A GROUP of Connemara Pony breeders are meeting this Sunday to discuss concerns about proposed changes to the pony inspection and classification process. The meeting will take place in the Claregalway Hotel at 2pm.

It was unclear at time of print if the changes below, as outlined by breeders to The Irish Field, represent all of the proposed changes or whether these changes have been finalised, as the CPBS did not respond to questions on the matter.

Currently, colts and fillies are inspected at three years of age or more, and they would be classified and put into the studbook as class one, class two or class three. If a youngster is inspected as class one, but is over 148cm, they would go into class two.

It is understood that the new proposed plan is that a colt would be evaluated at three years old, which would involve a five-stage vetting, and given a provisional classification. Then they would come back at five years of age, where they would be inspected and height measured. If over 148cm, they would automatically go into a new ‘overheight’ category rather than class two. With fillies, it is understood if they measure up to 140cm at three years old, they are classified at that time. If they are over 140cm they too must be brought back to be remeasured at five.

According to a spokesperson for the breeders organising the meeting, the move could be detrimental.

“There’s no need for this category, because the overheight pony is already catered for in class two. It’s detrimental to the breeder, because what will happen is people will not hold colts until they are five or six years to be classified.

“They will either be forced to sell them for much less than they are worth prior to inspection or they will geld potential class one stallions to sell them as riding ponies to get a fair price that way. The result will be a serious narrowing of a gene pool that is already shrinking.

Limbo

“I’m not saying the breed standard should be altered, but I do believe that we should be measuring a lifetime measurement at three years old.

“Another issue we have is the cost of the proposed two inspections including the extended vetting. With fillies in particular, there is no incentive to bring them out for that initial evaluation if they are 140cm because then they are in limbo until she is measured again at five.

“What is proposed is a significant change to the breeding programme that should be discussed with the members.

“The post on the CPBS Facebook page last week about this said that there would be some slight changes, but these are major changes that first of all will have huge financial implications for breeders and owners.

“Another question is what’s going to happen with the show in Clifden, because in the in-hand classes, only class one ponies and offspring of class one ponies can be shown in-hand.

“The reason this meeting has been called is we have been inundated with calls from members asking for our help. We have no interest in going back on the Council, we simply want to assist the breeders who asked for help and for the good of the pony and the future of the breed. We have lobbied the Department of Agriculture and there are junior ministers and TDs involved in this, so we are hopeful of a positive outcome.”

The CPBS was asked about the planned changes to inspections and other issues around a number of colts being reclassified recently and did not respond.

Their only public communication on the matter was the aforementioned Facebook post on February 24th which refereed to ‘important changes’ as follows:

  • Slight adjustments have been made to the inspection process – new rules will be posted on our website soon.
  • The process will continue using the linear profiling system, with one key update: fillies will now be let loose in an enclosed arena to assess their movement.
  • A new classification section for Connemaras over 148cm is in the works, pending DAFM approval.