Irish horse breeding and the Horse, 1917-1978' By COLIN A LEWIS

I was later named the Society. Introduction The first volume of the Clydesdale stud URING the last quarter of the book' was published in I878, to be followed ,nineteenth century strenuous efforts in 188o by the first volumes for Suffolk, and, D were made to collect and publish the in I884 for Shire Horses. The Select pedigrees of many different types of horses in Clydesdale Society of Scotland, a splinte r the British Isles. The inland transport system group founded in 1883 that soon came to an depended on railways, canals, and on horses. end, also published a stud book in I884. Some were used for heavy haulage, some as The Hack,ley Stud Book Society -~ was vanners, some for riding, many for agri- formed in I883 for '... the publication of a cultural and pack purposes. The first volume Stud Book for Hackneys, Roadsters, Cobs of the General Stud Book, which listed the and '. The Horse pedigrees of many racehorses, was published Society was also founded that year, and both in I8O8, although the first part of the volume societies published the first volumes of their appeared in 1791. It had proved of immense stud books in 1884. The next year The value to the racing industry, and it was Hunters' Improvement and National Light widely appreciated that similar stud books Horse Breeding Society was 'Established to for other types of horses would also be of use. improve the Breed and promote the Breed- Furthermore, some people believed that the ing of Hunters and other Horses used for statement of a standard for different types of Riding or , and for Military pur- horses, combined with inspection of poten- poses'. The Society later published its Hunter tial entrants to the stud book to ensure that Stud Book that, like most of the stud books they conformed to the standard, would lead already listed, included e,atries from Ireland. to widespread improvements in the quality Before a stallion could be entered in the of horses. It was also appreciated that the Hunter Stud Book 3 it had to be '... inspected i,terbreeding of horses of similar characteri- and passed by a member of the Society stics over a number of generations would nominated and approved by the Editing result in the formation of a fixed type, or Committee', and it had to pass a veterinary 'breed'. examination. Mares were entered on diffe- In 1877 the Suffolk Stud Book Associa- rent terms, although for many years one tion, as well as that for the , method of entry was by inspection, and that was established. These were the first stud did not necessitate any knowledge of the book associations for heavy horses to be pedigree of the mare. formed in the British Isles. They were Although The Hunters' Improvement followed in 1878 by the English Cart Horse Society required inspection of stallions Society of Great Britain and Ireland, which before entry to the Hunter Stud Book, not all societies were so rigorous. The Shire Horse * The author thanks An Bord na gCapall for allowing him free access to their records, Mr Stuart G Daultrey for aid with trt'nd surface 'K Chivers, Ttle Shire Horse, 1976, pp 131 ft. analyses, Mr E. Buckmaster for drawing the final maps, and the *T Ryder, The H(~h Stepper, t979, p 62. referees for their constructive advice. 37JHmlter Stud Book, VI, p i. 1,i Ii 38 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW Society'... decided otherwise and the breed II was developed almost solely by the system of The Irish Draught Horse gradually tightening the rules for pedigree'. 4 By the end of the nineteenth century there Other societies established Foundation were at least two well developed types of Stock registers, as did the Welsh and horses in Ireland that were not assignable to Society in I927. This enabled the any of the breeds already recognized and pedigree of animals of non-Welsh parentage possessing stud book societies in Britain. to be recorded• s By serving foundation stock These were the ponies of Connemara and the mares and their progeny for three genera- Irish Draught. The ponies 9 were the subject tions with registered Welsh sires, the of an officially sponsored enquiry by Profes- offspring were progressively upgraded and sor Ewart of Edinburgh University that finally qualified for entry in the Stud Book. eventually resulted in the foundation of the Although many stud book societies were Breeders Society in I923. formed in Britain during the later nineteenth The first volume of the Connemara Pony Stud century, none originated ira Ireland. Instead, Book was issued in I926. at the inaugural meeting of the Council of The Irish Draught Horse was described by Agriculture, held on 29 May 1900 in Dublin, R G Carden ira I9o7 as the chairman stated that the Department of • . . a long, low build of animal, rarely exceeding Agriculture and Technical Instruction, Ire- I5.3 or I6 hands high, with strong, short, clean land, was contemplating the formation of legs, plenty of bone and substance, short backs, '... a Committee or a permanent Comnais- strong loins and quarters . . . slightly upright sion to deal with this important question of shoulders, strong necks and a smallish head. horse breeding'. 6 Later in the meeting MrJ J They had a good, straight, level action, without its being extravagant, could trot, canter and Molloy stressed that efforts should be made gallop. They were also excellentjumpers... No to improve the breeding of horses in Ireland. authentic information in regard to their breeding Five years later the Department '... offered is now available, though, no doubt, many to owners of stallions of the old Irish Draught breeders carefully preserved the strain in their type . . . a premium of £5o for selected breeding studs for many years, but it may generally be taken that the original breeding of" stallions', 7 and in I9II the Department's the Irish draught horse was the result of the cross annual Register of Stallions accorded Irish of" the imported sires on the Draught Horses '... formal recognition by stronger otthe well-bred mares of the country, the listing of stallions under that designa- which latter must have had an infusion of Spanish tion'. In the same year the Department or Arabian blood in their veins. ,o inspected 5040 mares at sixty different Whether horses of this type were confined exhibitions and '... z64 were selected as to Ireland is debatable. In I912 A W eligible for prizes and for registration as Irish Anstruther in presenting a report of the Draughts'. ~Thus, unlike the breed and stud Board of Agriculture and Fisheries ira book societies founded ira Britain, the book Britain," referred to '... the old breed of for Irish Draught Horses was established by Welsh Light Cart Horses', which provided the Government through the action of the '... light-legged mares suitable for Hunter Department of Agriculture and Technical breeding'. The Board had initiated a scheme Instruction. '... to preserve the native hardy breed and ensure its reproduction', but unfortunately the scheme, apparently, did not succeed.

