Purebred or IDSH … anyone on here a breeder/breed aficionado?
What are the most endangered lines or least found lines now?
I’m really interested in the breed but seeking more knowledge and more experience with the lines and types of those lines. Would love to find some COTHers who are breeders or experienced with RIDs and learn from them!
Thanks in advance!
I am not breeding, but I love the ISH we have!!! I would like another.
A farm near me use to breed pure Irish Draughts and a few Irish Sport Horses, sadly the owner’s health is declining so they haven’t really done anything with any of the horses in a while. A couple of them still get hauled out to the occasional hunter show and I have always liked their way of going and personalities. Growing up I was pretty obsessed with the breed.
A friend of mine used to import and breed ,she also may be the only certified judge in US. if you have a specific question Pm me and I’ll see if she can help you. She has retired and has only one manificient gelding left but knows still where her mares are now.
I am Merrypath Irish Draughts in Minnesota
The truth is all bloodlines in Irish Draughts are endangered though some are more commonly found at any moment in time and in each country it is different. In the US and Canada we have a lot of Snowford Bellman and Touch of the Blues and very little Clover Hill. Ireland has lots of CH and Huntingfield Rebel and a few years ago it would have been CH and King of Diamonds and Pride of Shaunlara. With a small population of horses and breeders the tide can change very fast. But in my opinion the real rarity is true type in Irish Draughts as opposed to Irish Draughts who look like and act like warmbloods. I advise that you get involved with Facebook and the Irish Draught groups there. Right now for example the Irish Draught Horse Archive is posting new old pictures of historical Irish Draughts, they are wonderful to see. There are Irish Draughts who are more and more like continental warmbloods and there are people who only want the traditional type Irish Draughts…and then there is what Horse Sport Ireland wants, ignoring all of us. What do you like about Irish Draughts? What is drawing you in this direction? Oh, and I will talk anytime about Irish Draughts and breeding them. Love them and am always looking for new people. PatO
Very interesting! I am currently studying which bloodlines really attract me and which don’t seem to catch my eye as well. I really want to visit some farms and see some inspections, etc. to start seeing certain horses in person. PatO and walkers I will send you both a PM after barn work today! I’ve loved the breed since I was little, used to watch a Nat Geo documentary probably once a month, and now have it on DVD to watch whenever I want. 
I have seen one in person and remember riding past him in warm up, thinking, “I’ve got to talk to the owner, that horse is gorgeous.” Exactly my type. I hunted down the owner and spoke to her about her horse. Loved him. I will def send y’all PMs …
Anybody else? Seems like such a shame that the pure RID is endangered!! Gorgeous, useful breed!
I am not a breeder but do have two Irish Draught geldings. They are the best and the breed is addictive! I hope more breeders will respond here. You can also visit the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America’s web site. There are regional contacts–you would be in the South East Region. Some regions have websites, too. The Society usually hosts an annual show in the fall. When we first became obsessed with the breed we attended the national shows just to meet folks and see as many ID’s as we could. The inspections are interesting, too. Most Irish Draughts owners are more than happy to talk about them and help newcomers. If you are ever in the northern Michigan area, PM me and come for a visit to meet our boys. Or PM me if you just want to chat more about our experiences with the breed. We are relative newcomers. We got our first ID just two years ago after many years of stalking. 
Molly
We breed ID’s and IDSH’s with an emphasis on talent under saddle vs rarity. Right now we have 4 (2 geldings, 1 mare, 1 stallion), with one IDSH due next year (ID x Holsteiner). You will find different schools of ID breeders. We personally don’t use a horse JUST because it is rare, it has to be the total package (type, talent, etc.), and thus we really are fairly picky. It can be a challenge when dealing with an already limited breeding population. There is no right/wrong, I believe we need both types of breeders for the ID pool to expand.
Hi Spirithorse!
