The latest figures from the Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) breeding department show a continued fall in the numbers of foals by thoroughbred stallions. They are down from 62% of the total 20 years ago to 11% in the 2018 results.

Benefiting from this decline are continental stallions, who have climbed from almost zero in 2000 to 37% in last year’s figures. This in turn means that only 5% of the foals being bred in Ireland today have more than 75% thoroughbred blood.

Meanwhile, leading event riders around the world are calling for more thoroughbred blood in event horses. At last year’s HSI breeders’ conference, Ireland’s team and individual eventing world silver medalist Padriag McCarthy and top British trainer Chris Bartle both emphasised that more than 80% thoroughbred is needed for the top five star event horse.

German eventer Michael Jung came to Ireland last autumn in a bid to find the 80% thoroughbred horse that he said “is very difficult to source on the continent.”

€300 incentive

HSI have introduced a grant that rewards breeders who produce foals with a greater percentage of thoroughbred blood. The governing body recently announced a scheme which provide a €300 grant to the first 200 breeders who register a foal in 2020 that is more than 70% thoroughbred.

The foals must be out of mares and by stallions that are inspected and registered in a Department of Agriculture’s approved stud book.

Applications can be made on horsesportireland.ie and forms must be in by the 30 October. Breeders can also check the eligibility of their mare and chosen stallion on the Horse Sport Ireland website.

Sale

In line with this, the Traditional Irish Horse Association (TIHA) is organising a sale of select traditional Irish horses at Mullingar September 3rd. The selection dates are:

• Saturday 17 August – Carlanstown Cross Country, Co Meath.

• Monday 19 August – Bluegate Equestrian, Callan, Co Kilkenny.

• Wednesday 21 August – Cheshire Equestrian Centre, Co Limerick.

• Thursday 22 August – Claremorris Equestrian Centre, Co Mayo.

The entry fee for selection is €25 and horse passports are required. Jim Cooke of TIHA notes that a similar sale last year proved very successful, with a top price of €14,000 being achieved.

Both the new grant scheme and the annual sale for horses that meet the demands of an ever growing world wide market are moves that must be applauded and supported. In addition HSI’s mare inspections also feed into this effort as a successful outcome in that programme can underline the eligibility of a mare when applying for one of the new grants.