SPECIAL horses, and indeed hounds, have made such a lasting impression, introducing us to new friends, bringing us to new parts of the world, enriching our lives, and in some cases, redefining our lifestyles.

This feature profiles Irish Draught Horse enthusiast and breeder Ann Morss, from Genesee in Upstate New York, who has served as North Eastern Region chair of the Irish Draught Society for 10 years and has been a tireless worker at all their events.

Ann’s steely determination, over 25 years, was to breed an Irish Draught Horse stallion whose bloodlines trace back to Wexford breeder Jack Lambert’s great Irish Draught stallion Grange Bouncer, Irish international eventer and Grade A showjumper, and make them available to the breeders of North America.

Her quest was often tinged with disappointment but the result of this odyssey was rewarded with a Class 1 Irish Draught stallion, appropriately named Genesee Bouncer in 2016.

The Irish and Genesee Valley

Ann’s association with Ireland goes back to her ancestors who hailed from Ballina, Co Mayo. In 1994, the late Dr Bill Bowen, Professor of Dental Research at the University of Rochester – and originally from Enniscorthy in Co Wexford – became the conduit for what was to become eventually an annual event.

Together with Ann Morss, they have welcomed numerous Wexford Hunt followers and their friends to hunt with the Genesee Valley Hounds, initially the legendary horseman Jack Lambert and his son Tony, along with James O’Connor, Declan Mallon, Liam Griffin, and John and Breda Stafford from the Killinick Harriers.

Ann Morss on Ju (left) with Jack Lambert, breeder of Aisling of Grange hunting her with the Genesee Valley Hounds, Upstate New York. Aisling of Grange is the dam of Genesee Bouncer \ Noel Mullins

It is always a visit to look forward to, with the Irish proving to be popular visitors, and the Americans proving equally good at partying.

The attraction also was that the Genesee Valley Hunt is no ordinary hunt. It comes with a health warning as their huntsman, Marion Thorne, is one of the most focused huntsmen in the hunting world, possessing real fox and coyote sense, and providing some of the best sport on any continent.

Of course they jump anything in their way, but the talk is mainly about hounds and quarry – red-letter days are frequent. I should know as I have had many runs of over two hours with the Genesee Valley Hounds, something I have not experienced since my days with huntsmen Paddy Pickersgill and Michael Dempsey when the Galway Blazers were flying, and you needed to be fit and above all, well-mounted for real hunting!

Noel Mullins (on right) mounted on Aisling of Grange, owned by Ann Morss, with Aidan 'Suntan' O'Connell (foreground) out with the Genesee Valley Hounds and Ann Morss on Ju (background)

Love at first sight

In 1995, Ann and her husband visited Ireland to attend a wedding and saw the great Irish Draught stallion Grange Bouncer for the first time as a three-year-old colt. She was immediately impressed and that started her thought process about getting more involved in the breed.

She returned later in the year and hunted with the County Limerick Foxhounds and in her own words, “We then travelled onto the Killinick Harriers in Wexford for the real fun!”

Aisling of Grange

Ann commented: “Since 1994, this has been one of the best chapters in my life, as on a visit to Ireland, Grange Bouncer was the first Irish Draught stallion I saw in the flesh, and since then the Irish Draught horse has been the breed of my soul. I will always like a good thoroughbred, but the Irish Draught horse is the best.

“I was back on a hunting trip to Wexford and I bought Aisling of Grange as a weanling filly in January 2002. Her dam, Eileen Dun, was owned by Leslie Aspury and she was foaled in Co Waterford.”

Since Ann could not get Grange Bouncer’s semen in America as he was not offered through AI, she figured that she would bring over a purebred Irish Draught mare and eventually supply her friends with Bouncer progeny.

Ann continued: “Jack Lambert was really impressed with the dam, Eileen Dun, as she would jump the wire fence that he put up in the lane to keep his horses in! He kept the filly for three years showing her as a yearling at the Dublin Horse Show where she came fifth, and then on to be broken and inspected as a three-year-old before he shipped her over to my farm in upstate New York.”

Aisling of Grange has proved to be a real all-rounder, performing regularly in the Genesee Valley Hunt Trials, to show jumping competitions, the Genesee Valley half-bred point-to-point, and the Masters Test.

She has carried numerous riders in the hunting field, from Travis Thorne, professional whipper-in of the Genesee Valley Hunt, to Martha C. Wadsworth, Sarah Batsing, Aidan O’Connell, Jack and Tony Lambert, international bridge player Pat Quinn, international eventer Tracey Dillon, international rugby union player Peter Clohessy, and the youngest rider 13-year-old Victor Gallo as well as his mother Rachel.

