TWO team gold medals, four individual medals for Ireland, plus seven Irish-breds on the Irish teams. That’s the unprecedented tally of titles recorded in one golden week this summer at the FEI European pony championships at Strzegom.

Without doubt, the European pony championships have served as a stepping stone for many international riders; Germany’s Marcus Ehning, France’s Roger Yves Bost and Sweden’s Malin Baryard, (who won individual gold at the 1990 championships with the intriguingly named Inishannon), are just some household names amongst the roll call of European medal-winning teams.

Then there’s our own Irish stars, from the Allen brothers to Conor Swail and Mikey Pender. And then the top two Irish riders at the Horse of the Year Show last weekend: Jessica Burke and Shane Breen, both former pony championship squad members.

The Horse of the Year Show is a reminder of a combination that once competed in the 153cms working hunter final there - an Irish-bred pony that went on to become the ‘winning-most’ at European championship level and his rider, (who has since won Badminton and an Olympic team gold medal): Noble Springbok and Laura Collett.

But what about the pony power that provided the springboard for so many international riders? ‘Freaks of nature’, mini-horses, purpose-bred performers, ‘happy accidents’ and Connemara ambassadors galore are all found in the history of European pony champions.

Unfortunately, the paper trail and recorded pedigrees of many earlier ponies is near non-existent. Micro-chipping, DNA and passports have proven to be game changers in documenting pedigrees and crediting breeders, compared to the ‘said to be by’ eras.

Good stories

Anecdotal accounts often provided good stories. Take Master Murrose. It’s 10 years since the flying grey and Cathal Daniels won individual and team gold - the first Irish team gold medal at the European pony eventing championships - at Fontainebleau.

Bought as a foal at Maam Cross Fair, Master Murrose has no recorded breeding. “There’s a lot of blood in him, a lot of gallop, so I’d say there’s definitely a thoroughbred somewhere along the line,” Cathal’s trainer Ralph Conroy remarked, in his West of the Shannon feature, about the pony.

Another western buy was the original Cuffesgrange, an individual silver medal winner for Brian Sheehan at the 1991 show jumping championships hosted at Wierden, in The Netherlands.

“My father bought him off Vincent Finn, and his daughter Riona, from Athenry as a four-year-old. No recorded breeding but they were renowned for breeding good stock. Riona passed away earlier this year unfortunately,” Eamonn Sheehan recalled.

The Cuffesgrange prefix has flown high in recent European pony championships with the UK event pony Cuffesgrange Little Ric and Cuffesgrange Cavalidam. The latter first won team gold for Seamus Hughes Kennedy in 2017, then won individual silver for yet another Irish team rider Max Wachman in 2018 and went one better the following year for individual gold.

Looking at the results from another championship of 2022, French breeding again plays a part. Luidam, the sire of both Cuffesgrange Cavalidam and two of the latest team gold medal winners - Rincoola Babóg and Saxton Freedam - is a grandson of Quidam de Revel, a major influence at the world show jumping championships in Herning this summer.

No less than three of this year’s pony team - Rincoola Babóg, MHS Glow and Glor Tire Cruise - are out of Cruising dams, while the fifth pony, the French-bred Valma de Fougnard is by the New Forest stallion Kantje’s Ronaldo.

While by no means on the same professional scale as sport horse breeding on the continent, breeding performance ponies is taken to a different level by several European countries. Several of their pony studbooks are based on imported performance breeds such as New Forest, Welsh and most of all, Connemaras.

The French Saddle Pony (PFS) was prominent too in the eventing championships as the individual gold medal was won for a second successive year by Boston du Verdon, out of a Connemara dam.

Silver, for the second championship in a row, went to the pure-bred Cornafest Fred and his teammates include another Connemara, Carhu Melody (a fitting swansong to her sire, the late I Love You Melody), the traditionally bred Lucky For Some and Ardeo Fireman, representing the European lines making inroads into eventing breeding at all levels.

