NORMA Cook of Blessington, Co Wicklow, proudly shared this picture of her adorable Kerry Bog Pony foal, understood to be the first of its breed born this year. Norma has a small herd of Kerry Bog Ponies, including two stallions, three mares and a gelding. Her lovely new foal is by her newly registered stallion Shroughan Smarty, a diminutive 111cm by Silver Bog Smarty out of Shroughan Siog (by King of the Fairies). King of the Fairies was Norma’s original stallion, who she trained for carriage driving and with whom she had many successes. According to Norma, Kerry Bog Ponies are ideal for driving or for lead-rein riding and thrive in their natural habitat on the side of a mountain.

“They are very rare, there would be 400 at the most in Ireland, and they have been recognised by the Department of Agriculture now as a rare native breed,” she said.

“What first drew me to them was when I was judging at a show many years ago with the Irish Pony Society. This group of ponies arrived from Kerry in the pets corner for promotion trying to get a society together and get the ponies recognized. That took a long time, 25 years! They had with them a pony mare and a stallion and a little black pony foal and I fell in love with them there and then and I bought the foal and that was the beginning of it all. It’s still a bit of a struggle to get the ponies recognised, the society is sparse and spread out which is a shame. We don’t get a price for them, really, because people don’t regard them as valuable which is also a shame, but we’ll keep going and keep trying to promote and keep them and the tradition going.”

For further information on the Kerry Bog Pony visit kerrybogpony.ie.

Send your foal images to horseworld@theirishfield.ie