A NUMBER of updates have been shared by the Connemara Pony Breeders Society (CPBS) this week. In terms of the issuing of passsports for 2023 foals, the committee said the staff have been working hard to get the passports out.

While the target of 90% of passports to be out hasn’t been met as yet, CPBS staff have got 82% of passports out by the end of February. In total 2,632 passports have been issued out of a possible 3,200. There are still just under 400 foal kits to be sent in by breeders, so the committee has asked all breeders to please get these in, so they don’t clash with 2024 foal passports.

In other CPBS news, all scheduled inspections are now open for entries, with owners asked to note some changes to the rules of inspections. The triangle has been removed from all inspections and there is a lower benchmark for 128cm to 138cm ponies to achieve class 1 status. See the breeding programme and rules of inspections section of the CPBS website for more details.

Additionally, an amnesty is now active for all ponies (fillies, colts and geldings) with class 3 sires and/or dams.

Geldings that are out of class 3 parents can now be brought to the filly inspections to get classified. This amnesty will run until autumn inspections 2025.