Our Ponies - Past

Lanburn Lieutenant

Lanburn Lucky Blue Charm

Sam aka Tatoo

Lanburn Leemoy x Milford Gipsy Moth 1994-2023

Lofty was a lovely boy with a super temperament. He was 31 years old when he passed away peacefully at home on 21st March 2023. I remember handling him throughout his Stallion Inspection as a 2 year old at the late Honourable Cecile Williams' lovely Cocum Stud. There's nothing he liked more than a 'pamper' session along with some snacks of Carrots and Apples. Lofty sadly never produced any offspring. Lofty wasn't shown much but notably came 4th in the Championship Picton Final (ridden by Sam Peek) at NPS Champs qualifying in style under Michael Sharpley at South of England Spring Show in 1998.

Gemma Purser did quite a lot of jumping on him, flat ridden and in hand showing. In 2006, Lofty went Silver Medal Ridden and In Hand M&M Champion at Caranjoy under Georgie Sabin. He notoriously did not like going in a lorry. Gemma and I spent some time at this show, it felt like hours, trying to persuade Lofty to go in the lorry. Eventually he decided it was a bit boring stood with front feet on the ramp and went in.

Lofty loved to jump, like his Grandmother, Nettina, and the best photo of him jumping is just above.

Spinway Blackthorn x Glencarrig Dolly (2022 -date)

Mal, as we called him went on to his beautiful new home in Gloucestershire on 19th March 2023. He made friends immediately with his companion pb Connemara and has been galloping up and down a hill with woodland and all sorts of exciting new senses for him.

Mal has a lovely gentle temperament, loved cuddles, not a nasty bone in his body. Tremendous depth through the body, fabulous chunky flat boned limbs and beautiful flat knees, he also proved that he had amazing athletic ability. I was very sorry to see him go.

Watch for this boy in the future. He is going to be magnificent and I predict a) Winner WHP HOYS and b) willl be one of the best stallions bred in the UK. Pride? Boastful? Not at all; just my belief in that pony.

Salvador x Ostervangs April (1998 - 2023)

We bought Sam, a Danish Warmblood, as a four year old from Grete Rickets in Herts for me to take my dressage further. However that didn't quite work out how I wanted. Dad was always wanting to work with the Connemaras and Sam had to take second place but he never wanted for anything.

Sam lived the most charmed life a horse could have. I didn't sell him on when I could have done but gave him a loving home right up until the day he passed away peacefully at home (21/3/2023).

When he first came to us, he hated going out into the field and was always waiting to come back in, as he was barn reared. Eventually, he hated coming in and was happier outside!

Bless you Sam, thank you for being the most beautiful black horse anyone could wish for. Rest peacefully dear boy.

Nettina

Ocean Gipsy

Lanburn Leonie

Marble x Fort Nancy 1970-2001

When we went on holiday to Ireland in 1971, we ventured up from Killarney, Kerry, up to the Western reaches of Connemara. The roads weren't so good and particularly not towing a Caravan and Dad always recalls that 'they thought they had come to the end of the world'. We parked on the side of Lough Corrib with a gentleman named Peter Lydon and on our first waking morning there, we heard the sound of thundering hooves in the field on the side of the road. Tina was one of these ponies, a foal. She was bought for me to ride in 1971 with some advice from expert Sarah Hodgkins. The day she arrived, was the most horrendous day. It was thunder and lightning. We had to make a compound to put her in separate from Skipper and Raisin, as Raisin took an instant dislike and would have run her out of the field if he could.

Tina was broken in and then put in foal to mature. She won a great many prizes, including Kent County, the Glyn Greenwood Supreme Championship, Ponies UK and Surrey County. She wasn’t an easy ride, she was very strong and jumped like a stag. She was our foundation mare and look at her lovely fore limbs in the photo above, rare that you see limbs like that these days, although I would not buy a pony that didn’t have. She had a beautiful head typical of the Connemara looking out to sea. Tina died of natural causes out in her field.

Loobeen Larry x Gipsy Moth 1979-95

Ocean Gipsy came to us, hot from her win at Clifden Show in 1983. Mum fell in love with her and pestered Dad to talk to owner Joe Gorham snr RIP. Joe Gorham had bought her as a youngster and after having won the 4yr old mare class at Clifden in 1983, let mum buy her. This was not an easy sale for the Gorham's as they thought highly of the pony.

Gipsy had a very successful showing career in the UK with Mum and occasionally Dad. Then Mum/Margaret became unwell and I started showing her. She only had two foals with us and her career was relatively short as her health started to fail with COPD and severe asthma. The last set of photos were taken with Gipsy for our Engagement photo shoot (when I find them I will scan them) as only a year or so later her breathing became so bad that she had to be put down well before her time. A sad end for such a beautiful Connemara Pony.

Gipsy was a prestigious winner In Hand, winning South of England Championship, NPS Champs, Surrey County to name a few.

