Dear IDHS(GB) Members
For information, please find
following two letters that have been sent by IDHS (GB) to Horse Sport Ireland
recently, setting out our position in relation to issues that we consider to be
of primary importance regarding the future of the Irish Draught horse.
The first letter is a reply to
a request from HSI that we organise our studbook (and therefore our system of
inspecting stallions) along the same lines as the current Irish studbook. The
second letter is a submission to the HSI task force, which has been established
to consider the future of the Irish Draught horse and which is due to report at
the end of September.
Please note that the opinions
expressed in the attached correspondence are those of IDHS (GB) alone; they are
not influenced by the position of any other body. IDHS (GB) has taken care to
remain independent from the various bodies in Ireland which currently seek to
represent the Irish Draught horse.
Gaynor Mitchell
Chairman - IDHS (GB)
THE IRISH DRAUGHT HORSE SOCIETY (GB)
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE,
The Forge, Avenue B, 10th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LG
Administrators: Miss Carol Malin
08452 300 399 (Mon - Fri 9.30am - 1.30pm)
Mrs Gaynor Mitchell
IDHS (GB) CHAIRMAN
Heaton Lodge, Narrow Moss Lane,
Ormskirk, Lancashire.
L40 8HZ
Tel: 01695 573406
E-mail:
gaynor.mitchell@lineone.net
Dear Alison,
Thank you for
your letter of 28 May regarding the IDHS (GB) classification system.
In theory,
IDHS (GB) (the Society) has no objection to the proposals that you
put forward at our meeting on 5 March regarding the IDHS (GB) classification
system. That written, we have not yet received a copy of HSI’s minutes of the 5
March meeting. Would you kindly send me a copy of them, so that I can ensure
we’re starting out with the same understanding?
We obviously
need to meet to consider further how the proposals will work in practice. You
are aware of the Society’s concerns that our two studbooks may not be easy to
reconcile, without potentially jeopardising the traditional-type of Irish
Draught which our Members are committed to conserving.
I have to
confess to being rather confused as to the timing and purpose of your letter.
You write in it that HSI will be implementing “a new breeding policy for the
Irish Draught Horse Studbook” from 1 January 2010. I also understand from an
article in the Irish Field that you are in the process of setting up a
taskforce, which will have as its remit:
-
establishing a revised
classification system for the Irish Draught horse;
-
defining a
suitable breeding objective for the studbook; and
-
proposing
studbook initiatives to improve the quality of Irish Draught horses bred in
Ireland.
It therefore seems to me that it is inappropriate for the
Society to adopt your current classification system, which would involve
considerable investment on our part, in terms of time and money, if that system
is liable to change imminently, as a result of recommendations made by the
taskforce.
Would it not be more appropriate for us to seek to reconcile
our studbooks once the HSI taskforce has prepared its report and HSI knows the
future direction of the ID studbook? In that regard, will the consultation
performed by the HSI taskforce be public (i.e. will the submissions to the
taskforce be made available to the public, together with the final report)?
Please note that our Society should like to submit a paper to
your taskforce for consideration. The paper will be prepared following our next
Council Meeting, on 12 August. Will it be acceptable to you if it is submitted
to the HSI taskforce by the end of August, bearing in mind that the taskforce
aims to report at the end of September?
The Irish
Draught Sport Horse Register (GB) is not something that we discussed with you in
March. We consider it to be a separate issue to the main ID studbook and our
priority is to deal with the discrepancies in the latter first.
The Society
does not wish to delegate the issuing of passports to another body. This work is
conducted by our own staff and we have put into place new management processes,
to ensure that we can deliver a passport service within Government requirements
commencing July 1 of this year.
Nonetheless,
we appreciate that there are benefits to be gained from combining information
with Ireland. As such, we may be in a position to allow you access to our
database of ID horses and their progeny via the internet, subject to our
checking the data protection position and agreeing the details of ‘appropriate
access’ with you.
I look
forward to hearing from you further and to receiving a copy of the minutes of
our meeting on 5 March.
Yours
sincerely,
Gaynor
The Irish Draught Horse Society of Great
Britain
Submission to the Horse Sport Ireland Task Force on the Future of the Irish
Draught Horse
14
August 2009
Introduction
The Irish Draught Horse Society (Great Britain) Limited (IDHS (GB))
welcomes the initiative by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) to set up
a task force on breeding policy for the Irish Draught horse. We
understand from the Irish press (regrettably, we have not received any detailed
information from HSI) that the task force will aim to: (a) establish a
classification system for the breed; (b) define a breeding objective for the
studbook; and (c) propose initiatives to improve the quality of Irish Draught
horses being bred in Ireland.