4Chivers, op cit, p 172. -~W Davies, Welsh Ponies and Cobs, ,980, p 24. 'JC A Lewis 'The Connemara Pony', Irish Equestrian News, 198o, p 30. r'C A Lewis, Horse breeding in Ireland, 198o, p 15o. '°R G Carden in Sir H de Trafford (ed) The horses ofthe British Empire, ~Ibid, p 165. 19o7, p 23t. Slbid, p 165. "Hunter Stud Book, op cit. p 2z2. IRISH HORSE BREEDING 39 III Department's inspectors accepted for regi- The Irish Draught Horse Book stration in their tours of I917-I9. Why no In I91 I, I9 T7--T 8 and I9I 9 the Department of records exist of the remaining Io mares is Agriculture sent official inspectors through- unknovvn. The Books usually record the out Ireland to examine mares submitted for name and official registration number of the registration as Irish Draughts. The Depart- mare, the name and address of its owner and, ment believed that 'A lesson may be learned occasionally, of its breeder, the mare's from the manner in which the various colour, distinguishing marks, height, year of English breeds of live stock have been birth and, in most cases, limited information improved within recent times through the as to its pedigree. In a very few cases the foals establishment of stud books and the forma- produced by the mare, with the names of tion of breed societies', '-" and had decided to their sires, are listed. By assuming that the found a stud book for Irish Draughts. mares were located at, or adjacent to, their During the four years over 70oo mares were owners' addresses, it becomes possible to inspected and 952 were passed as eligible for map the distribution and certain physical registration. Unfortunately, when the first characteristics of Irish Draught mares in the volume of the Irish Draught Horse Book was I917-I9 period. published in 1918 it did not include details of Although Volume Four of the stud book any of the 264 mares passed in I9I I (out of a was apparently published, no copies are total horse population of 616, 33 I) although known to exist. Subsequent to the publica- it did list some of the 44 stallions registered in tion of that volume, no further publication the year. was undertaken, although annual inspec- The Inspectors' Report for I917 indicates tions of mares submitted for registration the criteria that guided the choice of mares were made outside Northern Ireland by for registration. inspectors of the (Dublin) Department of In making our selections of mares, we adopted a Agriculture until I974. Manuscript records good average standard of merit, and were were kept by the Department. Since 1975 particularly careful to exclude mares showing inspection of mares has been undertaken by coarseness or signs of imported cart-horse blood. officials ofBord na gCapall (the Irish Horse No well made mare that could be regarded as a Board). good, useful farm animal of the clean-legged draught type was passed over without careful Under the Horse Breeding Schemes of the consideration. Department of Agriculture records were Taken as a whole, the mares which we have kept by the Department of mares that recommended for entry in the Book are a good lot obtained official subsidies for breeding of animals, which can be regarded as an excellent purposes in the Republic of Ireland. Since foundation stock for establishing a breed of clean-legged draught horses really suitable to the I975 the award of subsidies and the mainte- requirements of the average Irish farmer. ,3 nance of records has been carried out by Bord na gCapall. In I979, in co-operation with the In view of the large number of mares Department of Agriculture in Northern inspected it seems reasonable to assume that Ireland, Bord na gCapall undertook registra- the location of those accepted and registered tion of Irish Draughts as in the Republic. As a as Irish Draughts fairly reflected the distribu- result the Bord listed Registered Irish tion of animals of Irish Draught type Draught mares that visited a stallion regi- throughout Ireland. The first three volumes stered under the horse breeding schemes for of the Irish Draught Horse Book record certain I978, that is, mares that, if fertile, would foal details of 678 of the 688 mares that the in I979. The Bord recorded the name and

