Wil'Ya Love Me and Courtney Sendak jumping the downhill brush.

Lexington, Va: Marynell Eyles sent the following report of the Virginia Horse Trials at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington. Said Marynell, “ It would be hard to find a better bit of Connemara advertising than last weekend’s Virginia Horse Trials. The Junior/Young Rider Intermediate division was blown away by the ultratalented Wil’Ya Love Me and his equally talented rider, Courtney Sendak. The pair led the division from their 37.90 score in dressage, to their 44.30 final points after 6.4 time penalties were assessed in cross-country. Courtney was rightly proud of her purebred gelding. He is by *Grange Finn Sparrow out of *Lady Doreen (Finn X Lady Dorothy [by MacDuff]). After his clear stadium round in the indoor coliseum, the announcer noted not only his diminutive size, but his very different color (he’s palomino) from ‘all those bay Thoroughbreds!’ ‘Willie’ and his stablemate, Paint it Black, also owned and ridden by Courtney, were half of the four-member college challenge at the event, and their Wake Forest team finished in second place to the James MadisonTeam. The college challenge is only in its second year, and drew eight teams.

Mary Millhiser on Dublin's Own

In the preliminary divisions, the halfbred gelding, Mick Dreamy (Aladdin’s Denver X Chiara Babe [TB]) helped their team, the CDCTA Ladies in Red, to win the Adult Team Challenge. Mick Dreamy didn’t have a stellar dressage score, but he was double clear in cross-country and stadium, turning in the good score when needed. Bantry Bay’s Dublin, a halfbred gelding by Bantry Bay’s Archie X Solar Link [TB] with Eliza Farren were members of the Area One Yankee Doodles, and that team finished the competition in fourth place. The Training divisions were well filled and very competitive. In Junior Training A, Elphin Oden (Maplehurst Michael MacDaire x Elphin Esprit, a QH/TB cross) and Morgan Booth were second. In Senior Training, Mary Millhiser on Dublin’s Own (Aladdin’s Denver X Jamaica [TB]) finished in the seventh slot after taking their time on the very slippery and deep cross-country course on Sunday. The weekend brought more than two inches of rain to Lexington, and while the course was shortened and gravel was brought in to improve some of the landing and takeoff spots, many riders opted not to run. One of those who decided it wasn’t worth taking a chance was Erin Mungovan on her halfbred Connemara mare, Ridgetop Blue Willow (Landgate Bluebeard X Arieta [TB]) in the Open Training division. Erin said, “We do this for fun, and I don’t want to lame my horse just to finish the event. It’s just not worth it!”

As is usually the case, the Novice divisions were very full, with large numbers in each section. Alicia Daily and her homebred halfbred mare, Cady O’Daly’s Goldkeeper (Tre Awain Goldsmith X Miss Virginia [TB]) finished fourth individually in the Novice Team Championship. In the Junior Beginner Novice Division, Bantry Bay’s Devon with Katie Wohl won handily with an outstanding 27.5 score in dressage. The Beginner Novice Horse A division was won by the halfbred Connemara Denver’s DaVinci and Laura Crump. The halfbred is by Aladdin’s Denver out of Mona Lisa [TB]. There were probably more Connemaras or at least partbred Connemaras competing, and it was evident there was support for the breed; when Anne
Baumgardner and Mick Dreamy finished their cross-country phase and trotted back to their teammates, the cheer, ‘Connemaras Rock!’ rang out across the hills.”

Elk Creek O'Connor Photo Credit Lou Smith

Columbus, NC: Three year-old Elk Creek O'Connor (Elphin Song Sparrow X Tower Hill's Carmody) attended the Green Creek Hounds Halloween Hunter Pace at the end of October. He was ridden by Sarah Plyler. It was Connor's third hunter pace in the Hilltopper Division of the Western Carolina Hunter Pace Series. Sarah and Boots Plyler placed fifth in the hunter pace which, Boots says, “was quite a surprise as we were riding very conservatively because of Connor's age.” Conner has only been ridden since June. The photo was provided by Lou Smith.

Gawani Ponyboy and Karen Vicencio

Galway, Ireland: Karen Vicencio, newly appointed Chair of the ACPS Internet Commmittee who lives in Ireland with her expatriate pony, Brannigan, sent this bit of news. “Gawani Ponyboy was out to do a clinic over here several weeks ago. He got a kick out of seeing Brannigan again. He hadn't seen him in 10 years, since he used him for some demonstrations. He said it was the first pony he'd seen in his clinics on two different continents. He was used by one of my students here, so that I could work with my three year old.” The photo is from the clinic at Glenamaddy, County Galway. It shows Pony, Karen’s three year old Faerietale Dreams (Fredericksminde Hazy Match x Gra Mo Chroi), and Karen.

Bobby and a Coral Misty filly Photo credit Julie Keahey

Clifden, Connemara: We received the very sad news from Ireland that Bobby Bolger had died of a massive heart attack while tending to his ponies. Bobby was a much loved and colorful figure in Connemara whose presence will be sorely missed. He was the son of Jack and Teresa Bolger who were among the “first families” of Connemara Ponies. Jack Bolger was one of the CPBS’s premier stallion handlers and, according to Pat Lyne, handled a greater number of the best ponies in the early stud books than anyone else. He was also a great raconteur and contributed many stories to Pat’s book, Shrouded in Mist. Bobby was also a great raconteur and a great servant of the breed. He used the prefix, Coral, and Coral Misty was one of his favorite ponies. She was supreme champion at Clifden several times and won classes until she was in her twenties. One of her granddaughters, Coral Misty Ciara, lives in Colorado with Julie Keahey.

Bobby Bolger Photo credit Julie Keahey

Karen Vicencio attended Bobby’s funeral and sent the following: “It was standing room only in the church in Ballyconneely, with probably 200 people standing outside as well. After mass, his remains were removed for burial in Oughterard. A Connemara Pony was led by a man at the trot in front of the hearse from the church to Bobby's home. When we got there, the pony was led into the field with other ponies, the show bridle removed, and the hearse remained until the ponies galloped off over the hill. The sun was out for the moment, with rain clouds and a georgeous rainbow over the mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful moment. After that, the funeral procession made a lap around Clifden, where Bobby and his ponies have done many laps of honor over the years after Clifden shows. The procession then moved on for the drive to Oughterard for his burial. Many more people were at the graveyard, and the hearse was met by an honor guard who walked with the hearse the last mile to the graveyard, were several hundred more people were waiting to pay last respects. It was very beautiful, along with being very sad.”