Being the backbone of any breed, geldings hold a special place of recognition and honor, within the Gypsy Cob and Drum Horse Association.  The “Gifted Geldings” program offers the perfect environment to promote, recognize and honor outstanding geldings.  While the incentive to geld should always be the ideal that leads to the betterment of the breed, as well as, the safety and enjoyment of its enthusiasts, many rare breeds, or those breeds enjoying a huge popularity and upswing in numbers, often see the need for an additional incentive. By creating the Gifted Geldings Incentive Foundation & Trust, the Gypsy Cob and Drum Horse Association would like to also recognize and reward those owners/breeders who make the, sometimes difficult, decision to geld.

• Gifted Geldings will be recognized through inspections, shows and futurities.

• Gifted Geldings will be honored through designated awards

• Gifted Geldings will be rewarded through specially allocated funds providing show and inspection paybacks

• Gifted Geldings who do not show, are eligible for a special award dedicated to the non-show Gifted Gelding who best represents the family and/or service horse.  This award will be based on a written essay to be submitted with photos depicting the Gifted Gelding’s role as the perfect family or service horse.

2007 Gifted Gelding Awards;

·         Gifted Gelding accumulating the highest number of points in the Merit Awards Program (GCDHA & Open Shows)

2.    All Gifted Geldings must be properly designated as geldings on their GCDHA registration certificates

Events:

Oct. 19 - 21 - Heartland Feathered Classic - Danville, IN - Gypsy & Drum Horse Show and Inspection.  What a success! The HFC was both fun and educational. Thanks to Michael Connors (Ireland) and James Taylor (England), our judges, and Brian Cash (England), our ring steward. Exhibitors came from all over the eastern half of the country and everyone's already looking forward to next year's show!  The inspection was the best attended, to date, with 22 horses being inspected on Friday and another 10 horses inspected the following Tuesday.  High Scoring horse on Friday was the Gypsy Cob mare, Magickal Farm McKenzie, and the high scoring horse on Tuesday was the stallion, Clononeen Mull of Kintyre.  Winner of the very first $500 Gifted Gelding award for high point gelding, was Shamrock Billy O'Brien.  A special award was given to the exhibitor who most embodied the kind and generous spirit of the Gypsy Cob & Drum Horse. Winner of the 2007 Spirit Award was Jim & Cindy Patterson.

We wish to thank our sponsors who made this possible!

GCDHA General Show Rules

Past Events:

Nov., 2006 - Equine Affaire in Springfield, MA was well attended by GCDHA members. The Gypsy Cobs look fantastic and gave 2 great demonstrations. The Drum Horses also did an outstanding job and Drum Horse stallion, King Rocky, was a nightly feature of the Pfizer Fantasia. This was a first for the Drum Horse breed and King Rocky looked absolutely gorgeous under the spotlight. King Rocky is owned by Katherine Pears of Northeast Gypsy Legends. Members attending the event included: Lise McNamara of Blarney Stone Acres, John & Claudette Griffith of Belladonna Gypsies, Julie MacKinnon of Nautilus Gold, John & Becky Glover of Drum & Feather Farm, Brian and Deirdre Cash of Clononeen Farm, Katherine Pears of Northeast Gypsy Legends, Caryl Giard of Painted Hills Gypsys, Shirecrest Equine Education Center, Stacey Cullen of Tawney Falls Farm, Terry Marshall of Iron Bridge Farm, Jill Canillas Daly of Kell Cala, Bud Hartman of Lakeview Farm, Bob and Kim Swaisgood of Evenstar Farm, Micah Nelson, Bloomfield, NY, Debbie Reinicke of Finnegan's Fields and Lana Markey of North Ster Farm. Pictures below were taken during the event.

 

 

Oct., 2006 - Union Grove, WI Inspection: Our second inspection was held at a lovely facility in WI. Both stallions and mares were inspected and our judge was the very well known British judge and trainer, Mr. Christopher Willett. High scoring horse of the day was Clononeen Playboy.

At left: Clononeen Playboy - High scoring horse at the Wisconsin inspection.

 

Oct., 2006 - Spokane, WA Inspection: North America's very first inspection took place under a brilliant blue sky. The judge was none other than renowned artist James Taylor of England. James was as thorough in his inspection of each horse as he is in his artwork and wagon building, running his hands down the legs and picking up the feet of every participant. He was thoughtful and articulate about each score and then, after the inspection, was gracious enough to spend time with each participant going over the fine points of the breed and answering questions about conformation, type and bloodlines. Just as commendable are our participants. With inspections being new to this breed, many people were quite nervous about bringing their horses out and presenting them. Kudos to those brave souls that made this first inspection a success! Thank you to Sharon Teague of Big Sky Gypsy And Drum Horses, Dan & Cyndi Holcomb of White Stone Ranch, Greg and Maureen Griffin of CastleKnoll Gypsy Cobs and Michele Bournonville of Midnight Sun Ranch for being so supportive. And thank you to Shannon Johnson for finding the Spokane Sporthorse Farm, the people at this facility were so nice to work with, we really enjoyed being there.