and Ginger Dick and Colman on her dam side. She is sister to the deceased RID stallion Inver Steel x Agherlow out of the same dam Amber Rose who was also a Premier RID mare and full sister to several succesful showjumpers in Ireland. Rose herself has been a successful broodmare, being the dam of the well known multi County and HOYS winning champion cob Hallmark IX. We have high hopes for Rose and are thrilled to have found her. She will be put in foal this year with the aim of producing another successful cob type. She has superb floating movement, fantastic short cannon bones with a deep body and excellent shoulder and front- she is the proper old fashioned `true to type` mare that we have been searching for.



Lady Hammerfield Tumbledown, Stable name: Tumbles, Born 1993. Sire: Copper King RID, Dam:Tregew Teaka Moon(coloured cob)
Tumbles is our official `happy hacker’ and all round golden girl who is a great nanny and matriarch of the yard! We purchased Tumbles from Cornwall(that was a long 7 hour journey home!) and were told she was the kindest, sweetest mare they had ever owned- she loaded herself first time every time into the box, could be shod/clipped without even being tied up and it was genuinely a heartbreaking sale. I`m sure we have all heard this before but we were very, very lucky that it was all 100% true- she is exactly what they said! We bought her because we loved her and were uninterested in breeding at the time but were later thrilled to find out from her covering certificate that she is actually by the RID stallion Copper King who was by the famous King of Diamonds. Tumbles has inherited her dams fabulous skewbald colouring but is the image of her sire and has the `Diamond family` pop in her when loose schooled over jumps. Tumbles is 16.2hh with over 10” of bone and is a true heavyweight mare. She has had one foal with her previous owners by the TB event stallion My Eclipse and the filly called Lucy will be aimed for a career in dressage.

Amber Lass AID, Stable name: Amber, Born 1997. Sire: Amber Legend RID, Dam: Ballina Lass SID

Amber is our super little pure bred Irish Draught mare. She is very small at just 15.2hh with 8 1/2" bone but with her back breeding on both sides of her pedigree she is throwing bigger with her offspring and stamps them with fantastic quality heads, limbs, movement and above all loving temperaments. Amber is currently 1 of only 4 graded mares by the late Amber Legend RID so we are very pleased to have found her. We put her forward in September 2007 where she graded AID. Amber is an absolute sweetie, clearly she had no previous handling but has been a good honest mare from the start, always willingly accepting everything we have asked of her- a sure testament to the Draught temperament! We had Amber lightly backed and then put in foal to Ladys Tralee Raj from which she produced her first foal our lovely 2008 filly Evie. Although not a show mare Amber is in fact more valuable to us as she is producing the goods at home. 2008 results: Snowford Breeding qualifier, North West Irish Draught show. In 2009 Amber produced her second foal- a filly by Tobias Corbett. In 2011 she had a cracking colt by Ferdi.

Ballina Lass SID, Stable name: Tiddy, Deceased 1990-2009. Sire: Believed- Clontoo Lad RID, Dam: Lady Luck 3 RID x Colman RID
Tiddy was Ambers dam and was quite unexpectedly offered to us for sale. We went to see her and of course it was fatal- she had THE most amazing floating movement and in trot actually looked as though she was flying! She was a beautiful colour, the darkest deep chocolate dappled liver chestnut, 15.2hh with 9" quality flat bone and a perfect stamp of a small show hunter. If we had found her years ago we think she could have been a superb showing star with faultless conformation and movement. She was a complete outcross and her dam line contains some incredibly rare breeding which we are very fortunate to have in our breeding programme. Her sire on her foal papers is Clontoo Lad(this is unconfimed by DNA) who was a small traditional chestnut stallion at 15.3hh and with 9 1/2" bone by the great Ben Purple and her dam was by Colman which is probably where the movement comes from. She had the `prophets thumb` mark to her shoulder which they say is the sign of a good horse! In 2008 she had her 2nd foal our stunning filly Pearl x Lady`s Tralee Raj. Tiddy owes us nothing and made us smile every time we saw her in the field each day- we just loved everything about her and she is responsible for the 3rd generation of this dam line all of which have great quality, wonderful temperaments and super movers- what more could we have ever asked of her?! We hope she is looking down on her family now with great pride.

