Beware of the ‘premium’ label given to inspected Connemaras

The banner across the top of the American Connemara Pony Society website says: “Connemaras do it all!”

Photos rotating through the slider underneath the banner show horses and ponies at events across a variety of disciplines. These Connemaras and Connemara crosses are trained. They have riders aboard or holding them at many types of shows. The Connemaras are all clean and well turned out. Many are clipped. At least one is braided. Some are showing off ribbons.

It’s a perfect presentation of what Connemaras stand for, or used to stand for. They are versatile performance horses.

Many of the Connemaras featured in the slider appear to meet the definition of a “premium” Connemara. They are working hard, excelling at what they are doing and making the breed proud.

Compare this with the Connemara put up for inspection, where “premium” labels are officially bestowed on Connemaras, and owners advertise that “premium” label as if it’s a badge the horse earned.

Connemaras at inspections do not have to be bathed or clean. They do not have to be trained. They are not tacked up. They are not ridden.

They are looked at for about 12 minutes by people who are not required to be licensed judges. Connemaras have to walk and trot in hand for maybe a minute each, and the inspectors are willing to get behind them and make them move when they won’t listen to their handler. The stallions are chased with a whip at liberty. The inspectors are willing to help chase, too.

The horses have their cannon bone measured, a process that is designed to ensure they have “good bone,” though scientific studies show that bigger horse leg bone fails more often than smaller horse bone, so “good bone” is a misnomer.

The ACPS inspection sheet lists as its primary criteria that a Connemara be “rugged and sturdy,” not that inspected horses “do it all.”

Most Connemaras at inspections expend less than 50 calories during the process, by my estimate. A horse burns a little under 17 calories walking for a minute. Inspected horses (excluding stallions) probably have to move at a walk or trot for two minutes total during this process. Fifty calories sounds about right.

Inspectors award a “premium” label if the Connemara appeals to their subjective taste. They give an “approved” label if they like the Connemara a little less. They fail the rest of the horses. The process is totally subjective and dependent on which inspectors do the inspection.

At a horse show, event, driving competition, parade or any other horse gathering that requires good old fashioned work and training on the part of the horse, Connemaras can burn thousands of calories, earn many ribbons and receive applause or whistling, yet they won’t receive that “premium” label.

The reality is that ACPS inspections run counter to the ACPS slogan. They bestow a “premium” label on a Connemara that does nothing.

Who will tell Connemaras buyers to beware of the “premium” label?