"Shrouded in Mist", the original book exploring the history of the Irish Connemara, is authored by English Connemara breeder, Pat Lyne. In this book she traces the development of the Connemara breed including the establishment of the Society and the stud book.

Pat Lyne's examination of the original stallion blood lines is essential reading for breeders of the Connemara Pony.

Out of the Mist is a logical and welcome successor to Pat Lyne's "Shrouded in Mist" which begins in 1963 where the original book left off. Over the past quarter century the fame of the Connemara Pony has continued to grow. The breed has spread not only to our neighbors in Europe and America but also to the Southern Hemisphere.

Pat Lyne tells us that some areas of the world are too kind to the pony and supports the International organization devoted to standardization and preservation of the traditional characteristics of the Connemara Pony.

"Out of the Mist" is essential background reading towards the understanding of the story of the Connemara Pony.

The final book of Pat Lyne's amazing journey through Connemara is Reflections Through the Mist. There are no further mysteries solved, or pieces rediscovered in this third volume, which exists rather as a pleasant ramble through the widening world of the Connemara. Part autobiography, part reminiscence,, part travelogue, part philosophy, Reflections provides the reader with thirty years worth of musings, insights, and hard won knowledge of Connemara history, personalities both equine and human, breeding stock and how it has fared world-wide, the current state of the Connemara pony in both its native and adoptive lands, and their supporters in every geographical location from Scandinavia to Lesotho to Australia to the US and back home again to England and to Connemara itself.

Through it all Pat's eye for the ponies and the pedigrees, her willingness to enter into whatever lifestyle she finds herself confronted with, her lively sense of humor and her obvious love of the Pony, shine through every page and give the whole enterprise a wonderful conversational tone. The descriptions of the people she's met have the feel of old friends well met. The photos are the best yet, and there is even a section in the center of the book in color!

Still, my favorite parts remain those connected with Connemara itself. The portraits of the land and the people are lovingly drawn. The fact that so many of the ponies and people are no longer with us lends an air of poignancy to the whole, which is compounded by the sense that the events and lives of the people described are being altered forever by political and economic forces. While this can only be good for those whose lives are better because of the European Community and the much vaulted Global Village, it is a fine thing to have such a fond remembrance of things past and their effect on things to come. I guess it's a little like Breed Improvement - it's always necessary to keep your eye on what you're throwing out lest you forget where you started and end up where you hadn't intended.
*Review by Caroline Nesbitt

Thunderbolt's story is a true and moving one. Born and bred in Connemara, he was not a popular sire and few of his progeny were registered. When in 1984 his life in Connemara was drawing to a close, five breeders in England formed a syndicate, in order to bring him across the Irish Sea. He was twenty-one years old and it was a calculated risk.