Ten to Follow in 2007. Horses based in the UK.

            In order to put this list together I went through the data base of some 2000 Irish bred horses competing in the UK. From this I extracted those who had done well in terms of top 10 places during 2006. Those who were already at the top and competing at 4 star level were removed. It is very probable that these will continue to do well and it would be rather dull to follow them. Any without known breeding were out. These do not appear in the results pages of the Irish Field and thus it would be difficult to follow them. This left a list of some 35. A look at the competition history of these showed up those who were standing still or going backwards, they were out. Next I looked for those who had been doing bad dressage tests either all the time or were unreliable in the dressage arena. With the changing face of eventing, the dressage is vital to getting a good score, especially in the lower ranks and any horse who has not improved during the year is unlikely to do so before next season and was thus removed. With about 20 left I went back through their records for 2006 and looked at the show jumping and cross country results. Some were noticeably bad at one or the other but had been kept in the list by their dressage. It was then a case of belief that they would or would not improve for the coming year. This was a judgement call but if a horse had done badly at the beginning of the season but had got better it stayed, on one occasion a horse had done well at the beginning but started to go slower across country during the season, he was out. Left with 14 to choose from it had to be personal choice and in one case a serious risk has been taken, the horse did well in Novice but failed when moving to Intermediate. Moving back to Novice all was well again and it is hoped that a winter of schooling will put right the cross country problems – basically I took a punt on this horse because having seen it appear on the results all summer I have faith in it. Clearly there are logic and statistics involved in getting to the short list but choosing ten out of fourteen was gut feeling.
These are not in any particular order.        

Loughnatousa Harriman (96 g Errigal Flight – A Loughnatousa Mare. Breeder Tim Beecher. Rider Andrew Downes) Now rising 11 Harriman has done well during 2006 moving from Open Novice in March to a tenth place in the Thirlestane CIC***. Looking through his results it is clear that the horse does a good dressage every time but has had show jumping penalties on 7 of his 13 outings, hopefully work has been done through the winter to put this right. 

Matter of Opinion. (97 g Moot Point – The Park Princess (Bassompierre) Breeder Patrick Hennessy. Rider Pippa Funnell.) Once again we see the show jumping being the weak spot of this horse. 10 of the 13 outings were spoiled from his first outing in March in an Intermediate Novice (placed 7^th with 12 show jumping faults) to his last at Le Lion when 20 show jumping penalties put him down to 28^th. With a husband who is an international show jumper, no doubt Pippa will correct this and one expects more from this horse.

Cast Away. (00 g Clover Brigade. Rider Piggy French) Ms French is a great fan of the Irish bred eventer and this 7yo has done her well in 2006. Despite a fall at Gatcombe and 40 penalties at Barbury Castle, he has been clear with his jumping cross country. However on each outing he has collected time penalties and this is a worry. That said he collected show jumping faults on only two of his 14 outings and moving out of Novice (he won in March) to a win in the Intermediate at Burnham Market in September shows he is on the way to greater things.

Spring Robin. (00 g Crosstown Dancer – Murphy Brown. Breeder Colette O’Regan. Rider Antoinett McKeowen). He made only one cross country jumping error in a 15 outing season but collected show jumping penalties in 6 of them. He started in March in Open Pre Novice and ended his season with a new jockey in Rodney Powell who took him to 15^th place in the Pavo Championship in the IN class. Speed across country and show jumping have held him back in 2006 but both are correctable. 

Boherdeel Champion. (95 g Creggan Diamond – Douras Commet (Silver Granite) Breeder Jan Keck. Rider Piggy French) Lavinia Wells owns this and Cast Away and has had a great season. This horse has been at the top level all season and has collected time penalties at all but one events but this is understandable as he has been in Advanced and Intermediate level all season. One cross country stop and a fall at Bramham were his only mistakes across country and with only four show jumps down all season jumping seems not to be a problem.

Sentimento. (99 m Euro Clover – Ahalin Ruler (Indian Ruler) Breeder John Kyle. Rider Tanya Kyle) Riding a horse bred by your father in law and owned by your husband is a great responsibility for Tanya but she has done well with this horse in 2006. Dressage is clearly this horse’s forte and the mare has only once been over the time across country and only had four show jumping poles down all season. Clearly harder tests are to come as she graduates from Pre Novice but one would not expect the Kyle team to rush a nice young horse.

