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Irish
Draught Stallion will compete at Orlando Dressage show
To the left, Stephany Fish rides Irish in Santa Fe, NM. Fish
was impressed with Irish and decided he could compete with Florida's
top dressage horses. The purebred Irish Draught has adjusted
well to Florida's Winter Climate. Irish was accustomed to working
at an elevation of 7,000 feet. When he reached sea level Fish
discovered the stallion had amazing stamina. Irish has impressed
many since arriving in Florida. Several top dressage riders/clinicians
have worked with Fish and Irish. Recently, Marion Green of Ireland
visited his training facility. Green told Fish she was very
impressed. Green worked to improve his canter pirouettes. Irish
is at the Irish Horse Farm owned by breeder Barbara Baris. |
O'Leary's Irish Diamond will make his Prix St. George debut at the
Orlando Dressage show Friday, January 30th. How many other if any
Irish Draughts have actually competed at the international level of
competition is not known. Some make claims that it has happened in
England. But, no one has produced the show results to prove such an
accomplishment. As Fish points out, "it isn't that he going to
compete that is important, but instead that he is going to be very
competitive at Prix St. George." Fish hopes Irish can compete
at Intermediare 1 before the show season ends and the stallion returns
to New Mexico for the breeding season. He will be competing in several
shows in Wellington during the month of February. Fish says clinicians
are always impressed with his movement and the lightness of his gaits.
How far can he go in Dressage is not known. His piaffe has been improving
daily and his one tempe changes don't seem to be a problem. He has
difficulty doing passage. "This is the real deal, this isn't
a case of someone making a claim their horse is a Prix St. George
horse that has never proven it in a show ring. There are thousands
of persons who claim their horse is a Prix St. George horse, but only
a few that can prove it", said his owner Jim Leary.
Is
jumping a possibiliy yet? Jump rider Rob Gage still maintains that
the closest grandson to King of Diamonds has the ability to jump
the grand prix. Gage who was once ranked as America's Top Grand
Prix Rider and five times in the top five, rode Irish to an open
championship and an open modified championship in less than six
months of jump training. Gage recently commented that he feels with
a year of jump training Irish could do Grand Prix.
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