Stud visit to Landgates and Jouney's End Farm

Ann Frey lives a couple of hours journey by car north from New York. At her small farm near the town Stanfordville she breeds Connemaras with the prefix Landgate's. Ann began breeding ponies already in the 60s when she stood the stallion Lystra Lad (by Creg Coneera) and several mares by Tiger Gill. Circumstances forced her to put her breeding on ice for a while, and only in the past few years she has resumed breeding and bought new ponies.

At home with Ann were several home bred ponies and also two mares imported from Ireland. Oldest was 28-year-old Lynfields Kylemore (by Texas Hope out of Round Robin's Easter Bonnet). A nice brown mare who carried her years lightly. In spite of being line bred to the thoroughbred cross Texas Hope she was not very thoroughbred like. Together with Bob White (by Bobby Brown out of Abbeyleix Bluebird, dam of Dale Haze), a stallion of genuine Connemara breeding she has given one of Ann's Broodmares, Landgate's Singing Bird. Singing Bird had two offspring still with Ann. One was a three-year-old gelding, Landgate's Phoenix (by the imported Hayselden Perseus). Phoenix had a striking chestnut colour with a blaze and Ann thought he might do well as a driving pony with his attractive colour. Singing Bird also had a filly foal at the side by Annilaun Oscar. Millie, the foal, had just started shedding her foal coat and looked more like an Appaloosa with her spots where the grey colour came through.

Ann's other foundation mare, Charlotte O'Hara, was not at home but was on loan to be used for riding for disabled. Her daughter, Landgate's Magic Lamp, was however at home. She was not used for breeding bur should be sent away to be broken. A couple of year ago during a visit to Ireland, Ann met Windy Day whom she liked a lot. So much so that she imported two of his daughters. Both mares were very nice, but Cloud Shadows (out of Kilfenora Trixie), from the same mare family as Keehaune Belle, was probably the better of the two with a lovely type and excellent movements. Both Cloudy and her half sister Lean on the Wind (out of Mac's Bar) had a foal by Landgate's Bluebeard (by Rocky out of Landgate's Singing Bird) another one bred by Anns but no longer owned by her. With what from pictures seemed to be a very true to type sire and very strongly typed dams the two foals Rainy Blues and Blue Grass, have a lot of good things to fall back on.

An hour west from Ann, on the other side of Hudson River, is the town Gardiner. Just outside the town Ginny and Joe Winkler lives at Journey's End Farm. Ginny runs a boarding stable together with breeding Connemaras and has some 25 horses on the farm, most of which are Connemaras or part bred Connemaras.

Ginny had two Connemara stallions. One, Tre Awain Dobh McDuff (by Tre Awain Ginger Blue out of Tre Awain Rosin Dubh) was jet black and according to Ginny, popular with the mare owners. Popular, in this case, means that he has a couple of visiting mares every year. Both Ginny and Ann thought that a problem in the American Connemara breeding is that there were too many stallions. Around 70 stallions have a covering license each year and there are about the same number of foals born each year. A glance at the stallion statistics shows that the highest number of coverings of a stallion in 1999 was seven and Ann said that most Connemara breeders stand their own stallion. Long distances and a scattered Connemara populations of course deters mare owners from traveling to stallions outside of their own state.

Ginny's second stallion, H.H. Greystone Sir Charles (by Dallen McMor out of Thornhills Gillian) was her own favourite. Charlie was strongly line bred with five times Tooreen Laddie and four times Texas Hope. On the mare side he in addition had five times Erinbay who is by Little Heaven, and he consequently had quite a bit of thoroughbred genes although a bit further back in his pedigree. Not surprising Ginny could tell all his foals were very similar to each other. Two stallions were, however, a bit too much on the farm and Ginny was thinking of turning Charlie away for training, or maybe trying to lease him to a breeder.

At Journey's End Farm four foals had been born this year. Three pure and on partbred. Like many other breeders Ginny at first had to be content with partbreds and then buy purebreds as they became available. Good Connemara mares were much sought after and not readily available. Among Ginny's broodmares were Mack's Greystone Erin's Pride (by Greystone McErril out of Spar Hill Bayberry) and Runaway's Sunbeam (by Hideaway's Erin Go Bragh, successfully eventing among horses, out of Hideaway's Centerfold) each with a foal by McDuff at foot. The third broodmare Meara (by Tre Awain Dobh McDuff), was bred by Ginny herself and had as a yearling injured an eye so badly she now only had a cavity left. This had led to Ginny keeping her and instead selling her dam. A lucky coincidence though Ginny who was very happy with the way Meara had developed. Meara now had a foal at foof by Landgate's Bluebeard. For the future Ginny placed great hopes on a mare she had bought from Ann Grey, Landgate's Wild Wing (by Annilaun Oscar out of Landgate's Singing Bird). She hoped that Wild Wing's typey Irish bloodlines would work well together with her stallions' more American blood and good movements.

After two days full of Connemara talk, Connemara photos, Connemara video and not the least Connemara ponies in all possible shapes and colours I said goodbye to Ann and Ginny and thanked them for their hospitality and journeyed onwards with the hope of one day meeting them again.

Jenny Hagenblad, 2000

All photos from Landgates

All photos from Journey's End Farm