Tower Hill's Breeze     
Tower Hill's Breeze ('04) is the last of the famed Tower Hill Farm ponies. She is by *Kilfenora Windy Isles, chosen by Mary Rutter to breed to her lovely mare Tower Hill's Kathleen (*Chiltern Copa x Tower Hill's Katie).
Above: Breeze under saddle August 2012 © Nancy Gaffney.

Breeze spent the summer of 2025 as a Pony Club pony at Heather Smith's with her grandson Pierson riding and "teaching her to jump" 12  inch crossrails. She did a lot of hacking and crossrails.

Breeze and Pierson had a fine time at the Region 1 show, Pierson's first show, and emerged with lots of green ribbons. Breeze and I received a red ribbon in the older mares class in hand.
Now we are resuming our dressage career and this winter we are tuning up for our USDF Century ride in 2026.
Tower Hill's Breeze is back in action in 2024 as Sally's reliable steed. We went to the beach with Linda Haines and Nancy Gaffney in April.

Above & Below: Breeze at the beech in April 2024 with Sally and Linda Haines. Photos by Nancy Gaffney.



We then entered our first Working Equitation recognized show in September and placed second in dressage but disqualified in the Ease of Handling phase. Great fun and we will keep at it!

Above & below: Sally and Breeze in a Working Equitation show, Sept 2024.
Breeze is 20 in 2024 and still a safe riding pony for old and young. She is working with Heather Smith to give lessons to her grandkids this winter at 4.0 Farm and still doing western work and working equitation with Sally.

Eliza Smith with Breeze, Christmas 2023.
 
Tower Hill's Breeze is back at 4.0 Farm in Stratham for 2022 and in working order after a season off. We are trying out Working Equitation, a rapidly growing equestrian discipline around the world, and recently in the US. The first two phases are dressage and Ease of Handling. She is great with obstacles and has a good dressage background, so we will see how it goes.

Breeze in 2021 doing working equitation

Breeze spent 2020 being versatile - at age 16, she has moved on from dressage to anything else. We took trail and obstacle classes with Kim Meyer at Starlit Hollow Farm in Brentwood NH and then loved the obstacles in the Mountain Trail course at Mountain Lane Farm in Temple NH. We earned our bronze and silver medals from the Misfit Farms (Idaho) Competitive Trail test.

Above: Breeze at Misfit Farm doing trail work
Breeze is a great grandchild pony and enjoyed beach riding. We started working cows at SHF in a group which was great fun.  And she had three other riders - my grandaughter Natalia, my neighbor Ava, and a young lady who leased her in the past, Elizabeth. Even so it is a challenge to keep her weight down!
Below:Breeze and cows and more trail work
 
Below: Breeze with Elizabeth and with Talia in December and September
 
Below: Breeze and Ava in December 2020
Tower Hill's Breeze had a big year in 2019 as she won the Champion Connemara in Hand at Region 1 and she won the Trail class at Starlit Hollow Farm in Brentwood NH. We tried a USDF First Level test at The Tack Shack in Fremont NH, and we did some trail work and hacking with Chris Keim. She and I miss having someone to hack with these days.
Breeze at the 2019 Region 1 Connemara Show


Breeze had a good year in 2018 as my reliable riding pony and a champion in hand. In addition to her star performance in the Boston St Patrick's Day parade, she participated in various ACPS Region 1 activities and beach rides and earned her Award of Excellence from the ACPS in In Hand.  
Breeze  was also USEF Horse of the Year Reserve Champion Connemara Purebred Mare in Hand which was awarded at the USEF Horse of the Year banquet in West Palm Beach in January 2019. I got to go to the USEF meeting and accept her big ribbon! Now we are back to focussing on dressage for 2019.
 
Breeze in New York 
Tower Hill's Breeze had a good 2017 as my riding pony. In May 2017 we went to the New York State Breeder's Show where she was Champion Connemara in hand in a recognized show, and did well in various hunter under saddle classes. She was ridden by Kerri Johnson, a young rider from Triple Creek Farm in West Winfield NY. Kerri also rode her at the ACPS Region 1 show and they did very well in hunter pleasure and equitation classes.

Breeze and Kerri in New York
In the fall we went to the beach as usual, with Linda Haines and Bluebell. It was a howling windstorm and 45 degrees, but we had a fine time.

Breeze and Sally on the right
In January 2018 I received an email from the ACPS looking for someone who had a pony which might brave the Boston Saint Patrick's Day Parade with Susan Oakes, world renowned Irish sidesaddle rider who had been invited to ride in the parade. 
So YES Breeze was a perfect star, and got to hack with her best pony pal Elphin  Kookaburra. I could  not be more proud of my two mares who were the model of good behavior in the one million people who were shouting at us and waving flags etc. Sidesaddle no less!

Breeze and Susan Oakes in the
2018 Boston Saint Patrick's Day parade

Tower Hill's Breeze has been promoted to my mount again in 2016. We are tuning up our dressage, hacking with Rachel on Kookaburra or Carmody, and doing some cross training with Rachel Green-Lowell who has been jumping Breeze some for me.

