Irish Draught Horse Society (GB): Comments on HSI’s Draft Breeding Policy for the Irish Draught Horse, November 2009

The Irish Draught Horse Society (Great Britain) Limited (IDHS (GB)) was pleased to see the HSI Task Force’s draft Breeding Policy for the Irish Draught Horse. That Policy appears to us to have many positive elements, including the move to linear scoring; the inclusion of a system of upgrading; and increased transparency of information regarding inspections.

We have a number of comments on the draft Policy. Paramount among them is the singular lack of appreciation that the Studbook should accommodate horses bred outside Ireland. Surely a worldwide studbook has to be the ultimate goal for a dwindling population of horses, which are additionally dwindling in quality and genetic diversity?

There is a cursory mention towards the end of the Policy of encouraging other countries to “harmonise their classification and inspection processes”, but that is entirely different from offering RID stallions in other countries recognition in Ireland. The current situation, whereby the vast majority of RID stallions in other countries are not recognised in Ireland (despite the involvement in every inspection of an Irish, HSI-approved inspector) not only narrows the gene pool, but also amounts to a restriction of trade.

IDHS (GB)’s insistence on the importance of a worldwide studbook does not emanate from a desire to create a new market for British breeders’ stock, but from a heartfelt desire to protect the essence of the breed.

seems to emanate from a desire to ensure that Ireland is seen as a major producer of world-class performance horses, regardless of the detriment that this goal may cause to the Irish Draught breed.

We do not consider that the two goals (of breed conservation and sport horse excellence) are strictly incompatible, but the former is not given sufficient weight in the draft Policy.

Reverting to the worldwide studbook issue, we contend in any event that EU legislation requires the holder of the studbook of origin (namely, Ireland) to automatically recognise a stallion standing abroad as an approved/RID stallion in that studbook, if the stallion has already been fully approved as an RID stallion by a daughter society (with an Irish inspector involved in the inspection). We should appreciate a reply from HSI on this point.

A final overriding point is that there seems to be no appreciation in the draft Policy that daughter societies in EU Member States are obliged by law to comply with the principles established by the “mother society” for (among other things): identifying horses; defining the characteristics of the breed; and defining the breed objectives. All of the principles/systems set out in the draft Policy are geared towards Ireland. There is no mention, for example, of how stallions in other countries might be able to achieve extra merits or whether, if they do so, those merits will be recognised by the HSI.

Obviously, the daughter societies in Europe and elsewhere around the world are in a position to set themselves adrift from Ireland, if the arrangements that HSI puts in place are not acceptable to those societies, but we query whether that is really the result that HSI seeks.

(a) we agree with the principles outlined, but what is HSI’s intention regarding daughter societies such as our own? We have RID stallions in Great Britain, which were inspected by both British and Irish inspectors, yet they are not deemed to be RIDs in Ireland. Instead, they are accorded “S1” status. The Policy states that all S1 stallions “may” be accorded Class 2 status, but this is scarcely appropriate, given that the British stallions meet the same breed standard as the Irish stallions and particularly in light of HSI’s stated aims to harmonise the studbook worldwide; improve the Irish Draught horse; and protect rare bloodlines. Surely HSI do not consider that they will retain the goodwill of foreign Irish Draught societies if they lump these societies’ stallions (some of which are truer to the Breed Standard than some Irish stallions) into Class 2?

(b) further, does HSI intend that the “transitional arrangements” outlined on page 7 of the Policy be applied to foreign societies’ stallions, so that they are obliged to be re-presented for inspection under the new rules? If so, why, since these stallions will already have been inspected and their gaits and loose (or ridden) jumping ability will already have been assessed?

(c) what is anticipated by the “recommended for breeding” sires system, with regard to the Supplementary Section? On what basis will such stallions be selected? Who will select them?

(d) how is the “Supplementary Section” supposed to be implemented outside Ireland, if the non-ID part of a horse’s breeding has to be sourced from a horse on the ISH register? That register obviously does not include Thoroughbred or Connemara crosses in Great Britain or elsewhere.

(e) with Connemara blood being introduced and the desire to breed smaller animals, is it worth adopting a lower minimum height especially for mares? Lowering stallion height would also allow for smaller horses to be kept on the registers. The lower height of 15hh was included in some of the early Breed Standards;

(f) following on from the height recommendation above, might it be worth qualifying the wording “approximately 9 inches of bone” with something along the lines of: “provided that the amount of bone is proportionate to the animal before the Inspectors”, so as to allow for consideration of height and stature?

(a) regarding the pedigree assessment, what is actually intended by the wording: “performance/merits of bloodlines” and “the value of rare bloodlines will also be acknowledged”? What will be the respective weighting between all these factors? In what way will the value of rare bloodlines be acknowledged?

(b) what will be the maximum height of the jumps that a stallion is assessed over? Our concern is that this is a performance requirement in all but name. “Loose jumping ability” and “athleticism” are very indistinct terms, which can be applied in a discretionary fashion. What are the precise proposals for this element of inspection, including the criteria for failure? Will it also be scored in a linear fashion?

(d) what information will mare owners (and possibly inspection spectators) receive regarding the performance of a stallion at inspection? There is mention of increased transparency, owing to the linear scoring method, but what are the proposals for giving mare owners/spectators such information? For example, will the stallion score sheets be made available on HSI’s website or will they be available only on request, in which case, will a charge be levied for copies of the score sheets?

(e) the prohibitive cost of x-rays prior to assessment would be likely to prevent many owners from bringing their stallions forward in Britain. Wouldn’t it be acceptable for x-rays to be performed following a successful assessment?

(f) we cannot understand why the extra merit system is based only on a stallion’s performance in the gold section. Why do the three wins of the stallion class at RDS not qualify for a gold merit, rather than a silver merit? Surely such wins would be a helpful way of identifying top class stallions for the benefit of the Irish Draught as a breed, as opposed to the performance requirements, which will not necessarily benefit the breed itself. Why isn’t mere excellence as an example of an Irish Draught (judged, for example, on inspection scores) rewarded with an extra merit? Will the proposed system be adaptable to foreign societies? For example, would wins at the Horse of the Year Show or the Royal International qualify a stallion to be recognised as, say, silver under the system proposed?

(a) how will the studbook initiatives accommodate foreign inspectors? Will the training for breeders be cross-border, i.e. available to breeders in countries other than Ireland?

(c) studbook harmonisation can only happen if stallions and mares which meet the breed standard in every country are afforded the same status. Without offering parity to stallions worldwide, HSI will be imposing a trade restriction on the Irish Draught horse and limiting its genetic diversity, to the detriment of the breed.

Comments on HSI’s Draft Breeding Policy for the Irish Draught Horse, November 2009

Friday, November 20 2009 @ 03:10 PM GMT