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Why is the Preservation of the Traditionally Irish Bred Horse so Important?

            In today’s world there is very little that, once lost, cannot be replaced. There is clearly one exception to this statement – an endangered species. Anyone that has looked at this subject in any depth will tell you, the Traditionally Bred Irish horse is an endangered species. For hundreds of years the world beat a path to Ireland to buy its horses. They had all that was needed for fighting wars, drawing carriages, taking you hunting and, as equestrian sport was developed, to compete at the very highest level. The farmers in Ireland had bred these much sought after animals by crossing their working mares with the strong Thoroughbred. This cross produced a good looking animal that had brain, stamina, talent and best of all they stayed sound. The Thoroughbred part of the partnership can be found in most countries of the developed world and because of the power of the Stud Book, this breed has remained pure and true to type. The Irish working mare, said by some to have originated from imported Andalusian horses, can be found nowhere else and became the ‘Irish Draught’ with its own stud book. Over the years the recording of their breeding was incomplete at best and many animals were ‘imported’ into the stud book because they were ‘of a type’ that those in charge thought would improve the breed. The great Clover Hill was in fact more thoroughbred than working horse but he was considered to be the correct type and that decision has proved to be correct. There are of course other Irish Draught Societies elsewhere in the world. We will be returning to these another time.

            Most horses in Ireland are bred by small breeders who keep only two or three mares. It is these breeders who have produced the animals that have drawn the world to this island to buy their horses. What then do these breeders want? They want to breed a foal that needs little tending when born and can be sold at weaning for a profit. The mare will almost certainly have lived out all year with just a little hay and almost without exception they are good mothers. So the breeder has the raw material and now they must look at what the buyer wants. The buyers come in three types. Some are dealers, who buy the foal and quickly sell it on and turn a profit. There are those who buy the foals as stores, looking to keep them for a year or two before selling them on perhaps broken and ‘jumping a little’. The third group of buyers are getting rarer, for they buy off the farm and keep the young horse until it is ready to compete. They may all buy for different reasons but they are alike in one respect, they want an animal that will grow well and are easy to keep while they have it in their care. When the buyers are ready to turn their profit they will be looking for potential owners.

They must always be considering what these owners will be looking for when they want to buy. A very few of these ‘owners’ will be looking for a horse to win a Grand Prix. There are few of these clients and it is a very specialised market. The Show Jumpers mostly feel that they need a warmblood to compete with the warmbloods of the continental opposition and thus they go to the centre of that gene pool to buy these horses, the continent. Those who want to win a four star event will probably look at where other winners have come from; by far the most have in fact come from Ireland. However, the vast majority of the ‘owners’ are looking for a horse that will entertain them. It might be that they will want it to hunt, event and show in local shows, in fact they want an all rounder. They will not want a horse that is difficult to handle nor will they want an animal that suffers whimpishly if it is cold or wet, it must remain sound and it must have an easy going temperament. A failing in any of these departments and the horse becomes a chore rather than a joy.

So if the majority of the ‘owners’ want an easily managed sound horse but with a little class then that is what the ‘buyers’ will be looking for and that is what the breeders should be breeding. That is exactly what the Traditional Irish Breeder has been doing for generations. It is therefore desperately important that the buyer and the owner are made aware that this is what they are buying. The Irish Horse Board keeps the records but their hands are tied by European Law. The term Irish Sport Horse, as has been said before, can mean anything. It could be a Traditionally Irish Bred horse or it could be a pure Hannovarian. Clearly the buyer and the owner will want to know. They will not want to have to go to the Horse Board to check up on what other breeds may be represented in the pedigree.

The time has surely come to give some sort of guarantee as to the breeding of the horse you are selling. As we have said, buyers and owners come to Ireland to buy Irish, they will go to Germany to buy Hannovarian and to Holland to buy a Dutch Warmblood. They will not pay top dollar for an Irish bred animal in Holland and the reverse is true. How then do we give them the information they need to be sure that they are buying Irish? Because of the law the IHB are not permitted to differentiate and thus it must be done another way. I suggest that the way is to give the horse recognition of the purity of its breeding.

