Irish Horses and Hunting

[Parkranger]

This may be slightly contraversial but I thought I'd throw it out there

I met someone a few years ago who bred and hunted with County Clare hunt in Ireland. At the time I'd brought a horse who was shipped over from Ireland.

He said that the Irish only sell the horses that a) can't hunt or b) can hunt and you pay a substantial amount for them - he was obviously commenting purely on hunters as opposed to ex racers (a whole other debate).

Got me thinking whether alot of irish horses that get sold to us in blighty, have infact ever made it around a hunt or have something wrong with them.

I've got a few friends that have brought Irish and got a good horse, but the ones that have that success seem to have paid upwards of £5000 for their steed. My horse, from Ireland, was blind with hock spavin (I know a bargain when I see one!) and the other ISH I had napped like a swine and was obviously sold due to that - the thought of him hunting makes me shiver

I don't really have an opinion either way but interested to hear views.

 

[Ranyhyn]

Well I am yet to hunt my ISH BUT I know he did a lot of hunting in his early years, he's certainly a good jumper and very bold, wether he's a good hunter well I'm not a good enough rider to tell!

He came out of Ireland passing a full vetting and went to a private owner. He's not got any vices, oh well apart from the killer attitude and vicious nature lol

In short - I don't know lol

 

[Parkranger]

I'm guessing he's worth quite a bit though - he's not a £1500 type of horse I'm betting!! Not that there's anything wrong with that price tag.....

 

[R2R]

I sold a 14.1 irish pony last year for a lot of money, purely becasue it was an amazing hunter. All of my hunt staff's horses are irish...come to think of it I know quite a few irish hunters....

Dont think it is true...sorry

 

[Parkranger]

I'm not saying that Irish horses can't hunt - what I'm asking is how many people get Irish horses, over here, that can hunt and pay a minimal amount for them.......

You say you sold one for a lot of money, which is what I'm saying....they don't come cheap!

 

[woolyjumper]

I've always heard it said that the Irish rarely let the good horses leave Ireland... and yes I think that there is some truth in that. I've had the odd shopping trip to Ireland - the studs/dealers over there are really unwilling to even show English buyers their best stock! My ISH is a fabby hunter, but he wasn't cheap, and I consider myself lucky to have found him at all.

 

[KatB]

Both my horses are irish. Goddy I went over there and brought him directly. He had never hunted, but did a bit with me (was a bit wild!) but there is no way they would have known he'd be a bit mad on the hunting field!! He was certainly a good enough stamp of horse, and his owners wanted him to come over to england to do more.

My mare was brought from someone in the UK who imported all their horses from Ireland. She buys them from breeders etc as 3yr olds and sells on. Alot of them make successful SJers/eventers and are all good quality animals.

In short, obviously they will keep alot of the nice ones themselves, but there are ALOT of very good horses that come over from ireland to us! I know Gamebirds FIL buys horses to hunt from ireland, and believe a majority are very good at their job.....

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]
I've always heard it said that the Irish rarely let the good horses leave Ireland...

[/ QUOTE ]

Which was what I was trying to say!

 

[Parkranger]

Kat, that's interesting. So I take it they're are more expensive animals to buy (and quite rightly)!

My little mare has hunted (I know the person who bred her) and she's a gem....and is also worth alot more than I paid for her, but she's Section D.

 

[atot]

I paid a fair bit for Chloe, but she was the most perfect hunter I've ever come across. And she just gave the most incredible ride, whilst being safe and controllable - something that I think is becoming increasingly rare. Even should-know-better hirelings were nowhere near as good as her. She was known in the Warwickshire country as "supercob".

I got my current horse from the same people we got Chloe from - they are reputable, operate by word of mouth, and don't feel the need to advertise as they have a loyal client base who come back year on year for them. I believe them completely when they say she's been hunting x amount of times... They buy straight from an Irish guy, who tends to send his hunters over at half their desired weight with a lot of work to do. They then put in the effort, teach them some hunting manners and they're all SO honest, which is something luckily my parents are prepared to pay for.

ETA the conclusion: if you want a decent irish horse who is a sane and mannerly hunter, you will pay for it, but my is it worth it.

 

[sam1am]

Why would we sell you cheap good hunters when you buy expensive good hunters??

 

[KatB]

Nope, I wouldn't say they were expensive at all. Goddy was one of the cheapest young horses I looked at, he hadnt done anything but moved well, was very good looking, and ready to be ridden away (he had been long reined for miles, just started jumping under saddle etc).
Madam (my 4yr old) was happily jumping decent fences (1.10m) under saddle loose jumping well and again was ready to go out and do a bit more (I took her XC within a week, and had her doing her first ODE within 6wks without disgracing us!) She is well bred aswell, being by a Clover Hill stallion out of a well bred mare...

Both were well under 5k....

 

[R2R]

1. really good horses dont get sold/go on the market, whatever they are. Horses are always sold for a reason!

2. I bought irish pony it for a three figure sum, and three months later timed it so then I had a four figure sum. It is amazing what schooling, muscle and a pair of clippers can achieve, I think the clippers had the most impact....

 

[Rowreach]

[ QUOTE ]
Why would we sell you cheap good hunters when you buy expensive good hunters??