We
appreciate that the remit for the task force is Irish-bred horses. However, as
a “daughter society”, subject to a legal obligation 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, we do not think that Irish Draught horses bred in Ireland
should be considered in isolation from Irish Draught horses which come under the
aegis of daughter societies.
Our position might be different, if the Irish Draught horse were not an
endangered species,
with limited genetic diversity. Our position might also be different if the
trend identified in Ireland over past years had not been reported
as breeding Irish Draughts with increased height, less bone and conformational
faults.
Our primary concerns are that: (a) the current system of stallion inspections
run by the holder of the Irish Draught horse studbook in Ireland has, or is
likely to have, a deleterious effect on the Irish Draught horse; and (b) the
genetic diversity among this rare breed of horse is being eroded not only by
that system of stallion inspections, but also the manner in which the head
studbook is operated in Ireland.
This submission outlines our position and makes a number of suggestions, with
all due respect, as to how the future of the Irish Draught (as it is known
today) may be secured.
We
understand that the task force is not due to report until the end of September,
therefore we trust that this submission will be given due consideration.
Background
It has been widely reported in Ireland
that there is a continuing upward increase in: the average horse height of the
home-bred Irish Draught horse; a loss of bone; and the level of
conformational faults now endemic in the breed, in particular lack of good flat
bone, back of the knee and tied in under the knee. These aspects of conformation
have a direct bearing on a horse’s ability to remain sound during its lifetime.
When considering why this trend exists, one has to consider the impact of
marketing the Irish Draught horse principally as the foundation for outstanding
sport horses, rather than also marketing the purebred Irish Draught for its own
qualities as a sound, sensible leisure horse.
The holder of the studbook of origin for the Irish Draught horse is under an
obligation to improve the breed, but the Royal Dublin Society-funded study of
the Irish Draught breed, by Dr. Francis Kearney, indicates that the reverse is
happening. IDHS (GB) considers that report to be the most influential research
that has been performed to date, into the state of the Irish Draught as a
breed. IDHS (GB) is also persuaded from its own observations and research that
there has been a gradual dilution of Irish Draught breed characteristics in
Ireland.
IDHS (GB) makes the points set out below, in an attempt to help redress the
situation.
A. Performance testing of colts/stallions for inspection purposes
The breed characteristics of the Irish Draught, contained in the
Irish Draught Horse originating studbook, state that:
“The
Irish Draught Horse is an active, short-shinned, powerful horse with substance
and quality. It is proud of bearing, deep of girth and strong of back and
quarters. Standing over a lot of ground, it has an exceptionally strong and
sound constitution. It has an intelligent and gentle nature and is noted for its
docility and sense.
Nowhere in the breed characteristics does it state that the Irish Draught is a
performance or sport horse. There seems to be no logical reason for performance
testing to be used as one of the inspection criteria (on which a horse can pass
or fail) for an Irish Draught stallion. It is not currently used as an
inspection criterion in Great Britain and we are loath to introduce it as part
of the criteria, since we consider that it will in the long term jeopardise the
preservation of the Irish Draught horse, by leading to a loss of breed
characteristics.
In
any event, we are unclear as to the benefit which the Irish Draught or its owner
derives from the performance testing requirement in Ireland (which in any event
appears to be biased towards show jumping, rather than other performance
disciplines).
Mare owners seeking a performance-type Irish Draught stallion will, of course,
be able to find the animal that they seek, but they would be able to do so just
as easily if performance testing were not an inspection criterion (provided
performance testing were available). However, what of the mare owners who seek
a traditional-type Irish Draught, so as to help preserve the essence of the
breed, and are not remotely interested in whether it can successfully complete a
show jumping-oriented performance test? There are many such mare owners among
the members of IDHS (GB).
Stallions which fail to pass inspection on the performance criterion alone might
nevertheless be of interest to Irish Draught mare owners, particularly if they
are out-cross stallions and provided they have correct, true-to-type
conformation and athletic movement. In other words, if they fulfil the breed
characteristics set out above.
