The Irish Draught horse is the national horse breed of Ireland which developed primarily for farm use. Today, they are especially popular for crossing with

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

s and

warmblood Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds primarily originating in Europe and registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian sp ...

s, producing the popular

Irish Sport Horse The Irish Sport Horse (ISH), or Irish Hunter, is an Irish horse breed used mostly for eventing and show-jumping. Historically the ISH was bred by crossing Irish Draught and Thoroughbred stock, and the breed was formalised in the 1920s. Bre ...

s (also called Irish Draught Sport Horses) which excel at the highest levels of

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

and

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

History

References to the Irish Draught date back as far as the 18th century. It is believed that the breed was developed when the then-common Irish Hobby was successively bred with 12th-century Anglo-Norman war horses;

Iberian horse The Iberian horse is a designation given to a number of horse breeds native to the Iberian Peninsula. At present, some breeds are officially recognized by the FAO,

s from 16th-century

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

shipwrecks; Clydesdale and

stallions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and local Connemara ponies. Crossbreeding with Clydesdales, which were used in some areas for heavier haulage, resulted in a taller animal, but at the cost of stamina and conformation; these qualities were negated by the introduction of Thoroughbred blood. The closest breed in type to the Irish Draught is the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-based Cleveland Bay, with both breeds sharing common ancestors. A 2019 genetic study of the Cleveland Bay breed also revealed genetic similarities to the now-extinct

Turkoman horse The Turkoman horse, or Turkmene, is an Oriental horse breed from the steppes of Central Asia. It influenced many modern horse breeds, including the Thoroughbred horse. Modern descendants include the Akhal-Teke, the Iomud, the Goklan and Nokhor ...

, the Connemara Pony, and the Irish Draught. The Irish Draught was bred to be an all-round working horse, suitable for draft work, under harness and under saddle. There was also a need for Irish Draughts to be economical to keep, and this was achieved by grazing throughout the summer and supplementing their feed with chopped foraged gorse, boiled turnip and leftover cattle feed. Irish Draught Horse pedigrees had been recorded since at least the start of the 20th century, when the government introduced registration for

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

s and

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

s in 1907 and 1911 respectively, subject to inspections of the animals, and offering subsidies towards this. The stud book was opened by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1917, establishing a

foundation stock Foundation stock or foundation bloodstock refers to animals that are the progenitors, or foundation, of a breed or of a given bloodline within such. Many modern breeds can be traced to specific, named foundation animals, but a group of animals may ...

of 375 mares and 44 stallions. The original stud book records, however, were lost in the fire of the Four Courts in 1922. Their use in the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the allied military led to large losses, and the mechanization of the 20th century saw a decline in their traditional use as farm and carriage horses. Large numbers were sent to the

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

and abroad for use in breeding.

Preservation

In 1976, the Irish Draught Horse Society was founded to preserve the breed, with an external branch in Great Britain emerging in 1979. A horse board, ''Bord na gCapall'', was also founded in 1976 (later resurrected as the ''Irish Horse Board'' in 1993), in order to promote the breeding and use of horses other than Thoroughbreds in the country. In 2008, control of the Irish Horse Register, which contains the registry of both the Irish Draught and

, was handed from the Irish Horse Board to Horse Sport Ireland. In November of the same year, the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association was formed by members of the Irish Draught Horse Society. Increased interest in the breed internationally has led to the formation of Irish Draught societies and registries in many countries, including Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. In 2011 and 2012, the representative bodies of Ireland, Great Britain and Canada agreed to harmonize their breed standard and inspection criteria. It is the Irish Draught's popularity as a foundation animal for the production of sport horses that has put the breed at risk a second time. Many Irish Draught mares never produce a purebred replacement for the herd. Aggressive selection for

characteristics has degraded the foundation stock, and inbreeding to a few popular performance bloodlines has further endangered the genetic diversity of the breed. The Irish Draught is considered an "endangered maintained" breed by the Food and Agriculture Committee of the United Nations.Home
FAO. Retrieved 29 November 2011. In 2024, the breed was listed as "threatened" on

The Livestock Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as ...

's Conservation Priority List. The Irish Draught Horse Society of Ireland, with support from the

Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...

and technical assistance from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, have spearheaded research into a breeding plan to improve genetic diversity, and to maintain the traditional breed traits that are the defining characteristics of the Irish Draught breed. In an attempt to guide breeders in producing healthier progeny, annual inspections of adult horses listed on the studbook were introduced by Horse Sport Ireland, with other registries later following suit. These inspections are used to produce a linear profile which is included in each studbook entry, and identifies areas in which the animal may deviate from the standard, so as to help in determining the animal's suitability for breeding. A 4-tier classification system was also introduced in place of a pass/fail system, in order to list animals on the studbook that do not meet the breed standard, with an aim to improve the genetic diversity of the breed. There is also a supplementary section in the Horse Sport Ireland studbook in order to recognise horses which may be primarily registered as Irish Sport Horses, but conform to the standard of the Irish Draught.

Characteristics

The breed standard is defined in each country by the respective registry, although there have been efforts to harmonize standards between countries. The breed standard defined by the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association, and followed by the equivalent organization of Great Britain and Canada, states that "The Irish Draught Horse is a versatile, powerful and athletic animal with substance and quality. It has a pleasant head, good bone and a short shin, good spring of rib, strong loins and hindquarters, and an active powerful stride. Known for its good temperament, docility and willing nature, it has a robust constitution and is inherently sound. The Irish Draught horse is a foundation breed that, when crossed with other breeds, will produce all types of leisure and performance horses." The breed should ideally be between and , with leg bone strong, clean and flat, measuring about . :Approximately 23 cm ic(9 inches) of strong, clean, flat bone. The ideal head is not coarse, wide at the forehead with good width between the jaw bones and "kind" eyes. The neck has good length and should be well conformed.

Withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

are well-defined. Hooves should be hard, sound and not boxy, overlarge or flat. The heartgirth is deep, the hindquarters are long and gently sloping. Movement should be active, strong, straight and free, not heavy or ponderous, with good flexion and freedom in the shoulders. Most solid colours are acceptable, including

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and dun. Excessive white markings are not desirable.

Classification

The Irish Draught studbook in many countries does not admit animals on a pass or fail basis; instead, animals are invited to undergo an inspection which assesses the athleticism, movement and conformation in order to determine how closely they match the standard, after which they are classified according to a 4-tier system. * Class 1 horses have both passed the official veterinary examination and met the breed standard criteria. * Class 2 horses do not meet the breed standard, but have passed the official veterinary examination. The offspring of a Class 2 horse is eligible for inspection to be upgraded to Class 1. * Class 3 horses have failed the official veterinary examination, and are not recommended for breeding. Their progeny are not eligible for upgrading. * Class 4 horses have not yet been examined, and could meet either of the other classification standards upon examination. Their progeny are not eligible for upgrading.

Uses

Irish Draughts are commonly crossbred with Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods to produce high-quality sport horses. This cross is termed the

(or Irish Draught Sport Horse in the US). Demand for the Irish Sport Horse has led to a thriving export of horses for use in competition. The purebred Irish Draught is also popular in

, showing and as a hunter, as well as police mounts due to their temperament and strength.

References

External links

Irish Draught Horse Society, Ireland

Horse Sport Ireland

The Irish Draught Horse Society (Great Britain)

The Irish Draught Horse Society Northern Ireland

The Irish Draught and Sport Horse Society, Australia

Irish Draught Horse Society of North America

Irish Draught Society of Canada

Irish Draught Horse Society of New Zealand

Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association
Ireland {{British horses Horse breeds originating in Ireland Horse breeds Draft horses Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy