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Connemara - a mountainous region full of bogland and stones stretching from Galway to Westport in Ireland’s west. Cornered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the big lakes Lough Corrib and Lough Mask in the east. This is the landscape the Connemara Pony originates from. A surrounding of unique beauty and wildness which can be barren, inhospitable, even hostile for its inhabitants.
The Connemara Pony is Ireland’s only native breed and has been used as a riding and working pony for ages. Throughout the centuries the original celtic pony has been influenced by other breeds brought to Ireland by invaders, traders etc. The rumour has it that the noble Spanish horses swam to shore when the famous armada sank off Ireland’s coast and that they grew wild again and mixed their genes with the native ponies. It is a fact, however, that back in 1900 Professor Ewart of Edinburgh University performed a study of the Connemara Pony and was impressed by “the strength, endurance and easy paces of the ponies”, “their intelligence and docility” and by their “capacity to work under conditions which would speedily prove disastrous to horses reared under less natural conditions”. Ewart came to the conclusion that this pony had to be saved as “the Connemara breed is so valuable and fertile and free from hereditary disease that their extinction would be a national loss”.
As a result in 1923 the Connemara Pony Breeders' Society was founded and has been responsible for the breed ever since. Its objectives are to encourage the breeding of Connemara ponies and their development and maintenance as a distinctive breed, to inspect all ponies before entry into the Stud Book of the Society, to provide registered Connemara pony stallions and place them at suitable locations for stud purposes, to assist members in their breeding and development activities.
The society selected mares and stallions very thoroughly during the following decades. A limited number of thoroughbred (3), Arab (1) and Irish Draught stallions (2) were used on some very typical mares to improve confirmation and movement. The influence of Barb and Welsh stallions which were used for a short period of time is negligible. In 1963 the studbook was closed resulting in the fact that only ponies with registered ancestors can be registered now.
Connemaras feel at home in every equestrian discipline. Their versatility is their quality! Connemaras have conquered all continents, the first ponies were imported to Germany in the sixties. The present population in Germany is more than 1000 ponies. Exact figures, however, are not available as there is no central register.
Nowadays Connemaras are rather big ponies, measuring between 140 and 148 cm, sometimes even more which makes them interesting for grown-up riders, too. Connemaras own their popularity to their calm and sweet temper. But they also like to go forward, are fast and manoeuvrable, own courage, endurance and toughness. Sensibility, affability and friendliness made the Connemara a true familiy pony. Due to its origins it is predestined for horse-friendly open stables, where it is easy to feed and long-living.
Decathlon is the favourite discipline for Connemaras. You can ride (dressage, show-jumping, cross-country, endurance, hunting, Western trail and cutting or just for the fun of it), drive in-hand or vault - as you please. In Germany most Connemara owners ride just for the fun, but there are also ponies competing on national and international level for their federations. More and more in-hand-drivers discover the Connemara for their sport, too. Most famous, however, is the Connemara's ability to jump combined with enormous sure-footedness cross-country.
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