Happy Friday! Here is your Friday Flashback, a piece by Judy Mosman:
Royalton Joan Darling (John A. Darling x Hetty Ash)
This bay mare spent her first three years unnamed and unregistered in Rhode Island at the farm of George L. Church, friend of A. Fullerton Phillips of Windsor, Vermont. She is listed as bred by the estate of George L. Church. Mr. Church also owned John A. Darling.
Dana Wingate Kelley of Vermont had a great interest in the blood of John A. Darling and whenever he could, he added this blood to his breeding stock. After locating John A. Darling and his bay daughter, Dana obtained the filly and registered her as Royalton Joan Darling in 1949.
Dana eventually obtained John A. Darling himself and despite the advanced age of the stallion, Dana used him in the Royalton breeding program. He was 26 years old and sired eight foals for Dana, including two for the Lippitt Farm in Randolph, Vermont, owned by Robert L. Knight.
Dana was not a person who wasted time in getting mares settled, so he took Joan up to the Stock Farm in Randolph to be bred to Lippitt Sam, but as we know the story, Joe Boulris convinced Dana to use the aging stallion, Lippitt Ethan Ash. The next spring, a little chestnut colt was born and named Royalton Ashbrook Darling, combing sire’s and dam’s bloodlines in name. Joan was bred to Ethan Eldon and was sold in foal to Margaret Gardiner of Maine. The following spring, a bay filly was born and named Kennebec Judy. Margaret apparently liked the looks of the colt Dana had the previous year, so she took Joan back to Lippitt Ethan Ash for a breeding, and the next year 1954, she got a full brother to Royalton Ashbrook Darling whom she named Kennebec Ethan. As Joan was aging, Margaret once again bred her to a Lippitt stallion in Maine, Lippitt Ethan Don, and in 1957, a bay filly arrived whom she named Kennebec Joan. Kennebec Joan was to be her last foal, born when she was 11 years old.
One would think that with two full brothers and two half sisters on the ground that this bloodline was secure and would be available. Alas, Kennebec was not breeding the line on as such, and had only one full Lippitt, Kennebec Morita out of Kennebec Joan. She was by Equinox To-Moro and was his only full Lippitt offspring. Fortunately, Morita had two full Lippitt fillies, Kennebec Grace by Meredith Bruce, and Industry by Equinox Royalty, both of whom produced offspring of pure Lippitt lines. Kennebec Grace had two colts before being lost a few years ago. Only one of her sons is still living and has no foals as yet. Industry has been busy between trail riding to produce three known offspring, all named for Maine Indian tribes. Otis by Equinox Beaubrook is not breeding yet, and Sebec her full sister is being trained for use as a trail horse and will become a broodmare in the future. She is only five. This is a very thin line to carry on the mare line from Hetty Ash and Royalton Joan Darling. The full brother Pemaquid now resides in New Mexico and is a breeding stallion.
Royalton Joan Darling was a mare almost lost to the Lippitt family had it not been for the interest of one man, Dana Wingate Kelley.
(Article from LCN XXX, No. 2, 2003, p.40, Mare/Foal Issue)
