Clover Hill lines

sasquatch

sasquatch

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So, just wondering peoples experiences of horses with Clover Hill lines?

I'm considering a horse who is a grandson of Captain Clover, and great grand-son of Clover Hill (to put it in the simplest terms)

I know Cruising foals and Cruising lined horses can be quite quirky and are often better suited to professionals than amateurs, but I thought Clover Hill lined horses generally weren't too hot and had a fairly easy temperament.
 
We had a mare by CH and she was a poppet. And we have one by CMH by CH and she's a real sweetheart too, wonderful temperament.
 
I've got a 9yo mare by Clover Echo (Clover Hill is her grand sire)

She is quite simply Mary Poppins character :) I love her.
 
We have a horse out of a Clover Hill mare - he is an absolute sweetheart and very genuine. Will have a go at everything - hacks alone or in company, hunts (goes first or last, has field mastered, whipped in, but will also stay at the back and shut gates), evented at unaffiliated and BE at 100 level (inc double clear and 10th individual Nat RC Champs), always clear XC, mostly clear SJ just having 4 faults once, clear PC tetrathlon areas and Nat champs, done PC camps and rallies. Easy to handle on the ground, despite him being 17.1 and me being 5'2"!
 
We have a gelding with Clover Hill lines, with a bit of Cavalier Royale. He is gorgeous, very laid back (can almost be lazy) and possibly the cuddliest horse I've ever met.
 
Mine is out of a captain clover mare, he's great, pretty level headed moves nicely and loves to jump. Has had his soundness issues but is also half KWPN on his dad's side. I also know two other people with geldings sired by captain clover, both fab eventers for amateur riders despite being quite big lads, and very talented jumpers!
 
I have a gelding by Sunny Boy out of a Clover Hill mare. Exceptionally talented, won at newcomers within his first year of BS and is a demon against the clock. Great temperament, laid back and the sweetest, cuddliest horse on the ground - but to ride he is the sharpest, quirkiest horse I've ever come across. Without fail bucks every time hes ridden, very excitable, very sensitive, very clever, bored easily. Definitely wouldn't suit everyone!!
 
A few photos of our Clover Hill lad:

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Just to add he is the sort of horse you can lay off for a while and then pick up again very easily. Only thing he struggles with is dressage but that is improving!
 
Captain Clover is a lovely horse, have a very close friend who sees him in a daily basis and she's always singing his praises. She said everything she knows of by him has a fab temperament.
 
My Clover Hill/King of Diamonds boy was stunningly beautiful, loving but also very quirky to ride and seemed to have a dark side! He was sold to a professional to be a competition horse as he needed a proper job to do and someone experienced with serious young competition horses.
 
Louby said:
My Clover Hill/King of Diamonds boy was stunningly beautiful, loving but also very quirky to ride and seemed to have a dark side! He was sold to a professional to be a competition horse as he needed a proper job to do and someone experienced with serious young competition horses.
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Never quite sure how influential lines are but I had the same. He was lovely but too sharp for me at the time. Loved his xc and was sweet to handle but needed a more exp rider.
 
My CH mare is also KOD lines and she's lovely, honest and genuine. I definitely wouldn't describe her as the least bit quirky. I'm hoping her half sister (not CH) is as nice, I will be backing her next year al going well, can't wait :D
 
Bernster said:
Never quite sure how influential lines are but I had the same. He was lovely but too sharp for me at the time. Loved his xc and was sweet to handle but needed a more exp rider.
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He was to be my horse of a lifetime :( sadly he wrecked my confidence with his quirkiness. It was like he wasnt truely all there, distant and kind of switched off, and at times had a stinking attitude to work as in if he didnt want to do something, he wouldnt! I have read KOD bloodlines can be quirky so maybe nothing to do with Clover Hill. Seems to be the story of my life though as the ID is supposed to be such a placid wonderful horse and just my luck to get a quirky one :)
 
To be fair mine wouldn't suit everyone, I wouldn't say he's quirky but he can drop a shoulder and spin like a demon and does have a huge buck, but it's usually genuine fear/alarm that makes him spook and assuming I don't hit the dirt, he gets over it very quickly, and bucks are usually exuberance. He does have the best work ethic of any horse I've ever ridden tho and is incredibly willing.
 
TGM said:
A few photos of our Clover Hill lad:

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Just to add he is the sort of horse you can lay off for a while and then pick up again very easily. Only thing he struggles with is dressage but that is improving!
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Oh wow, he's gorgeous!

