Every year, I study the catalog and pick my favorites. I also find it so much more interesting that you have such clear videos confirmation, jog, short flat, SJ, and XC for the 4 & 5yos. They’re clearly turned out so well…
Anyways, I would take home
Lot 10 DOONAVEERAGH CANDY
Lot 23 BELLINE OLYMPIC DATE
And I love Lot 6 more with tack on than off.
I want to love the half sister to Lot 10 more. She’s just stunning to look at, so we’ll see what happens!
Lot 9 Prarie Falcon
My pick would be lot 20. Maybe not the best event horse but just my type. I didn’t watch any video so my choice might be different after seeing them move.
I love looking at the GFG catalog. While I hate the end of the summer, the GFG, Keeneland, and Fasig Tipton give me something to look forward to.
I liked 13, 20, 21, and 22 solely based on conformation photos.
After watching videos, I liked 2, 3, and 12.
Very excited to see a Pointilliste horse(2) in the catalog. He looks like a total dude, that’s the one I want to ride.
12’s pedigree interests me, I’d like to see more OBOS Quality / Cruising pairs.
7 I liked in the ridden portion.
I love 13’s expression. She has a great canter too. Of all of them she’d be the one I’d take home, so her name fits. 
I watched bits of video on all of them quickly. I’m much more a h/j person, so take it with a grain of salt.
13 is my favorite by a lot - but she is also the most my ride.
24 is the one I’d want to scoop up for someone who wanted something good natured/kind to pack them around (I could see that one being a 3’6" jumper machine).
26 screams future equitation horse to me.
Something about 11 catches my eye. I’m not well versed enough in young horses/conformation to guess what he’ll look like in a few years, but I’d love to see how he grows into his body (or doesn’t!). He’s in an awkward teenager phase, especially compared to the other 4yos. He seems eager and brave though - if his looks won’t win him any awards, he gives me the impression his personality might 
I haven’t been able to watch all the videos yet, but another vote for Lot 13. It will be interesting to see where she lands.
How did I miss 13. What a classy mare
I haven’t looked at all the videos but now I think No. 12 is my top pick. I don’t know if her gallop is competitive since I am not good at evaluating that but she sure could throw down some good dressage scores.
All the horses look like elastic moving and jumping athletes and are beautifully conditioned and turned out. I have no idea what prices they bring in the sale. I wonder how they compare to the YEH horses that competed in Maryland.
I remember the high-selling mare that sold last year by Sligo Candy Boy, phenomenal. I feel like anytime I see this sire crossed with a TB mare, they have tons of presence. She sold to the U.S., out of free time I tried researching who the purchasers were but I didn’t recognize the LLC, Three Creeks Training LLC (USA) . Quick google didn’t pull up any record this year.
I’d pick #12. I wanted to like 14 because I generally like a smaller, compact build, but in his videos it looks like it would be a lifelong struggle to keep him off his forehand.
She was purchased for Allie Knowles, barn name Violet.
I am a wee confused abt ISH if someone could explain. I see a lot horses listed as ISH, but in fact have a lot, if not all non-“Traditional” Irish breeding. Even looking at the horses at Le Lion, several were in the ISH studbook, but had more traditional WB in their pedigrees. Does ISH mean the horse was born in IRL, therefore eligible for ISH studbook? I see TIH, which my guess would be RID/ISH/xx breeding?
I’m drawn to 36, and really like 71 a lot. I know 71’s jump pic doesn’t have the tightest foreleg, but I feel like he just didn’t require that much effort over the jump. Speaking of jump… 78 overjumped that thing by like 2 feet.
https://traditionalirishhorse.com/about/what-is-a-traditional-irish-horse/
Sorry for the laziness in just giving you a link instead of an explanation, but this does a better job explaining it fairly succinctly than I managed to when I first started my rambling reply.
Ty!!!
This is a rather controversial topic in Irish breeding circles. As I understand it, the TIH is derived in part because of the directive in the 90s or so to approve WBs for breeding into the ISH studbook. Some breeders believe that in introducing the WB to the registry, they are diluting the tradtional stock of ID/TB/Connemara.
ISH doesn’t really mean true Irish blood anymore. An example would be Sligo Candy Boy, who is very popular in the ISH registry. He is by an Oldenburg out of a ZFPD mare who had two Holsteiner parents. Yet, SCB is approved for breeding with ISH. He makes a lovely type on a traditional Irish Horse, though.
The modern ISH is like any other European WB studbook, open to any animal whatever their breeding. In the 1980’s Irish breeders began to use a lot more European WB to meet the international demand for ‘sport horses’, the first such stallions being registered in 1982. Many Irish breeders became increasingly dismayed as the many virtues of the traditional Irish breeding, and priceless genetics, became diluted. In response, in 2011 the Traditional Irish Horse Association was set up, to sustain breeding based on traditional lines of TB, ID and a bit of Connemara blood to produce Irish sport horses of the type that used to be called “Irish Hunters”. The TIH is a subset of the ISH.
On the 2021 sales list, 2 horses were sold to R. Fellers (USA). Could that be Rich Fellers… (I’m mixing and matching COTH threads).
Some of this year’s horses are not event bred, they are SJ. Not sure if the sale is now trying to attract SJ buyers as well as eventers? Some of the descriptions were talking of looking like a sports or athletic horse, as compared to other descriptions which specify an event horse.
There is a trend here towards finding jumping bred horses to go eventing. Obviously things have moved on from dressage bred, and before that NZ TBs …
I’ve mostly just looked at the 3-year-olds (there’s something fun about looking at a horse that isn’t under saddle yet and guessing what they’ll be like to ride) and have only seen a few of the videos, but I like Tyson Junior and Captain D’Aubry.
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