Icarus Park - Laughton’s Legend RID

Vale Laughton's Legend RID

Beginning with vale is not how I had envisaged the Australian chapter of this lovely stallion’s life to begin, let alone end.  Sadly he was put to sleep due to a fractured upper forearm in 2004. 

I met Laughton’s Legend for the first time in New Zealand two years prior to purchasing him.  He was a very fluffy boy and I had nicknamed him the teddy bear, and had fallen totally in love with him.  He had been imported to NZ by the Morris family of Wynyard Lodge in Christchurch, as a four year old from Britain.  He was bred in Ireland in County Leitrim in 1983 and exported to Britain as a yearling.  He won the 1984 Supreme Champion Irish Draught of Great Britain at the National Show, and won it again in 1986 as a three year old with Mrs. Maggie Spreckley.  He stood for one season there and covered quite a few mares before making the trip to NZ.

Interestingly his traveling companion on the aeroplane from Britain was another purebred Irish Draught stallion, Kingsway Diamond RID (dec) (by King of Diamonds) imported to NZ by Thady Ryan.  Both owners of each stallion had no idea of the others’ plans to breed Irish horses, and they were also the first purebred Irish Draughts to be imported to NZ, what a coincidence.

While in NZ, Laughton’s Legend produced many offspring mainly to thoroughbred mares. They excelled in hunting, showjumping, eventing and many realising their potential as faithful quiet riding mounts.  Some of his offspring were exported to Asia, and some to the USA were they went on to compete in the international showjumping circuit.  He sired horses in Australia by transported chilled semen.  There remain in NZ several half bred stallions, sired by Laughton’s Legend.

Laughton’s Legend’s sire was the great Lahinch, a sire of eleven RID stallions in his lifetime.  His dam was a grey mare called Starlight.  Lahinch also sired Kiltoghert Casey RID(Imp Ire)(deceased) that stood in Australia for many years.  Lahinch was sired by Laughton (446) who was sired by the famous Laughton’s Last.  In Fell’s book on the Irish Draught, she states that the Laughton family line has a tremendous reputation for producing intelligent, talented and kind jumpers.  This definitely seems to be true in Laughton’s Legends’ case, with many jumpers and his own kind disposition evident in his progeny.

Personally my lasting impressions of this magnificent horse, was his lovely temperament, so quiet for a stallion and unfussed.  He really did have ‘a heart of pure gold’ as described by Glyn Morris his previous NZ owner when he heard of the horse’s misfortune.  He was finally purchased in early 2004, and he arrived at our property from New Zealand in April 2004.  All that met him in his short stay here were struck by his amazingly cool disposition, that of course continued in a gentlemanly manner when he was introduced to the mares.  This further confirmed to me that the Irish Draught is truly a fantastic breed, and their temperament is just one outstanding factor.

He is buried here at Icarus Park, he has a special red rose atop his burial place which continues to thrive and flower almost all year round.  Unfortunately we hadn’t a chance to put any mares in foal to him, nor to collect semen for freezing as we had planned.  This really was a tragedy, not only for us, but for Irish Draught breeding in Australia. 

So, farewell Laughton, we loved you a lot, even if it was for such a short time. 

By Miesja Reynolds