Ben Connors and Cornafest Fred won individual silver medal winners (pictured at the FEI Eventing European Championships for Ponies 2021 in Strzegom (POL)) \ FEI/Lukasz Kowalski

Connemara ponies have enjoyed a great run on the European championships stage, one that began with the gold medal win by the Carna Bobby stallion Ashfield Bobby Sparrow and Edward Doyle at the 1980 championships in Belgium.

Ardfry Skye, Ballyowen Maybelle Molly, Blackwoodland Rock, Cul Bán Mistress, Doon Laddie, Some Man For One Man and Sillogue Darkie are just some of the medal-winning Connemaras to feature on Irish teams since the pathfinder Ashfield Bobby Sparrow.

Connemaras, continental lines, traditional-breds, mini thoroughbreds and then those fascinating mystery stories - they’re all seen in the bloodlines of European medal winning-ponies.

As Angela McGahern said in the Breeders’ 10 feature about the Rincoola line, bred by her late father Harold: “Pony, horse, it didn’t matter to Dad so long as it was a good one!”

The winning-most ponies

If there’s two ponies that edge ahead from a competitive pack of European multiple medals winners, it’s Colton Maelstrom and the Irish-bred Noble Springbok.

Ten years ago this week, the show jumping world bade farewell to the wonder pony Colton Maelstrom. The thoroughbred mare, known as “Apey”, was on a dozen consecutive teams at the Europeans, no mean feat in its own right.

However, she won a staggering total of 11 gold medals for five riders: Emma Wilson, Alice Beaumont and her sister Martha, Natasha Sewell and William Whitaker.

Emma took individual gold for Ireland at Achselschwang (1995) and Bartahus (1996) before Colton Maelstrom was sold back to the UK.

The pony later returned to Northern Ireland to be competed by Vina Buller’s daughter Alex and the pair’s final outing was at Dublin in 2007 where they placed fourth.

Vina is another Irish pony rider to have won European gold. Her winner at the 1981 championships in Millstreet, was the big winner, Caramel Cream, whose dun colouring pointed towards some Connemara bloodlines. “No breeding!” Vina confirmed this week about her Millstreet champion.

“Paul McAteer found Colton for Tom Wilson, Emma’s dad. No other pony in the world had the medals she had and it was a privilege to have had her here at Scarvagh. We called her Queen,” she said fondly about the wonder pony, who produced several foals by embryo transfer.

The Laura Collett-Noble Springbok story is one of those fairytales - a 12-year-old girl buys a young pony and goes on to win medals galore. Bred by Peter Byrne, Noble Springbok was by the ‘local stallion’ but what a local stallion in Jay Bowe’s Kiltealy Spring.

His strike rate in producing five-star eventers, from a relatively small book of mares for the Sky Boy son, is formidable. Not only Noble Springbok but the Irish team horse Fernhill Clover Mist at the Hong Kong Olympics and Piggy March’s individual silver medallist at the 2009 European championships: Some Day Soon.

He was bought originally in Ireland as a four-year-old by the Lyons family from Cheshire, who operate under the ‘Noble’ prefix. According to his FEI record, Noble Springbok went on to win team and individual medals for his three riders; Laura (team gold, individual bronze at Pratoni del Vivaro), Libby Soley (team gold and bronze, individual gold and silver at Saumur and Freudenburg) and Grace Walker (team gold and bronze at Bishop Burton and Jaszkowo) from his European debut in 2005 to his final appearance in 2011.

His sale to the Soley family set up a young Laura Collett, who described him as “one in a million,” on her own career as a professional eventer.

Clorogue Lady died only six weeks ago, aged 34. Peter Byrne continues to breed from a granddaughter and a great-grandaughter of the prolific mare, who bred just three fillies from her 17 foals. And the superstar, Noble Springbok.

2022 European results

Eventing teams

Gold - Ardeo Fireman (AES). Tinka’s Boy (AES) - Darracks Babe. Breeder: Mrs. Gerry Ward. Rider: Josh Williamson).

