ACPS Region IV

American Connemara Pony Society Region IV:
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee

Annual Celebration of the Connemara Pony
September 29-30, 2012
Highfields, Aiken, SC

ACPS In-Hand Judge: Kathy Sparks

We would like to give a giant THANK YOU! to the generous donations & sponsorships for our 2012 ACPS R IV show:

Carole Moss {In Memory of Piedmont Piper}:Halfbred Stallions and Geldings 3 and Under AND Halfbred Geldings 4 and Over
Dartmoor Pony Registry of America - Laurie McClearen: Champion Mountain and Moorland
Kate and Bill Denton {Farkleberry Farm}: Purebred Connemara Champion
Vanessa Morgan {Foothills Farms and Piedmont Connemaras}: Purebred Stallions and Geldings 4 and Over
Deanna Whitfield: Purebred Mares 4 and Over
Megan and Lee Harris {Fade to Grey Farm}: Halfbred Mares 4 and Over
Nancy Buchanan {Brambleridge Farm}: Purebred Foals 2011 and 2012
A.P.C.S. Region III - Linda Trimper: Halfbred Connemara Champion

In-Hand Champions:

Purebred Connemara Champion and Reserve:
1. Oakfield's Diamond, owned by Susan McConnell
2. Roscommon Liadan, owned by Sue Holland

Below L-R: Sue Holland's Roscommon Liadan and Susan McConnell's Oakfield’s Diamond

Halfbred Connemara Champion and Reserve:
1. Chesapeake Bay, owned by Alexandra Duckworth
2. Glendale's Katie Belle, owned by Deb Norman
Megan Harris with Glendale's Katie Bell

Performance Champions:

• Hunter Champion - Oakfield's Diamond, owned by Susan McConnell and ridden by Jaime Gibson
• Jumper Champion - Balmullo's Beacon, owned by Vanessa Morgan and ridden by Avery Lewis
• Dressage Champion - Elk Creek O'Connor, owned and ridden by Boots Plyler
• Combined Test Champion - Elk Creek O'Connor, owned and ridden by Boots Plyler

Boots Plyler

ACPS Region IV Show REPORT by Kate Denton, Region IV Chair and Governor and 2012 Show Organizer

Our 2012 show was held on September 29-30 at Highfields Event Center in Aiken, SC. Our show was held in conjunction with PSJ's open show - with hunters and jumpers on Saturday and dressage and C/T on Sunday. On Saturday afternoon we also held our Connemara and M&M in-hand classes.
Although turnout was lighter than we'd hoped, the quality of the Connemara ponies was exceptional. They were noticed and commented on by many people who had previously known nothing about the breed.
Weather was almost perfect - sunny and mid-eighties on Saturday, overcast and cooler on Sunday. We had changed the date of our annual show from mid-June to late September in hopes of avoiding with worst of our southern summer heat - a good move!

Results of the In-hand classes:
Purebred Connemara Broodmares:
1. Roscommon Liadan, owned by Susan Holland, handled by Juuli Pohjola
2. Rainbow's Shannon, owned and handled by Patricia Chelberg
3. Tullymor's Shandora, owned by Susan Holland, handled by Aubrie Holland
4. Wildwych Hazel, owned by Deanna Whitfield, handled by Cynthia Cubbage

Kathee Cook and Foothills Caroline

M&M Mares:
1. Tulipking's Dreaming Maid, owned by Jack Devroomen, handled by Natasha Barr
2. Tulipking's Finola, owned and handled by Jack Devroomen

M&M Stallions and Geldings:
1. Aladdin, owned by Robin Walenceus, handled by Katherine Walenceus
2. Tulipking's Esperanto, owned and handled by Victoria Barr
3. Harvard Lou, owned and handled by Laura Walenceus
4. Tulipking's Dreaming, owned by Jack Devroomen and handled by Natasha Barr

Halfbred Connemaras:
1. Chesapeake Bay, owned by Alexandra Duckworth and handled by Bree
2. Glendale's Katie Belle, owned by Deb Norman and handled by Vanessa Morgan
3. Sparrow's Owen, owned and handled by Megan Harris

Purebred Mares 3 & Under:
Balmullo's Belladonna, owned by Donna Duckworth and handled by Vanessa Morgan