'"Irish Draught Horse Book, 11, 1919, p 7. registered number of each mare, its owner's '31bid, p 8. name and address, and limited information 4o THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW about the mare which usually included its V height. It is thus possible to map the The distribution of Registered Irish Draught distribution and height characteristics of mares Registered Irish Draught mares used for Figure I shows that the greatest numbers of breeding in I978 and, by assuming that they mares registered in the I917-19 period were fairly reflect the total Irish Draught mare located in Counties Roscommon, Kilkenny, population, to compare this information Meath-Westmeath, and Cork. A]I four areas with that for Registered Irish Draught mares had been important centres of the horse in 1917-I9. breeding industry in the late nineteenth century as is indicated by statistics relating to horse breeding schemes instituted by the Royal Dublin Society in I887. In I888 the Society stood a thoroughbred stallion at Dunmanway in Co Cork for the service of tenant farmers' half-bred mares. As many as IV I43 mares competed for the fifty nomina- Methvdolog), tions available to the sire, indicating .the Addresses of mare owners were located and importance of horse breeding in the area. given co-ordinates that referred to a map of The highest number of applicants that year, Ireland divided into a grid of 4oo-sq-mile incidentally, was at Portadown in Co units. It was assumed that mares were Armagh, where 258 mares were inspected. located at their owners' addresses, and 666 of Ill 1889, z89oand I89I thehighestnumberof the 678 mares registered in I917-I9 were applications for service by a Society- thereby located as well as 1234 of the I269 approved stallion was in Meath-Westmeath mares that visited a stallion in 1978. Unfortu- and in Cork. ,4 nately, partly due to incomplete informa- The paucity of Registered Irish Draught tion, it was not possible to locate all the mares in most of the Province of Ulster mares. The number of mares per unit area probably reflects the loug-standing cultural was plotted and this provided distribution connections of that area with Scotland, as and density maps for the two time periods well as the nature of agriculture in the eastern under consideration. part of the Province. The urban areas of In order to establish the geographical Belfast and Londonderry provided a market pattern of the height of mares the height of all for heavy draught horses, which were mares in each square for each time period was needed for haulage. Furthermore, the Lagan totalled and divided by the number of mares of Donegal, the fertile coastlands of Co in each square to give an average height in Londonderry, the fertile lands of the Lower hands. An arbitrary decision was made to Bann valley and the Ballymena area, north- utilize averages for squares containing eight east Down (especially around Newtown- or more mares, but not for squares with less ards), and the clay lands of Co Louth, were all than eight mares. The average heights for major tillage areas with a marked specializa- squares with eight or more mares were then tion in potato production. The soils of these plotted to provide comparable information areas were, by and large, derived from glacial for I917-I9 and I978. They were also clays and tended to be heavy to work. As a subjected to trend surface analyses, using the result, farmers in Ulster preferred heavy DUTSA (D Unwin Trend Surface Analy- horses to the lighter Irish Draughts, and it ses) programmes, in order to establish was only natural that they should favour whether or not the heights indicated a discernible trend across the country. '4Lewis, Horse Breeding ill Ireland, p 26.0; /

