Crannagh Hero and Clover Hill

Abi90

Abi90

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So yesterday I took deliver of my new (and first after 21 years of working and riding then) horse, a lovely grey ISH Gelding who is a lovely stamp and fantastic temperament.

I've been looking at his passport and wondering about his breeding. His sire seems to be a little known stallion called Clover Warrior but his grandsires are Clover Hill and Crannagh Hero. I believe they are well known Irish stallions although I don't know a lot about them.

Was wondering if anyone could tell me more about them and what their progeny are normally like?

Just interested to know a bit about his ancestry really.

:)
 
Clover Hill was a very highly regarded sire of performance horses (he was not a full ID, there was some TB up close in his pedigree, and all the better for it). He got a lot of international SJ and event types, but he's long dead now so there are not that many by him still around. Clover Hill's were pretty athletic but could be a bit hot. Crannagh Hero is/was full ID and got quite a few show horses, I think. Never trained any myself, but I think showing peeps liked them.

P.S. Where are the pics? Compulsory.
 
Mine's sire is Crannagh Hero and he events. Biggest heart I have ever known. Also a grey ISH. Bought him at 4 and had 3 years now. Super horse.

Yours sounds a lovely mix with the Clover Hill lines as well.
 
Good for you Abi. It's always great to get Clover Hill in a pedigree, he was a fantastic sire of show jumpers and was ranked for a number of years in the top ten stallions in the world for producing the most high level show jumpers. He features in the pedigrees going back of some of the best jumpers competing today, for instance Billy Congo's grand dam was by Clover Hill.

As a teenager in the 80's I took a few mares up to him and it was always an experience. He was owned by farmer/breeder and renowned character Phil Heenan, who at the height of the horse's fame still charged just £30 - when he could have asked £500. But going to him wasn't straight forward! He had other stallions ranking down in greatness from Clover Hill - Ballinvilla, Leabeg and others - and Phil would decide what stallion your mare went to. Or in his own words 'what stallion would suit her'.

So it was with great trepidation we made the trip only to be told 'Ballinvilla will suit her better', and have our hopes dashed. We had very little to complain about as that stallion sired many great horses, including double Olympic eventer Lorgaine. Still, Clover Hill was the prize and I well remember looking in through a window of his shed (it wasn't a stable in our sense of one) and seeing the huge horse thrashing about and then Phil would go in and we was immediately like a lamb. He had an incredible way with animals and the birds would land on his hand or his shoulder, and he would hold court like that to the Clover Hill fans who flocked from all sides of the country hoping their mare would make the grade!

He had a great story that after the horse had died, a man arrived from the North of Ireland (a huge trip) and announced he had come to see Clover Hill. "Well if you did", replied Phil, "I hope you brought a shovel because you'll have to dig him up."
 
One of mine has clover hill lines. Fab temperament and scope to burn but quite sensitive under saddle. Mine tries his heart out and is so honest - he'd jump the moon if I asked him to.

And I agree with Cortez - where are the pictures??? :)
 
Thank you for your responses! It's great to know a bit about his breeding.

I have pictures but I don't know how to post them! I'm only on my phone so may have to copy links from Facebook?

If you can tell me how to post photos then I will happily as I think he is soooo handsome!
 
Crannagh Hero has now passed away but have known of some fabulous horses by him. All were seriously smart types with faultless temperaments.
 
Going to try photos via photo bucket but not sure if it will work

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I remember Clover Hill, particularly an article that was written about him in Horse and Hound. It showed his owner with a robin perched on his hand and the stallion at his side. I also remember the fee - just £30. He was certainly a prolific stallion in his day and I recall many successful showjumping horses had Clover Hill lineage.

All the best with your new horse:-)
 
Aw, he's so lovely! He looks like a cool customer. Hope you enjoy every minute with him! Feel free to post regular updates including more photos :)
 
Thank you, I think he is smashing!

I will probably back on here a lot in the next weeks and months as he's my first!
 
Your new boy looks lovely! We have a horse out of a mare by Clover Hill, and he is fantastic - lovely temperament and a very honest jumper, although his forte is XC rather than SJ.
 
Hi, my gelding has both Crannagh Hero and Clover Hill as grand sires too. His sire is Gerrys Clover though :)

My boy is generally laid back but can be quite quirky when ridden. He's lovely to be around and handle, very much a people horse. He also has an amazing effortless jump and loves learning new things. Unfortunately he was injured 3 years ago so can no longer jump but is turning into quite a dressage diva !

The photos of him are lovely :)

Abi90 said:
So yesterday I took deliver of my new (and first after 21 years of working and riding then) horse, a lovely grey ISH Gelding who is a lovely stamp and fantastic temperament.

I've been looking at his passport and wondering about his breeding. His sire seems to be a little known stallion called Clover Warrior but his grandsires are Clover Hill and Crannagh Hero. I believe they are well known Irish stallions although I don't know a lot about them.

Was wondering if anyone could tell me more about them and what their progeny are normally like?

Just interested to know a bit about his ancestry really.

:)
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