Cáirde Ceanadach
Congrats to Rick and Dale Doner in Canada, whose stallion Cara won the championship at the Canadian Royal Winter Fair (stallion class 3year and over). There were 4 in his class from the North American qualifying shows. He then went up against the top 2 from all the other classes ( totaling 10 sport ponies- representing about 35 ponies from the day), and won Grand Champion of the North American Sport Pony Star Search Challenge 2009.
Cara was passed during the recent inspection tour. It’s always great to win a championship, but especially so against other breeds. It’s the only way forward for the Connemaras. The win vindicates their judgement and faith in bringing Cara from Ireland as a youngster. Well done guys.
Rick and Dale themselves wish to pay tribute to Cara’s handler seen in the photo’s below – Mary Lee Quinn. She has shown in many disciplines over the years and currently trains and owns Standardbreds. She already has her eye on Cara’s first son- her next project in 2010 !
Fantastic Rick and Dale! He looks stunning! Congradulations!
What a lovely pony , how is he bred ?
Hi Tony, he’s bred by Michael Igoe, by one of the Hazy stallions, but we’re not sure which. We’ll get on to Rick and Dale…
Hi Tony,
Thanks for inquiring about Cara. He was bred by Michael Igoe, Dublin. His sire is Frederiksminde Hazey Merlin, dam Kippure Ebony by Abbeyleix Owen. Extended pedigree can be seen on the All Breeds Data website. If you have the book “AS I see it”, by Pat Lyne you can see a photo of Merlin, pg 81. Very strong resemblance. We love this guy. He has great attitude and strength.
It was a honor to work with such an outstanding pony .This was the first connemara I have worked with.I look forward to working with his offspring.Thanks Rick and Dale for the wonderful experience of being able to show such an outstanding stallion.