I invite you to have a look at the page I set up on facebook (search for “Irish Draught Horse Photo Archive”). You will discover from the many historic photos that there is, and always has been, a huge diversity of type within the breed! This is due to diverse founder genetics, enhanced by regional variations in morphology based on different soil types and farm size, and utilization for purposes other than farming including use as artillery horses and army remounts, transportation, showing, sport horse breeding, hunting, etc. There are cobby types, medium framed sporty types, tall scopey hunter types, heavy framed drafty types, and everything in between. None of these types are more or less “traditional” than any other as all of them have existed since the earliest origins of the breed.
You inquired about underrepresented bloodlines…one of the rarest sire line branches in the breed happens to have its sole representative in the USA. Moorpark Image, who stands at Abbeymoor Farm in Sanford, North Carolina, is currently the only approved Irish Draught stallion in the world from the Gortlee sire line, which is one of two sire line branches descending from the very first registered Irish Draught stallion on record, Comet. The other stallion from the Comet sire line descends through the stallion Merrion. This is Silver Laughton who stands in Ireland. In case you haven’t already discovered it, there is a great pedigree database maintained by the Irish Draught and Sport Horse Society of Australia.
Good luck and have fun with your research! There are loads of great resources out there. Can’t recommend highly enough that you go and see as many different horses as possible. Like elsewhere in the world, there is a huge diversity of Irish Draught types in North America. Most of the breeders are very generous with their time and it would be well worth yours to visit them
Best wishes,
Luckily there are quite a few breeders on the East Coast. Also, many more ID and IDHS owners who get their horses out and about.
Look at the IDHSNA website www.irishdraught.com and see if there are any breeders near you.
Email some of us, we are always happy to have visitors.
Sue
I have an IDSH filly and am absolutely in love! I had been admiring her sire since 2006 and then happened to move into the same area as her breeder and began competing at the same shows as her big brothers and sisters. They were so beautiful, talented, and fancy and usually cleaned up their divisions.
Last year circumstances led me to look at a 2 month old filly and I was instantly in love and can only imagine just how fantastic she will be when grown up. She is coming two with the new year and has already developed quite the fan club as she has the most fantastic brain, is very intelligent, and easy to work with on all fronts. She went to her first show (the IDHSNA annual breed show) and was absolutely fantastic the entire 3 days we were there. I cannot be more proud or say enough good things about her and the breed in general. They just in my experience are all just such good eggs.
Her breeder does IDSH’s and her stud was imported from Ireland as a weanling, his sire was Silver Granite. All the babies by him are quite sucessful in their respective careers and are versatile, as much of the breed is. For my personal taste the IDSH suited me better, though I do have a lot of love for the purebred ID as well.
Greetings,
We breed both the Irish Draught and related Irish Draught Sport Horse here in Northern California. We began breeding the sport horse primarily for the local Eventing market (such market as there is) in 2002. We fell in love with the purebred after we started breeding the sport horse and had our first purebred foal in 2005. We expected the purebred market to be almost exclusively for breeding value, but have found more interest in purebred Irish Draughts as leisure/amateaur horses than we expected. Who knew we would sell an Irish Draught as a jousting prospect! But they are versatile.
Our foundation purebred mare is called Moorpark Girl, and she is a “total outcross” mare - meaning she has no King of Diamonds, Pride of Shaunlara, Clover Hill or Milestone blood. I wouldn’t say an “outcross” has intrensic value - some lines tend to produce more jumpers or better movement and become more popular. In the case of the Moorpark Boy line it is thought there were simply fewer purebred mares in the area where he worked in logging. We kept Moorpark Girl’s first two purebred fillies - one a Clover Hill line mare and the other going back to King of Diamonds and we have bred them as well.
The purebred is a super animal, as is the cross with the Thoroughbred. Which one suits a rider varies by rider and by horse. Definitely visit with breeders and owners wherever your travels take you. We still check the IDHSNA breeders list and try to meet other breeders and owners when we travel. Be sure to get in touch with us if you are near San Francisco to set up a visit if you wish.
