Connemara breed standards and inspection requirements

The Connemara breed standard created by Ireland has been in place for a century now.

Even if you’re a fan of breed standards, you will see the contradictions in some of the requirements below.

If you want to pass an inspection by the American Connemara Pony Society, you will need to add at least an inch to the cannon bone circumference standard of 7 to 8 inches. The ACPS chooses to ignore that breed standard and is giving premium and approved status to Connemaras of pony height with 9- to 10-inch cannon bones.

So don’t expect this list of breed standards and inspection criteria to help you figure out how to breed Connemaras. But here you go. These were taken directly from the ACPS web site from 2008 to 2013.

I have annotated the requirements with my opinions.

Type and comformation: Connemaras in North America range from 13 to over 15 hands. Their colors are gray, bay, brown, and dun, with some roans, an occasional black, chestnut, or palomino. Piebalds and skewbalds are not acceptable for registration. Connemaras are the product of their original environment, the rugged mountain coast of West Ireland. Sure-footed, hardy and agile, they possess powers of great stamina, staying power and adaptability. They are renowned for their versatility and their gentle, tractable, sensible and willing dispositions.

— Note that blue eyed creams were banned for 49 years by the ACPS and then unbanned in 2016, after I wrote this originally. Oops. Sorry to all those blue-eyed cream genes thrown away.

Temperament: Mannerly and manageable, kind, responsive, possessing good sense and basic intelligence.

— Temperament is not tested during an inspection other than it’s probably best that the horse not kick one of the inspectors, as a funny ACPS member once said to me.

Type: Rugged and sturdy; body compact and deep through the heart; with well sprung rib cage and broad chest.

— “Compact body” contradicts the “back” requirements below, which says “some length of back is normal.”

Action: Straight and true both front and rear with free movement in the shoulders. Connemaras should move underneath themselves and should be sure-footed, athletic, and clever, covering a lot of ground.

— How is this different from any other breed?

Head: Kind eye, head well shaped and balanced in proportion to the rest of the body, neck of good length and definition, meeting the shoulder smoothly.

— What does “well shaped” head mean? Cartoonish? If a horse has a smoothly shaped head, how is that poor conformation?

Shoulders: Laid-back with good slope.

— I don’t know what a laid-back shoulder is.

Back: Strong and muscular; some length of back is normal in Connemaras, especially in mares.

— As mentioned in an earlier note, this is sanctioning the genetic flaw of a lengthy back, which hinders movement.

Hindquarters: Well rounded and deep with good length from the point of the hip through the haunch; should balance the shoulders.

— I’ve seen a lot of unrounded hindquarters pass inspection. In fact, many stallions in the breed have severely sloping hindquarters.

Bone: Clean, hard, flat, measuring 7 to 8 inches below the knee for ponies, more for horses; forearms and gaskins long and muscular, cannons short and very dense.

— The breed standard for a pony is a circumference of 7 to 8 inches, period. If by dense, the ACPS means thick, that would contradict the breed standard in place for a century. If by dense, the ACPS means the makeup of the bone, that would require an MRI.

Further, how does a short cannon bone serve as good conformation? Short legs are not scientifically linked to any genetic superiority over longer legs. Scientific research has shown that horse legs have evolved for the perfect blend of strength and speed. Shorten one part of the leg, and you are messing with those perfect physics, creating imperfect Connemaras.

I know of one stallion that was failed at an inspection because he just missed the cannon bone requirement on the low end. If he had missed on the high end, he would have been given a premium label.

ACPS inspectors have all received premium or approved status for their own stallions, most or all of which are way outside the upper limit of the breed standard for cannon bone circumference, which is why the inspection criteria has been fudged to include the word “over.” A Connemara can be way over but not under the breed standard. The contradictions are nauseating.

ACPS inspection requirement for cannon bone (top) versus ACPS breed standards requirement (bottom) from at least 2008 to 2013. Note the word “over” added to the inspection criteria that was never part of the breed standard. It allows for Connemaras with really thick cannon bones to be given approved and premium status, even though they miss the upper limit of the breed standard by an inch or more. Click the image to see a PDF of the full lists.

