Pony featured on ACPS logo would fail Connemara inspections

The longtime logo for the American Connemara Pony Society has appeared on ACPS official literature since at least 1966.

The society was started in 1956. The founders of the society created the logo to represent the breed they were promoting.

The pony in the logo is how they envisioned the ideal Connemara in 1966.

The logo remains the ACPS logo today in 2022.

It looks exactly like the refined ponies – show hunter-quality ponies – that are now shunned by the American Connemara Pony Society and failed at inspections.

Think about that for a second: The pony in the logo would fail current ACPS inspections.

In the accompanying photos, the logo appears on the cover of a 1975 publication meant to define the Connemara for horse enthusiasts interested in the breed.

It’s called “The Connemara.”

The publication outlines the history and characteristics of Connemaras, and it is full of ads from seemingly every breeder in the country at the time.

“The Connemara,” a 1975 publication by the ACPS defining what a Connemara should be, featured the ACPS logo on its cover.

“The Connemara” also featured the ACPS logo on the back cover.

The breeders all bought into this being the defining publication of the Connemara.

Does the Connemara on this logo depict a rugged (defined as coarse) pony with short, thick cannon bones, a well-defined (or cresty) neck, and a long back — all Connemara breed standards that the ACPS now says are the “true” characteristics for a Connemara?

No.

I have watched for more than two decades as certain ACPS officials spread the big lie that only coarse Connemaras with short, thick legs are the desirable ones.

That lie runs counter to Page 12 and 13 of this publication, which define the ideal conformation of a Connemara as that of a hunter, with substance and quality. Look at the photos that ran with the text on correct conformation. The ponies are leggy, athletic show hunters.

The “Tough, Rugged” section below the “Conformation” section focuses on showjumping king Dundrum, a tough Connemara for sure and befitting the definition of rugged that represents spirit. Dundrum was a warrior in spirit.

But Dundrum was the spitting image of a Thoroughbred and hardly the type of horse or pony one would call coarse, a definition of rugged that addresses appearance.

The Connemara society now uses rugged to define a Connemara’s appearance. But that was not how the founders meant the term to be used.

Page 12 and 13 of “The Connemara” showed images of correct Connemara conformation, as envisioned by ACPS founders. The ponies are built for open pony hunter classes.

It’s clear from all historical indications, not just this publication, that the founders of the American Connemara Pony Society cared that a Connemara could win in the open show world, which required hunter conformation, athleticism, eagerness and toughness. They weren’t aiming to win ribbons at tiny Connemara breed competitions around the country where the competition often is far less stiff.

How were the coarse Connemaras viewed by the founders? I’m sure the coarse ponies that had great minds or other great qualities were valued as breeding stock and pets, but I believe they weren’t expected to compete in the open show world. And breeders weren’t forced to breed only coarse ponies that made it impossible to compete in the open show world.

The ACPS logo indicates that a coarse Connemara was not the one and only goal, as it is today. I have done the research on activity in the 1950s and 1960s: The emphasis was on competing at big hunter shows and events. It takes a pretty hunter to win a pony division at an A-rated open show; that’s just reality.

The coarse story is a lie that has grown bigger and bigger over the years as so many ACPS members have bought into it hook, line and sinker.

But the evidence of what the ideal Connemara should be was in plain sight all along, appearing in the ACPS logo on every ACPS publication for decades, screaming, “This is the defining look of the perfect Connemara.”

Now that I’ve pointed out the hypocrisy, don’t be surprised if the logo changes in the coming months to a much thicker pony with short legs and a long back, or a Dachshund.

But the longtime logo won’t be erased from all the publications that came before. The lie can’t be erased. And I will make sure everyone sees the historical logo day after day, year after year, until the lie is exposed for what it is, because I believe that a Connemara should be allowed to have beautiful, show-hunter conformation, as the Connemara in the logo does.