The Traditionally Irish Bred horse is a cross between a Thoroughbred and a Pure Irish Draught. I suggest that any horse proved to be of this cross should carry the initials TIB1. The other very popular cross is between a TIB1 and a thoroughbred - a TIB 2 perhaps. Because we still have many mares (and some stallions) where we don’t know the purity of their grand-parents, perhaps a horse where the breed of two grand parents is unknown could be a TIB3.

                        In the third generation you can see that 4 are TB and 4 are RID thus Anna is entitled to be a TIB1.

 Where as in this pedigree where Anna has been crossed with a TB horse in the third generation there are now 6 parts TB and only 2 parts RID. Thus Paul is a TIB2

It is clear that if Anna had been covered by an RID stallion then Paul would be 6 eighths RID and 2 eighths TB but he would still be a TIB2.

However if Anna was covered by another TIB1 then the offspring would be another TIB1 as there are 4 eights RID and 4 eighths TB from his grand-parents.

             In these three examples we have been lucky that all the breeding has been recorded. This is not always the case and many truly bred Irish horses would suffer, so this is why we should add yet one more section – TIB3. This would only be available to horses with no more than two ‘unknowns’ in their great grand-parents breeding. This would only happen in the RID section of the pedigree as the TB stud book is complete and any horse can be traced.

            It is very unlikely that the two unknowns that are Iris’s parents would be of foreign breeding because overseas stallions had not appeared in Ireland three generations ago – they are likely to be either TB or half-bred. If there were any more than 2 unknowns in Fletch’s breeding he would not be permitted to carry the TIB3 accolade.

            It is my opinion that the attaching of the TIB label to any Irish horse would greatly enhance their sale value because buyers and owners come here to buy Irish. At the major Goresbridge sale this autumn it was interesting that the dealers bought more and paid more for horses of traditional breeding than for any others. Clearly - and I hate the expression (it reminds me of politicians) - this will have to ‘go for consultation’ but I am convinced that if we are to retain the purity of the Irish horse then something must be done - and soon.