Joints: Large and well defined.

— Same as previous note. Large and well-defined joints could be a sign of some sort of genetic problem. There is no scientific evidence of which I’m aware that large joints are better joints.

Feet: Hard, strong.

— Hard feet would seem to absorb concussion less efficiently than feet with moisture and give. I’m not sure there’s any scientific evidence that hard feet are superior, and I’m often told by vets and farriers alike to get my horses’ feet wet, so they’re not so hard.

Inspections

Now, let’s look at the guidelines for having a Connemara pony inspected. Again, this is taken right from the society’s site.

Optimum age for stallions is 3 years, minimum age for mares and geldings is 2 years. Participation of mature Connemaras is encouraged. Inspected ponies will receive a Written Report, private audience with the Inspection Team, and if approved, endorsement on Registration Papers. CN* In remote areas, because of the infrequency of Inspections, rising 3-year-old colts may be presented.

— I don’t know what that CN* means.

Height: The minimum height at inspection is 128 cms (12.2 ½ hands) and the maximum height at inspection is 148 cms (14.2 ¼ hands). CN* Allowances will be made for mature Connemaras, however, any pony measuring 15 hands or over should be presented with a signed veterinarian statement indicating the under maximum height of the pony at age two.

— I would argue that if you have a 15-year-old horse inspected at a height of 15 hands, and you can find a vet who would sign a piece of paper that says that horse was under 14-2 at age 2, someone has a suspiciously good memory, and perhaps that vet should be investigated for fraud.

Colors: Grey, black, bay, brown, dun with occasional roan, chestnut and palomino.

Type: Rugged and sturdy, body compact and deep through the heart, with well sprung rib cage and broad chest. Well balanced riding type with good depth and substance and good heart room, standing on short legs, covering a lot of ground. Well balanced overall appearance.

— For the short legs attribute, I’d like to refer to the BBC documentary on Dachshunds, where it points out with photos that the Dachshunds’ legs have been getting shorter and shorter thanks to breeders deliberately trying to emphasize that. How has that served that dog in any way other than making it impossible for it to cover any ground without a ton of effort? I would argue the same for horses. How is breeding for shorter legs a good choice?

Head: Balanced in proportion to the body, with good width between large kindly eyes. Pony ears, well-defined cheekbones, jaw relatively deep but not coarse.

— Could someone please draw me a picture of a well-defined cheekbone and deep jaw and then one of a course cheekbone and jaw, and show me the difference between the two? It’s all semantics and pointless semantics. As for pony ears, do small ears hear better than big ears? How is smaller better?

Front: Head well set onto neck. Chest should not be overdeveloped. Neck not set on too low. Good length of rein. Well-defined withers, good sloping shoulder; forelegs straight, with no deviation of cannon bones.

— Where does one draw the lines between the chest not being overdeveloped and the above criteria that the animal be deep-chested.

Body: Should be deep, with strong back, some length permissible but should be well-ribbed up with strong loins.

Limbs: Good length and strength in forearm, well-defined knees and short cannons, with dense, flat bone measuring 18 cms (7.08 inches) to over 21 cms (8.26 inches); pasterns of good slope and medium length, feet hard, strong and well formed.

— Again, note the difference in cannon bone circumference requirement between the Connemara breed standard above and the inspection sheet criteria.

Hindquarters: Strong and muscular with some length, well-developed second thigh (gaskin) and strong low-set hocks, properly aligned.

Movement: Straight and true, free shoulder, of a quality that is free, light and elastic, with no winging, paddling or other deviations.

Inspector Comments range from Excellent to Not To Standard. To be Approved, mares and geldings must receive marks Sufficient and above. To be Approved, stallions must receive marks Fairly Good and above.

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I suspect breed standards will go the way of the whole eugenics movement eventually and be viewed as the stone-age thinking that it is. But I wonder how many horses will be gelded or thrown away as not meeting some stupid inspection criteria before that happens.