Connemara breed standards promote cresty neck linked to laminitis

The American Connemara Pony Society’s breed standards encourage ponies to have a body shape linked to insulin resistance and laminitis.

The breed standards, which are used to judge Connemaras at inspections and horse shows, specifically call for a “neck of good definition” and “rugged” body type.

A well-defined neck, called a cresty neck in the veterinary world, is highly correlated with insulin resistance, a medical condition known to cause laminitis, according to researchers in Queensland, Australia, who published study results in July 2019.

The researchers said significant fat deposits on the neck crest were a better predictor of insulin dysregulation in ponies than general obesity.

Specifically, ponies with a cresty neck score of 3 or greater were five times more likely to be insulin-dysregulated than those with a score below 3, irrespective of their body condition score.

Encouraging a cresty neck and rugged body type goes against the urgent calls of veterinarians worldwide, including veterinarians who are ACPS members, for owners to slim down their ponies to prevent the development of laminitis.

If the ACPS wants to foster healthy and so-called premium Connemaras, it should encourage and reward Connemaras that have no neck definition and show some rib.

In doubt? Ask a veterinarian who is an ACPS member.

In 2013, the United States Equestrian Federation instructed its affiliates to put the welfare of their horses first.

Bill Moroney, then-USEF vice president of national affiliates, and David O’Connor, USEF past president, told USEF affiliates to examine their practices every couple of years and make changes “to stay with a philosophy that’s correct for our horses first and keeps us on track for the future.”

But the Connemara society is not putting the health and welfare of Connemaras first.

What it puts first is its singular focus on using its inspections program to discriminate against refined Connemaras and promote Connemaras that match the herds of a few top officials as the “premium” and “correct” type of Connemara.

A cresty neck is “correct,” according to the ACPS.

A long back also is correct, according to the ACPS, but that’s a post for another day.

Inspections are the main activity of the society.

Thus, one could argue that the main activity of the ACPS now is to encourage breeders to create and feed, or overfeed, Connemaras until they match a body type linked to laminitis in a breed already predisposed to develop it due to its thrifty genes.

The ACPS also requires that judges of Connemara classes at horse shows use the ACPS breed standards, including the well-defined neck standard, to judge conformation classes.

Yet, a veterinarian in the UK is blaming porky ponies’ show ring success for fueling equine obesity.

Pat Harris, DVM, a veterinary specialist in equine nutrition, said such success has shifted perceptions of the ideal body condition for ponies, making fatter ponies the norm, Horsetalk reported in May 2019.

Harris presented her views on equine obesity during the International Society for Equitation Science conference in Rome. She said equine obesity was not new, but the rising number of affected horses and ponies had become a globally recognized welfare concern.

In fact, there is an epidemic of obesity in the equine population, as well as the human population. Something is driving that obesity.

Obesity and insulin resistance in ponies often leads to laminitis now, and veterinarians routinely say in surveys that laminitis is one of their top concerns.

Some skeptics will say Connemaras of the past had cresty necks and did not develop obesity or laminitis, so why would that happen now?

Today’s forage is not the food of old.

Grass laminitis didn’t appear in scientific literature until after 1940, according to one prominent laminitis researcher. It didn’t exist.

Horses must adapt to survive.

And, yet, a breed society whose pony numbers continue to decline clings to breed standards that appear to promote the opposite.

One wonders what the true mission of the American Connemara Pony Society is, because its actions seem to run counter to the welfare of the Connemara.