Stud Book 4 of the American Connemara Pony Society covered the years of 1965-1967 and was published in 1968. It included no photos.

It was the largest stud book ever, registering 214 fullbred Connemaras and 25 halfbreds, but it also had a fair number of errors, and this likely led to future stud books being published on a more manageable yearly basis.

The stud book raised the total fullbreds registered since the ACPS’ inception in 1956 to 703.

US ban of blue-eyed cream Connemaras

Stud Book 4’s “Points of the Connemara” section introduced America’s ban on registration of blue-eyed cream Connemara ponies starting on Jan. 1, 1967. The ban was removed in 2016, 49 years later.

One might wonder how many blue-eyed cream Connemaras had been registered in the first four stud books, between 1956 and 1967?

We can count the ones whose owners reported the blue eyes.

In Stud Books 1 through 4, owners reported 34 coat colors of fullbreds as cream, with one Connemara described as cream (albino).

The “markings” field of those 34 indicated seven had blue eyes.

The markings for the albino Connemara did not say blue eyes, but we’ll group that Connemara in the total, too.

So, at least eight were blue-eyed creams, out of a total 703 fullbred Connemaras in those stud books, for a teeny 1.1 percent share — not a noticeable number.

The eight blue-eyed creams were made up of a stallion, five mares, and two geldings. The stallion, Strawman Shannigan, had five offspring by Studbook 4 — three duns and two blue-eyed creams, all gelded.

One of the mares, a competitor named Wicklow Mountain Rose Bay, had three offspring by this point — one dun and two dark grays.

Another mare, Lucky Ways, had two offspring — a dun and a strawberry roan.

The other three mares had no offspring through Studbook 4.

Incidentally, noted cream stallion Marconi was listed as cream (palomino), and his markings said he had a flesh mark on his nose and under his lip; there was no mention of blue eyes, and a photo of Marconi published in Stud Book 2 is inconclusive as to his eye color.

Four of the 34 fullbreds called cream had Marconi as their sire. Only one had blue eyes — a mare that had no offspring.

These statistics are not alarming; they’re barely interesting.

This was a ban on a genetic trait that had been part of the Connemara breed for centuries. It would be interesting to turn back the clock and find out what was said by whom to create this ban. Maybe it was a political move. We know Ireland’s ban, reportedly instituted in 1965, was a factor, but the ACPS didn’t follow Ireland on all policies. Who wanted this ban?

New gelding section

Stud book 4 created a new section for geldings, with 28 geldings registered in the section. The author did not explain why 53 Connemaras registered in the stallion section were marked in parentheses as geldings as opposed to those animals appearing in the gelding section.

Explanation of two height sections for Connemaras

As in Stud Book 3, the “Points of the Connemara” section reiterated that Connemaras 13.0 to 14.2 hands would be considered Section I pony entries and those over 14.2 would be Section II small horse entries. The words “Section II” were applied to horses in Stud Book 3.

Stud Book 4 attempted to explain the new height labeling but then didn’t use it. It said, “Connemaras, like American children, either through environment or through nutrition, are producing some with larger size. So as not to lose the identity of the pure animals, the breed society added a new section for Connemaras over 14 hands 2 inches.”

The taller animals appeared to be accepted as real Connemaras and were no longer relegated to halfbred registrations in the back of the stud book, as was the process in the past, applied inconsistently.

Numbering issues and bloated mare total

Stud book 4 did not explain why 134 registration numbers for fullbred mares were voided (Nos. 388, 389 and 402 to 534). Twice within the mare section, the author inserted a note for the numbers that were voided.

In addition, two mares seemed to receive the same registration number as other mares, and the issue appeared to be resolved by adding an A to one for each duplication: Shan’s Easter Dawn was 541, and Star of Eire was 541A, while Rory’s Dolly was 558 and Oak Hill’s Cappagh’s Mollie was 558A.

The number discrepancies, particularly the voided numbers, distorted the appearance of how many mares were registered in the stud book if one looked only at the cover and saw that mares with numbers 313 to 561 were registered, making it appear that 248 total mares were registered. In reality, 116 mares were registered.

The secretary’s report in Stud Book 4 said 214 fullbred mares were registered in Stud Book 4. That number doesn’t match the bloated 248 number or the 116 total and can’t be explained. There were 70 Connemaras in the stallion section, not the 67 indicated in the secretary’s report, so don’t use the numbers in the secretary’s report. Software today (in 2022) makes counting so much easier and more accurate than manual methods of the past.

Later in the stud book, the same TFC number — No. 743 — was given out for stallion Sunrise Blarney, and mare Tuckululles Limerick, so Limerick’s number was changed to 743A.

ACPS officials

At publishing time in 1968, Douglas Chatterley of Indian Run Farm in Sparks, Maryland, was president of the ACPS. He was a vice president in Stud Book 3.

There were three vice presidents in 1968: Mrs. William P. Clough of Spring Ledge Farm in New London, New Hampshire; Mrs. Bruce (Charlotte) Read of Round Robin Farm in East Pepperell, Massachusetts; and Mrs. Carl C. Johnson, of Laxfield Farm in Weston, Massachusetts.

