29 August 2010
Percy is officially a weanling. Auntie Orchid is happy to share her hay and dinner with him and is there to provide a little motherly guidance when he needs it. Hard to believe Percy will be leaving for his new home and new friends at Bell Tower Stud in a couple of weeks. Now it's time to get mama mare Hermione back under saddle to make a start on regaining her girlish figure!

22 August 2010
2011 Foal update: The "Filly Only" contract on Lionwood Seventh Heaven's 2011 foal is SOLD (thank you Lauren!). I am reserving first refusal on a filly out of Lionwood Waterwitch for myself.

COLT ONLY CONTRACTS are still available for both mares. In utero contracts offer significant savings over purchasing foals already on the ground. Contracts are priced differently based on gender preference. Our colt contracts are priced at $5000, with a $500 deposit securing your foal and 25% downpayment due with the signed contract. We offer reasonable payment terms that spread the cost of your foal out until weaning, and the choice of your money back or rebreeding rights for the following year should you not get a healthy colt. Contact Liz if you are interested in purchasing a purebred colt in utero.

5 August 2010
Back from a lovely holiday on Cape Cod. Hermione is in foal - hooray! She is due mid-June 2011. In utero contracts will be available this year on both foals, contact Liz for terms.

9 July 2010
Just a brief mid-summer update. Holly has been confirmed in foal to Heathercombe Calico and is due the first week of May 2011. Hermione has been bred back to Harkaway Lionhawk and we will be checking her soon. Percy has been sold to a great home in North Carolina where he will be run on as a stallion. And we, the humans, are off to Woods Hole, MA for a bit of R&R!

27 May 2010

Lionwood Lir, aka Percy: 4 weeks old and sporting his first haircut

30 April 2010

It's a BOY!!

24 April 2010
(Note the conspicuous absence of an actual foal in the photo below, despite 3 nights with milk tests off the charts...)

A very pregnant Hermione with junior foal watcher Will Freeman

22 April 2010
We just received this lovely photograph of Lionwood Ranger, who we sold as a weanling to Jody McManus in Delaware. "George" will be 4 years old in May and will attend the RID stallion inspections this fall. He was our Bonnie's last foal. His sire is Huntingfield Proud Tim.

Big Georgie! (photo courtesy of Jody McManus)


Baby Georgie!

10 April 2010
Baby countdown has started. Hermione's 340 day is 27 April (she is in foal to Harkaway Lionhawk). She is not looking particularly imminent other than starting to get a little loosey goosey in her joints behind. Check back for baby news!

17 February 2010
Sad news. We lost our wonderful colt, Lionwood Revelry, to a freak pasture accident, leaving a hole in our herd and in our hearts. Godspeed sweet Ben...give Grandma Bonnie a scritch from all of us.

11 February 2010
News from Florida: Hawk placed first and second in his first jumper classes with Aaron Vale at HITS Ocala. The L1 classes are huge - 50 in the class he won and 42 in the other class. Aaron reports that he is getting lots of attention in the warm-up. He will move up to L2 this weekend and Aaron will see how he goes from there. Angus is not showing yet after a minor injury on the van going down. He is now in work though and doing well. Trainer Mette Kjellerup has pronounced that he has the mind of a Grand Prix horse. We will see if the body is as willing :-)

20 January 2010
Breeding plans confirmed for 2010...Hermione will go back to Harkaway Lionhawk R.I.D. for a three-peat, and Holly will be bred to the lovely, recently approved Heather Breeze grandson Heathercombe Calico R.I.D.. Although there will be three sixth-generation references to Milestone from less commonly seen sources (Huntsman, Lisheen, and Dove II) coming from Holly's side of the family, Holly's foal will otherwise be a total outcross with no King of Diamonds, Errigal, Pride of Shaunlara, or Clover Hill. Lots of wonderful old Irish Draught bloodlines in this pedigree, which also features linebreeding to Colman (movement) and Lahinch (jump). This foal will have a 50% chance of inheriting the gene for dun coat color from Calico.

16 January 2010
For Sale: Lionwood Revelry (aka Ben), 2009 purebred Irish Draught soon-to-be-gelding, black going grey. Classic deep bodied traditional stamp with quality and bone, will mature to at least 16 hands. Already demonstrating the uphill self-carriage and cadenced movement his sire and dam are known for. Should easily make-up into a competitive driving horse, capable dressage horse and/or fancy foxhunter. Friendly, easy-going temperament even as an entire colt. Damsire Happy Ending showjumped in England and USA; Happy Ending's full brother Storming Home competed Advanced dressage in Europe. Dam Lionwood Seventh Heaven rides and drives and has hunted. Other close mare family relatives are successful CDE, dressage, and hunt horses, as well as breed show winners. Sire Harkaway Lionhawk is currently showjumping with Aaron Vale. Ben leads, loads, ties, clips, stands for hose/fly spray. Has had rigorous nutritional management and preventative health and hoof care. Registration in process with IDHSNA. Foal pics on 2009 news page, more available by email.

13 January 2010
Hawk aka Harkaway Lionhawk is settling in nicely in Ocala in preparation for showing at HITS in the jumpers with Grand Prix rider Aaron Vale. Aaron and his staff have been very complimentary of Hawk's manners, braveness, bold attitude and scope and we are excited to hear how he fairs in the next weeks! Angus aka Lionwood Kinsale's Lad, is just down the road in Wellington at Synergy Dressage, the home of successful international FEI dressage rider Mette Kjellerup. Mette is perhaps best known for her partnership with Lars Petersen and thus her significant involvement with the careers of Don Schufro, Blue Hors Cavan, and Utopia (among others) in Denmark. We are excited to see these boys in such capable(!) hands. Stay tuned for updates!

9 January 2010
A little something from the Flying Harp video archives...

7 January 2010
Exciting news to report! Two former residents of Flying Harp Farm (both of whom just happen to be grey R.I.D. stallions) are currently settling in their new digs in Florida - one in Ocala and the other in Wellington - for the winter show season. Check back soon for the scoop :-)

2 January 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Wishing all of the members of our Irish Draught family, near and far, horse and human, a happy, healthy, and productive 2010.

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