The Irish Sport Horse, or Irish Hunter, is an Irish

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

warmblood Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds primarily originating in Europe and registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian sport. ...

sporting horse, used mostly for

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. Thi ...

and

show-jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ...

. It was bred from 1923 by

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

Irish Draught The Irish Draught horse is the national horse breed of Ireland which developed primarily for farm use. Today, they are especially popular for crossing with Thoroughbreds and warmbloods, producing the popular Irish Sport Horses (also called ...

and

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

stock. There was some limited intromission of Hanoverian,

Selle Français The Selle Français (SF) is a breed of sport horse from France. It is renowned primarily for its success in show jumping, but many have also been successful in dressage and eventing. An athletic horse with good gaits, it is usually bay o ...

and

Trakehner Trakehner is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name. The state stud ( :de:Hauptgestüt Trakehnen) was established in 1731 and ...

blood in the 1990s. It is a recognised true

– foals may only be registered in the main section of the

stud-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...

if both parents are registered in that section.

Characteristics

Uses

The Irish Sport Horse is a successful competition riding horse, used in

and

three-day eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

. The Irish Sport Horse Studbook is often highly placed in the annual eventing rankings of the

World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses The World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) connects sport horse breeding organizations with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). The FEI is the International Olympic Committee-recognized federation for Olympic eques ...

, and was in first place in each year from 2012 to 2016.

References

{{British horses Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Ireland

Characteristics

Uses

See also

References