Foothills Farms Connemaras © 1999 News & Activities Archives

1999 ARCHIVED news & activities

At the Area 3 luncheon in December, Balmullo's Beacon was presented with the award for USCTA Area 3 Training Horse of the Year. Beacon was tied for 4th in the very tight race for National Training Horse of the Year with 33 points, the winning pair having tied with 36 points. Beacon's rider and trainer, Jill Mooney, also received the Area 3 Training Rider Award. Balmullo's Beacon is a 7 yr old, 14.3 hand , gray Connemara stallion owned by Vanessa Morgan and bred by Donna Duckworth. He is by Aladdin out of Tullymor's April Fool.

After the USCTA year end points were tabulated, Beacon went on to finish his 1999 eventing season at the Pine Top Horse Trials in GA on 11/27-11/28 where he took another blue ribbon in the Training Horse division. He has now returned home to Foothills Farms in Tennessee for a well deserved winter break.

FFC warmly welcomes Kim Lander as the newest "Bubba Baby" owner. Kim, owner of Poppy Field Farm in Good Hope, Georgia, purchased Beacon's Siobhan from Mrs. Williams in Brevard, NC. Siobhan is a bay, yearling purebred Connemara filly out of Big Bear's MacCushula.

Since the Region 4 show was cancelled I spent the weekend with Donna Duckworth at her Balmullo Connemara Pony farm in Alachua, FL, instead. I had a wonderful time visiting with Donna and all her ponies. I had the pleasure of going on three trail rides in the "Temple of the Universe" , a gorgeous expanse of property which borders Donna's farm. I rode C.R. Roaringwater Bay, Donna rode Balmullo's Miss Emma and my new friend Ann Barkdoll, rode Ballywhim Candace.

The Region 4 Connemara Show in Florida, planned for 11/13 - 11/14/99, HAS BEEN CANCELLED. You can contact the show organizer, Kathy Boyd, at (941)928-6543, or email DKQH@aol.com if you have any questions.

"BANDIT BABIES" are here!! Ester & Bandit (our Corgi's) finally tied the knot & their first offspring were born this morning (11/7)!

Jill Mooney is the proud new owner of a brand new Bubba Baby, just born 10/06/99, out of the TB mare, Pippin Freeze. Jill reports that "R.U. Cirrus" is really cute and playful and has an ego! He is currently dark brown with a perfect star and strip and is already showing signs of turning gray. She is very happy with him and is planning to repeat the breeding next year!

(9/99) I just returned from the ACPS Annual Meeting in St. Augustine. The board meeting was very productive and the general membership meeting was both fun and informative.

A few of the many topics discussed include:

A committee will be established to evaluate data on blue-eyed creams (see Creme de la Creme)
A decision was made to present the membership with a vote on mandatory inspections for 2002 colts and 2003 fillies to begin in 2005. The membership will be asked to vote the resolution up or down.
The new ACPS Achievement Awards program point requirements were presented. The new system now grants completion points at all levels of combined training plus additional points for finishing in the ribbons. The final award for "certificate" level points earned beyond the gold in a single category with be the "ACPS Award of Excellence".
The American Connemara magazine will be changing to an 8 1/2 x 11 format with the Jan/Feb 2000 issue. The new editor is Heather Bailey, former feature writer for The Chronicle of the Horse.
The new Membership Chairman is Debbie Busta.
The issue of stallion registration fees was discussed both days; no changes were made.

Read details on the above, who is on the new Board and Executive Board, and more, in the minutes that will be sent to all current ACPS members.

At the meeting, an ACPS Region 4 scrapbook was circulated with photos and information on registered Connemaras and ACPS owners and breeders in AL, SC, FL, TN, GA and MI. The scrapbook was in a beautiful binder crafted by ACPS member K. Windus. The scrapbook will be retained with the Regional Chairman, currently Vanessa Morgan (yours truely), and will hopefully continue to grow with additions from regional members.

The 1999 ride at East Fork was so much fun that we're going to do it again next year! I hope you mark your calendars and plan to join us on the 2nd annual "Lizzy Connemara" Trail Ride (of course there are stories to go along with the name, as with any great adventure!)

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