The Diva. (99 m Master Imp – Madam B. Breeder Suzanne McConnel. Rider Louisa Lockwood). This mare has been brought on gently over the last two years and has only had three show jumps down in her career. Apart from an uncharacteristically bad dressage at the Gatcombe two star she is good at the first phase - however now they have moved up to Intermediate there were five stops across country early in the season but this seems to have been sorted out since May, with only a few time penalties showing up on the score sheet. 

Carahue Diamond. (98 g Crosstown Dancer – Rock School. Breeder Mrs L O’Sullivan. Rider James Gilbert.) This horse has competed only in the North and Scotland in 2006 and has had just 9 outings where he has moved from Novice to Intermediate. Show jumping has spoiled what would have been an outstanding season, seven of the nine outings had jumping penalties. In his last outing at the Scottish Novice Championships a good dressage was spoiled by a stop across country and time penalties. If they can get him to leave the poles up he has a great future in Intermediate and above.

Mister Meaney. (99 g Coevers Diamond Boy – Ballyvannon Beauty VII. Breeder Patrick Minogue. Rider Carly Reid.) Having done very well in Novice classes this team failed when they moved to Intermediate, eliminated across country at their first attempt they then went for an Intermediate Novice and had two stops. They finished the season on a good note back in a Novice class with a clear round and only 10 time penalties across country. A winter of work should do the trick but it is on the list on trust and represents a bit of a long shot.

 Norwich Lad. (00 g Norwich – Bishop Lough Lass. Breeder Vincent Lawlor. Rider Gemma Sayers.) This is another moving from Pre Novice to Novice and finding the jumping has its problems. Consistently good dressage and only 4 time penalties in his first Pre Novice outing he finished his PN season without other faults. He won his second Novice outing but had a stop, time penalties and show jumping problems in his last two. However his dressage held up well and he is in the list in the hope that he will take to Novice well after a winter break.

Ten to Follow in 2007. Irish bred horses based in Ireland.

            Only those horses aged 6, 7 and 8 have been looked at in this list. Also, in general, any with bad or unreliable dressage have been left out as have those without recorded breeding. To attain the shortlist of 20, a horse had to be in the top ten in a significant number of events. It is not surprising that there are no 6yo’s in this list as there are a lot of good young horses coming through and only at seven do they start to show signs of serious talent that will sustain them in the long term and makes them stand out from the rest.

Kilrodan Abbott 1999 g Clover Brigade – Gentle Lassie (Leabeg). Breeder Michael Hogan. Rider Frances Younghusband.

Unsurprisingly the Younghusbands have cured the show jumping problems this horse had in 2005 and he has made the transition from one star to two star by making use of his consistent dressage. He was in the first three on seven occasions but sadly his only bad dressage was at Le Lion where he went clear across country. He should progress well in 2* events this year.

Ballybolger Bushman 1999 g Puissance – Clear Conscience (Horos) Breeder John Watson. Rider Sam Watson.

Having already accrued 109 points as an 8yo, Bushman has been carefully brought on with a good period spent in the UK at the end of 2005. The Watsons have put the show jumping right and while taking the cross country steadily he has had only 5 jumping errors across country. Only twice have they not collected time penalties across country and apart from an unusually poor showing at Le Lion they look set to do as well in 2007 as they did in ’06, if not better. Sam is now in senior competitions but his 4^th place in the European Young Riders was a thrill and the plan is to consolidate in two star with plans for moving to three star towards the end of the season.

Cappacurry Girl. 1999 m Welcome Diamond – Tarmon Queen (Trigero). Breeder Noel Russell. Rider Michael Ryan.

This horse has a show jumping problem which means that in her many outings this season they have only been clear in this phase on 3 occasions. However they have been clear across country on 7 of their outings. It was good to see Thomas Kibbe ride her to a win on their last outing in the Sportsman’s Championship at Ballindenisk. One expects the show jumping to be much improved for 2007.

Killossery Robin’s Nest. 2000 m Master Imp – Shelly’s Diamond (Diamonds are Trumps) Breeder Noel Skelton. Rider Nicola Ennis.

While they didn’t move out of one star in 2006, Robin’s Nest has been very consistent in her dressage and had 8 clear rounds across country and 7 clear rounds show jumping. She has finished on her dressage score in 4 outings and finished a good 10^th in the CCI* at Necarne. Sarah Glynn rode this mare in two junior events and while they did good dressage tests and went clear show jumping clearly had problems across country but managed a 6^th and 7^th place. One would expect the Killossery management to bring this mare on carefully in 2007 and she should manage the upward transition to two star well.

