Changes of the wither height of the Connemara Pony in the last 100 years

Abstract

The Connemara Pony is an indigenous breed of Ireland and has undergone different changes since the establishment of its own breed society in 1923. One major change in the pony which can be observed today in comparison to predecessors is an expressed increase in height. Many environmental factors may have contributed to these changes including better husbandry, nutrition but also the introduction of “new blood” in the form of other breeds may have some responsibility. The objective of this thesis is to examine the increase in height that has occurred in the Connemara Pony using information collected from the national stud books of Ireland and from an electronic version also. The change that has occurred possibly has resulted from a number of different areas including the introduction of other blood lines early on in the breeds development and also managerial or husbandry related practices. The methods used for the classification of ponies was also looked at including the new system which has been in operation since 2003 dividing ponies based on their wither height, visual appearance and lack of a genetic faults into classes 1, 2 and 3. Finally some interesting facts, thoughts, ideas and suggestions are made for the further encouragement of the breed on both genetic and preservation grounds.