Fill Me in on Irish Draughts...

I’m a devout TB person, too - but add a spot of Irish and you have the best of both worlds! Well, my first Irish is four weeks old, so I’m hardly the authority, but he is so darned cute and smart. But I’ve known lots of his relatives and they are all just wonderful.

My first choice for a “mount” is a TB. My “bestest” horse in the world is a pure white TB, full brother to Puchi’s Rambo. I trail ride, show him, fox hunt him and drive cattle…all in a French link snaffle and a saddle…BUT…the equestrian world - as in the market, have gravitated away from the TB’s because most people don’t take the time to learn to ride a TB. They all want an instant packer and that’s where the Irish and WB’s come in. I believe that the ISH who are 3/4 TB will have the athletic ability to satisfy the serious competitors and still have the diposition to accomodate the amateur, weekend warriors. ALL of our TB mares have the disposition of lap dogs, so bred to Seattle Blues a 1/2 TB, 1/2 RID they should give us what we are breeding for. Jagged Illusion is a show off at heart, but is also a baby doll to work with. The ISH he is bred to has the sweetest disposition in the world. We’ll see next spring. Right now she looks like a black, furry Goodyear blimp and still has a longggg time to bake.

I asked on another thread, but how much TB is too much for registration with the North American Irish Draught Society? Could a 1/2 Irish, 1/2 TB mare bred to a TB stallion qualify the foal, or does the Draught have to come in on top? I know there have been 3/4 TB’s who are called ISH, and many, many eventers have that percent TB.

Hi viney,

For IDHSNA, 1/8 RID (meaning inspected and approved ID) for registration, 1/4 RID for breeding stock if inspected and approved…and the parent(s) supplying the necessary % of RID blood must be inspected and approved themselves. IDHS Canada is looser with their definitions - and I believe they are considering allowing 1/16 ID blood to qualify for registration. That’s probably clear as mud, so I can try again if that didn’t make sense.

Your example of 3/4 TB, 1/4 RID would qualify for inspection and potential breeding approval with IDHSNA if the ISH side of the equation (mare or stallion) was inspected and approved.

Ireland is considering dropping stallion approvals - unknown at this time how this will affect IDHSNA.

Since you’re here viney, what do you think of this pedigree (a friend’s ISH mare):

http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/sumas+patience

Tail female to Pretty Polly :slight_smile:

Here is a 4 year old pinto gelding out of our Irish Sporthorse mare, Kildalton’s Cross, by a Paint stallion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhVUt4Kezd4

Here is his 6 yo half-sister out of the same mare, by my Thoroughbred stallion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKpvh3lQgcg

Jennifer

We have a five year old ISH by Touchdown out of a Cruising daughter.

He has terrific scope and the best mind. He is a sensitive, light ride who has never said “No”

He is dirt easy. He can get a little concerned because he is sensitive but that is mostly limited to rolling his eyes at you “What do you want?”

He’s a lovely horse in every respect (except for the current tendency to outgrow his girths at an obscene rate) and I would take one hundred just like him.

Sue L

[QUOTE=SueL;3706510]
and I would take one hundred just like him.

Sue L[/QUOTE]

That sums up my feelings on them 110%.

Edited to add, I’ve ALWAYS had TBs. In 2005 I had my most talented prospect break a hock in a pasture accident and she eventually completely broke down and was put to sleep. It was about that time I said, enough, I need some BONE. Having not been all that impressed with the WBs I’d ridden (dead to the aids for one reason or another) I started researching the IDs and they seemed to fit exactly what I was looking for, and boy was I right. I adore mine. I still love a nice TB, but it’s like being used to Hershey and finally tasting Godiva. You’ll still like Hershey, but you’ll know what real chocolate tastes like :smiley:

http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii170/okgottago/?action=view&current=IMG_2727.jpg this is my 3 year old 1/2 ID by OLID.

And this is his daughter http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii170/okgottago/?action=view&current=LacyDawn.jpg who is 3/4 TB o/o this mare http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii170/okgottago/?action=view&current=IMG_3818.jpg

[QUOTE=SueL;3706510]
We have a five year old ISH by Touchdown out of a Cruising daughter.

