The Little Pony That Wasn’t

The captivating Connemara! We are celebrating these horses as our May Breed of the Month on YourDressage!

Did you know that dressage riders who choose a Connemara as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the American Connemara Pony Society is a participating organization?

Here, a rider from Region 8 takes us through the years she spent raising her homebred Connemara cross, and the many important careers and roles he willingly stepped up to perform.

By Susan McBurnie and Amelie Burke

Every memorable story begins somehow with two best friends and a glass of wine. “I want to go buy the dam of my heart horse, and breed another like him!” I said one evening. So, off to the breeder we went, with a trailer, and my entire hay budget for the year.

As we climbed the back roads through the Catskill Mountains, I never doubted I would have my next beloved partner soon. When we finally arrived at the farm, my eyes scanned the fields, landing on the sweet mare… and then a refined black face peeped from behind her. With a mane and tail matted in burdocks, the face belonged to an unhandled filly, who had been given to the “babysitter mare” upon weaning – five years before. 

After an unexpected turn of events, the now-upset black stormcloud of a horse that was glued to my new mare hopped on the trailer as well. The additional feral mare was a 15.3-hand Connemara/Percheron cross.  

Over the next several months, the Connemara cross mare evolved into a stunning and smart gal. Too smart, and true to pony-mindedness, she has mastered the art of escape and mayhem. No latch or doorway is too big of a challenge, and she will go where she pleases, thank you very much. 

I decided that perhaps she could be settled by being bred, and then we could resume her training. Committed now to this path, I began researching all of the Connemara stallions available. This baby would be my one-and-done bucket list foal, so I was going for a three-quarter Connemara cross, as well-bred as possible, for a great family pony. I quickly narrowed down my list of potential stallions to the legend himself, “The Little Horse That Could”: Hideaway’s Erin Go Bragh! 

Having grown up in an eventing circle in New York, Carol Koslowski and Erin Go Bragh are local celebrities, and I still have his Breyer horse! I was thrilled to find him available. Go Bragh was serving only select mares, and after receiving approval, we shipped out to Geneseo. The pieces fell into place, and eleven months later, I was crying for joy and instantly in love with a huge dun foal. “I’ve got a black colt!” I whispered to my girlfriend the next morning, while he was sleeping in my lap. 

From that moment on, my husband and children never saw me again. The foal watch lounge chairs never left the barn, and the foal handling and adoration sessions were endless. Every boarder and friend had to maul him, name ideas flowed, and he started to GROW. 

Familiar with warmblood breeding and growth, my eyes were not deceiving me. He was a monster. Pastern size and angles, hock measurements, nutrition, all of it kept me awake at night. How did this happen? He was supposed to be a PONY. Well, it turns out his Percheron granddam was an 18-hand, long-backed, carriage-bred mare named Homestead’s Sally Laet. And as it turns out, Erin Go Bragh was known to preserve height. So, odds were I was going to have a big boy to raise. 

Weaned at five months, his momma was sent off for a three-month training stint, and the now-named Shawnee began his natural horsemanship education. All the love and affection from his human herd had been a wonderful base for him, and his aunties and uncles were the gentlest pasture teachers. He has been out in mixed herds his entire life, and this upbringing has given him the greatest turnout options of any horse I know. 

Shawnee’s Connemara brain quickly absorbed everything, and he learned all the weaknesses of the farm, just like his mother had. For instance, he was quick to figure out that his young frame fit through the fence gap enclosing his uncles’ pasture. Thankfully, they literally licked him and groomed him like a newborn. 

Then, there was the time he forgot we had fencing, and he shaved half his face bouncing off of it. And the time he climbed halfway over the Dutch door before finding himself stuck.

Or the “Whee, I’m free!” crash on the driveway; we had been laughing at his antics as he pranced defiantly around the yard, trying to decide if the apple tree or the grass was the better destination, when he tripped and skidded on the gravel. The LOOK on his face when he got up… eyebrows crinkled, eyes sorry, lower lip quivering, as he slowly walked right to me clearly crying, “MOMMY!! I fell off my bike!” If horses could sob and fall into mommy’s arms, he did. 

Shawnee is overflowing with personality.

We spent years practicing the “levels” of natural games, as I’m a huge fan of these foundations. We noodled around the trails and fields around the farm, and trailered off the property to go on easy walk-trot adventures with friends. 

There is no generational wealth in our family; we are plain, honest folk from Depression Era parents. Everything we have has been from our own sweat. Our goal has always just been to have nice family members. 

As a mother of two, both my kids were raised in the barn, of course. My daughter, Andrea, and her Shetland pony went to the fair as part of 4-H, and then graduated to Pony Club as a three-day eventer. My son has Fragile X Syndrome, so we joined the Special Olympics Edge Club Equestrian Team, offering Shawnee as a lesson horse. 

The education earned for this young, now 17-hand horse was priceless. Shawnee already had the human affection and desire to please, and now he had a FAN CLUB. Everyone loved how gentle and versatile he was. 

My daughter also helps at Special Olympics, and has been riding Shawnee regularly, among the obstacles, games, wheelchairs, and excited riders. He has learned a great deal about being a solid-minded mount with her. Another coach noticed her skills, and suggested dressage lessons. 

Not ones to stay within financial limits, we trailered off to USDF Gold Medalist Jeff Lindberg. He watched Shawnee and Andrea for a few minutes, gave her a direction or two, then turned to me and said, “Yes, I can work with that.” That’s high praise from a trainer with a waiting list of people who want to train under him! 

My entire training “scheme” for Shawnee had been to have a well-rounded, good citizen, who would do anything I asked of him, which was not going to include competitive athletics at my age. At 18, I had breezed two-year-olds and willingly rode jiggy mares for fun, but at 40 and with children, those days were long over.

