Herbert besucht Cliff in Colorado

Herbert visits Cliff in Colorado

1.-3. Oktober 2004

German Connemara President Visits Pikes Peak Region’s Ponies

By Karen Laden

Two days, 300 miles and 35 ponies later, German Connemarapony Vereinigung e.V. President Herbert Imping advised six Colorado breeders that ”you must keep doing what you are doing. It is working. You have quality ponies.”

Imping visited the Pikes Peak Region the first weekend of October, 2004, specifically to see its ponies. Karen Laden of Kingswell Connemara Farm arranged the trip. Her yearling stallion, *Smaragaid Cliff (Munkholm Cobbergate x Shamrock Bright Roxanne), boasts two generations of Imping’s breeding on his dam’s side and brings completely new bloodlines to the USA.

In addition to Kingswell, Imping toured Cloonara Connemaras (Karen Libuse), Dennali Connemaras (Alina Love and Dennis Schmidt), Doe Valley Connemaras (Anne Cole and John Reffel Jr.), New Song Connemara Ranch (Alyce Wich) and Wildwych Connemaras (Mary Stewart Prewitt).

At each farm, Imping followed the same general procedure to assess the ponies presented. He first studied the overall impression of the pony and then looked at type, conformation and movement, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each individual. He called special attention to the ponies with exceptional bone, joints and muscling, saying each time, ”With this pony, you drive (a carriage) up and down (hills) all day.”

Imping told the tour participants that all ponies have strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, breeders must know their ponies, he said, and choose their mates accordingly. The stallion must be strong in the area where a mare is weak. The goal is to produce a quality foal with the strengths of both parents. Imping used the Colorado farms as a living classroom – and their ponies as live textbooks -- to demonstrate the soundness of his advice.

As a long-time Connemara breeder in Europe, Imping personally saw many of the famous older ponies that Americans only read about in books by Pat Lyne and Lib Petch. He also visited many of the famous old studs, such as Oxenholm in Denmark. These memories allowed Imping to identify a physical likeness of specific stallions or dams in many of the Colorado ponies. For example, he called out Carna Bobby when looking at Wildwych Ailech and Hideaway’s Irish Mist, Finney Master in Wildwych O’Farrell, and Galway Girl in Wildflower’s Toshi.

This led to a discussion on Connemara type, in which Imping made two points:

1) Colorado has several of the very old-type, quality Connemaras that he said are difficult to find in either Ireland or the rest of Europe. Imping specifically identified Wildflower’s Toshi (*Lasrachai x Galway Girl), *Sillbridge Miranda (Thunderbolt x Laudale Rannoch), and *Glenormiston Flurry Knox (Abbeyleix Finbar x Oxenholm Tiffany) as representative of this group.

2) The old-fashioned type Connemara must be retained by breeding them to each other. The more modern ponies must be infused continually with the old style to maintain Connemara breed type, while still producing a more practical-style performance pony. To do otherwise, Imping said, will result in the Connemara losing its unique type within two or three generations.

Imping used Wildywich Valkyrie (*Glenormiston Flurry Knox x Hideaway’s Irish Mist) and Wildwych Jadis (*Glenormiston Flurry Knox by Glenormiston Amelia) to exemplify his point. The sire is old style while the dams are modern-style ponies. Together they produced strong performance-style fillies with exceptional type.

Upon reflection at the tour’s end, Imping said all the ponies he saw in Colorado could be considered part of one breeding program, as all the ponies compliment each other. This was welcome confirmation to the six Colorado breeders since they work together in a cooperative spirit, choosing stallions and mares that benefit the entire group rather than just the individual farm.

Most of these farms’ ponies also contain Oxenholm breeding. Imping credited that famous stud for the quality he saw carried down into today’s Colorado ponies.

Imping is the second foreign Connemara breeder hosted by ACPS Region VIII members. Last year, Australian Sue Clarke of Glenormiston Connemara Pony Stud held a clinic on conformation and type. Clarke was a guest judge at Clifden this year.

Both Imping and Clarke imparted valuable insight and knowledge during their visits. The personal interaction was priceless. For these reasons, the breeders in Colorado plan to continue the tradition by hosting a respected foreign Connemara breeder/inspector each year, making it an annual event in ACPS Region VIII.

Maureen Mathisen of Blueoak Arabians and Connemaras flew from California to take part in the weekend event. She especially enjoyed seeing her stallion *Lasrachai’s half-sister, *Sillbridge Miranda, and daughter, Wildflower’s Toshi, now both residing in Colorado. ACPS Region VIII Chair Julie Keahey and Colorado Driving Society President Mary Woolverton attended Saturday’s informal dinner to honor the German visitors.

Joining Imping on the farm tour were his wife, Helga, and their traveling/fishing companions Berndt and Gerlinde Schneider. The Schneiders have no ponies; however, Herr Schneider often is Imping’s groom when he is driving his pair of homebred Connemara mares.

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