The horse I'm looking at is a 3yo gelding - he's unbroken and by Dunbeggan Grey Mist and has Captain Clover as his damsire.

As I've never backed or broken a horse myself, I'd send him to someone to have his riding career started. Whilst I've dealt with 4/5yos and brought them on, I've never worked with something so young so his temperament is key in my decision. I've had a few people say I wouldn't be capable and don't have the skills to get a 3yo but I would send him to a pro who is used to dealing with his type for breaking if I did get him, and then working with pro to make sure I'm doing everything right. This is something I wouldn't take on lightly and for that reason alone I'm already planning what I'd do with him.

Ideally he'd be a horse I'd be competing amateurs with (as long as he's talented enough!) and whilst I'd been looking for a 5/6 he did catch my eye, so I thought I'd do a bit of research before I even consider calling his seller.
 
Following as we will be looking to buy soon. I have noticed that half the ads for Irish horses say Clover Hill lines, so I'm assuming that there are lines worth following & lines where it means not a lot. Any tips for good lines to follow?
 
My old horse was CH/KOD, and he was amazing, my horse of a lifetime. I wish I could have cloned him.

Both of these were prolific stallions, and many (most?) Irish horses have them somewhere!
 
My boy's sire was Clover Hill and his demeanour was to die for. He was the most laid back dude to deal with on the ground and a fabulous ride.

There's been three on my yard that have Ben Purple somewhere in their pedigree (don't know the full details) and all of them are lovely genuine beasts.

The two that were KOD lines were 'quirky' for want of a better word lol.
 
Honey08 said:
We have a gelding with Clover Hill lines, with a bit of Cavalier Royale. He is gorgeous, very laid back (can almost be lazy) and possibly the cuddliest horse I've ever met.
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Really? Ours was a bit nervous and quite quirky. When we were trying to sell him I was informed by several well respected horseman that this was almost always the case with horses with these particular bloodlines.
 
hairycob said:
Following as we will be looking to buy soon. I have noticed that half the ads for Irish horses say Clover Hill lines, so I'm assuming that there are lines worth following & lines where it means not a lot. Any tips for good lines to follow?
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Clover Hill had over 2000 recorded foals himself not to mention stallion sons of CH. As an Irish Draught the typical temperament is a versatile, laid back, steady sort. However, just like people (and families :) ) there will always be oddballs, exceptions to the rules and black sheep. The last of his foals would be 16 now so don't believe anyone selling a 10 yr old horse by Clover Hill! And don't forget the stallion is only 50% of the mix...
 
Laid back and super easy to handle but can be rather enthusiastic when it comes to jumping. Very genuine though and rarely says no.

This is my Clover Hill lad.
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Sorry for the size of the pics - not quite sure how to resize them.
 
tabithakat64 said:
Really? Ours was a bit nervous and quite quirky. When we were trying to sell him I was informed by several well respected horseman that this was almost always the case with horses with these particular bloodlines.
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Yes, very much so, he has had novices on him from the age of 4, and is perfectly happy and quite forgiving with them. He can be stroppy if pushed too much. He was very slow to mature and took forever to grow up. He's been the most quirky with me, I do most of the schooling and make him work while others let him do his own thing more. But overall he had been a real good all rounder family horse, all of us ride him. He would hunt with my husband, do PC with my stepson, hack with our novice sharer and event with me, if we wanted.

I do agree with Bantry, you have to take it a bit tongue in cheek when viewing lines - most ISH in the world can be linked back to Clover Hill or King of Diamonds, it seems!
 
blood_magik said:
Laid back and super easy to handle but can be rather enthusiastic when it comes to jumping. Very genuine though and rarely says no.

This is my Clover Hill lad.
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Blood_magik your lad is interesting because he has Clover Hill on both sides but 3 and 4 generations removed so wouldn't really call him a Clover Hill horse! Much more interesting is the dam of the sire, Echo Beach who jumped internationally at 1.60m. So maybe not surprising he's an enthusiastic jumper :)
 
I tried a chestnut mare whose grand sire was Clover Hill. She was an absolute delight to handle and ride, she hadn't been ridden for a few months and did not explode or go mad when the daughter got on her. She was a competition horse though, very well schooled and quite sensitive to ride but temperament was lovely. I was looking for more of a happy hacker to do the odd show with so she wasn't quite what I was looking for but she was lovely :)
 
My boy is a great-grandson of Clover Hill and is a very sweet natured, genuine horse although he can be a bit on the sharp side sometimes.

Definitely an over-enthusiastic jumper!
 
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