FAMOUS CONNEMARASThe Connemara has a natural jumping ability, and its build is suitable for dressage. They often beat larger horses with staying power, intelligence and heart. As a show jumper or working hunter, in eventing, western pleasure, endurance and driving – Connemaras can do it all! Balius Kerry Blue Balius Kerry Blue - ACPS Photo Balius Kerry Blue moved from Novice Level eventing to Intermediate in less than three seasons and according to the USEA records, she was the first pony-sized individual, standing only 14.1 hands, to ever compete successfully at Intermediate Level, both in horse trials and full-phase events. Kerry began her performance career at age 12 after serving time as a broodmare. Her superior athletic ability and her love of the galloping and jumping phases of Eventing, often put her at the top of AHSA/USCTA recognized division in which, throughout her career, she competed only with horses. Kerry won bronze, silver and gold medallions in Combined Training in the American Connemara Pony Society and at the 1992 Area VI Young Rider Championships, Balius Kerry Blue, the only pony in a top-notch field of horses, won the overall Equine Fitness Award. In 1992 she was recognized as “Horse of the Year” by the American Connemara Pony Society and was featured in 1993 issues of The Chronicle of the Horse and Equues. In April 1993, at the age of 16, Kerry returned to the broodmare pasture to add to her brood of three talented offspring. At term, Kerry colicked and despite the efforst of a U.C. Davis surgical team, she could not be saved. A beautiful bay filly is her legacy. Bright memories live on of the courageous, 14.1 hand mare dubbed “The Magic Pony” by an enthusiastic fan and in 1995 she received posthumously the most prestigious career performance ward offered by the American Connemara Pony Society, the Camlin Trophy. Black Points Tilly Go BraghWhen it comes to cross country, Tilly, a Connemara/Thoroughbred cross, is all business. Under the guidance of World Equestrian Games Team Gold Medal winner, John Williams, this 15.2 hand powerhouse mare had a meteoric rise, leaping from Training to Intermediate in just ten months and finished 2 nd in her first 3-day event at the Preliminary level. Tilly earned honors that include USCTA Preliminary Horse of the Year, the AHSA Zone 2 Intermediate Championship, the USCTA Connemara of the Year (with her sire, Hideaway’s Erin Go Bragh), and the AHSA/ACPS Joan R. McKenna Trophy for excelling in Combined Training at both the Preliminary and Intermediate levels. She was Reserve Champion at the Advanced level in the Mid-Atlantic series in 1998, National Intermediate Reserve Champion in 1996 and was complimented along with her rider, by Captain Mark Phillips for a brilliant cross-country round at the Rolex Kentucky CCI*** in 1997.  Black Points Tilly Go Bragh - ACPS Photo Custusha’s Cashel RockRocky won both the An Tostal and Camlin Trophies in his distinguished career and earned gold medallions from the American Connemara Pony Society in Hunter, Jumper, Dressage and Combined Training. He was the Champion Connemara in-hand at Woodstock in 1977, 1978 and 1979 and in open competition he won championships from the Washington State Horseman’s Council in Dressage, Adult Amateur Hunter and Jumper, and Small and Working Hunter. A large crowd assembled for Rocky’s retirement ceremony in 1993 at the West Coast Connemara Show. He was preceded in the amphitheater by a stallion parade of all the stallions present at the show, followed by thirteen of Rocky’s get. Rocky entered the ring ridden by trainer/handler Connie Tuor. Elizabeth Hadley, his groom of seven years, removed the saddle and a wreath of carnations in white, green and orange, the colors of the Irish flag, was placed around his neck and he made his last pass around the ring while a bagpiper in dress clan attire played strains from traditional Irish music and piped Rocky from the arena to the strains of “Amazing Grace.” Rocky has been immortalized as the model for the 1990 Breyer horse, “Rocky, Champion Connemara Stallion.” Erin Casco BayPuffing up to look much bigger than his 15.1 hands, Erin Casco Bay competed in dressage to Prix St. Georges level. A superb mover he also noticed every little thing, including subtle signals from his rider. These traits indicated a dressage career as did his heredity as both his sire, Hideaway’s Erin Smithereen and his dam’s sire, Far Above Ballingarry Bay, were outstanding movers and competitors. A true Connemara , Casco was very kind and sensible giving pony rides to children at the Sunday School picnics. He was an easy keeper and held up well under the demands of collection at F.E.I. levels coupled with a great deal of travel.  