Ocean Gipsy left three foals, Lanburn Leading Light (Passed as a Stallion), Lanburn Limelight and Lanburn Lorna, all by Leemoy.

Cocum Hawkstone x Nettina 1984-2001

A special mention here to Lanburn Leonie who was out of our fabulous foundation mare Nettina (Marble x Fort Nancy) and by the late Cecile Williams’ Cocum Hawkstone.

Leonia spent the majority of her life with Ann and Tony Halfpenny at Tyan Stud in Wiltshire as one of their prestigious brood mares, having been sold on from us as a 4 year old to a lady for driving.

Lennie (as we called her) produced 11 foals and so many prize winners notably Tyan Takara (Olympia Qualifier) and Tyan Tullamore having won the BCPS WHP Championships, Royal International Horse Show WHP Championship and Horse of the Year Show WHP to name just a couple of his hundreds of titles. Takara, notably, was the foundation mare at Kerry Wainright's Skellorn Stud. Takara produced her Olympia, NCPA and County Champion stallion, Skellorn Harrison, who continues the blood line.

All going back to Leonie and her mother, Lanburn's foundation mare NETTINA.

This mare has a BCPS Premium a credit to this amazing pony and her progeny.

Lanburn Leemoy

Ashfield Alex

Glencarrig Eleanor

Atlantic Rebel x Nettina (ex Marble) 1975-2006

Lanburn Leemoy was the very first foal we had ever had and was named after the LEE family at MOYcullen. Leemoy was a very rich Bay who went on to win over twenty two championships including:- Reserve Supreme In Hand Champion of Show Surrey County 1977, Champion Mountain and Moorland Stallion at the NPS in 1981, Best opposite sex at the English Connemara Pony Show in 1978, 1979 and 1981. Having won over 22 championships, Timmy, who was thoroughly bored of the whole showing 'thing', was retired from showing to concentrate on his stud duties.

Timmy used to share a field with Milford Gipsy Moth where they lived very happily together having many foals, many achieving great success including Lanburn Lacewing and Lanburn Lieutenant.

Timmy ardently hated being bathed, so we had to find an alternative in the Equivac which he loved. He always ended up shining like a conker. Many were not happy about Timmy winning so much, because he was bay and there was some suggestion that showing bays should be discouraged, an interesting thought when the breed needs to have hard colours in order to stop the lines having too much dilute gene. In fact, when we took Leemoy to a stallion parade years later, it was with great glee that Dad could point out that Leemoy was now 'Grey'! As of course Connemaras are prone to eventually turn grey. We always felt that he failed to get the Society Supreme Championship because he was bay, always the Bridesmaid!

We had many a tense moment with Timmy in the show ring. The Royal Show parades were always an absolutely nightmare, before the days of Health and Safety. We were walking up the concrete walkways with hundreds and hundreds of people everywhere, people wheeling pushchairs directly under Timmys' nose, who was already prancing with excitement at this point, I have to say, Timmy was always very good in this situation. We also had the Household Cavalry ride past the Connemara class at South of England, which Timmy wasn't too impressed with.

Dad learnt a lot of his showing skills from Len Bigley (Llanarth Stud), who was kind enough to give him some tips in the ring and out, when he himself was showing Llanarth Flying Comet. We were Reserve to Comet a great many times, but never beat them and Len was always a consumate professional. There were a lot of great names we competed against. Glenfield Chocolate Soldier (Section A Trevor Armstrong), Bincombe Venture (Shetland Mr House), Priory Black Boots (New Forest Mrs Green, she always wore a head scarf), Vernons Vesper (New Forest Bunny McGrath), Aston Superstar (Section A) are one's I particularly remember.

Dad's attitude went from 'No, we don't want a stallion! Sell him to France!' to (when he started winning in the showring) 'Ok, I'm going to show him!'. He loved showing Timmy and the adrenalin buzz; he always wanted to be involved with the ponies right up until he passed away, they were his passion, but in a different way to Mum's.

Leemoy passed away in March 2006 aged 31 years.

Clonkeehan Auratum x Lambay Starry Eyes 1977-2014

Mum and Dad first saw Alex at Josie Conroy's in 1983. There's a photo in the gallery above with Anne-Marie aged about 9, I think, I'm sure she will correct me if I'm wrong:) She said as children they used to hop on him bareback and ride around in the field. Josie Conroy was his custodian until he went up to Mayo and then came back to Graham Tulloch's at Shambolard in Connemara. Alex was shown at Clifden Show a couple of times in the Stallion class and he was always placed in the top 6.

I bought Alex in 1989 after having been to see him at Graham Tulloch’s during our August holiday. A friend and I went back in November, I remember lunging him out on a hillside in the pouring rain, he was a very honest boy bearing in mind the circumstances. He arrived just before Christmas and was quite poorly with colic, after a bad crossing and the story goes that he travelled in the back of an open top truck from Clifden to the transporter.