[/ QUOTE ]

Sam you are very naughty

I have just been to view a couple of ID foals, and the breeder spent more time telling me about a horse he has sold to a hunting home in England for what I think was fairly small money, and which is doing really well

He seems to be simply pleased that the horse is loved and is doing a job

 

[Aru]

[ QUOTE ]
I've always heard it said that the Irish rarely let the good horses leave Ireland... and yes I think that there is some truth in that.

[/ QUOTE ]

if the price is right then a good horse will leave ireland.
But if the horse is good then why would we want to export it for a low price to another country when we can get a high price?

besides if their that good they will be sold through word of mouth so the chances of english buyers hearing of them are fairly low

The majority of cheap Irish horses tend to 1 need a lot of work 2 are very young (3 plus hunt over here)so they may have hunted ...most do esp showjumpers...
or 3 of undetermind breeding so not worth keeping to breed from unless their exceptional...

 

[sam1am]

Exactly what i was trying to say ARU!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

My current horse was bought from Ireland for a lot of money as a 4 year old.
She has proven to be dangerous on the hunting field (but brilliant at eventing so we will forgive her for that!). We think she must have had a bad experience over in Ireland out hunting as she is perfect on pleasure rides etc and is the most laid back horse out hacking I have ever met!

 

[JenTaz]

when i bought my boy from a dealer in ireland i spent a weekend with them to make sure he was right and that included taking him out hunting even though its not what i want to do its the way they give the youngsters experiance to sell them

 

[JenHunt]

Ron was brought over from Ireland as an almost 4 year old who'd hunted a season over there first.

He came to me via 2 dealers and 2 private homes (not in that order!) and I paid £3k for him.

defo got a bargain. granted he didn't jump when I got him, but now he hunts, he jumps, he tries to event but his dressage holds him up. that and his short legs!

 

[Parkranger]

So maybe the moral of the story is that you can buy a good irish hunter cheap, but you have to be a decent rider to get them going! This is where I went wrong obviously! haha

I'll stick to my little pony I think

PS - R2R, agree with clippers - my mare looks like a wooly bear at the moment - all off at the weekend and fitinging work is commenceing!

 

[Drummer]

Plus a good horse to one person isn't to another. I doubt anyone in Ireland is kicking themselves for letting Drum go, but to me he is the best horse I could have ever wished for. I bought him as 4 year just over from Ireland, with the intention of me just being a teenager and having fun with him he wasn't schooled and was a 'bit' of a gangly ugly duckling but over the years, we both matured and he can and will do pretty much anything. We qualified for the RIHS at our second county show, was 4th at Royal Windsor which was our 3rd and he has done nothing but make me proud. He has fantastic manners hunting and will jump anything (well anything I have ever tried), he is just perfect for me, has enough go in him to not be boring but you could trust him with your life. All for a bargain 2k. I think I will only buy Irish in the future, there is just something about them that I love, even the ones that get shipped over to us.

 

[DarkHorseB]

TBH I think that was a bit of a throwaway remark and of course a generalisation to which there are always exceptions.

Many breeders will be happy to take a profit at varying points in a horses career going for a certain early profit rather than a potential later profit that would require more input. I think most would be for sale at a price and conversely I have heard all the good horse are sold out of Ireland. Horses are a job for many over there rather than an expensive hobby.

What surprises me most is the number of horses about with no breeding history known - of course I am assuming that will change with passports nowadays. But I have seen very nice horses with UNKNOWN all over their passport and wonder why someone has bred such a nice horse but not registered its parentage. Partly this is for many years I had nothing but TBs which of course had full parentage passports and parentage for years. I suppose not that surprising given how laid back the Irish are in other ways too.

 

[DunRoamin]

Mines Irish, had only been in the uk 2 weeks before i bought him, had hunted all his life whilst out there, nothing wrong with him at all, i've B,S,J,A jumped him up to senior newcomers and he is only 14.2hh and i payed less than £3,500 for him

 

[atot]

[ QUOTE ]
Why would we sell you cheap good hunters when you buy expensive good hunters??

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't know cheap good hunters existed.....

 

[Pidgeon]

no idea TBH but I paid £3850 for Pidge and the dealer had brought him from Ireland where he'd been on a hunt yard. Well bred and looks fab now fit and muscled up, was a bit on the lean side when I got him

jumps like stink XC, not had the nerve yet to take him hunting but would imagine he'd be awesome as jumps well, gallops, hacks out lovely and best of all has what I call cruise control - set the pace first couple of strides and then sit there and enjoy

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why would we sell you cheap good hunters when you buy expensive good hunters??

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't know cheap good hunters existed.....

[/ QUOTE ]

T what horse do you have now? Did you sell your pony?

 

[Equestrian92]

I personally think you have to be really careful with ISH because some of them are just named that when in fact they're ex racers, napping and jumping up and down etc is a common trate for ex racers. Especially when put alone. Also they're normally a tb X draught, but how much tb is actually in them? Always google their proper paspported name just to check, I always write their name in the racing post website because if they have ever raced it will always come up. And to the irish hunting can mean having a little go at a long hack with a few jumps in it!