CLIFDEN, the home of the Connemara Pony, is set to become the centre of the Connemara pony world next week, with a packed programme of activities taking place from August 18th to 24th for the annual Connemara Pony Show and Connemara Pony Sales when breeders, riders, buyers and enthusiasts from Ireland and overseas will descend on the town.

At this year’s August Connemara Pony Sales, three days will be dedicated to pure-bred Connemara Ponies, followed by a new fourth day featuring ponies and horses that do not hold a CPBS passport.

For those in search of an established performance pony, a number of interesting prospects feature in the catalogue. Lot 176, Leim Moonlight Shadow, has qualified for both the Clifden Green Hunter Championship and the four- and five-year-old All-Ireland Championship.

Lots 191 and 192, Castleside Lady In Waiting and Castleside Legacy, are two more eye-catching prospects. Both are by the renowned Castleside JJ, have a season’s hunting behind them and have accumulated SJI points.

Saturday’s offering includes Lot 516, Sailin Bobby, another pony with a season of hunting experience who has also qualified for the Green Hunter Championship. With several of these ponies continuing to compete in the lead-up to the sale, there may yet be further additions to their records before they enter the sales ring.

While the August catalogue traditionally attracts a good selection of over-height Connemaras, this year also features a particularly healthy offering of 138cm ponies. Among those likely to attract attention is Lot 329, Class 1 stallion Nephin Shadow, a full-brother to performance pony Topaz Shadow, who competed at the Dublin Horse Show last week.

Also included is Lot 386, Premices Shadow, who achieved Class 1 stallion status earlier this season.

Proven performance bloodlines

Connemara Pony Sales graduates featured prominently across a range of disciplines at the Dublin Horse Show, Royal Windsor and the Royal International Horse Show. Those results make for particularly interesting reading when studying the August catalogue, with a number of close relatives to successful performance ponies set to pass through the Clifden sales ring.

Lot 71, Ballylinn Ivy, is a full-sister to Ballylinn Bruce, who competed in the five- to seven-year-old Performance Connemara class in Dublin. Lot 117, Belview Heather, is the dam of Class 1 performance stallion and Dublin competitor Mirah De Goariva, while Lot 426, Glencarrig Ezra, is a three-quarter brother to the Royal Windsor in-hand prize winner Glencarrig Esme.

Full-siblings, Lots 678 and 680, Ceathru Caol Agatha and Ceathru Caol Jacob, are half-siblings to Class 1 stallion Abbeyside Silver, a finalist at both Royal Windsor and the Royal International Horse Show.

Lots 60 and 372, Cappakea Realt and Cappakea Maam’s Dun, are full-siblings to Dublin intermediate side saddle competitor Cappakea Maam’s Boy.

Notable

Another notable pedigree comes in the form of Lot 720, Blakehill Apollo, a full-brother to Royal Windsor competitor Blakehill Elusive. He is also a son of Glencarrig Camelot, who secured second place at Royal Windsor.

Also well worth noting is Lot 588, Ardfry Everly, a three-quarter sister to Ardfry Sky, a team gold medallist at the 2019 FEI European Pony Championships, and Ardfry Ariel.

With a substantial catalogue, proven performance pedigrees and buyers expected to travel from Ireland and further afield, the August Sales promise to provide a fitting conclusion to a memorable week in Clifden.