Reagrds,
Karen
Subscribing to this thread as another ISH owner interested in hearing more breeders talk about their kids. Love my guy, have spent a good deal of time trying to track down his antecedents, whatever they may be.
[QUOTE=spirithorse22;7928963]
Purebred or IDSH … anyone on here a breeder/breed aficionado?
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Thanks in advance![/QUOTE]
We have been breeders of Irish Draught Sporthorses for a while now. e are on opposite sides of the continent, however. I would invite you out for the barn tour and nose-kissing, should you ever get out to the great northwest!
MANY pages of photos and info on our website, http:www.IrishHuntersandJumpers.com
We also have a facebook page for the farm, Homesick Angels Farm.
Many people have entered information, all of it valid, I do not need to be repetitive here. These horses speak for themselves, once a person meets them.
Well I can only claim to be a breeder of one IDSH this year. I love the breed for the temperament and ability to do anything.
I would also love to hear from breeders on the forum, and especially on the east coast. In a couple of years I’m going to be getting my filly inspected and would love all advice people could give me. I know that for this year, I would have been subjected to an 8 hour drive either way based on where inspections were held. I’m hoping the year I apply there will be enough other applicants to make the trip a little more local.
Mountain Pearl was in the States, but he was re-imported back to Ireland because his bloodlines were desirable and becoming rare. MP had a wonderful temperament, too.
I know his son To Be Sure and all of TBS’s offspring - all have his amazing temperament without exception.
I had one, and his new owner says he is the barn favorite and she would never have any other horse…very game, willing, bold, but beginner safe and reliable.
I am not a breeder but an owner. I have a well loved RID and a lovely IDSH family guest horse. My daughters have IDSHs. Each horse is quite different from the others, but they are wonderful. My full ID is quiet, reliable, and happy to carefully pack my 60 year old self around the trails. My daughters event and trail ride their IDSHs.
This is such a good breed.
Thank you all who have emailed or messaged me - or replied here to the thread. I can’t wait to have a day to really look into some of the sites y’all have sent me. I have already listed every breeder available online in my region and checked out their websites. That’s how I started seeing certain names (King of Diamond especially) and thinking that a LOT of the horses had him in sire or dam lines. I am probably more interested in the purebred ID than the IDSH the more I look into it. So far, (some of these are deceased) I really, really like Dandelion Diamond Rebel, Huntingfield Proud Tim, Sea Crest, Silver Wind Twister, King of Hearts, Bridon Beale Street, Western Sun.
I’m trying to find the smaller breeders here in the States and find others.
I think it’s easier to find stallions I love … I’m trying to look at as many breeders sites as I can to see MARES that I like. I am trying to see which lines produce the types of mares that make me really itch to actually have a decent buying budget right now!
I keep seeing “Hornby premium” or something similar for a few of the mares that really look typey to me (I like!) and I need to google it … my favorite mare so far has been Roma Blue Hawk. She is gorgeous. I want her clone!
Where are the big inspections and at what time of year are they usually held? Would love to go.
Inspections in North America are in the fall of the year. There are two different types of Irish Draught and ID sport horse inspections held in the US. There are the IDHSNA inspections (studbook approvals recognized in the USA only) and IDHS Canada/Horse Sport Ireland (studbook approvals recognized worldwide).
Inspection sites for both groups are determined by the location of candidate applications so are usually not available till late summer/early fall.
[QUOTE=Waterwitch;7932555]
Inspections in North America are in the fall of the year. There are two different types of Irish Draught and ID sport horse inspections held in the US. There are the IDHSNA inspections (studbook approvals recognized in the USA only) and IDHS Canada/Horse Sport Ireland (studbook approvals recognized worldwide).
Inspection sites for both groups are determined by the location of candidate applications so are usually not available till late summer/early fall.[/QUOTE]
Thank you! As for everyone I plan on sending out PMs this weekend when I’m not swamped with horse stuff at the barn.
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