In
that regard, the performance testing criterion for Irish Draught stallions
unacceptably narrows an already limited gene pool, by prohibiting suitable
out-cross breeding stallions from obtaining Registered Irish Draught (RID)
status. The Kearney report highlights that:
-
the number of IHB approved out-cross
Irish Draught stallions is decreasing at an alarming rate;
-
genetic diversity within the breed
is of great concern and in order to increase genetic diversity within the breed
it is necessary to identify animals of least relation to each other;
-
four out
of the five least related or out-cross stallions are standing in Great Britain
and only one total out-cross stallion had been fully approved since the
introduction of performance testing;
-
to
increase the genetic diversity within the breed, it is necessary to make more
out-cross stallions available to breeders.
We submit that HSI should amend the Irish
Draught Horse studbook rules so that compulsory performance testing of stallions
is no longer part of the inspection criteria for stallions to receive RID
status. We do not oppose performance testing per se, but consider that it
should comprise an additional factor, to assist mare owners to choose a stallion
that meets their needs, while being incapable in itself of preventing a stallion
which otherwise meets veterinary and conformational requirements from failing an
inspection.
B. Genetic Diversity
The 2006 Report to
The Irish Draught Horse Society,
prepared at the Animal Genomics Laboratory, states that:
“Falling purebred numbers, combined with a
serious threat of genetic erosion, suggest that the ID population is in urgent
need of conservation. Genetic diversity is an important component in the
consideration of conservation strategies and measures of genetic diversity are
becoming widely used in breed management systems. The Irish Draught Horse
Society must now identify and preserve its rare bloodlines and explore the
genetic resources available to preserve the broadest possible genetic base.”
The benefit to be derived from relinquishing the performance testing criterion
for Irish Draught stallions, on inspection, has been considered above. The
following actions may also improve the gene pool:
1. Worldwide studbook
The best interests of the breed would be served by the setting up of a worldwide
studbook with harmonisation of registration procedures, inspections and pedigree
recording based on agreed breed characteristics. The current situation, whereby
RID stallions in other countries are not recognised in Ireland (despite the
involvement in every inspection of an Irish, HSI-approved inspector; and, even
if they are recognised in Ireland, they may be limited to a number of coverings
per year) not only narrows the gene pool, but also amounts to a restriction of
trade, contrary to EU law.
We
contend that EU legislation requires the holder of the studbook of origin to
automatically recognise a stallion standing abroad (used through AI) as an
approved/RID stallion in that studbook, without any limitation on the number of
coverings that may be undertaken, if the stallion has already been fully
approved as an RID stallion in their country of origin by a daughter society.
2. Assessment of horses on their own merits
IDHS (GB) considers that the purebred progeny of non-RID, but
veterinary-approved, parents should be eligible to achieve RID status in their
own right, provided they pass the inspection. Such horses should be assessed on
their own merit, rather than be subject to a form of “cull policy”, whereby they
are effectively rendered unmarketable, owing to the position of their parents in
the studbook. The current system, which does not allow such animals to attain
RID status, unnecessarily restricts the Irish Draught gene pool.
3. X-rays for
stallions post-approval
We consider that the series of x-rays should not be
required at ‘application for classification’ stage, i.e. prior to a stallion
entering the inspection process, but that stallions should be approved subject
to acceptable x-ray results. X-rays are prohibitively expensive and may deter
stallion owners from presenting their animals for inspection, whereas owners
might be prepared to brook the expense if their animals have passed the standard
visual and veterinary aspects of inspection. In any event, our veterinary
experts question the value of requiring x-rays of horses that do not present
signs of clinical lameness. This reinforces our position on the timing of
x-rays.
The way ahead
The points made by IDHS (GB) in this submission are those that we consider to be
of paramount importance to secure the future of the Irish Draught horse, as it
is known today.
We
are willing to provide the task force with any assistance that we might be in a
position to render, for example information in relation to the state of the
breed in Great Britain.
We
asked in our letter to HSI of 24 June (to which
we have not received an answer) whether the consultation performed by the task
force will be public, i.e. will the submissions to the task force be made
available to the public, together with the final report? We consider that such
transparency and openness would be a valuable step towards the goal of securing
the future of the Irish Draught horse.
Today was a momentous day for the future of British
equestrianism as Defra and the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) signed a
contract passing the management and development of the National Equine Database
(NED) into the hands of the BEF.
