Major move to boost the Draught

By Quentin Doran-O’Reilly

A major move to curtail in-breeding in the Irish Draught Horse (ID) got a boost this week. A proposal to allow the offspring of certain ID bloodlines to be eligible to obtain full RID status (ie, ID green passport) as foals was accepted.

Now these foals will be subject to the Studbook inspections at two or three years of age as are all ID stock. Presently, the offspring of S1 or UK RID stallions are not eligible for RID status (ie, green passport). This was a major concern for breeders who wished to use these stallions in order to broaden the ever dwindling gene pool of ID numbers.

Without the opportunity to obtain a green passport, the offspring of these sires would be substantially devalued.

Following the recent interim report on the breed preservation plan for the Draught, which identified that the level of in-breeding within Draught herd was very high and was increasing, the proposal to address this situation was made jointly to the Irish Horse Board by the RDS and Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The on-going study, which is supported by the RDS Committee of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, showed that today’s ID herd is related to three stallions. These are King of Diamonds, Clover Hill and Pride of Shaunlara.

This progressive move will offer encouragement to those breeders interested in promoting the genetic diversification of the ID and avoiding inbreeding. However, it is only regarded as the first step to securing the genetic future of the Irish Draught.

The authors of the report are geneticists from ICBF who will be writing to all Irish Draught mare owners over the next two weeks advising them of the stallions that are of least relation to their mares.