Charlie Ripman 4/12/05.
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Lest We Forget.
    Today is the day when the British remember those who fought for the freedom of others and those who continue to serve as peace keepers and peace makers all over the world. Other countries remember on different dates but quite rightly we all remember in our own way and in our own time. Over the years the Irish have given much in the way of lives given. (My father is so proud that he was attached to the Irish Guards as a doctor and remembers how brave the Irish, who were in fact fighting someone else’s war, were.) In the Great War the Irish horses fought without malice, but were as brave as lions under fire. These grand horses were one day hunting across the banks and ditches of this pleasant land, only to be thrown into the mud and hell of the trenches and they took on the terrible job without a backward glance. Today the Irish are still represented in the British army. Not only are there many in the Irish Guards and many other regiments but almost all the ceremonials in the UK have at their centre, the mounted regiments and the guns of the King’s Troop. All these horses are found here in Ireland for it is only here that the correct temperament is inbred and endemic. Ask any trooper or Life Guard and they will tell you that they would not wish to ride a horse bred in any other way.
    When we remember those who gave so much for those of us who come after it is important to remember that there were men and women from all countries who gave their all, Americans, French, the Low Countries and the Russians clearly gave most but there were Germans who disagreed with Hitler and most of them died for their beliefs. Those beliefs were that all should live in a free society and that minorities should not be bullied by the majority. How sad then that Blair lay a wreath in their memory not a year after he joined Hitler as the only other Leader to ban hunting with hounds. I have never been a fan of hypocrites.    
Charlie Ripman 13/11/05
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Animal Rights Activists attack Countryside Alliance Members in London.
    A family that hunt with the Wilton in Dorset were driving in London. In the car was a lady with her mother in her seventies and her 21year old son. Having stopped at traffic lights three people got out of the car behind and while hurling anti-hunting abuse and spitting they tried to steal the lady’s handbag and pull the young man out of the car. The Police arrested three people for violent public order offences. There was animal rights literature in the car.
    This once again demonstrates that those who pose as animal activists are in fact not working for the animals but against those who hunt, shoot and fish. Country Alliance spokesman Jill Grieve said
    “The hunting community has suffered abuse from animal rights activists for decades and this once again demonstrates that it is not animals they love but people that they hate.”
    The only indication that they were hunting people was a sticker in the back window saying: Working dogs, working people work in hunting.
I am grateful to the Countryside Alliance for this story of despicable behaviour.
Charlie Ripman 9/11/05
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Paternal Duties!
    As we start the season of 2005/2006 I was thinking back to the days when we had two hunters in and both the ladies in my life had time to hunt twice a week. While they rode, my task was that of a groom.  Not Stud Groom nor Head Lad nor Second Horseman, just groom. I was in charge of making sure that all was ready - tack moderately clean, horses clean, kit very clean and boots sparkling. I am not convinced that this is the right way round but that was the order of things. I was also in command of logistics. This had two parts. The first was to be ready to answer my mobile.
           “Daddy, where are they? We had to do that awful gate into the wood and now we are lost.”
            “Charlie, I thought you told me they would come towards Mr. Jones’s buildings and I have been here for half an hour and there is no sign of them, where do I go now?"
            Yes, I was in charge of making sure my girls were always in the right place. Not easy when they are on top of a mountain and I am in the valley bottom (we were hunting in Wales). My command post was my car. Within the Command Post I was obliged to carry a variety of equipment. Wet weather gear, warm coats for the journey home, spare stirrup leathers, reins and gloves and extra whiskey in case the flasks ran out.
            Most important of all – I carried the picnic. This was the second part of my job, canteen vehicle. I should say that the preparation of this was not down to me, Anna spent Friday night making sandwiches and relieving Tesco of mountains of cocktail sausages. Occasionally large pizzas were cooked (with plenty of extra cheese) and eaten cold. Everything had to be eatable on a horse and it had sometimes to be eaten at speed. We went through a period of tuna and mayonnaise but these were inclined to collapse down hunting coats and yellow britches.
            However, once in the command post the picnic became my responsibility. It was my job to have food and drink available to my girls and their friends whenever they may have felt a pang. This is not as easy as it might seem.
            The phone would go,
“Where are you Dad, we are starving?”
“I am in a line of stationary cars in the top lane.”
“Oh I can see you, we are standing below you by the big tree, pleeeease daddy”
            And so it was that I had to park off the road, take a selection of goodies and set off down what always seemed a slope akin to a cliff face. The greeting was always profuse. When I handed out the last goodie, as if by statue law, hounds would speak, the huntsman would blow ‘gone away’ and everyone cantered off - leaving me to climb the hill without crampons. By the time I arrived at my car I had sworn to give up smoking, get fit, go on a diet and buy large saddle bags so they could carry their own sandwiches.
            My exact status in the pecking order of our family was brought home to me when talking to Jemima on the phone. Hounds were hunting in a deep dingle and it would be some time before Mr. Fox would be leaving. The ‘Dad where are you’ conversation had started when I heard Anna’s voice in the background.
            “It is OK Mum, I am talking to the Picnic now” said my beloved daughter. So there you have it. No longer Dad, Father, The Old Man, I was now ‘The Picnic’. Well the Picnic set off up another mountainside only to see the field canter away, swing right handed and drop down to the road I had left some ten minutes hard climbing before. An undignified descent led to the loss of a pack of cheese and pickle but when I got to the road I was met by,
            “Oh, where have you been, we are desperate.”
            An exhausted Picnic handed pizza to large group of riders and as the rest of the field came past I handed out ‘food on the run’ to the daughter and a good looking, hard riding young man who I think had a twinkle in his eye. I doubt that it was in my interest to feed him protein for it might have encouraged the twinkle! After all this exertion I returned to the command vehicle to have a cheese and pickle sandwich and recover. Then I remembered - they were dissolving in the rain on the hillside. No greater sign of love can there be than to give up one’s lunch for one’s girls!
            I am pleased to say that this season ‘The Picnic’ is out of work. Anna’s mare is in foal to a son of Cruising and the beloved daughter is working so hard that she has no time to keep a horse in and has to grab a ride from any who might offer her one. For my part I can concentrate on the hunting and eat my cheese and pickle in peace.
Charlie Ripman 3/11/05 A version of this was printed in Hounds Magazine three years ago but I wasn't paid for it so I don't feel guilty re-printing it!
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Sixteen Good Reasons to Buy an Irish Bred Eventer.