Al Mavis, of Mavis Connemara Farm, in Rochester, Illinois, whose ponies carried the Oak Hills name, was now secretary and treasurer after being president when Stud Book 3 was published.

One of the more confusing issues in this volume was the changing reference to Mavis’ establishment, from Mavis Farms, to Mavis Connemara Farm, to Mavis Connemara Farms, as well as the name of his Connemaras alternating from Oak Hills to OH to Oh. He was the secretary, presumably making the entries and doing this intentionally.

No other job titles were published.

The board of governors by this point had expanded to 21, up from 15 in Stud Book 3, including the officials mentioned above.

Secretary’s report

Mavis wrote one secretary’s report for the volume, which was the half-page summary of registration numbers mentioned above. He said the stud book listed owners and breeders in 35 states, the District of Columbia, several provinces of Canada, and Nicaragua (Don Luis Somoza of Minagua, Nicaragua, transferred imported purebred stallion *Aura Dun to his name; we are unsure if the pony went to Nicaragua).

Mavis added that the total was 387, an apparent reference to the membership total and a big jump from 111 in Volume 3 and 40 in Volume 2. Since other numbers in the secretary’s report were wrong, don’t cite that as fact.

New Connemara description

Page 2 continued to describe the history of the Connemara, as in past stud books.

Somewhat confusingly, Page 3 added a section called “What are Connemaras?” and reviewed the history again.

The section also talked about Connemaras being versatile. As in Stud Books 1 through 3, the emphasis was on performance, describing how Connemaras were being used in trail rides, barrel racing, pleasure riding, jumping competitions, competitive endurance rides, cross country jumping, and whatever else was asked of them.

 

 

Total registered fullbreds

Stud Book 4 registered 214 fullbreds, consisting of 17 fullbred stallions and 53 fullbred geldings in the stallion section for a total of 70 stallions (that’s the way the stud book categorized them, though we disagree with the logic), 116 fullbred mares and 28 geldings in the gelding section.

Looked at by gender, there were 17 fullbred stallions, 116 mares and 81 geldings, and the accompanying chart we created reflects that reality.

There were 208 temporary foal certificates for fullbred Connemaras, made up of 63 stallions, 50 mares and 93 geldings, with two TFCs not indicating gender (LeWa’s Beauty and Round Robin’s Who-Dun-It). TFC No. 654 was entered as canceled and is not counted in the 208 total. No name was provided. What’s a little odd is the canceled number had a permanent registration date of Oct. 4, 1967. Perhaps the Connemara’s permanent registration in a later stud book will clarify the issue.

The halfbred section contained permanent registrations for 25 halfbred Connemaras, made up of zero halfbred stallions, 18 halfbred mares and seven halfbred geldings.

There were 16 TFC registrations for halfbreds, made up of five stallions, 10 mares and one gelding.

Top breeders

Mavis registered 14 fullbreds in total — six under his name, six under Mavis Farms and two under Mavis Connemara Farm.

Norbert Fritz, with no indication of a farm name, registered eight fullbreds.

Mrs. Bayard (Sue) Smith registered seven — four under her Gilnocky Farm and three in her name.

Most registrations by gender

T. M. Britt, of Winter Garden, Florida, registered the most fullbred stallions with two, and M.G. Britt, also of Winter Garden, registered a third stallion.

Mavis or his farms registered 10 fullbreds mares, while Smith or her Gilnocky Farm registered six mares.

Fritz registered the most geldings with seven.

One might wonder what happened to Robert H. Wright Jr., the Georgia-based prolific importer of Connemaras from Ireland in previous stud books. He registered three fullbreds — two mares and a gelding.

William Dolph, the breeder with the most fullbred registrations in Stud Book 1, was listed in Stud Book 4 as the breeder (but not the owner filing the registration) of three fullbreds, two mares and a gelding, all by *Texas Hope, but his address by this point was an apartment in Morelos, Mexico.

TFC registrations by owner

Mavis or his farms led with 30 TFC fullbred registrations of foals (six of those fullbreds were registered permanently in this stud book, too). Subtracting the duplicates, Mavis registered 24 foals in addition to his 14 permanent registrations, for a total of 38 fullbreds in Stud Book 4.

Wright had 13 fullbred TFCs (one also registered permanently).

Smith had nine (two registered permanently).

Read had eight (one registered permanently).

Mr. and Mrs. Harold F. Watson also had eight (two registered permanently).

Clough, of Spring Ledge Farm, had seven (two registered permanently).

Height trends

Six fullbreds were under 13 hands, all 12.3 hands.

A total of 125 fullbreds were in the 13 hand range.

Seventy-nine were in the 14 hand range, similar to the 81 in that height range in Stud Book 3.

Seven of those 79 were over 14.2, with heights ranging from 14.3 to 15.1.

None of those seven had the words “Section II” next to their name in the stud book, despite the “Points of the Connemara” section explaining the two sections and Stud Book 3 applying the label to the taller horses within their registration information. The secretary may have forgotten to do it.