Erin Casco Bay - ACPS Photo GrasshopperBred in County Wicklow , Ireland , Copper Coin (The Grasshopper) was purchased by Col. Joe Dudgeon whose son Ian rode him at the 1956 Olympic Games in Stockholm , Sweden where he had a clean cross-country but was eliminated for missing a flag. After the games the 15.1 hand Grasshopper was sold to Mrs. John Galvin and was shipped to the family ranch in Santa Barbara , CA . Two year later, the United States Three-Day Team, including Michael Page, was invited to train at the Galvin ranch and The Grasshopper was assigned to Michael to ride. The two went on to win an individual gold and team silver medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago and an individual gold and team gold in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Grasshopper’s outstanding record stands as follows: 1955 European Championships – Penelope Moreton “Grasshopper was neither very big nor very handsome, but such was his toughness, mentally and physically, that he never started an international event in which he was not expected to produce the fastest time cross-country….I don’t expect ever to see another horse like him.” Michael O. Page  Custusha’s Cashel Rock - ACPS Photo Hideaway’s Erin Go BraghTo watch Hideaway’s Erin Go Bragh in the dressage ring, is to marvel that this supple, elegant performer is any relation to the shaggy ponies of the west of Ireland . On the other hand, to see him attack a cross-country course or a stadium round, the cat-like grace, the power, the sheer courage of this little stallion are truly evocative of all that is best in his native pony breeding. Partnered with rider Carol Koslowski of Geneseo , NY , he moved quickly through the Preliminary ranks finishing second three times in 1990. In 1991 his win t the MCTA Horse Trials, a highly regarded event with a notoriously tough cross-country course, against some stiff competition gave some indication of the talent in that compact body. He won at the Groton Horse Trials later that year in a division that included riders like Bruce Davidson, Mike Plumb and Denny Emerson and in the next three years he became a favorite of the eventing world with remarkable performances at almost all the major show sin the east coast. Erin Go Bragh began 1995 by winning three second-level classes at the Lake Erie College Dressage show, followed by winning his Open Intermediate divisions at Fair Hill and the Middleburg Horse Trials and ended by becoming the AHSA’s Zone 2 Advanced Horse Trials champion for 1995 as well as the USCTA’s Connemara of the Year  Hideaway's Erin Go Bragh Other Famous Connemara FeatsIn 1935 at the International Horse Show in Olympia London, the 22-year-old, 15 hand Connemara gelding, The Nugget, cleared a 7’2” jump and subsequently won over 300 prizes internationally earning over 4,500 pounds sterling in prize money At Madison Square Garden in New York , NY , in 1939, the 13.2 hand Connemara , Little Squire, won the Open Championship by clearing fences of seven feet. The American press dubbed him “the littlest horse with the biggest heart.” Tommy Wade’s 15 hand Connemara gelding Dundrum became Supreme Champion at the Wembley Horse of the Year Show when he set a record by clearing a 7’2” puissance wall. In 1961 he was regarded as show jumper of the century when he won five major events at the Dublin Horse Show, the first time in history that so many awards were won by the same rider, and he did it with the same hrose! He was International Jumping Champion from 1959 – 1963. MARCUS AURELIUS was a Connemara/Thoroughbred ridden by Mary Ann e Tauskey. The pair competed in the 1975 Pan American Games and were members of the Gold Medal winning United States Eventing Team. In 1976 they were again on the Gold Medal winning United States Eventing Team. Only one of two horses to jump a clear round in the entire 1968 Olympics was a 14.1 half bred Connemara , Stroller. Stroller competed in the Olympic games as a member of the British Team ridden by Marium Coakes. They won the silver medal behind the gold medal winners Snowbound and Bill Steinkraus. Stroller cleared an Puissance Fence of 6’10.” Lendon Gray earned worldwide recognition while riding the Connemara/Thoroughbreds Seldom Seen and Last Scene in upper level international dressage competitions. American Connemara Pony Society Tel: (540) 622-5953 Connemara Pony Breeders Society Information take from www.acps.org |