I myself had one of the best hunts in my entire career riding Aisling of Grange when we got a run of two hours and 55 minutes on a coyote over every type of terrain and obstacles with the Genesee Valley Hounds. The filly was hardly out of breath, which is more than I could say for myself, and I was also privileged to hunt her sire, the great Grange Bouncer!

Aidan O’Connell, who runs an annual series of cross-country clinics all over the USA, has also hunted Aisling of Grange and it is interesting to get the views of the former Grand Prix show jumper who has also ridden three times in the Grand National at Aintree. Aidan remarked: “I was so impressed with the mare, who I hunted with the Genesee Valley Hunt. She did everything perfectly, nothing phased her as she took all types of obstacles in her stride.

“You felt that she was really enjoying her hunting as she had the most wonderful temperament, and above all, possessed unlimited stamina as she could hunt all day long which is a feature of a top-class traditional Irish Hunter.”

Ann Morss with her friend Cori Oehley (right) with Leonard Cave, Main Arena Chief Steward at Dublin Horse Show \ Noel Mullins

Breeding

Aisling’s first foal was in 2006 by a thoroughbred, as was her second and third foals, the latter in 2012, producing nice and correct Irish Draught Sport Horses – the term used for an Irish Draught/Thoroughbred cross in North America.

Having been unsuccessful using AI from three different Irish Draught stallions, Ann finally tried a live covering, but she had to transport Aisling 450 miles, a drive of over eight hours to Jackson, Ohio.

Aisling took straight away producing Genesee Bouncer in 2016 by the C2 Irish Draught stallion Stargazey’s Romance at Short Notice (by Rhythm & Blues out of Dromustsa Girl, a Red Hackle mare). The sire’s bloodlines go back to Colman and Skippy, and he was imported from Co Kerry.

Genesee Bouncer is the spitting image of his grandsire Grange Bouncer whose other progeny have won a number of Irish Draught Performance Championships at Dublin Horse Show. Needless to say Ann had saved up the stallion’s name for 25 years and was determined to someday use it!

In the interim, Aisling had another foal by a thoroughbred in 2021 for fellow Irish Draught breeder Sarah Batzing. All the other foals were by different thoroughbreds and many of them are now competing in eventing and hunting.

In 2018, Ann and her friend Cori Oehley attended the Dublin Horse Show which gave them an opportunity to see many of the progeny of Grange Bouncer, including a number of his sons that have gone on to stand at stud themselves.

Genesee Bouncer

Genesee Bouncer (Class 1) has been brought on slowly in this horse-friendly area of North America, with its open trails and farmland, including hunting with the Genesee Valley Hounds, ridden by none other than Jack Lambert’s son, Tony, who lives in Boston – how lucky is that!

Tony hunted and competed on Grange Bouncer and has a reputation as a fine horseman having point-to-pointed, evented and hunted from a young age over the famous Wexford double banks.

The colt was put forward for inspection to Irish inspectors who travel to the USA each year, in this instance by Charlotte Moore and Michael Kirwan who have earned a high reputation stateside. Genesee Bouncer was awarded a Class 1 classification, and according to the inspectors, “He is an athlete with a nice step and correct conformation, also good limbs and shoulders with a well set on head and neck and a full active and forward movement with plenty of impulsion, light over the ground and a proven pedigree which speaks for itself. He will develop well into the future.”

The colt lives out 24/7 all year around with a companion horse. His stud duties involve Ann taking him to the AI Reproduction Clinic to collect semen – a road trip of about three hours. Starting in April, his first five mares went into foal first time, which proves that he is a fertile horse. The stallion is now in the stable of local trainer Alice Smith who, Ann says, is doing a great job with him under saddle.

Enhanced pedigree

Genesee Bouncer’s pedigree has yet again been enhanced with the recent success of Ashfield Bouncer, another grandson of Grange Bouncer (Killinick Bouncer out of Derrane Lady, by Ard Grandpa) who competed against all breeds including warmbloods and was crowned the RDS National Championships Three-Year-Old Performance Champion of 2021. He is owned by Ann Lambert and was produced by Ado Moran and will now be prepared for competition.

Ann Morss’ grand plan back in 1994 was to bring Grange Bouncer bloodlines to the breeders of North America and it is now complete.

It has been a marathon rather than a sprint, and a testament to Ann’s extraordinary resilience, resulting in, ‘a new Bouncer on the block’ – Genesee Bouncer – to carry on the rich ‘Bouncer’ performance bloodlines to North America.