Color trends

Studbook 4’s fullbred coat colors consisted of 83 gray, 39 duns, six gray duns (counted in both groups), 34 bays, 11 blacks, 20 browns (two of them brown roans), eight chestnuts (two of them chestnut roans), two palominos, 14 creams and 16 roans, eight of them gray roans.

Combined, there were 65 bay, black and brown coats, accounting for 30.4 percent of the 214 fullbred coat colors, a big jump from the roughly 20 percent of coat colors in Stud Books 1, 2 and 3. Many within the society have preferred Connemaras to have white coats (but not off-white, or cream, coats with blue eyes). The increasing color diversity may have led to some later discrimination against the darker horses, just as Stud Book 4 tried to eliminate blue-eyed creams.

Transfers

There were 101 transfers in Stud Book 4, with six of those for fullbreds that changed hands twice (Dunenough, Proud Beauty,  Rosehill’s Tiger,  Castanet Lady, Inisbofin Chipmunk, and Sir William’s Comet’s Pixie).

The transfer list provides only the name of the buyer, not the seller.

Georgia Industrial Institute, which seems to have been a prison throughout its history, transferred five fullbreds (a stallion, gelding and three mares) to its name. All five had been registered by Wright. Online descriptions of the institute suggest it was focused on rehabilitation, but an extensive paper describing the institute’s rehab services never mentions horses.

Golden Hills Academy, possibly an equestrian academy, of Ocala, Florida, transferred four, including stallion Georgia’s Mister Irish, the sire of 20 Connemaras registered in the US by that point.

Msgr. Edward L. Melton and Mrs. Bayard Smith tied for third in transfers to their name, with three each.

There was a lot of transfer activity in Georgia, likely driven by Wright’s earlier importation of dozens of fullbreds from Ireland to his Rose Hill (sometimes Rosehill) Farm in Columbus, Georgia. Fifteen of the 101 transfers in Stud Book 4 carried the Rose Hill or Rosehill prefix. Rosehill’s Tiger, a fullbred mare, accounted for two of those transfers, with Wright transferring Rosehill’s Tiger back to himself for the second transfer.

Looking at new owners by state, 13 were in Georgia, 12 in Massachusetts, 11 in New York and 10 in Tennessee.

Interesting Trivia

Mrs. J. C. Herbert Bryant (formerly Magalen O. Crane of Whitewood and Madcap farms) started registering Connemaras under the Atoka Farm name.

The Harris family for the first time applied their Hideaway farm name to a Connemara in the TFC section, for Hideaway’s Emerald, but not for other Hideaway foals registered with TFCs at the same time.

Several American breeders bought fullbred-registered mares from Ireland and registered them in the US as halfbreds because the mares’ parents were unknown. Those mares were Carna Colleen, *Dainty Gil, *Abbyleix Peggy, *Erin’s Glory and *Bo Peep.

Rule B under the “Transfer of Imports” rules in Stud Book 4 said the ACPS would not accept (automatically register) imports registered as fullbreds in the Irish Stud Book after Nov. 5, 1961, unless parents and grandparents were identified on the ponies’ registration papers.

For US-born Connemaras, Stud Book 4 says the ACPS will register 2-year-olds that are “the progeny of registered stock.” Is there some gray area in there for 2-year-olds of parents registered as fullbreds in Ireland? Perhaps, because *Dainty Gil, a fullbred in Ireland registered as a halfbred in the US, had one offspring, Gilnocky Gaiety, born in 1964, registered as a fullbred in Stud Book 4.

Fullbred mare Glencara Pussy, originally registered as a halfbred in Stud Book I because of her early small size of 12 hands, was re-registered as a fullbred in Stud Book 4 by Gilnocky Farm at a height of 13 hands. She had had two foals, as of Stud Book 4, both tall enough to be registered as fullbreds.

The dam name for halfbred mare Madcap Galadette was misspelled. It should have been Whitewood Brigidette, rather than Whitewood Bridgette, if Brigidette’s registration was correct.

Rose Hill’s Button and Bows had the wrong TFC number. It said 502, but it was 503, identified by the tattoo filed with the TFC. The tattoo number was listed with the registration, as well.

Rose Hill Mar’s Rebel was listed in the stallion section with no TFC number, but he had one — No. 493 — again identified by the tattoo number because he was listed as “Unnamed” in the TFC section of Stud Book 3.

Gaelin’s Squire of Silvaire was listed in the stallion section with no TFC number, but he had one, too: No. 365.

The Oak Hills prefix transitioned to OH for 10 fullbred registrations and Oh for 12 TFCs.

Rose Hill Farm became RHF for RHF Tully’s Rose in the permanent registrations.

Horses that had no height listed are Land Gate Charade, Land Gate Sand Piper, Well Done, and Oak Hill’s Cappagh’s Mollie.

Again, sadly, there were no photos in this stud book, presumably to prevent hard feelings, but the photos have been so appreciated in revealing to today’s researchers what the early Connemaras looked like, it’s a big loss.

This is likely our last summary of a single stud book. We may look for broader trends in groups of stud books going forward.

Read our earlier summaries of ACPS Stud Books 1, 2 and 3.

Search our database of the ACPS-registered Connemaras through Stud Book 4.