Carhu Melody (CP). I Love You Melody - Lickeen Star, by Oisin. Breeder: Denis Kelleher. Rider: Claire O’Ryan.

Cornafest Fred (CP). Gwennic de Goariva - Cornafest Nora, by Westside Mirah. Breeder: Thomas Grimes. Rider: Ben Connors.

Lucky For Some (ISH) [TIH]. Dunlewey Seamus (CP) - Gifted Sister (TB), by Classic Cliché. Breeder: Sarah Love. Rider: Matthew Love.

Individual

Gold - Boston du Verdon (PFS). Salam du Roc (PFS) - Dame des Vents (CP), by Abbeyleix Apollo. Rider: Mai Rinaldi (FRA).

Silver - Cornafest Fred (Ben Connors).

Bronze - Penny Lane WE (Deutsches Reitpony. Calido-G - Piorett, by Prince Thatch (TB). Rider: Merle Hoffman (GER).

Show jumping teams

Gold - Glor Tire Cruise (ISH). Ars Vivendi (HOLST) - Fastnet Cruise (ISH) by Cruising (ISH) [TIH]. Breeder: Marian Russell. Rider: Eoin Brennan.

MHS Glow (ISH). Dondoctro Ryal K (KWPN) - Limitless (ISH), by Cruising (ISH) [TIH]. Breeder: Ita Brennan. Rider: James Brennan.

Rincoola Babóg (ISH). Luidam (KWPN) - Rincoola Abu (ISH), by Cruising (ISH) [TIH]. Breeder: Harold McGahern. Rider:

Saxton Freedam (ISH). Luidam (KWPN) - Saxton Heights ((ISH) by Flintstone (ID). Breeder: Lisa Smyth. Rider: Coen Williams.

Valma de Fougnard (PSF). Kantje’s Ronaldo (NF) - Qure de la Rive, by Linaro. Rider: Paddy Reape).

Individual

Gold - Rincoola Babóg (James Derwin).

Silver - MHS Glow (James Brennan).

Bronze - Saxton Freedam (Coen Williams).

Did you know?

  • Colton Maelstrom followed Stroller by becoming the second pony to be inducted into British Horse Society’s Hall of Fame.
  • Colton Playtime, (Dokkum de Rialfo) was one of her embryo transfer offspring. Latterly owned by Eye Candy Jumpers, his last FEI-recorded outing was at Uniondale Horse Show in the United States with Canadian international rider Jacqueline Steffens Daly, now married to Tralee-born and U.S.-based show jumper Dylan Daly.
  • Flintstone, the Irish Draught damsire of Saxton Freedam, was bred by the late Terence Dunne who, at one time, owned Bailey’s Folly. The Skylark mare produced Bettina Hoy’s phenomenal Ringwood Cockatoo (Peacock), bred by Hilary Greer.
  • Every teaser shall have their day. The often unsung heroes of a stud farm feature in the stories of several European ponies. Noble Springbok’s dam Clorogue Lady was by a teaser at Michael Murphy’s Clohamon Stud out of a non-recorded pony mare.
  • Cuffesgrange Little Ric was selected three years in a row for the British pony eventing team with Saffron Cresswell (2015-2017) when the pair was part of one gold medal and two silver medal teams. He was by the Sheehan’s pint-sized teaser out of a Ricardo Z - Clover Hill dam.
  • How many Lanaken champions have a dam that won an individual gold medal at the European pony championships in the same year? That’s what Cuffesgrange Cavalidam and her Wellie 73 daughter Cuffesgrange Cavador, who won the seven-year-old final at Lanaken with Seamus Hughes Kennedy, achieved in 2019.
  • Irish Beauty 2 (formerly Clorogue Mist) was on the same British gold medal team as her full-brother Noble Springbok at the 2005 championships in Pratoni del Vivaro. She and Emma Hancox finished 13th, while Laura won individual bronze.

    • Next week: Connemaras at the Europeans.