            Eventing is a tough sport and you need a tough horse if you are to compete on a regular basis. With all the fitness work and training involved with the sport, it is important that you are in a position to compete as often as possible to make it worth all the effort. With an ‘Irish bred’ it is clear you are buying a horse that is certainly up to the job and that will reward you for your faith in it.

            A look at those competing in the UK, probably the most competitive environment one could choose, it is clear that there are some very sound and talented horses on the circuit. Iced Bun by the RID stallion Silver Skip out of Little Linda and bred by John Sheridan is, at 12 years old, certainly proof that we are looking at a sound horse. Having started his UK career in 2001 with 7 runs he had 36 runs in the next three years and has been on the go since April this year when he won an Open Novice and is still going at the end of September having been 5^th in an Intermediate this month in his latest outing, his 15^th this year. In these outings he has been in the first three 6 times and in the top ten 11, with just one failure to finish. Another hard working horse is the Eamon Gleeson bred, Slyguff Joker (WNTB) / Annaduff, 6yo gelding, Irish Jester. This fellow made 9 appearances in his first year, in 4 of which he took 1^st place, and has been out 12 times thus far in this campaign (5 top 3, 11 top ten spots). This surely is one to watch for next year. Others of note in the UK are; Imperial Flight (5yo g Master Imp (TB) – Prospect Beauty, bred by Jo O’Flaherty) with 16 runs this season, 9 in the 1^st three and 13 top ten spots; Lord of the Shivers (6yo g Easy Lift (TB) – Lisnabirra Star bred by Bobby Spellman) 11 runs last year, 14 this year with 10 top ten placings; Carlow Cruiser (7yo g Cruising (ISH) – Kilkea Duchess bred by Jason Walsh) 16 runs with 11 top ten placings; Grand Duke II (5yo g Carrabawn View(RID) – Glendine Rose bred by Eddie & Marie Moyles) 12 outings, 7 top ten slots and two of his runs when he was out of the top ten were H/C; Castlekelly River (6yo g Golden River (ISH) – Glenard Pippi bred by John Howlin) 12 outings and 10 of these were top ten placings; Impromptu (6yo m Master Imp (TB) – Old Yard Julie bred by Michael Doyle) had 7 runs last season and has been out 10 times this year with 9 top ten slots, 5 of which were in the top 3, what a mare to breed from.  

            Across the water in the USA there are lots of Irish bred horses competing but the longer distances make it more difficult for the horses to run as often as they do in the UK.                         

 Carlingford Taldi (7yo g Taldi (TB) – out of a Clover Hill mare) has had 9 runs this season with 8 top ten placings, 4 of which were in the top 3. Since starting his eventing in 2002 in the USA he ran 6 times in both ’02 and ’03 and no less than 12 times in ’04. Another on 9 outings so far this year is Going Going Gone (10yo Sanang Hati (TB) – GTI Diamond, bred by the Kennedy Equestrian Centre) with 27 runs in the previous three years, he has 6 top ten placings to his credit this year from 9 outings. Happy Valley (8yo g Cajatano (TB) – Happy Lady bred by Thomas Hughes) is a very good advertisement for the toughness and talent of the Irish bred horse, with 15 outings in ’03 and 16 in ’04, of his 8 runs so far this year he was in the top 3 in no less than 7 of these and in the top ten on his other run. Another hard working Irishman is Cruise Lion (6yo g Cruising – Cara Lion bred by Patricia Nicholson) who ran 15 times last year and is on 7 outings to date with 5 top ten placings. Others who have done commendably well are; Cavaldi (10yo g Cavalier Royale(HOLST) – Catell bred by Anthony Byrne) with 19 runs in the previous two years he has been out 8 time so far in ’05 with 6 top ten placings; Carlingford West (8yo g Western Promise (ISH) – out of a Slyguff Hero mare) was exported from here in August of 2003 and still managed two events that year with 8 in ’04 and 7 so far this season of which in 6 he finished in the top ten; Irish Cavalier (11yo g Cavalier Royale) has had an easier time than some with 6 runs in ’01, 7 in ’02, 6 in both ’03 and ’04 and 5 so far this year of which in four he finished in the top ten. A horse that deserves watching is Ballylaffin Bracken. This 5yo by Ricardo Z (ZANG) out of a Hildeny mare was bred by Katherine Long and found for her American owner by that great seeker-out of top horses, Clare Ryan. With 5 runs this term, one of which was H/C, he has 2 top 3 and 4 top ten placings and he may be the exception that proves the rule that Irishness is best.