Alex always proved to have a sweet and honest temperament. He was always quite bouncy when excited but he never attemped to rear and there was never an ounce of nastiness in him, ever!!

I remember he once got into the field next door with two very young geldings, just hanging out, fortunately he had a head collar on, but even so, I just walked up to him, got hold of his head collar and walked him back into his paddock, no problem, no fuss whatsoever. How many stallions could you do that with...very few! He lived a happy and long life with us before becoming ill shortly after Dad died in October 2014 and was sadly put to sleep at the grand age of 37.

Alex leaves a great many children that have done well as breeding ponies and performance stock.

Lanburn Lacewing

Lanburn Leemoy x Milford Gipsy Moth 1991-date

Lacey was a prodigious winner under saddle. She wasn’t easy to break in until we realised she had wolf teeth, then after they were removed she was plain sailing.

Lacey went on to win a lot of prizes for Kate Wobschall in Northants before being sold back down to the south coast. I am still in contact with Kate and I heard from Lacey's current owner in March 2021 saying that although she has Cushings, she was doing well aged 29!

Lanburn Lynetta

Easter Trade Winds

Chiltern Curlew x Nettina 1979-2018

Lanburn Lynetta was the second foal born to Nettina (Marble x Fort Nancy), our foundation mare. We sold her as a 2 year old in 1981 as a brood mare but we bought her back in 1983. I broke her in and brought her on with the help of John Lassetter. I was devastated when she was sold on again against my wishes in 1991 but then she came into the ownership of the Palmer family in 1996 who doted on her for her remaining 23 years. Nettie, as she was known to the Palmers, had 4 foals, Lanburn Legato by Cocum Cockalorum, Peachfields Macushla, Folgate Minver and Folgate Riverdance, all by Hayselden Bacchus.

“We owned Nettie for 23 years and she was a real part of the family. Kate, our daughter, loved her dearly and it was to Nettie she returned when she had an accident with a thoroughbred. Kate now has children of her own and they would clamour to ride Nettie when they came to visit.” Karen Palmer went on to say “She was in regular work until after her 30th birthday, ridden by a friend, to escort my horse on the road. She was wise and reliable but never lost that little spark that made her such fun. Nettie became a field companion to two other mares and ruled the place.”

At 39 years old, Nettie sadly had to leave the world. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to visit her in 2004 and that she found a family that loved her as much as I did.

Milford Gipsy Moth

Cloonisle Cashel x Glencarrig Aedin 1995-2013

2011

BCPS Non Breeding Champion
BCPS Veteran Champion

2008

Connemara Champion New Forest & Hants County
Supreme M&M Champion New Forest and Hants County
M&M Champion Lavant Charity
Supreme Champion of Show Lavant Charity

2006

Champion Surrey County
M&M Supreme Champion Charity Show
BCPS Non-Breeding Stock Champion
Res Supreme M&M Ch New Forest & Hants Show

2005

Ffrethi Finalist - 2nd in Final
Templeton Finalist
M&M Champion SofE Spring IH
Res Supreme M&M Champion SofE Spring IH
NPS Area 20 Spring 1st Open Templeton/O'Neill R

2004

Reserve Supreme Champion BCPS Breed Show
Supreme Champion In-Hand - SE Connemara Show
Sup Champion - Avon & Somerset
Supreme M&M Champion - Surrey County Show
M&M Reserve Champion Kent County

Ellie was bought from the Curran family in Connemara and she came across from Ireland in early 2000 having won just about everything there is to win in Ireland including Clifden beating the since then Supreme Champion of Clifden Show Bunowen Beauty as a 3 year old. Els was a total diva and as the late Margaret Furness said "She walked everything out of the ring".

Ellie suddenly took ill and had to be put down in 2013. A sad end to this amazing prima donna of the ring. She was a joy to show in hand, she always looked after me under saddle, one of the safest rides I have ever had. RIP my lovely Ellie.

Lanburn Lionheart

Spinway Blackthorn x Glencarrig Dolly

Born 13th June 2021

Leo is now nearly 4 months old and is growing like a 'weed'!!

Lee-lee has lost all his baby coat now and completely grey. He has developed quite a personality and really is a bold and cheeky soul. Leo does love to dance and from a very early age we nicknamed him 'Dancing Leo'.

Leo has had his first foot trim with our farrier, Bobby Craig and he was pretty well behaved considering it was his first time. He responds very well to voice commands and is a quick study. All the more reason to be very careful with our interations. One has to think ahead already, to his ridden training by considering not keeping a constant pressure on his nose that would eventually be ignored, but doing the equivalent of a half-halt, asking for slowing, attention and respect, all in one. This boy is a future star - no doubt.

The excellent pairing for Dolly & Casper will be continued as from where I'm standing, it's a magical pairing.