STORIES
Bob’s Favourite Visits
After meeting the Gorham Family in 1983, Dad and Joe became life-long friends. Dad remembered with great joy the days when Joe took him out in the car showing him his childhood haunts and chatting in ‘the room’ in the barn. They would talk for hours. After Joe's passing in 2012, our visits to both Annie's and Mal's continue to be rich experiences.
Bob particularly enjoyed the Brack that Annie always bought for him and in fact, Mary had a phone call from her Mum one day whilst she was in the supermarket, to remind her not to forget the brack for Bob Blackburn and to make sure it had plenty of fruit in it! Annie has extended her lovely family to include me and further, Paul, which means the absolute world to us both and Dad would be tearful and deeply touched by this.
Visit to Jimmy Jones
We visited Jimmy Jones and his ponies one year. I remember walking down the side of some portacabin-type buildings. One second Mum, Dad and I were walking along and the next, Dad had disappeared down a hole under the side of the cabin with only his head and shoulders still showing. Fortunately Dad wasn’t hurt because Mum and I were besides ourselves laughing. It was truly one of the funniest moments on our adventures in Ireland.
The Flat Cap
Our good friend Fiona McMahon came to stay and groom for us for a couple of weeks. We were travelling home from the Breed Show, Dad and Fiona were in the Lorry, I was driving Dad’s car. We pulled into a petrol station and Fiona was absolutely dying laughing. She was laughing so hard she was crying. Apparently, Dad had had the driver's window open and suddenly, a gust caught the cab and it flew off his head out of the window onto the motorway, gone forever! When they stopped at the service station they found miraculously, that the flat cap was sitting quite happily on the sofa in the 'Live-In'.
The Beginning
By the late Bob Blackburn
RIP - 1926-2014
We became involved with Connemaras because of a Caravan Holiday in Ireland in 1971 when we stayed on a Farm owned by Peter Lydon on the edge of Lough Corrib. One morning we woke up to the noise of 10 or 15 Connemaras in the field opposite. Peter was very eager to take us to the owner, Jim Lee, the owner of a bar in Moycullen. He and his wife made us very welcome and took us in his car to see some yearlings in a field miles away from anywhere. After taking part of a wall down to let my belated wife, Margaret, into the field, he picked out two yearling fillies for us to see. Jim Lee’s price was £200 delivered to Dublin and he gave us four weeks to think about it. We were shocked when we found out the cost of transport. Jim said he would give us 'Luck Money' towards half the cost of the transport and so we purchased our first Connemara, Nettina (Marble x Fort Nancy), who died on the 22nd August 2001, ending an era of thirty years.
When she was 4 we put Tina in foal and at the same time registered our Prefix LANBURN. The Foal born was a colt Lanburn Leemoy named after the LEE family at MOYcullen. Leemoy was a very rich Bay who went on to win over twenty championships including:- Champion Mountain and Moorland Stallion at the NPS in 1981, Best opposite sex at the English Connemara Pony Show in 1978, 1979 and 1981. Lanburn Leemoy passed away in March 2006 aged 31 years.
Tina participated in three of John Lassetter's Dressage pantomime's. John, I think, had a special fondness for her cheeky character. Margaret died in 1998 (seen in photo 1989 with myself, the late Graham Tullock and Loobeen Larry). The stud is now managed by myself and my daughter Pam Clingan.
As a Connemara Judge I was honoured to be invited to judge Clifden Show twice, 1994 and the Millennium Show in 2000.
The website has an Archive of Clifden Show, an Archive of CPBS Stallions and Clifden Results. I hope you enjoy your visit to our site.
Bob Blackburn OBE, QFSM
Newbury Fire Station Plaque
Stud Establishment
Bob & Margaret Blackburn established Lanburn Stud in 1971. Bob died suddenly and unexpectedly, on his way home from Ireland, having been on his annual Irish fishing holiday in 2014. Margaret pre-deceased him in 1998 after several years illness. Paul and I miss Dad greatly, we often think of him when working at the yard; very often we can hear him procrastinating as to whether something should be done differently, or him laughing at us struggling with some logistical problem.The Present & the Future
Time has moved on and Paul and I move forward. After 10 years continual struggle with our District Council, we have some resolutions, but not enough.
In 2022, Lanburn Lismore (aged 24), and the last of our Marble blood line was finally scanned in foal and is due May 2023. Jo & Richard Williams at Kativa Stud worked very hard for a couple of years to achieve this and we would like to express our sincere gratitude and friendship. Miffy had a beautiful Filly foal. I was never so scared as when Mikki, Lanburn Legacy, was born. Also born was Callowfeenish Mairtin mare 'Dun An Oir Rosalind's' filly foal who we named Sassy, Lanburn Lakeland Rose.
I was there right from day 1 of the Connemara adventures which is why I MUST continue their work.