            It is clear that all these horses are staying sound in a sport that is fraught with danger and they are doing the job that is asked of them, namely to succeed. They are all great advertisements for the Irish bred horse and as you read this weeks paper some will be out again jumping their hearts out for their new owners who will be grateful they ‘bought Irish’.

Charlie Ripman 14/10/05 (This was researched two weeks ago so some of the numbers may not be up to date but I will do a major one at the end of the season which will include all the results).

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I wanted to buy an Irish horse.

If you want to buy an Irish horse you would expect to come to Ireland. In fact, with a lot of research you could go to Italy to buy one. Realistically you could probably find them all over Europe. They will not be called Irish, they will have been reclassified and will now be described as something else. This in itself is not of any great importance but it is a problem of massive proportions for the traditional Irish bred horse. Within the EU, one is not permitted to discriminate between a Frenchman and a Dutchman, quite rightly; by the same thinking one is not permitted to discriminate between a Selle Francais or a Belgium Sport Horse. If the horse was born in Belgium and is not pure bred (eligible for one of the various breed stud books) it is registered as a Belgium Sport Horse. The same applies to Ireland and here lies the problem.

            The traditional cross that made Ireland the equestrian giant of the past is now called the Irish Sport Horse. The drawback, for those who are trying to keep to the traditional breeding, is that many others will also be called an Irish Sport Horse. Provide the animal is born here and is registered with the Irish Horse Board that is what it will be called. In fact you can have a pure bred Hannovarian registered as an ISH. Certainly one could register it as a Hannovarian but would that be commercially the right thing to do? Your customers are coming to Ireland to buy an Irish horse not a Hannovarian, it is surely better to register it as an ISH – (if they wanted a Hannovarian they would go to Germany and buy out of the centre of the gene pool). As it is - and is likely to remain - it is illegal to stand your traditionally bred Irish horse apart from all the rest of the Irish Sport Horses.

            We will all have read the letter published in The Irish Field some while ago from a buyer who had travelled to Ireland to spend good money on an Irish horse and failed in their quest. They will have travelled from yard to yard only to find that what was quite correctly described as an ISH, was in fact half warmblood or whatever. Not what they were looking for. There is no suggestion of misrepresentation but because of the law it is not possible, until you read the passport, to discriminate between the traditionally bred (TB cross RID) and any other breeding. In fact the Sire and Dam may themselves be described in the passport as ISH and one would then have to go to the IHB to discover there true breeding. The nature of buying horses is to fly in, hire a car, drive like mad round Ireland, make one’s choice, do the deal and be on the next plane home. There is not time for in-depth research and before the advent of the non traditional stallions there was no need. All the horses one looked at were of the traditional breeding. One’s first reaction may be to blame the Horse Board for this crazy situation. It is not their fault, they are just working to the rules.

            So how do the sellers of the traditional Irish breeding get their message across? It cannot be in the name, unless everyone gets into the habit of adding TIB (Traditional Irish Breeding) or some such note, to the ISH beside their horse’s name. Thus one would see in a show program or sale catalogue:

 Carrig na Rince (ISH/TIB) and then, if the horse does not have the RID crossed with TB breeding, it would be misrepresentation to put TIB beside the ISH. Because there is no breed society for the Irish bred horse, who will fight for them? The breeders have always relied on the IHB to promote their horses and pay substantial registration fees for the privilege but they (the IHB) are not permitted to discriminate by favouring one type of ISH over another. Perhaps the time has come to start a stud book for the Traditional Irish Bred horse. Someone would have to fund it for there is no such thing as a free lunch and the traditional breeders have expenses enough to cope with. Perhaps a sponsor could be found to fund a simple listing of traditionally bred horses, their location, their performance records and perhaps their availability for sale. This listing would be unashamedly discriminating in favour of the TIB horse but as a private stud book with only TIB horses listed, it would be within the law.

