We are currently developing Banks of the Roses Farm (BotR) on 41 acres of pasture land interspersed with woods and some wetlands in northeast Indiana.  We plan to breed Irish Draught (not Draft) Horses.  This breed is endangered and on the UN Rare Breed Conservancy list.  To our knowledge, no one in this area breeds Irish Draughts.   We are currently in the construction phase; the house will be finished soon, and then the barn.

We intend to acquire broodmares and concentrate on breeding purebred Irish Draught stock.  We believe there is a need and a place for this noble and versatile breed.  Our hope is to introduce it to many people. 

We have spent a lot of time researching the breed and its various bloodlines.  Undoubtedly, a breed with a small number of breeding individuals must be propagated carefully.  We hope to make this site a useful resource for information relating not only to Draughts, but also for breeding practices in general, basic conformation, various genetic traits, conformation and other relevant issues.

Thank you for your patience as our farm and our website develop!

We are now officially living at our farm.  The house is (mostly) complete, and we are in it.  We have our tractor and a bush hog.  That’s about it!  The dogs are loving all the room to run and explore.  We even feed them more now, because they get too lean without the extra food.

Our two horses, Joey and Abbey, are still being boarded.  As a matter of fact, they may be boarded longer than we expected due to some surprise construction fees.  Abbey is in training, and has begun ridden work.  My trainer says she loves her more each time she works with her.  The more Abbey works, the happier she is and the more eager she is to do more.  As she gets more fit, wow does she look sleek and beautiful!  (not that I’m biased…)  Joey, on the other hand, is looking shabby and scrawny at the end of his 2nd months of stall rest.  He had a serious hock injury, and went to the Purdue Veterinary School for surgery.  He didn’t end up needing surgery, but he was prescribed strict rest (even if we had to sedate him.)  We’ve cut all his grain to keep him from being too hard to handle, and he’s behaving quite nicely.  His Purdue vet says being skinny “won’t kill him.”  His future is most likely as a trail/pleasure horse.  He won’t hold up to jumping or even very much collection. 

Eventually, we’ll be able to look out the window and see the horses in the pasture.  For now, we’ll have to settle for being in a beautiful new home and doing lots of landscaping.