Action needed NOW to save Irish Draught

By Q Doran-O’Reilly

The final Irish Draught Conservation report represented a serious indictment of the Irish Draught Horse Society (IDHS), the Irish Horse Board (IHB) and ID judges and inspectors.

The Report concluded that unless action is taken now, the ID as we know it will become extinct.

The findings of the report by Dr Francis Kearney of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and funded by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) were presented in the RDS last week.

Both the RDS and ICBF are recommending that short-term attention be focused on storing genetic material that will safeguard breed characteristic erosion until such time as it can be used as part of a properly constructed development programme.

That programme is some way off as the report clearly shows that nobody has a clear definition of what an Irish Draught is. With no defined breeding objective for the IDH, there can be no proper planning for the development of the breed. Until that is decided, a conservation plan cannot be put in place.

The Irish Draught only got breed status relatively recently, when it was listed as a rare breed.

The report found that there was no breed development plan aimed at genetic improvement. Nor was there any way of safeguarding genetic diversity within the breed.

This lack of planning, blamed on the IHB and IDHS, has resulted in a lack of clear breeding objectives. This, says Kearney, undermines the ability of a quality control system for mare and stallion inspections.

Here the inspectors and ID judges were rapped. The report says the view of individual inspectors as to what an Irish Draught is and the attributes it requires for future function differs greatly.

While the report does not question the expertise of ID judges and inspectors, it says the current trait-based system allows for widely inconsistent results between individual animals.

The report goes on to say the licensing of ID stallions for both the Draught and Sport Horse studbooks does not favour the retention of individual breed characteristics and a separate identity for the Draught. It says there has been no research or planning on the long-term consequences of this system for either the Draught or the ISH.

Kearney says the development of a sustainable breeding programme needs to be built on three components:

1.The definition of a breeding objective

2.Evaluation of an animal’s ability to fulfil that breeding objective

3.Design and implementation of a sustainable breeding programme to ensure the best animals used to attain a given objective.

The linear scoring system

The RDS and Limerick University are working on a study to evaluate conformation of Irish Draughts. They believe, as do the Dutch studbooks, that the linear system is a more comprehensive and objective method of evaluating conformation.

The system was developed in the late 1970s as a means of standardising assessment techniques for cattle breeding. It has proved extremely successful for the many cattle breeding organisations worldwide and had been adopted by the KWPN studbook in 1989.

The RDS study compared the subjective scoring sheet with a linear scoring sheet from a judging panel of 22 judges. These included eight ID judges, eight ISH judges, two UK Draught judges and one foreign judge. They examined 22 ID mares and judged with both scoring approaches.

The graphs represent the mean scores for each judge for the traits foreleg and hind leg. They clearly illustrate that there is a variation in the mean scores for both the subjective and linear approaches, with a more consistent classification from the linear system.

The study says the implementation of the linear system could prove very valuable in an Irish Draught breeding programme.

Who is willing and able to drive the plan forward?

This final part of the ID Conservation report shows the work that needs to be done if the Irish Draught Horse is to be saved from extinction. The first part presented last year showed that in-breeding was a problem and that most of the current stock could be traced back to three stallions: King of Diamonds, Clover Hill and Pride of Shaunlara.

It certainly sounded the warning bells but that is all that it did. The bells are still ringing.

With the swing back and obvious demand for quality traditional-breds there was never a more urgent need to produce quality Irish Draught horses. The prices for Draughts at Cavan last year are testament that quality stock will pay dividends. So why is nothing being done?

Great strides were made last year when the IHB brought back sires from the UK. Francis says the progeny of these stallions and S1 sires should now be classified as RID. They currently are being issued with a blue passport and hence being probably undervalued.

Francis’s report clearly sets out what a breed development plan should have with seven defined areas:

1. Clearly set out breed objectives.

2.Conduct a comprehensive audit of all breeding stock.

3. Produce a measurable breed standard.

4. Design a short-term, medium and long-term breed development programme based on breed objectives, current circumstances of the breed and a breed standard.

5. Engage in a proper communication programme that informs breeders on both the breed objectives and the breed standard.

6. Identify the opportunities and threats afforded by changes in the wider Sport Horse market

7. Deal adequately with the changes in EU legislation.

The plan is there. All we need is somebody to take it in hand.

Funding will not be prohibitive for either setting out the breeding objectives or the overall plan but the question is who has the ability, independence and objectivity to take it on?

The Irish Draught Society is split so there will be no consensus as to what to do.

A combination of the Horse Board and the RDS is the only answer, with sensible assistance from some serious ID breeders.

David Cornwell of the RDS, who instigated the research into the Draught, has said the offices of the Society will remain available to the either IHB or any organisation that represents the unified voice for ID breeders.

For the sake of the Irish Draught will somebody out there get the ball rolling?