            Everyone understands why the foreign stallions have come to Ireland to stand, for the show jumping fraternity feel that you must have a warmblood or warmblood cross to get to the top. However the sale of ‘Irish’ horses puts millions of euros into the economy of the country and buyers come for more than just show jumpers, if they cannot find what they are looking for, they will stop looking. If they do this, then Ireland will be left trying to sell the progeny of European stallions crossed with mares that are themselves carrying many genes from overseas. The ‘Irish’ horse is too good to loose, but action needs to be taken now - firstly to stem the tide and then to restore them to their rightful place in the upper ranks of the equine world.

Charlie Ripman  6/10/05.
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In an attempt to unravel the breeding of the ‘Irish Sport Horse’ it is interesting to see just how varied is the actual breeding of those whom we call ISH. Whichever group of horses one takes the results will vary, however in this instance we will look at some young horses that have succeeded in their field of endeavour. These thirteen horses are the qualifiers for the Irish Horse Board and Dressage Ireland Potential Dressage Horse Final. All but one are registered as Irish Sport Horses, the other is a pure bred Irish Draught, which is thrilling in itself.

With the help of Donna Craig at the Horse Board I have gone back to the great grand parents of each horse giving us 8 parts to their breeding. The one pure bred is Lismar Osgur and it is easy to determine this as all 8 great grand parents were pure bred and thus it is 8/8ths RID. The only ‘pure’ traditionally Irish bred (TIB) horse is Carrig Na Rince with one parent a Thoroughbred (TB) and one a Registered Irish Draught (RID). Three who might aspire to the valued letters TIB are Hope of Kilrush, Adonis and Imperial Miss. They all have the right mix, albeit not complete. Hope of Kilrush has two maternal grand parents who are RID, one TB and one TIB (RID x TB). This makes the horse 5/8^th TB, 2/8^th RID and 1/8^th TIB. Imperial Miss has a maternal great grand parent who is by a TB out of a TIB mare and another who is unknown (but is probably TIB or Irish Draught as European stallions were not about that long ago) making her 4/8^th TB, 2/8^th RID 1/8^th TIB 1/8^th Unknown. Adonis is 4/8^th RID, 3/8^th TB and 1/8^th unknown, so near but not quite!

Eirona May is nearly pure TB being 6/8^th TB and 2/8^th unknown, Balladeer Del and Silken Storey are 5/8^th TB, 2/8^th RID and 1/8^th unknown. We have now 8 horses of the 13 that have only TB or RID in their pedigree, the unknown parts are unlikely to be anything else as they only appear three generations back.

The other 5 horses, although they carry the ISH brand, bring into the mix a quantity of non Irish breeding. The least foreign is Westwinds Balla Filice with 1/8^th Anglo Arab, 5/8^th TB and 2/8^th unknown which could easily be TIB. The Journeyman has 2/8^th Hannovarian, 1/8^th Selle Francais, 1/8^th unknown and 2/8^th both RID & TB. Even further from the tradition of Irish breeding are the three remaining qualifiers, Ballynoe Castle RM (3/8^th TB, 2/8^th Holstein, 2/8^th Belgium Warmblood and 1/8^th unknown), Integrity (2/8^th RID, 2/8^th TB, 2/8^th Hannovarian, 2/8^th Zangersheide) and Magic Oscar B (2/8^th TB, 2/8^th Holstein, 2/8^th Belgium Warmblood, 2/8^th unknown).

It is clear then, that with much non traditional breeding, a horse may call itself an Irish Sport Horse. It is interesting that an icon of Irish breeding, the great Clover Hill is in fact more TB than RID, 4/8^th TB, 2/8^th RID and 2/8^th unknown. It is clear then that the time is fast approaching when the Irish Sport Horse will become so diluted that the accolade will mean nothing as a guide to its breeding. Time, perhaps, to bring in another breed to join all the others in this melting pot of horse procreation. One that reflects the traditional breeding that made Ireland great in the equestrian world, the place where all the world came to buy their hunters, jumpers and eventers.

Charlie Ripman 6/10/05.