IT took an idea, a conversation and set of jump leads to jumpstart a new initiative by the Connemara Pony Breeders Society (CPBS), aimed to promote the next generation of Connemara performance broodmares.

This plan of introducing loose jumping assessments for young Connemara mares led to Creagh EC last Sunday for the first showcase.

CPBS Council member Sean Carey’s project began after watching Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) mare inspections, hosted at the family’s equestrian centre in Ballinasloe. He thought a similar scheme would work well for Connemara mares.

“We have the HSI and Draught mare inspections here, so that was where the idea came from,” he said.

CPBS performance chairman Pat Flanagan explained how the pilot scheme was then fine-tuned.

“This was Sean Carey and this lady’s [Clare Oakes] idea. Sean spoke to me about it at the inspections last year. I went to Kells to the filly inspections where my car wouldn’t start and while I was waiting for jump leads, Clare and I were talking about Sean’s idea, which we thought was brilliant.

“We knitted it together and ran it by Ann Marie [Conroy] as president of the Society and have been adding to and taking off, until we got what you saw today. The colts had their jumping at inspections so we just decided to do something performance-wise for the fillies.

“Whatever discipline they may go into, be it dressage, be it show jumping or eventing, it’s envisaged they’ll gain further merits as they go up along.”

Suitable fillies at Sunday’s showcase received a Bronze merit stamp on their passport. Silver and gold merits are in the pipeline, for example, a Connemara mare with 100 show jumping points could receive a Silver merit.

“It would be fair to say we started this to give something back to the breeder, to encourage performance and to make their pony that little bit more valuable at sales,” Ann Marie Conroy.

Each pony’s loose jumping assessment was videoed by Dundalk film maker Fiona Thompson as part of a co-ordinated marketing drive. And hopefully another Ballyowen Maybell Molly or Cul Bán Mistress was amongst them, although it turned out that most of Sunday’s 20 entries are being retained as broodmares.

“It was a total turnaround here today because of the amount of people that want to retain those ponies. Some will go through the performance stages but most will be used as breeding mares. They just wanted that extra stamp.

“After today, the response was so good that personally I feel we should take it into other areas and encourage it more,” added Ann Marie.

Flynn impressed

The showcase, judged by Gerry Flynn, was open to three and four-year-old Class 1 fillies.

“I was there to assess their loose jumping and potential as competition animals. I assessed their movement, quality of their canter and how they were put together from the point of view of how that would lend towards them being good competition animals. Then we watched them loose jumping.

“The whole day was very well set up. With it being the first year, I can’t compare it to others but there was a couple of ponies that really stood out,” said international coach Flynn.

There’s a Connemara link at the start of the Longford native’s successful career. Highlights during his Army Equitation School years include winning the 2007 Dublin Grand Prix with Mo Chroi and competing on Meanus at the 2004 World Equestrian Games in The Hague.

“There was a very famous Connemara called Tully Grey, owned by the Harold family from Lanesborough. That’s the pony I learned to ride on.”

Connemara mare owners, who travelled from Sligo, Wicklow, Cork and Limerick for pre-assigned assessment times, all felt it a worthwhile project.

Among them was Wicklow producer John Mulvey, a big supporter of the Connemara Pony, who brought along Phyllia Collier-Stokes’ Coosheen Stormboy mare Glenayre Mystical Mist.

“Phyllida is quite a renowned breeder and she sends the ponies to us to assess. We just produce them and sell them on. There’s a good market for Connemaras with good temperaments, as there is with any type with the temperament.”

The Mulvey-bred Brookfield Inocent, the current top Irish-bred eventer in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses rankings, was booked to travel last Sunday to Tokyo. However, in an 11th hour change, the travelling reserve horse for the British eventing team stayed home.

“Hopefully he might get to the Europeans or some big championship, that would be really nice,” said his philosophical breeder.

And who knows, there may well be future bronze, silver and gold merit Connemara mares, or their progeny, competing at championships too after Sunday’s start-up showcase.

What they said

“You have to start somewhere. The CPBS has fully funded this, there’s been no financial assistance from any other organisation so we’ve taken that on 100% to give something back to the breeder” – Ann Marie Conroy.

“If somebody rang from England looking for a three or four-year-old for sale, the first thing you’d say is it’s a Class 1 pony. Now you can say the pony has a merit for jumping” – Sean Carey.

“That’s their aim, that’s what they’re out there for - to come home with a medal but you need the luck as well. You can jump fantastic over 13 fences of the course but one little rub will put you out of the class. I think we’ve a very strong team and hope, with a bit of luck, it goes well” – Gerry Flynn on the Irish teams prospects at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I spoke to everybody to discover that none of these animals are for sale. Not one of them. These are foundation stock, the owners are going to breed from them but they really wanted the performance stamp on their passport so that the pony would be recognised for its performance potential” – Clare Oakes.

“Delightful really for a small breeder like me that only has one mare generally so yes, really pleased” – John Mulvey, leading Irish event horse breeder in the latest WBFSH rankings.