Brionna Harper with Balmullo's Belladona

Purebred Mares 4 & Over:
1. Oakfield's Diamond, owned and handled by Susan McConnell
2. Roscommon Liadan, owned by Susan Holland and handled by Juuli Pohjola
3. Oakfield's Sapphire, owned by Susan McConnell and handled by Stephanie Keen
4. Oakfield's Amazing, owned by Susan McConnell and handled by Phil Gibson
5. Foothills Caroline, owned by Vanessa Morgan and handled by Kathee Cook
6. Tis Mine Aibhlinn, owned and handled by Cheryl Thorpe

Purebred Geldings and Stallions:
1. Oakfield's Amber Sparrow, owned by Susan McConnell and handled by Jaime Gibson
2. Elk Creek's O'Connor, owned and handled by Boots Plyler

Boots and Connor

M&M Champion and Reserve:
1. Aladdin, owned by Laura Walenceus
2. Tulipking's Erperanto, owned by Jack Devroomen

Many Connemaras competed in some of the 96 "open" classes so we were able to award ACPS Connemara Champion ribbons in Hunter, Jumper, Dressage and Combined Test. The Champion ribbons were awarded as follows:
Hunter Champion - Oakfield's Diamond, owned by Susan McConnell and ridden by Jaime Gibson
Jumper Champion - Balmullo's Beacon, owned by Vanessa Morgan and ridden by Avery Lewis
Dressage Champion - Elk Creek O'Connor, owned and ridden by Boots Plyler
Combined Test Champion - Elk Creek O'Connor, owned and ridden by Boots Plyler

Jeff Lewis

All in all, it was a good show - lots of Connemara people but not too many Connemara ponies. We hope for better pony-attendance next year! Several people who were there had comments about the show.

Ava and Deanna Whitfield's Wilywych Hazel

- I would like to thank the show committee, the volunteers and all the friendly people at the Region IV Connemara Show that made our weekend memorable. I enjoyed seeing friends at the welcome wine and cheese party on Friday evening. There were classes for every level of riding on Saturday. The ability to add and drop classes and pay at the end of the day was a great idea. My grand daughter, Aubrie, especially liked the cross rail jumping classes and the costume class. Our foreign exchange daughter from Finland, Juuli, was happy to see so many flat classes. The breeding classes provided a great learning experience for the girls' first attempt to show in hand. The judge, Kathy Sparks, was kind and patient with Juuli and her limited understanding of English. The show was an excellent opportunity to meet new people and renew friendships. The best part of the show for me was sharing the enthusiasm for these amazing ponies with other owners and breeders. Sue Holland

Aubry and Sue Holland's Tullymor's Shandora

- 'Highfields is a great facility, well laid out, a number of rings with very good footing, plenty of room for rigs to get in and out, etc. Allowing their show office to handle the paperwork helped alleviate some of the stress and work for our region, and gave us an opportunity to offer a much broader variety of classes to our Connemara owners. I myself brought two ponies, a very experienced pony and a first timer. There were plenty of appropriate classes for both. Owen competed in the 3'6" jumper division, and finished with 1st place in ribbons in his classes after four double clear rounds! I also took Dave and Deb Norman's young mare, Glendale's Katie Belle. This was her first show, and she was exceptionally behaved in her walk/trot classes (two 2nds, a 5th and an 8th) and brought home Reserve Champion half-bred in-hand. It's great when you can take two ponies that are working on very different things, and have success with both!' - Megan Harris

Megan Harris on Sparrow's Owen

- THANK YOU to all the hard working people in Region IV who made the Aiken, South Carolina show a HUGE success, this past weekend!! If you were not at the show, there were Connemara Pony people showing ponies from Region III and IV. "Highfields" is a new location for the Region IV show. The facility was wonderful = nice stalls/barns with rubber mats in each stall (amazing!!), wash racks, ample parking for cars and trailers near the barns, good footing with water truck and "dragging" of the two rings whenever necessary, plenty of interesting jumps in the two rings with accurate strides, dressage arena, in hand ring, HUGE warm up area with nice schooling jumps, ample BIG grassy area for riding or hand grazing, plus food for exhibitors with picnic tables! Aiken is a wonderful, old, Southern town with plenty of hotels and choice restaurants or 'fast food'. Being part of a regular show made things easy for entries, numbers, etc. Kudos to all involved!! Congratulations to the Show Committee for putting on a great show in an excellent, new venue! All the Oakfields Ponies and people look forward to coming back, if you have the show there, again!! Susan McConnell