He has terrific scope and the best mind. He is a sensitive, light ride who has never said “No”

He is dirt easy. He can get a little concerned because he is sensitive but that is mostly limited to rolling his eyes at you “What do you want?”

He’s a lovely horse in every respect (except for the current tendency to outgrow his girths at an obscene rate) and I would take one hundred just like him.

Sue L[/QUOTE]

That is probably one of my favorite sporthorse bloodline cross ever! (LOVE Touchdown and Cruising!)

Do you have pictures please? :smiley:

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;3694616]
Don’t forget that Irish horses may develop late - which is why they have seven foot hedges in Ireland, not necessarily for jumping, but to hide behind them when they reach the ugly stage. :D[/QUOTE]

OMG! That is so much the truth! I bred a TB mare to The Irish Rover (a Kildalton Gold son who was one of the first RID stallions brought to America). Between 6 months and 2.5 years that was the butt-ugliest horse I have ever seen to this day!

But the ugly duckling turned into a swan at three and became a really nice showjumper that I sold for a pretty penny when he was competing at level 8 jumpers at 8 years old. At 5 he was packing my 14 year old daughter in junior jumpers at the big shows.

Here’s a couple of pics of The Irish Dancer.

http://www.sonestafarms.com/images/pinoakyjc.jpg

http://www.sonestafarms.com/images/whiskeyjump1.jpg

I have an 8 mo old IDSH out of a TB mare, and he is bold, sweet, clever, and a complete ham! I wanted to see how he would react to a tarp. As we walked up to it, he eyed it, but didn’t hesitate or spook. I go and stand on it and coax him to walk on it. Instead, he reaches down, grabs the edge, and starts shaking it. First time in the trailer, open the door, and he jumps right in, with an “Ooooh, what’s in here?” attitude. Same way with crossing a stream, I ponied him on another horse, and he didn’t hesitate at all. The only bad thing about him is that you can’t fill the water tank with a hose and leave it unattended :slight_smile:

[QUOTE=Sassenach;3707709]
That is probably one of my favorite sporthorse bloodline cross ever! (LOVE Touchdown and Cruising!)

Do you have pictures please? :D[/QUOTE]

He’s splattered all over our trainer’s website - www.donalegan.com :slight_smile:
Hit the For Sale tab and he’s there.

Videos are on my Youtube channel - search Touch Cruise, better put show
jumper or ISH in your search or you might hit a lot of ads for a cell phone.
LOL.

Sue

After a lot of research, I decided I’d take a chance with the Irish horses. My little one isn’t quite two years old, but he is by far one of the most level headed horses I’ve ever handled. He can also be stubborn at times (mostly not wanting to go back into his pasture), but he’s realized that I can be more stubborn than him (and I have a longer attention span) so I haven’t had many issues :smiley:

He’s also quite a goofball. When I was home at Thanksgiving, I was helping my father with some of the barn construction. We were using a nail gun to put up a few more boards (that somehow got missed by the construction guy) since we’re pausing construction til the spring, and we had to keep shooing Mark away because he would run up and try to mouth the nail gun while we were using it. Evidently he was a PITA while the barn was being constructed (even though there WAS a barrier up) and he was running away with all sorts of tools and bags in his mouth.

He also loves to socialize with anyone or anything. People are his favorite because they give him belly scratches and groom him, but he’ll also spend all day with his head over the fence with his “girlfriend” (one of our neighbor’s angus heifers) sniffing and grooming each other.

I now know that I will definitely stick with the Irish horses. It’s seems to be an addiction.

Not DONE! yet

I have my young gelding being trained by a 16 yo girl. He is in love with being worked and trained and he won’t leave the crossties to go back to his stall. It is the busiest most interesting part of the barn and he’s just not leaving. PatO

Please, please, please tell me you have pictures/video of that… What a character he must truly be :lol:

I watched something on TV this week that underlined for me why Irish horses are so great. It was at this year’s indoor Dublin horse show in the puissance. A grey Irish horse had got through to the 4th round, the wall was 7’ high and he cleared it but then stumbled on landing and fell, rolling completely over in a horrible fall. Fortunately neither horse or rider were hurt but I thought “that’s their competition over, no horse is going to go over the puissance wall again after falling like that on the landing side.” One other horse also cleared the wall so there was a potential jump off. The wall went up again and if I’m honest, to my horror the grey horse comes out again. Although they had fallen the rider had still been on board (with his horse skiing along the ground!) as they went through the finish so they were judged as having jumped clear and so were eligible to take part in the next round. I was indignant on his behalf thinking how callous the rider was being. But I was wrong. The grey was as brave as a lion, attacked the wall as if he’d never had a fall in his life, just pulled the top brick off with his stifles and went on to be equal first in the competition with Ellen Whitaker.