Those of you who know her realize that Breeze still has her ears back style, but she likes being in work, she takes good care of me, and we plan to hit the dressage ring and the Region 1 show again in 2017 when she is back in shape.


Breeze jumping with Rachel Green-Lowell.

Breeze and Sally on a hack with Rachel and Kookaburra

In September 2015, Tower Hill's Breeze happily gave up motherhood and moved to CT where she is the dressage mount of Cailey Fay who has outgrown Carmody. They celebrated their first month together by travelling to the Lendon Gray Emerging Dressage Riders Clinic in Rhode Island where Lendon was heard to say she was "in love with this little Connemara pony." The job for the winter is to tune up Breeze's jumping skills. Come see them in the breed demo at Equine Affaire!

 
L: Breeze on day 1 in CT. R: Breeze and Cailey at a Lendon Gray clinic in October.

Breeze had a filly, Paradox Westerly in May 2015. She is probably staying black and so far is very sweet and friendly.


Breeze with Westerly, 3 days old.

Paradox Westerly is growing well and enjoy life with her dam Breeze.

 
Paradox Westerly in May 2015 and July 2015

 

In 2014 Tower Hill's Breeze was bred to Kynynmont Cooper O'Grady (*Gunsmoke x Kynynmont Moira) who is a dark buckskin dressage stallion belonging to Pam Liddell from Conestoga PA. He was the ACPS Connemara of the Year in 2013, and has been competing and doing very well on the dressage circuit this year. Otherwise, Breeze is a dressage or reliable trail pony or lesson mount for grandkids or visitors, including my neighbor in her 80's who rides her weekly.


Kynynmont Cooper O'Grady

 
Tower Hill's Breeze spent the 2013 summer as a riding companion for Sarah Chisholm or for my daughter, or doing some trail riding with me. She made an appearance at the Region 1 Show where she was Champion mare again, and got the best time in the trail ride with Sarah aboard and Carolyn McEvitt on Kookaburra, and made her first appearance in the costume class.
 
Above L: Winning Champion Mare at the ACPS Reg 1 show. Above R: Breeze at her ACPS inspection.
Below L: Breeze casual in the costume class! Below R: Sally and Breeze.
 

Breeze is back in work as a dressage horse and won her Training Level test 3 class with a 65% in September 2012. Nancy Gaffney also caught her playing in the field with Sally (see left, above and below).

Tower Hill's Breeze has been leased for the 2012 summer by Elizabeth Prior who who is a senior at Exeter HS. Elizabeth is getting her started as an event pony. They won the pre-novice division at their first two phase at Green Acres in Dover NH. Breeze also has been seen out hacking with Jody Kaufman or my daughter Rachel on board and she is liking having her filly home with her.


Breeze and Elizabeth at Green Acres.


Breeze and her 2011 filly Paradox Zephyr (*Canal Laurinston)

As well as having Zephyr in 2011, Breeze participated in the mare class at the USEF Connemara Judges clinic hosted by Bantry Bay Farm in September. It was only a demo but she was placed first.

Breeze and Sally wait their turn at the judges clinic

TH Breeze won her Training Level Test 3 class at her first recognized dressage show in June 2010, and placed well in TLT 4. After the Region 1 show she will retire to be a lady in waiting as she is in foal to *Canal Laurinston.

 
Above L: Breeze at the University of New Hampsire dressage show. Above R: at the 2010 Region 1 ACPS Show where she was Best Young Mare


Tower Hill's Breeze spent the early months of 2009 at 4.0 Farm in Stratham NH, in dressage training. She attended the Region 1 Field day at Wendy Warner's Seven Springs Farm, followed by the Northeaster Welsh Cob and Pony Society Show at Hits on the Hudson where she was Champion Mare and Reserve Champion Connemara in the Connemara division.

At the 2009 ACPS Region 1 show she was Reserve Champion mare, and pinned in every class she entered.

At Dressage at Devon in Devon PA, she placed 5th in the Connemara in hand class and trailered down and back 8 hours without a peep. Now she is back to work on her dresage skills, and regular hacking where her big walk puts her out front which is the way she likes it. This fall she will start her jumping career.


Breeze at Devon, 2009.

In August 2008 Breeze continued her winning ways at the Region 1 ACPS Show in Woodstock VT where she received both the Champion Connemara Mare in Hand and the Grand Champion Connemara in Hand tropies.


Breeze on the beach.

When Mary Rutter bred Breeze, she was looking for a smaller stallion as Tower Hill's Kathleen had already had a few foals who were oversize.


Windy Isles was a good choice with plenty of bone and great movement. Kathleen was Champion in Hand at her first Region 1 Show, with the substance and presence of her sire,* Chiltern Copa. Breeze has been the Young Stock Champion 3 times at the Region 1 show, and was much admired at her ACPS inspections. She is 14 hands, and was born chestnut, now going grey.


Tower Hill's Kathleen (l) and daughter Tower Hill's Breeze (r) at the 2009 ACPS Region 1 show.