Pure Tralee Lass, Stable name: Evie, Born 2008.*SOLD* Sire: Lady`s Tralee Raj RID, Dam: Amber Lass AID x Amber Legend RID
Lovely pure bred filly foal- born black but will be grey. She is exactly what we ordered and means we now have 3 generations of this dam line- Amber has really done us proud. Evie is a quality filly with excellent floating movement and a real `look at me` quality. She is very correct with a good short back, straight limbs, strong hind quarters and a lovely head with our favourite big ears! Amber and Evie qualified for the Snowford Breeding championships in 2008. Evie is fully eligible RID on inspection- she takes everything in her stride just like her dam and loves her food(just like her dam!). She is a tall filly- we expect her to make a good middlewight stamp of around 16.2hh at maturity. Although very similar to Amber in many ways she has defintely inherited many traits from the old Blue Peter line in particular she looks the image of Blue Rajah(her grand sire) when he was a youngster which is very interesting. 2009 results: 2nd Mixed Youngstock(1st Yearling) at Midland Counties, 4th Mixed Youngstock(2nd Yearling) at Anglesey County show. 2010 results: 2nd Mixed youngstock(1st 2 yr old) at Midland Counties, 1st Mixed youngstock Canwell show. 5th NFU Championships and 4th 2yr old filly at National Breed Show.

Pure Lady Luck AID, Stable name: Pearl, Born 2008. Sire: Lady`s Tralee Raj RID, Dam: Ballina Lass SID
We could not belive our luck to be blessed with another pure bred filly and a sister to our Amber. Pearl is the image of her mother, a proper `mini-me` apart from the fact she is now going grey and not staying chestnut as we had hoped! She has a superb shoulder and limbs and is very showy having inherited the outstanding floating paces of her dam- she has to be seen to be believed and could definitely rival many a warmblood with her elastic ground covering movement. For Tiddy to have re-produced herself so completely is quite astounding and a joy for us to watch. This filly was special from the moment she was born and we could never part with her, she is very precious to us and will be retained. She is super to handle and is always the first to come in the field for cuddles being a very bold and loving filly. She will be aimed at a competitive ridden career in showing and dressage before having a foal of her own. We plan to do embryo transfer with her in the future to retain her movement and bloodline for future generations. We expect her to make a middleweight stamp of around 16hh at maturity although we would have loved her to stay smaller like her mum and become a small show hunter! Pictured here just after her 1st birthday, she has matured into a super stamp with a real leg in each corner, a great length of rein and a bold outlook. 2009 results: 2nd Mixed Youngstock(1st Yearling) Anglesey County show, 5th yearling filly national breed show. 2010 results: 1st and champion Derby County show. 1st Midlands Irish draught show. 4th North West Irish Draught show. 4th NFU championships at National Breed show. Pearl graded AID at the breed show in September 2010.

Pure Amber Nectar, Stable name: Honey, Born 2009.*SOLD* Sire: Tobias Corbett RID, Dam: Amber Lass AID x Amber Legend RID
Ambers second foal and lucky us another lovely filly who is also eligible RID on inspection! Honey is just a little cracker and quite fiesty too taking no messing from the older girls in the field! She has the most adorable head with white blaze and pink nose and Amber has again done us proud with a lovely correct foal. We are especially thrilled to have her after the sad death of her sire, Tobias Corbett, just a few weeks earlier which makes her very precious to us. Pictured here as a foal at 5 weeks old and below as a 2 yr old. She is a `mini me` of Amber but has also inherited much from the Errigal line particularly in her head and limbs and very similar in looks to both her grandsire Slyguff Hero and his full brother King of Diamonds. We hope she has also inherited their jumping ability! Honey has nothing short of THE most outstanding temperament- she willingly does anything that is asked of her, first time every time, and is extremely affectionate and loving. She is a super light and very staright mover. She has stayed small and should measure in at 15.2hh to make top class small show hunter at maturity.2010 Results: 1st Derby County Show,2nd Yearling North West Irish Draught show. 2011 results: 5th Mixed youngstock Midland ID show(1st 2 year old), 3rd Mixed Youngstock Aintree(2nd 2 year old), 1st NW ID Show 2 year old class. 4th NFU Champs Breed show and 4th 2yr old filly Breed Show.

