America’s race issue is the same as the Connemara type issue

America still has a pigmentation issue, according to Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press on May 3, 2015.

When people look at each other, they see the color of their skin first, he said.

He called on America to talk about this bigotry and have an honest conversation about why this is still the case in the 21st century.

When you think about it, hating someone over the shade of their skin is so puzzling. One day, people will look back on that with the same disdain as burning witches.

Likewise, hating a horse because it’s too pretty is baseless.

Yet the official position of the American Connemara Pony Society is that pretty horses are bad and coarse horses are good.

Society officials discriminate against the refined horses.

The American Connemara Pony Society now stands for bigotry. That’s the message that continually goes out.

Connemara inspection sheets require a horse to be judged on whether it’s rugged and sturdy enough, as if that’s a measure for whether a horse is Connemara enough.

The refined horses traditionally have done well in the open show ring while the coarse horses have not. Many owners want a refined horse. They are penalized for that preference.

Interestingly, Connemaras are not discriminating against each other. The humans are doing the discriminating.

Connemara society officials have hidden behind the euphemistic word “type,” saying all Connemaras have to be the right type.

They leave out the part that all Connemaras have to be the type that these officials like, the coarse heavy type. Note that heavy does not equal better, as outlined in this scientific research. But these officials prefer heavy. Therefore, everyone is required to breed heavy horses.

There’s no historical basis for limiting the breed to coarse horses. Over time, the breed has seen a healthy influx of the genes of many types of horses, though this mix has created a range of looks.

Heaven help any group with diverse looks. There’s always someone trying to make it homogenous. And unfortunately in this instance that someone is Connemara officials.

These officials have never come out publicly and stated why they prefer coarse horses.

The why is important.

Would the world come to an end if a Connemara were pretty?

What are we trying to save here?

Perhaps we’re trying to protect the bloodlines belonging to those society officials?

There’s a secondary issue of the society preferring white horses. The inspection sheet doesn’t specifically call for horses to be white. But one Connemara inspector told me directly that she failed a horse that was black and reminded her of my longtime pretty black stallion, whom she hated. In fact, she thought the horse she failed was related to my stallion. So black is especially bad for pretty horses put up for inspection by this official.

I have researched many aspects related to people’s biases. I have found studies that show people identify with others who are similar. All Connemara owners are white, at least that I’ve seen, and one could make the argument that at least some of them are “big boned.” Also, people tend to get more biased during times of stress, and the U.S. economy has become much more stressful since 2007.

The Connemara inspections took hold around 2005 and grew exponentially in the next few years as the economy tanked. Inspections have become the only consistent activity of the American Connemara Pony Society as everything else has fallen by the wayside.

Could there be a parallel?

This heightened bigotry has been hanging over the American Connemara Pony Society for long enough, and those bigoted against the refined horses have been controlling the society for too long.

I call on the American Connemara Pony Society to have that same conversation that Brokaw seeks in America. Let’s honestly dissect this bigotry.

I believe the leaders of the American Connemara Pony Society need to explain why they are so adamant that all fullbred Connemaras need to be rugged, as the inspection sheet requires — in other words, a horse that will not fill the needs of riders who want to compete seriously in open shows.

Such riders should be able to own a fullbred Connemara. And Connemaras that are fullbreds should be allowed to be built to compete rather than being forced to be coarse and relegated to the role of pasture mate to crossbreds and partbreds that are built for the show ring.