Fernhill Skyport. 2000 g Porter Rhodes – Kiltealy Bess. Breeder J J Bowe. Rider Patricia Donegan.

This gelding is excellent in the dressage arena and it is his dressage that has earned him his good placings all season. His show jumping has, on the other hand, done him no favours having only 5 clear rounds in 13 starts. One would expect this to have been corrected through the winter. He has had his moments of madness across country but generally his penalties are for time and not jumping. Having won the CNC* 5 & 6yo at Ballindenisk he returned to the same track to take 5^th in the Michael Leonard Memorial 5 & 6yo Championship.

Imperial Miss. 2000 m Master Imp – Slieve Misty. Breeder James Byrne. Rider Luke Drea.

This is another young horse who has taken to the dressage phase well and it has stood her in good stead all season. Looking at the show jumping results it would seem that they are careless mistakes rather than lack of skill and this should be easily cured. Her cross country looks a little up and down but twice she finished on her dressage score. A good 3^rd in the 6yo Training and Pre Novice Horsehaven Final at Ballinacoola was a good result but she finished the season disappointingly. Hopefully she will take the step up to two star this season where her dressage will give her a head start.

Master Mexico. 1999 g Master Imp – Mexico Girl. Breeder John Campbell. Rider Michael Ryan.

As one would expect Ryan has the dressage sorted out with this gelding and the show jumping was much improved towards the end of the season. After a nice win in the CIC* at Ballindenisk he went on to go clear across country and collect just 1 time penalty at the Tattersalls CCI* to take the spoils. On moving to 2* he was in the top 5 on three of his six outings which bodes well for the 2007 season. Ryan thinks a lot of this horse and one expects it to go far.

Micko. 2000 g Farrington Spondulicks – Black Duchess. Breeder Patrick Carr.         Rider Trevor Smith.

Generally this horse does a good dressage test but has the occasional bad one. With 2 jumping errors across country at Nacarne, he jumped clear for the rest of last season across country. In six out of twelve times in the show jumping ring he went clear, so there is no major problem with his jumping. At Glenarm he finished on his dressage score of just 23.3 to win the class and should transfer to two star without any great problem.

Trivant. 2000 g Great Pleasure – Esprit. Rider Ruth Robinson.

Triviant went to Western Park for his last outing and the wheels fell of the wagon when he tripped and fell across country. This was only his second cross country jumping mistake in the eleven outings and he only had three show jumping poles down for the whole season. Ruth has been to Germany to train during the winter and no doubt his already good dressage will further improve. With an eye on the Junior team they will be going for two star competition in 2007 and one would expect them to shine at this next level.

Tommy B Good. 2001 g Ramiro B – Ballyvaldon Natalie. Breeder Sylvester Cullen. Rider Denise O’Brien.

This horse has the best record for top ten wins and he has finished on his dressage score in 12 outings although 11 of these were in Training events. Apart from one cross country problem he has gone well with the jumping side of the sport even when moving up to Novice. Finishing 9^th in the Michael Leonard Memorial is a sign that the move up in class should not be a problem for this combination.

Ten to Follow in the USA in 2007.

            Only horses with ‘more to come’ have been chosen and to get onto the shortlist they must have shone in the ‘Top 10 Places’ list. As usual those without recorded breeding have been left out - sadly there are proportionally more of these in the USA.

Promising Sportsfield. 1996 g Western Promise. Rider Ms Brett Elsie Handy.

            He arrived in the USA in October 2005 and was second in an Open Training a month later. In 2006 he did just two training events before moving to Preliminary where in eleven outings at this level he was in the top 10 just 8 times. He was third in his second one star and then finished with a 6^th in the Open Intermediate at Ocala. In all 16 outings he had only one cross country jumping mistake but is inclined to knock the show jumps down. One expects this to be cured by the start of the 2007 season.

Benwald. 1998 g Ridgewood Ben – Zalewska. Rider Holly Hepp.

            Benwald has moved from Open Training to two star in one season and his good dressage and cross country jumping have stood him in good stead. His show jumping however has not improved through the season but no doubt can be corrected. Finishing in the top ten in 11 of his 13 outings is good and his last event of 2006 was a creditable 16^th of 58 starters in a 3 day two star at the Radnor Hunt event, this was spoilt by 8 show jumping faults.

Ballinakill Glory. Mark Twain – Ballinakill Popsey (Errigal Flight). Breeder Robert Watchorn. Rider Kelly Prather.