Pulehill Rustic Fox , Reg SHB- Stable name: Podraigh or just `P`!, Born 1997
Podraigh is our superb heavyweight show hunter- a true `one off’ character with immense substance and quality- we would be very hard pressed to ever find another like him. Podraigh is an 18hh dapple liver chestnut gelding and was purchased in 2004 from a small advert in Horse & Hound and he truly is a horse of a lifetime, we consider ourselves very fortunate to have found him- he is unflappable at shows, in traffic and is a dream to ride doing anything that is asked of him. We believe he was brought over from Ireland but sadly has no breeding and we have tried in vain to find out- he is most certainly ID/TB as he has a good 10” bone and is very `typey’. Our first showing season in 2006 was fantastic:

Qualifying 1st time out for the RIHS 2006 at Warrington Show
Winning the heavyweight hunters at the Royal Lancashire Show, qualifying for the Blue Chip challenge and the RIHS 2007
Competing for the first time at the Royal International horse show at Hickstead- an amazing experience!
We continued our winning ways in 2007 defending our title at Lancs again qualifying for RIHS 2008. Podraigh is responsible for our love affair with the Irish Draught and it was due to him that we started our search for a youngster as a field companion for him- a pure bred RID gelding this time. Podraigh is an excellent mentor to Splodge and, we hope, many more youngsters to come. As close to a police horse as they come, he has given Splodge huge confidence hacking out and with all manner of traffic and it is very much thanks to him that we now have a cracking, confident little man to ride and enjoy. We would love to try and create another Podraigh in our breeding programme and we hope we are lucky enough to do so but we fear there will only ever be one big P bear!!

Ferdi Born 2008. **SOLD** Sire: Attwood Black Laughton RID, Dam: Annabel RID x Western Sun
Ferdi is a pure bred Irish Draught gelding who passed as a Class 2 stallion in 2012 at rising 4 yrs. His sire Attwood Black Laughton is from the Ginger Dick line of Laughton now quite rare and known for its great temperaments and jumping ability. Ferdi is one of his last few progeny as he no longer stands at public stud. His dam Annabel is from a long line of county show winners and champion mares and he has inherited her outstanding loving, laid-back nature. A true heavyweight stamp, he combines traditional substance and bone with quality, and he is a fantastic light mover for his size. He lives out with our old mares who have taught him manners and he is an angel to handle. 2009 results: 3rd Midland Counties(2nd Yearling)qualified for the NFU youngstock champs, 1st at The Royal, 1st and res Champion in-hand at the North West Irish Draught show.

Attwood Black Laughton RID- Height 16.3hh, Black. Sire: Ballinrobe Boy, Dam: Lydican Madam x Atlantic Boy. A superb outcross stallion posessing many old and unusual bloodlines gentically valuable to the pure bred herd, he has produced many performance horses and show winners and champions. Owned from a foal by the Highwood Stud he has been a successful broodmare sire with many producing RID stallions, he currently has no stallion son on the register and we hope Ferdi will go on to be a worthy successor to this rare line.

Annabel RID- Height 16hh, Grey. Sire: Western Sun, Dam: Caitlin x Foxglen Himself.
The best mare we have ever had the priviledge to see with the most outstanding temperament possible. She is a big show winner and was Champion at the Royal coming from a prolific dam line and a grandaughter of the famous multi-champion mare On a Promise. Her sire Western Sun is an advanced dressage sire now standing in the US.

