Mims, Fl: Jennifer Scarpino reports that Nikki Scarpino, age 9 and Tullymor Victoria’s Shadow (Tullymors Mountain Shadow X TreAwain Silaech) competed at their first Horse Show at the Clarcona Horseman’s Park in Florida. She says, “ Due to a mistake on Mom’s part, Nikki was pre-entered in the “Test of Choice” class instead of “Intro B” with no changes allowed the day of the show. They went ahead and rode their Intro B test - brilliantly, receiving some very nice comments from the Judge and placing 3rd in a pretty large class! Needless to say – Nikki was on cloud nine and Shadow seemed pretty pleased with herself, as well. They also showed in the Junior Showmanship class. Shadow gained quite a following at the show, getting lots of compliments and folks wanting to know what breed of pony she was. There is only one answer to that question, a Connemara – of course!”

Grass Valley, CA: Kathryn Rayner Freeman arrived home on March 25th from 13 days in England and Scotland. She was invited by the NPS (National Pony Society) to represent NPS America at their Annual General Meeting and Judges Study Day. Kathryn says, “As chairman of NPS America, this was a great opportunity for me to network and learn more about the organization. (For more information on NPS America please visit our website at www.NPSAmerica.org ). Our trip was spectacular with far too many events, visits, adventures, and anecdotes to share in full detail in this form. A full report will appear on the ACPS Region X website www.acpsregionx.ning.com

“In a nutshell ….. I saw every one of the nine Mountain & Moorland breeds ‘live and in the flesh’ (including my first Exmoor ponies!), attended an NPS Area show, saw over 200 ponies, and met some wonderful new friends. The highlight of the trip for me (a Connemara lover through and though!) came on Easter Sunday, when we visited Jackie Webb and her husband at Minstrel's Farm to see Bunowen Castle Ri.. "Ri" was every bit as impressive as we expected! We also saw John's Cuckoo (who Mrs. Webb owns with Miss S. Hodgkins) and a young stallion out of Village Queen (a treat for me, as I am a real fan of the "Village" ponies.) We saw two Ri babies and a number of youngsters recently brought over from Ireland. We finished off our UK trip with a visit to Carole Prentice’s Scottsway Stud, where Silver Fox Oisin was my favorite resident Scottsway Connemara. I enjoyed meeting Scottsway’s senior stallion, Kirtling Tam-O-Shanter, in the midst of a freak spring snowstorm.”

Jackie Webb's Bunowen Castle Ri

Scottsway Stud's Kirtling Tam O Shanter

Elizabeth, West Va: Buery Stout reports that her half-bred mare, Sparrow's May (*Grange Finn Sparrow x IrishTB), has delivered a beautiful colt. Buery says, “He's the first colt by my young stallion, Tullymor's Samson MacDara (Tullymor’s Chip O’Perseus X Tullymor’s Ursula May ). His barn name is Dash but I’m thinking of registering him as Providence's Surprise Sparrow, as I didn't even realize May was pregnant until 3 weeks ago! May and Sam must have had a rendevous behind a tree when I wasn't looking last year, what a newbie mistake on my part. Dash has Sam's hooked ears and wonderful bone and May's size and coloring (pretty sure he's going grey). He's a big colt, 37 1/2 inches at birth. For you MacDara fans Sam has 5 crosses to MacDara in 5th gen , 2 to MacDara himself, then MacNamara, Gael Lin and Clookeen Tiger Lily. His pedigree is here for any interested: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/tullymors+samson+macdara”

Skovde, Sweden: Jenny Hagenblad reports that, “We had our stallion inspections in Sweden last weekend and for the first time, believe it or not, I was able to attend. At least one of the days, and it was good fun. Nine stallions were forward and two were approved.

The first new stallion was the three-year-old Arda's Murphy. He's by Kulan Kavat out of Hagens Nelina, and is Kulan Kavat's first stallion son. Hagens Nelina is an Elite mare and she recieved the Swedish Connemara society's brood mare award for 2006.

The second new stallion was Starrhult Bossanova. He's one of the last sons of Spinway Corona (a full brother of Spinway Comet) and he's out of Hagens Paloma. His granddam Hagens Lamona has competed in the European pony championship in dressage. Bossanova was shown as a three-year-old, but wasn't approved then. This time he was back with a vengence. He scored very well in his ridden test and got the highest points of the day (Connemara and New Forest stallions) from the test rider.”

Murphy is the bay and Bossanova is the grey.

Photos by Jenny Hagenblad