I noticed that the horse I commented on is a stallion approved for breeding with the IDs… Why would the IDs want that kind of conformation?
[QUOTE=carolprudm;5620397]
HSI exists to promote Irish horses, no matter the breed. …[/QUOTE]
Carol, your statement is not accurate. Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) is the national federation (NF) governing equestrian sport in Ireland, sanctioned (and the recipient of funding) by the Irish government and recognized by the FEI. Its mission as the NF governing equestrian sport should NOT be to promote Irish horses, although it certainly does promote a certain breed of Irish horse – the Irish Sport Horse. Its exclusive role should be to professionally manage the equestrian disciplines in partnership with the FEI, irrespective of the breed of horse being competed.
Unlike every other equestrian federation that I am aware of in the EU and beyond, Ireland’s national federation also owns and controls the countries long-established sport horse studbook (Irish Sport Horse Studbook aka Irish Horse Register). This control by a NF that is, by necessity, a monopoly, over a studbook that until March 2009 also enjoyed a monopoly position as the country’s only sport horse studbook is one of the reasons Claire Wood, Dawn Kelly, and I successfully sought to create the Warmblood Studbook of Ireland (WSI - www.irish-warmblood.com).
In all the other major countries the NF is a separate and distinct organization from the the studbook(s) operating in the country. This is how it should be. But here in Ireland HSI uses its monopoly position to give advantages to its wholly-owned studbook using tax-payer (IRL and EU) funds. Examples of this are the ISH Studbook Showjumping Series, which HSI funds but is open only to ISH/IHR horses, and the obstructing of WSI’s application to join the WBFSH (the head of HSI’s breeding department chairs the WBFSH membership committee) soon after we were approved by the Irish minister and the subsequent changing of the WBFSH rules to keep newly formed studbooks ineligible for full membership for a 5-year period.
When the formation of HSI was being debated and planned many leading figures in Ireland’s equestrian establishment, including a retired Olympic showjumping who used to be president of the national federation that pre-existed HSI, strongly argued that the ISH/IHR studbook should NOT be owned/controlled by the proposed HSI. These individuals lost the political battle. And now the Irish Horse Board, which is a cooperative owned by its members, is an organization without a role or mission or any responsibility for managing a studbook. And rather than winding down the organization and returning the shareholder funds to the shareholders the organization’s bank account is being depleted paying for trips, expense accounts, salaries for people doing god knows what, etc.
The problems within the ID community are real but they are just a shadow of the bigger problems within official Ireland’s equestrian industry.
He is approved to breed SPORT horses based on the performance of his offspring. If someone bred an ID to him the get would be an Irish SPORT Horse, not an Irish Draught.
It would take quite a leap of faith for me to breed to him based on that one picture. Is it possible that he was injured at some point? I also suspect that the inspectors had to say SOMETHING nice about the horse they just passed and color and head were the only things they could think of
I never said HSI’s ONLY mission was to promote the ISH. As you said it does serve other functions. However it is NOT in any shape or form a breed society intent on preserving and improving the ID breed
Then who or what does want to preserve the ID as a breed (the Irish version of the Cleveland Bay, sort of.) I think of the ID not being a sport horse per se, but a producer of sport horses (especially when crossed with TB). It might be that the reason the ID X TB cross has worked so well is that it has been done for almost as long as the TB has been in Ireland, so they are already related. Thinking now about the stallions who were made available to mare owners by the government to upgrade the base for the military, much like our remount service worked.
Everything I’d read in the IHB publications on the Draught on the internet for the past ten years or so was clearly directed to preservation as a goal. Are you saying that the HSI has tossed that purpose?
I’ve got almost everything that the IHB and now HSI ever published on the Internet saved in my computer, from their mare and foal books to every category of stallion catalog.
[QUOTE=carolprudm;5622722]
I never said HSI’s ONLY mission was to promote the ISH. As you said it does serve other functions. However it is NOT in any shape or form a breed society intent on preserving and improving the ID breed[/QUOTE]
There are 2 rival societies in IRE who, when not fighting claim to be interested in preserving the ID breed.
Horse Sport Ireland as Tom pointed out is concerned with lots of things but IMHO preserving the traditional ID breed is not at the top of that list
Carol, you wrote: “I never said HSI’s ONLY mission was to promote the ISH.”
I agree. You did not say that HSI’s ONLY mission was to promote the ISH. But I did not claim you made this statement.
You did say “HSI exists to promote Irish horses, no matter the breed.” And that statement is inaccurate.
But I agree with you that “preserving the traditional ID breed is not at the top of that list” of priorities for the HSI.
If HSI were like every other NF and it was relieved of its studbook-keeping activities then there would be a reasonable chance for the ISH and ID breeds to enjoy a renaissance, especially if breeding policy for the two studbooks were put in the hands of individuals who are actually successful breeders.