That bravery to me is what makes a good Irish horse stand out. The best IDSHs truly are outstanding.

I’m lucky enough to have an IDSH. She’s jumped well over 5 feet many times and we’re competing at Advanced dressage at the moment, hopefully coming out at PSG in the near future. She is one in a million. What makes her so special is her temperament and her willingness to please. I wish I had a stable full of horses just like her.

[QUOTE=Sakura;3708153]
Please, please, please tell me you have pictures/video of that… What a character he must truly be :lol:[/QUOTE]

I don’t have any pictures or videos of it and the cattle were moved to another pasture for the winter, but I’ll be sure to take some when they move back in the spring. He truely is a complete character and is constantly providing amusement for everyone. I have loads of stories to tell and I’ve only had him just over a year. I feel like he’s a very special guy and paired with me (a super ambitious young person), hopefully we’ll do some big things.

I love versitilite horses, and the ID seems like the complete package. My favorite things are foxhunting and really big jumpers, but I also dabble in dressage, eventing, eq, and would like to do driving, so I think the an Irish hrose was a logical choice for me. I originally was looking for an IDx, but when I saw this guys bloodlines and photos, I knew I had to see him. When I got there I knew I had to either bring him or his mother home. I can’t wait until he’s old enough to ride!!!

Irish draughts are the complete package. Reading the past several pages, mine has many of the characteristics described: bold and pleasantly arrogant, no fear of noise or destruction :smiley: , athletic and a wonderful amateur ride. He never had a cross country fault, pinned well at MANY horse trials and every driving trial or CDE entered, a star any where he went. this is a horse I bought as a weanling and basically brought along myself with good trainers on the ground. He is by TOTB and out of a snowford bellman mare.

when I first started taking him to my dressage trainer she thought he may go 2nd level, with in 9 months of work with her he was schooling 2nd level and she said easily 4th…The more we worked with her, the more excited she became because of his ability but even more so because of his willingness to try and his work ethic

The trainer I used for jumping was pleasantly suprised that a 3’6-3’9 course was no problem

My driving trainer loved him from the beginning!!!

Unfortunately he started to show subtle signs of EPSM…never lame but trembling when hind legs picked up, grumpiness at the third phase of a horsetrials, dropping rails in stadium, days when he would not canter even to a crossrail while two days later he would jump a 3’3 course with no issue, difficulty with lateral work that had previously been easy…

While he responded well to diet and supplement, it took me a full season of competition to come to terms that even though we were getting ribbons, he was doing it because I asked and not because he was loving it anymore so I retired him before either of us would get hurt out on cross country. I’ve since leased him (could never bear to sell him) to a wonderful woman locally who trail rides and takes him to the beach etc…

here are some pics of him doing a little bit of everything…

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/565446186WEBkhl

I’m nearly in tears after reading this thread. I feel like I have missed out on so much. I have saved and saved for a Mountain Pearl baby but some emergency has always come up that we had to dip into the savings for and now he’s gone to Ireland. I have wanted an RID for years and years and still hope to manage to get the money together to buy one. I have always admired their dispositions and I would love to have another forever horse to do everything with, even if its just hanging out. Your stories are inspiring me to work harder. My daughter gets married in January and will be taking our horses with her. Maybe next year will be my year.

Don’t cry Dawn, your RID will be waiting for you! : - )

I understand what ya’ll are talking about – mine tried to get ON the flatbed trailer while it was delivering round bales this weekend. But back to the topic – Adabulrr, you didn’t answer Sniplover, and does anyone else have any examples of ID/Arab crosses to show the OP?