Pure Brave Knight Stable name: Monty Born 2011.**FOR SALE** Sire: Ferdi ID Class 2, Dam: Amber Lass AID x Amber Legend
Monty is a true `one off` and very special. He is the only son of Ferdi before he was gelded out of Amber. On his only outing as a yearling in 2012 he won Derby County show and was in-hand champion- a great achievement for him and for us. He has a fabulous scopey movement and correct conformation and we hope will make a successful ridden horse in the future. As a 2 year old he was shown only twice, 4th at Aintre Show and 3rd in the 2Yr old gelding class at the national show. Results 2014- 3rd warrington Show.

Tetrarch Boy RID- Stable name: Splodge,Deceased 2003-2011
Sire: Grange Bouncer RID, Dam: Beeston Melody x Gort Boy
Splodge was a complete `character’! Everyone who ever met him fell in love with him as he loved cuddles and was one of the most affectionate horses we have ever known and owned. We bought Splodge in 2005 as a 2year old from Janet George of Indigo Irish Draughts and went to see him on the strength of a very rough picture just arrived from Ireland. He was thin, hairy and a very strange colour indeed- Janet described him as pink with blue spots!-but we both thought he had great limbs and we were not disappointed when we went to view him not only is his conformation outstanding but his movement is wonderful! We were indeed VERY lucky to buy him as Janet thought he was something special and did not really want to part with him, I think we caught her on a good day! Splodge had missed out on a lot of early handling so when he came home we spent many months calmly handling him and getting him used to the sights and sounds of daily life on a yard. He very quickly became the most loving and easy `little’ horse to have around. Splodge was shown lightly for education in 2006, qualifying for the Baileys Youngstock challenge at the national breed show coming 3rd in the finals. He was lightly backed in 2006 then turned away to mature and restarted in 2007. Splodge grew to over 17hh with 9 3/4" bone and was a substantial heavyweight hunter type but with alot of quality very much taking after the line of his grand sire Pride of Shaunlara. Splodge had a cracking jump- not only huge and full of power but with such style too. He will be sorely missed by us.

Grange Bouncer RID- Height 16.3hh, Grey. Sire: Prospect Pride, Dam: Grange Heather x Kilmore Heather. He is a very popular Irish Draught stallion in Ireland, he is siring some very useful and quality stock who are regularly winning in the show ring and also at eventing and dressage. Grange Bouncer himself is an Intermediate eventer and is of a more modern sporty type, passing terrific quality and movement to his progeny. We think that Splodge is of a very similar stamp to his sire and has inherited his wonderful temperament as well as his outstanding movement which we hope that he will use very well in a dressage career.

Beeston Melody RID- Height 16.2hh, Grey(sadly deceased). Sire: Gort Boy, Dam: Harpist x Carrigbawn Lad.

Hornby Premium mare and was a prolific broodmare during her life breeding only to RID stallions. We were lucky enough to go and see her in Ireland the year before her death and saw her with her 2005 filly foal at foot who is a full sister to our Splodge. Beeston Melody was bred in the UK by Mr Archie Smith-Maxwell before being sold to Dr.Karen Hinckley who we believe had her for several years and she was then sold to Ireland where we saw her with her last owner Mr Martin Collins of Co,Tipperary. We met the owners of one of her previous daughters at the Breed show and would love to hear from anyone who may have more information on her or who has a sibling to our Splodge. Her breeding history as far as we know is as follows:
1993- Colt called Cello x Cork Arthur RID
1994- Filly(graded RID mare) called Grizzle x Cork Arthur RID
1995- Colt called Cork Melody x Cork Arthur RID
1996- Colt called Bartys Tune x Cork Arthur RID
1997- Filly(graded RID mare) called Magical Mystery x Mountain Prince RID
1999- Filly(graded RID mare) called Rathcommon Cello x Cork Arthur
2000- Colt called Banjo Boy x Blue Champion RID
2003- SPLODGE x Grange Bouncer RID
2004- Filly(unnamed) x Grange Bouncer RID
2005- Filly(unnamed) x Grange Bouncer RID