An article titled “A New Direction for Kennel Club Regulations and Breed Standards” published in 2007 in the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association addresses veterinarians’ role in the increasing “welfare predicament” of purebred dogs.

Intentionally making horses carry around heavy cannon bones is the opposite of what nature intended, and research seems to refute the American Connemara Pony Society’s message that big cannon bones are better.

I continue to search for scientific evidence that a thicker, shorter cannon bone makes for a better horse, because, otherwise, it would seem odd or irresponsible that Connemara societies the world over would be requiring cannon bones of a certain width and length for a Connemara to pass an inspection.

America’s perception of the ideal beauty has changed from a white woman such as Christie Brinkley in 1991 to a mixed race or darker woman such as Angelina Jolie today.

Famed horse writer Walter Farley’s “Little Black, a Pony” delivers the not-so-subtle message that we shouldn’t prejudge something based on appearance.

A British study of Thoroughbred foundation mares suggests that they descend from native Irish mares, including Connemaras and Irish Draught mares, and mares native to the British Isles, more than horses from the Middle East and Asia, as originally thought.

Allowing so-called inspectors to fail horses that weren’t to their liking and exclude them has always felt to me like the breed society was turned over to a bunch of adolescents. As it turns out, that comparison is more accurate than I thought.

This discrimination is bizarre behavior in the 21st century, a time when bullying has become especially unacceptable and the diversity of the nation has changed along with its definition of beauty.

A recent study on how much weight horses can carry comfortably has illustrated yet again why Connemaras should not be forced to remain 14-2 hands and under.

I have asked for two decades, “Where is the research that shows the effects of the American Connemara Pony Society forcing Connemaras to have thick legs?” The silence has been deafening. In early 2024, I decided to do my own research.