Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Here at EN, no proper celebration of the holiday would be complete without a toast to the huge role that Irish Sport Horses play in eventing.
As athletic as they are tough, it’s no wonder the breed regularly dominates the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses/Rolex Eventing Studbook Rankings. The breed has come out on top in WBFSH/Rolex’s FEI point based ranking system 12 out of the last 17 years. Last year ISH Studbook was jostled into third by the narrowest of margins behind #1 Studbook Selle Français and #2 KWPN — it’s polite to let others have a turn on the throne every now and again, we suppose! View the 2021 studbook rankings here.
As for U.S. leaderboards, Irish Sport Horses claimed three of the top 10 spots on the 2021 USEA Standlee Premium Western Forage® Horse of the Year rankings. The tip of the top:
Will Coleman and Off The Record at CHIO Aachen. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
#6. Off The Record
Bio: 13-year-old ISH gelding (VDL Arkansas x Drumalogoland Bay, by Ard Ohio) bred by Peter G. Brady. Owned by the Off The Record Syndicate and ridden by Will Coleman.
Best 2021 finishes: 1st – CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S, 1st – Carolina International CCI4*-S, 2nd – Great Plains CCI4*-S, 15th – Kentucky CCI5*-L
Video: Warming up for the 2022 season in Open Intermediate at Rocking Horse Winter 2 H.T.
Two more made the leaderboard. Let’s raise a pint to them as well, shall we?
Lillian Heard & Dassett Olympus. Photo by Abby Powell.
#8. Dassett Olympus
Bio: 9-year-old ISH gelding (Lancelot x Cushlamochree, by Cruising) bred by Andrew Kirwan. Owned and ridden by Lillian Heard.
Best 2021 finishes: 3rd – Morven Park CCI4*-S, 3rd – Jersey Fresh CCI4*-S, 6th – Tryon International CCI4*-L
Liz Halliday-Sharp’s Cooley Quicksilver. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
#9. Cooley Quicksilver
Bio: 11-year-old ISH gelding (Womanizer x Kylemore Crystal, by Creggan Diamond) bred by Alan O’Brien. Owned by The Monster Partnership and ridden by Liz Halliday-Sharp.
Best 2021 finishes: 1st – Chattahoochee Hills CCI4*-S, 2nd – Rebecca Farms CCI4*-S, 21st – Pau CCI5*-L
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Go Eventing.
