Breeding & Breed Standards

Breeding

The Irish Draught has had an enormous contribution to the horse industry, for many years It has provided a wonderful foundation from which some of the finest competition horses have been bred, traditionally it was primarily crossed with the TB, in order to produce the much sought after true half bred, a horse with stamina, quality and substance, this type of horse has provided us with a safe yet exciting ride across country in the hunting field, it has proven itself equally in eventing and showjumping, and more recently it is proving to have ability in the dressage arena.

It is important not to forget that these horse have originated from the traditional Irish Draught a short shinned, deep bodied compact horse, yet a horse that has retained quality, substance and movement, it is these horses that we should not forget, it is important that we maintain breed standards when undertaking a breeding program, then with thoughtful and selective breeding we shall improve and preserve our national herd.

IRISH DRAUGHT BREED OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION

BREEDING OBJECTIVE
To breed Irish Draught Horses with conformation, movement and temperament that conform to the breed standard, which will make good quality, sound and versatile horses.

BREED SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
The Irish Draught Horse is a versatile, powerful and athletic animal with substance and quality.  It has a pleasant head, good bone and a short shin, good spring of rib, strong loins and hindquarters and an active powerful stride.  Known for its good temperament, docility and willing nature, it has a robust constitution and is inherently sound.  The Irish Draught Horse is a foundation breed that, when crossed with other breeds, will produce all types of leisure and performance horses.

TYPE OF HORSE:  DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Height:  Ideally Irish Draughts should stand between 158cms (15.2hh) and a maximum of 170cms (16.3hh) at maturity.

Bone:  Approximately 23cms (9 inches) of strong, clean, flat bone.

Head:  Should be pleasant, not coarse or hatchet like, with plenty of room between the jaw bones.  Wide forehead and kind eyes, set well apart, and with large quality ears.

Neck:  Good length of rein with head well set on, neck should be correctly muscled and well shaped.

Front legs:  Long muscular forearms, short cannon bones with plenty of strong clean, flat bone, not back at the knee or tied in below the knee.  Pasterns should be in proportion with good hoof pastern axis.  Hooves should be of equal size, hard and sound with plenty of room at the heel.  They should not be boxy, over large or flat.

Shoulders:  A sloping shoulder neither loaded, nor too heavy, nor too short, with well defined withers well set back.

Body, back and hindquarters:  Deep girth with a good spring of rib, strong back, loins and quarters.  The croup and buttocks should be long and gently sloping.  Hips should not be too wide.

Hind legs:  Strong gaskins, well shaped clean hocks set into short shins.  Should not be cow-hocked or wide apart at the hocks.

Action:  Should be straight and free not heavy or ponderous.  Movement should be active and strong, showing good flexion of joints and freedom of the shoulders.

Colour:  Any strong whole colour including bay, grey, chestnut, black, brown and dun.  Excessive white markings are not desirable.

Breed Standard and Guidelines updated in line with HSI, agreed by Council on 18/07/2010

HORNBY TRUST PREMIUM SCHEME

The Hornby Premium was devised to recognise the exceptional mares in the breeding herd and to encourage their owners to breed pure Irish Draughts.
The Premiums are awarded every year at the Mare Gradings, where the successful mares need to score a minimum of 125 out of a total of 145 points on their own merits. All graded Irish Draught mares are eligible for consideration, providing they have their own foal at foot, by an RID stallion. The foal itself is not taken into account when assessing the mare.
If you would like to put your mare forward for Hornby Premium assessment you need to contact the Office to request an application form – please do this in plenty of time, closing date for receipt of application is 31 July 2003.
As always our grateful thanks go to our generous benefactors the HORNBY PREMIUM TRUST for their continued support.

HORNBY PREMIUMS - UPDATE AND GOOD NEWS (Dec 2003)
These Premium awards are from a Private Trust that has loyally supported our breed through the enthusiasm of its Trustees. We are enormously grateful for their continued support. Their aim has always been to reward quality Irish Draught mares with a foal at foot by an RID Stallion.

The Select Hornby Premium Awards were introduced for mares who have won 3 Hornby Premiums, thus allowing older mares to step down and new younger mares to come to the fore. It also encourages members to breed pure, with the hope that their mare may achieve ‘select’ status. I recently approached the Trustees again, and they have accepted that whilst some mares fall short of the current top score required, if they have a creditable foal at foot, that foal’s quality could be taken into consideration. It was suggested that if the mare fell short by five marks of the total required number of points, the foal at foot could be assessed, and if it was thought of highly by the inspectors, they could use their discretion and award a Hornby Premium. The foal would not be scored. Mares that score top marks will not need to have their foals assessed.

SELECT HORNBY PREMIUM MARE
On being awarded her third Hornby Premium, a mare will be given the title of SELECT HORNBY PREMIUM MARE. She will hold this title for the rest of her life and may not be brought forward for assessment again. However, from that point onwards all her pure bred foals will be registered free of any charge (the only requirement being that her owner is a member of the Society).

If you believe that your mare has gained three or more Hornby Premiums you should send her passport to the Office to have it stamped and her name will appear in the next Yearbook. Mares will also receive a lovely Select Hornby Premium rosette.

Last Updated Wednesday, September 29 2010 @ 10:33 AM BST; 5,316 Hits