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Great Performers (I): Garryhack Bobby |
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by Sonja Fritschi |
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| Generally it is known that Connemara ponies are excellent jumpers.
On their pastures no wall or fence is high enough no ditch wide enough to keep them away
from the more grassy land on the other side. Since about 1930 Connemaras caught the
attention of the world by their most successful appearance on international jumping
events. One of the most remarkable ponies of the last few years is the gelding
GARRYHACK BOBBY. In his youth he was one of the best showjumping ponies in Europe. Breeded
in Ireland, he won five international contests with Carol and Corina Sorg. When Carole, the older of the two sisters was about twelve years old, her parents were looking for a good jumper for her. Friends of the family considered at that time buying a Connemara in Ireland. As they could not make up their mind whether to by the pony or not. Sorg's went to Wexford and Carole tried the pony. Although it was not an easy ride, she liked eight year old Bobby well and so he was moved to Sorg's stable in Switzerland. First Carole schooled him in dressage in order to make him easier to handle. He did quite well but he always preferred jumping by far. After one and a a half year Carole and Bobby were fit for any contests. From then on they were serious favourites wherever they entered. |
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| Corina, the younger of the sisters, started jumping on Bobby as well and took over when Carole finally had to change to big horses because of her age. The two of them celebrated many more victories as the list shows. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Corina told me that Garryhack Bobby is very ambitious and
has a sixth sense for the real important moments. He is also quite dominant and
independent and has the ability to judge an obstacle on his own. This of course was good
for the girls as they were still young and not so experienced in order that they could
learn from him. He corrected little mistakes of his riders himself. But as the girls grew
older it made it harder for them to change to big horses as thy usually are quite
different. One of Bobby's characteristics: he is really greedy as the following episode illustrates. One winter Sorg's spent their holidays together with their horses in the mountains at the border of a lake. The lake was already frozen but some spots were not yet solid enough to carry a horse. One morning during stablework Bobby walked out of his stable, jumped a snowwall and run straight out onto the lake. The family called after him and as it did not help, they took his favourite mare out of the stable but he did not bother and continued running around. The anxious owners feared that the ice would break and the pony might drawn in the cold water. Carole hurried back to the stable and came back with a bucket of oats. She called him, shook the bucket and when he heard the familiar sound he immediately turned around and run straight to Carole. Now, at the age of sixteen, Garryhack Bobby is still jumping in a lower class with a young girl, giving him the possibility to do what he likes most: showjumping. |
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| Internet Connemara Pony Gallery, Issue 8, 1.7.2001 | Home | ||
| http://www.connemarapony.ch |