            This mare has the potential to go to the top. On only two occasions did she not finish in the top three on her 8 outings. In four of these she finished on her dressage score and on one of these her owner Andrea Pfeiffer was in the saddle. Three poles down show jumping is not the end of the world and her only jumping failure across country was at the CIC2* at Twin Rivers. However she bounced back at Galway Downs to be 2^nd of 45 starters in the three day 2*.

Ballingowan Miller. Mark Twain – Laughton Nora (Laughton’s Flight). Breeder William Smith. Rider Lauren Whitlock.

            This is another horse who has moved into two star events during 2006 and seems to have found little problem. With no jumping and only one round with time faults across country and just four careless poles down in show jumping he has had 6 top ten slots out of his eight outings. Probably his best showing was a 5^th at the Twin Rivers CIC2* where the only addition to his dressage were 5.2 time faults across country. Expect much more of this horse.

Ballylaffin Bracken. 2000 g Ricardo Z – Ballylaffin Florence (Hildeny). Breeder Katherine Long. Rider Kristin Schmolze.

            Clare Ryan found this gelding and it has justified her faith in it. He has worked hard in 2006 with 16 outings (this is very high for the USA) twelve of which were in Training and in five of them they finished on their dressage score. Since moving to Preliminary they have not been out of the first three on four occasions. Always producing a good dressage test and what looks to be a better than average show jumping effort it is not expected to be rushed and at only seven this season there is potential here.

Golden Malt. 1998 g Slyguff Joker – My Glenrose (Marwood). Breeder Patrick Lawlor. Rider Emilee Libby.

            This is the only horse of the ten with a doubt about its dressage. It is in the list because it spent 2006 in serious competition at Intermediate and CIC** level and had only one jumping error across country and only 4 results with time penalties. It does have the odd pole down show jumping but he does have 7 top ten places out of eleven outings. Faith in Libby to sort out the problems keeps him in the list.

Tipperary Liadhnan. 1997 g Fast Silver – Gypsy Star (I’m A Star). Breeder Tobias Corbett. Rider Kimberly Severson.

            Once again we have a horse who has upgraded from Training at the start of 2006 to finish the season at three day two star level. Show jumping is a problem with only two clear rounds but his cross country record is as good as any with just one jumping error and one other round with time penalties. He finished the season in the Virginia Three Day two star with an 8^th place out of 43 starters, despite 12 show jumping penalties. Clearly he is a high flyer provided his show jumping is sorted out.

McKinlaigh. 1994 g Highland King – Kilevmney Hostess (Stetchworth Lad). Breeder Yvonne Walsh. Rider Gina Miles.

            This horse has everything going for it and has to be considered as one to watch but there are significant anomalies in his 2006 campaign. For a horse of his talent how come he failed to finish on three of his first five outings in 2006? Why did he not go to the World Championships? He is talented in every department and his record of four wins in his last five events last year gives one hope for 2007. Perhaps his age is against him.

Private Heart. 1998 g Carrick Diamond Lad – ISD Black Magic (Furisto). Breeder Department of Agriculture. Rider Buck Davidson Jnr.

            This horse is clearly a difficult ride and only had three outings in the spring of 2005 and had a moderate start to 2006 but when Davidson took over the ride he soon had it in winning form. After a win at Rocking Horse with Davidson in the Spring, Ann Glaus took the ride back only to withdraw from a CIC**. From May Davidson had the ride again and put together two wins and a second and third at two star and Advanced level. One has to ask why the horse has not been out since August when he had two stops across country but assuming he is sound and Davidson keeps the ride he deserves to be watched in 2007.

Mandiba. 2000 g Master Imp – High Dolly. Breeder William Micklem. Rider Karen O’Connor.

            William Micklem has bred a special horse in Mandiba. In 13 outings in 2006 this Master Imp gelding has had 6 top three places and has been out of the top ten only twice. Moving up from Training in February to winning the Preliminary Horse Championship at the American Championships (where he finished on his dressage score) he has had only one cross country stop in his first Preliminary and only the occasional time penalty across country thereafter. His show jumping has been faultless, save for some time faults, since March which is proof that the combination are learning form their mistakes. Their dressage is very consistent and there is much to come from this horse.

   If you think you have a better Ten to Follow, e-mail your list to charlieripman@eircom.net and all the votes will be added up and a list of those horses that were most popular will be produced and run along side this one and we will see who got it right at the end of the season.