Graciously, Jeff agreed to let Andrea, now thirteen, work off her lessons if I could swing paying for Shawnee’s board. It was not my best financial decision, but it was the beginning of the next amazing chapter for the big goon. 

Under Jeff’s exceptional training, Andrea and Shawnee went on to become a competitive pair at Eastern New York Dressage and Combined Training Association (ENYDCTA) competitions for two seasons at Training and First Level. Together, they earned Top Ten, Grand Champion, High Score, and Year-End Grand Champion Junior awards two years in a row.  

By 16, Andrea was ready to school and compete at the higher levels. The pair had ridden in clinics with some top Olympic judges, and she decided to lease a Fourth Level warmblood, letting her beloved Shawnee remain at First Level, where he is comfortable and requires very little maintenance. While Andrea is training for the FEI Juniors and trying to qualify for the North American Youth Dressage Championships (NAYC) on a sponsored Dutch Warmblood, Shawnee came home to save money and become mom’s horse again.

Just kidding. 

As 2020 rolled on, we entered COVID shutdowns, where every single showground closed, and trainers and owners left New York for the open grounds of Florida. Those of us without the wallet to follow the exodus were left waiting for competitions to reopen regionally. 

For a 17-hand fit and fancy dressage horse, this was bliss. Shawnee went back to his herd turnout, and the occasional hack – exactly what he did not need. Being a Connemara pony cross, he could become fat on air, so it was back to work in the makeshift outdoor arena at home. 

That summer, we were approached by a friend with a proposal: Could she use Shawnee to train some new mounted police recruits? They were beginner riders who needed to learn the basics of walk, trot, and canter with confidence, but who would also be riding Draft horses on duty. Lesson horses for beginners didn’t fit these requirements. 

Andrea had been schooling Second Level work, Shawnee had given a few lessons, and now he got to show off his citizenship and obstacle skills for our local police recruits. Without gushing, I really cannot even come close to explaining how incredibly proud I am of my horse. Yes, my daughter gets the dressage training credit; she made this champion, earned her Silver Medal, and continued to compete and train sponsored horses. But this guy, his Connemara brain that makes him so brilliant and versatile, his eagerness to be a good citizen, his willingness to try new things, and the foundations we all put into him make him the amazing horse that he is. 

Then, in 2023, the most divine blessing arrived: a young rider named Amelie Burk, who was hoping to take some dressage lessons. Having recently emigrated from Germany with her family, she had ridden some Off-Track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs) but wanted to take some more meaningful lessons. We had the perfect horse who was waiting for another talented junior. So, back to Jeff’s Shawnee went, to take another Junior rider up the ladder to Regionals! They are truly in love, and they have both blossomed into an amazing and competitive team. 

Shawnee was the first Connemara that Amelie had ridden. Having heard about their kind, willing, and trusting demeanor, she says she was still unsure what to expect of this particular cross. With his 17-hand body, it seemed that his Connemara side was overshadowed by the Percheron blood, but with his dished nose, round eyes, and proportionally small ears, his Connemara traits weren’t completely hidden. 

To Amelie, Shawnee’s eyes seem to hold the answers to the secrets of the world. He carries the look of an old soul, and looking into his eyes leaves everyone wondering: “What does he know that we don’t?”

While Percherons are not known for their athleticism, Connemaras are, and Shawnee’s Connemara side often takes over when presented with a new challenge. Time and again, proving how capable he is of doing anything asked of him. At times the stubbornness of the pony comes through, leading him to believe he can do whatever he wants. 

Occasionally, he gets so excited at a show that he believes bucking is the right thing to do. Amelie says that the second they enter the arena at A, though, he knows it’s showtime and doesn’t put a foot wrong. When it matters, Shawnee is an exemplary partner, and tries hard to please his rider. 

One day, Shawnee may carry a rider who is completely new to the sport, and the next day, a Grand Prix rider. During both rides, each rider can expect to have a willing horse who will try his best. Shawnee may never be a Grand Prix horse, but he has the special capability of doing everything else. Whether riding bareback, bridleless, small jumps, walking through the woods, or doing liberty work, he is with you every step of the way. 

At 18, Shawnee still surprises Amelie daily with his capability in the dressage arena. Like all of us, he has bad days, but when he is good, he is amazing. After a year and a half of training together, believing she knew him inside and out, they rode in a clinic and Amelie said, “A whole new Shawnee appeared beneath me. He flew around the arena as I had never felt before. Even the people who have known him since birth were stunned by the way he was moving. I believe that his whole Connemara brain was activated, and trying incredibly hard to answer every question I asked, while offering even more.” 

It is Shawnee’s unique personality – a blend of willingness, determination, awareness, and childish behavior – that captivates and draws Amelie into his world. She says, “Every time I’m around him, I can only think that everything will be alright; there is a feeling of completion and total contentment. Shawnee, unquestionably, is one of a kind, giving many people the pleasure of feeling what it’s like to fly, without leaving the ground.” 

Amelie and Shawnee Go Bragh had an amazing year in 2023, earning blues and reds, and receiving test comments that encouraged everyone. Susan says, “We all were not surprised when they qualified for the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 8 Dressage Championships, and won the ENYDCTA Grand Championship. We were amazed when, at the USEF Year-End Breed Awards, it was announced that our little homebred Connemara cross was National Reserve Champion.” 

While Amelie was unable to join them, Susan and Andrea jetted off to Kentucky for the awards presentation, where they made new friends, and fell even more in love with Shawnee. 

Who knew an overgrown Connemara pony-cross would be so successful?