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An Irish Showjumping Dynasty by Nicholas O'Hare
EuroBooks Dublin
The latest data from the Irish Sport Horse Studbook discloses that the King of Diamonds line remains the most influential breeding dynasty in the country. Up to 700 foals are produced each year by approved King of Diamonds sire descendants. Well over 300 other mares with King of Diamonds blood produce foals as well. In years to come people will undoubtedly ask what was so special about King of Diamonds. The answer is his prepotency. He proved himself a singular sire of jumpers, not just in the first generation but down the line. King of Diamonds will be recorded in the history of Irish sport horse breeding as a true foundation sire. This book endeavors to provide some outline of this remarkable Irish performance stallion's ongoing contribution to Irish sport horse breeding.
There was a measure of consternation in the Irish Draught world in the spring of 1997 when it was learned that a son of Glidawn Diamond which had scored the highest conformation marks in the inspections of that year had been sold to the United States. Renamed O'Leary's Irish Diamond this good young sort was bought by Jim and Karen Leary during a visit to Bill and Anna Kennedy the previous October.
Commenting on the sale of this grandson of King of Diamonds, Jim Leary said that they convinced the Kennedys that good horses were needed everywhere. "It was a great opportunity to bring one of the world's best jumping lines to America. When you look at the King of Diamonds success it is hard to be at if not impossible."
In these days when performance testing is the buzz word for the horse industry, it is perhaps well to reflect that horsemen before performance testing was pushed by the authorities were taking out these stallions and jumping them in open competition. Many Irish Draught breeders are very much concerned at the direction colt approvals have taken.
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