Irish Draught
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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
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 ...
s and
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. ...
s, producing the popular Irish Sport Horses (also called Irish Draught Sport Horses) which excel at the highest levels of
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 equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...
.


History

References to the Irish Draught date back as far as the 18th century. It is believed that the breed was developed when the then-common
Irish Hobby The Irish Hobby is an extinct breed of horse developed in Ireland prior to the 13th century. The breed provided foundation bloodlines for several modern horse breeds, including breeds as diverse as the Connemara pony and the Irish Draught. Pa ...
was successively bred with 12th century
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
war horses, Iberian breeds from the 16th century
Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...
shipwrecks,
Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to: Sports * Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow * Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club * Clydesdale RFC, South ...
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 ...
stallions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and local Connemara ponies. Crossbreeding with Clydesdales, which were used in some areas for heavier haulage, resulted in a taller animal, but at the cost of stamina and conformation; these qualities were negated by the introduction of Thoroughbred blood. The Irish Draught was bred to be an all-round working horse, suitable for draft work, under harness and under saddle. There was also a need for Irish Draughts to be economical to keep, and this was achieved by grazing throughout the summer and supplementing their feed with chopped foraged gorse, boiled turnip and leftover cattle feed. Irish Draught Horse pedigrees had been recorded since at least the start of the 20th century, when the government introduced registration for
stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...
s and
mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...
s in 1907 and 1911 respectively, subject to inspections of the animals, and offering subsidies towards this. The stud book was opened by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1917, establishing a
foundation stock Foundation bloodstock or foundation stock refers to animals that are the progenitors, or foundation, of a breed or of a given bloodline within such. Many modern breeds can be traced to specific, named foundation animals, but a group of animals m ...
of 375 mares and 44 stallions. The original
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 ...
records, however, were lost in the fire of the Four Courts in 1922. Their use in the
Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in the allied military led to large losses, and the mechanization of the 20th century saw a decline in their traditional use as farm and carriage horses. Large numbers were sent to the
slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...
and abroad for use in breeding.


Preservation

In 1976, the Irish Draught Horse Society was founded to preserve the breed, with an external branch in Great Britain emerging in 1979. A horse board, ''Bord na gCapall'', was also founded in 1976 (later resurrected as the ''Irish Horse Board'' in 1993), in order to promote the breeding and use of horses other than Thoroughbreds in the country. In 2008, control of the Irish Horse Register, which contains the registry of both the Irish Draught and Irish Sport Horse, was handed from the Irish Horse Board to Horse Sport Ireland. In November of the same year, the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association was formed by members of the Irish Draught Horse Society. Increased interest in the breed internationally has led to the formation of Irish Draught societies and registries in many countries, including Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. In 2011 and 2012, the representative bodies of Ireland, Great Britain and Canada agreed to harmonize their breed standard and inspection criteria. It is the Irish Draught's popularity as a foundation animal for the production of
sport horse A sport horse or sporthorse is a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term is usually applied to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving, but ...
s that has put the breed at risk a second time. Many Irish Draught mares never produce a purebred replacement for the herd. Aggressive selection for
show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...
characteristics has degraded the foundation stock, and inbreeding to a few popular performance bloodlines has further endangered the genetic diversity of the breed. The Irish Draught is considered an "endangered maintained" breed by the Food and Agriculture Committee of the United Nations.Home
FAO. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
In 2009, the breed was upgraded to the "Watch" category on the American Livestock Breed Conservancy's Rare Breed Conservation Priority List. The Irish Draught Horse Society of Ireland, with support from the
Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) ( ga, Cumann Ríoga Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economi ...
and technical assistance from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, have spearheaded research into a breeding plan to improve genetic diversity, and to maintain the traditional breed traits that are the defining characteristics of the Irish Draught breed. In an attempt to guide breeders in producing healthier progeny, annual inspections of adult horses listed on the studbook were introduced by Horse Sport Ireland, with other registries later following suit. These inspections are used to produce a linear profile which is included in each studbook entry, and identifies areas in which the animal may deviate from the standard, so as to help in determining the animal's suitability for breeding. A 4-tier classification system was also introduced in place of a pass/fail system, in order to list animals on the studbook that do not meet the breed standard, with an aim to improve the genetic diversity of the breed. There is also a supplementary section in the Horse Sport Ireland studbook in order to recognise horses which may be primarily registered as Irish Sport Horses, but conform to the standard of the Irish Draught.


Characteristics

The breed standard is defined in each country by the respective registry, although there have been efforts to harmonize standards between countries. The breed standard defined by the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association, and followed by the equivalent organization of Great Britain and Canada, states that "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." The breed should ideally be between and , with leg bone strong, clean and flat, measuring about . :Approximately 23 cm ic(9 inches) of strong, clean, flat bone. The ideal head is not coarse, wide at the forehead with good width between the jaw bones and "kind" eyes. The neck has good length and should be well conformed.
Withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...
are well-defined.
Hooves The hoof (plural: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits, yet the rumi ...
should be hard, sound and not boxy, overlarge or flat. The heartgirth is deep, the hindquarters are long and gently sloping. Movement should be active, strong, straight and free, not heavy or ponderous, with good flexion and freedom in the shoulders. Most solid colours are acceptable, including bay,
brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
,
grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
,
chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...
,
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
and
dun A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish language, Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), ...
. Excessive white markings are not desirable.


Classification

The Irish Draught studbook in many countries does not admit animals on a pass or fail basis; instead, animals are invited to undergo an inspection which assesses the athleticism, movement and conformation in order to determine how closely they match the standard, after which they are classified according to a 4-tier system. * Class 1 horses have both passed the official veterinary examination and met the breed standard criteria. * Class 2 horses do not meet the breed standard, but have passed the official veterinary examination. The offspring of a Class 2 horse is eligible for inspection to be upgraded to Class 1. * Class 3 horses have failed the official veterinary examination, and are not recommended for breeding. Their progeny are not eligible for upgrading. * Class 4 horses have not yet been examined, and could meet either of the other classification standards upon examination. Their progeny are not eligible for upgrading.


Uses

Irish Draughts are commonly
crossbred 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 ...
with Thoroughbreds and
Warmbloods 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. ...
to produce high-quality sport horses. This cross is termed the Irish Sport Horse (or Irish Draught Sport Horse in the US). Demand for the Irish Sport Horse has led to a thriving export of horses for use in competition. The purebred Irish Draught is also popular in
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 ...
, showing and as a hunter, as well as police mounts due to their temperament and strength.


References


External links


Irish Draught Horse Society, IrelandHorse Sport IrelandThe Irish Draught Horse Society, Great BritainThe Irish Draught Horse Society, Northern Ireland The Irish Draught and Sport Horse Society, AustraliaIrish Draught Horse Society of North AmericaIrish Draught Horse Society of CanadaThe Irish Draught Horse Society of New ZealandIrish Draught Horse Breeder's Association, IrelandSearchable Online Studbook maintained by The Irish Draught and Sport Horse Society, Australia
{{British horses Horse breeds originating in Ireland Horse breeds