About Us
You may have recently seen us on Country Calender.
If not, you can watch this episode on TVNZ on Demand.
Trevalda Irish Sporthorses is a boutique Irish horse stud.
Gavin and Tracy Crossan farm 720 hectares of prime Maniototo land running mainly sheep and beef in conjunction with a 'few' Irish horses. The Maniototo plain is known for its healthy soil which is very high in mineral content. Our temperatures are extreme, ranging from 40 degrees Celsius during summer and down to minus 20 degrees Celsius in winter. These extremes make it very difficult for parasites etc to survive, so our animals are fat and healthy.
I (Tracy) purchased my first Irish horse when I was just 19 years of age. I came from a non-horsey family but was somehow bitten by the horsey bug. I was a Polytech student at the time and I took out a student loan to purchase her. Her name was Lou (Kingsway Salix) and she was one of the very first crop of one of the first Irish Draught stallions imported to New Zealand :- Kingsway Diamond.
I did everything, and went everywhere with this plucky red headed mare, who gave me the run around on some occasions, but she was as honest as the day is long. She evented (completing Open Springston Trophy twice), hunted, jumped, cavalcaded, mustered, games and became a multiple Champion Saddle Hunter.
I was hooked on this Irish Draught breed! I bred my first horse out of Lou when I put her to the Thoroughbred stallion Zabalu, and she produced a lovely grey filly (the start of a grey obsession). Since meeting my husband Gavin and settling on his family farm, I have been lucky enough to be able to expand my breeding programme.
I have bred, raised, shown, started and competed under saddle, dozens of Irish sport horses over the last 20 years. Being able to start my own horses and produce them from young enabled me to gather a quality team. The opportunity of a lifetime came along when Malcolm and Lisa Beck (an English couple who imported Ballineen Blue Mountain) phoned and offered me the ride and to stand at Stud their beautiful purebred stallion. They were looking for someone to take him on who knew the breed and would appreciate him for what he was. After much deliberation, I decided that I should go for it!
Ballineen Blue Mountain arrived at Trevalda in the Winter of 2012 and boy did I have a lot to learn! We had to master collecting from him to enable us to ship fresh semen around the country and with the help of my Aunty Sandra and husband Gavin, we built the facilities required. We are now set up with dummy, mare and foal crush and Ai facilities, which I now do all of with the help of Gavin and my special helper Lisa, my collection and Ai assistant. A year later Trevalda Irish Sporthorses purchased Brian.
We have been successfully shipping fresh semen around the country and have mares in foal from one end of the country to the other. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing people realise their dreams and breeding beautiful foals.
There are dozens of horses out there now bearing the Trevalda prefix, many of them are still young but are in great hands and I know that great results will follow with a lot of them already featuring highly in the young horse classes at Shows up to Horse of The Year level.
We at Trevalda, welcome visitors, so if you are in the area then don't hesitate to contact us!
Along with husband Gavin, we have two beautiful sons, Hamish and Ryan.