IRISH HORSE BREEDING 4I

Registered Irish Draught Mares

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FIGURE I The distribution of Irish 1)raught mares registered in the Irish Dra.sht Horse Book in the x917-z9 period. 4z THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW Clydesdales, a breed with its homeland in farms north of Cork, particularly between adjacent Scotland, than Shires (with an the city and Watergrasshill.'6 English homeland), or Percherons or other The importation of heavy draught horses European mainland horses. into Ireland had been fostered by the Irish Although Clydesdale mares tended to be Government from as long ago as at least retained on the farms for work and breeding I748. In I73O Parliament passed an Act for purposes, surplus geldings were sold. Many the Encouragement of Tillage. Commis- were bought for work in urban areas and sioners w-ere appointed in order to imple- considerable numbers were exported to ment the Act, and in I748 they offered Britain. Nevertheless the majority of horses premiums for the importation of Black in Ireland were used for agricultural work, Horses into Ireland. Black Horses were the and in I897 it was stated that 88 per cent of foundation stock from which Shire Horses horses in Ulster, 74 per cent in Leinster, 85 and, to a lesser extent, Clydesdales, were to per cent in Munster, and 89 per cent in be bred. 17 The unprecedented growth of the Connaught '... appear to be used for human population of Ireland in the next agricultural purposes'. ,5 hundred years tended to restrict the spread of Further south, in Co Dublin, intensive heavy horses, since much work that might tillage required heavy draught horses, and otherwise have been done oll the land by Dublin itself provided a demand for horses, was done by humans. Thus, for thousands of heavy horses for haulage example, teams of spadesmen dug many purposes. Although some city firms, such as fields that might otherwise have been Guinness, used massive Shire horses, most ploughed. The effects of the repeal of the favoured Clydesdales, which were thought Corn Laws in I846 and the famine of to be more active horses, capable of working I847-5o, and the consequent decline in at a faster pace than the Shires. Farmers in Co agriculture, also militated against the wide- Dublin, like their more northerly counter- spread use of heavy horses. The annual parts, used Clydesdales extensively for farm proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society for work, selling the surplus animals for urban the 185os, for example, record fields being work. left to reseed themselves naturally, and some The needs of Cork city for heavy draught land even went out of production. In 1879 a animals were met by the production of Shire major agricultural depression led to a further and Shire-type horses on farms surrounding decline in the tilled area and, consequently, the city. The use of this predominantly to a reduction in the need for heavy horses on English breed probably reflects cultural and the land. trading connections between Cork and During the last decade of the nineteenth England. Links between Cork and the home century agricultural production began to of the Clydesdale, in Scotland, were far more revive in Ireland and, partly as a result, there tenuous. Of course, it could be argued that was considerable importation of heavy Dublin also had strong connections with horses from Britain. By I9O4 this was England, but Cork was far more isolated causing official concern, and in that year the from the northern centres of diffusion of Department of Agriculture decided '... that Clydesdales in Ireland than was the capital no new sires of the Clydesdale and Shire city. Because of the restricted size of Cork the breeds should be registered except for the market for heavy horses in that city was province of Ulster, the counties of Dublin much smaller than that for Dublin, and was and Louth, and the district comprised within met mainly by the breeding of Shires on a radius often miles of the city of Cork. The

'~'Ibid, p t73. 'qbid, p lal. '~lbid, p 18. IRISH HORSE BREEDING 43 object.., was to check the great impetus the bog-lands of Iveragh in Kerry provide that had been given to the importation of country not suited to draught horses. Much Clydesdales and Shires; for most authorities of the tillage in these areas of marginal agree that such sires, if too freely imported, agriculture and stony fields was undertaken will impair the reputation of Irish horses', is by hand at the turn of the twentieth century, Although the decision of the Department and there was little need for plough horses. of Agriculture not to register new Furthermore, the roads of Connemara left Clydesdales and Shires for service under the much to be desired, although a regular coach Department's horse breeding schemes out- service~ was run from Galway to Clifden side the stipulated areas did have some effect, until at least I9o6. There was limited the Department had no control over people demand, therefore, for draught horses and who were prepared to keep such sires, the needs of the inhabitants were catered for without financial support from the Depart- by the local ponies. In the I92os those of ment, elsewhere in Ireland. Important tillage Connemara, of which at least five types areas, like north Wexford and the vicinity of existed in I9oo, were developed into the Carlow, needed heavy horses, and these Connemara Pony, with its own society and were amply supplied by totally private stud book. Incidentally, the paternal and enterprise. In I92o, when all but thorough- maternal grandsire of the first stallion to be bred stallions used for racing or for the registered in the Connemara Pony Stud Book service exclusively of thoroughbred mares, was Prince Llewellyn. This was a Welsh Cob had to be licensed, there were 2Io5 applica- introduced to the region by the Congested tions for stallions to be licensed. As a result, Districts Board in the I89os in order to I718 licences were granted, although only improve the qualities of the local ponies. = 47I stallions were registered that year for Western Mayo, particularly Erris, Bel- service under the Department's - mullet and Achill, was also largely pony ing schemes. ,9 There were therefore many country. There were few roads in the area more heavy draught sires in Ireland than the that were viable for wheeled traffic even Department's Register of Stallions might towards the end of the nineteenth century, suggest, although by no means all of the and pack ponies were used extensively into stallions licensed were draught animals. the present century. In I897 Thomas Unfortunately, the records of stallion li- Meleady, a Dublin horse dealer, described to cences for the two years preceding the the Commissioners appointed to enquire political partition of Ireland are not accessi- into the horse breeding industry in Ireland, ble, and might well no longer exist, so there the buying of ponies in that area. 'They used is little reliable evidence for the location of to call them Achill ponies.' The previous heavy draught stallions other than those year Mrs Pattison had described'.., endless registered by the Department. By 1921 the strings of ponies, laden', in Achill. -'3 Department had relaxed its rules slightly, The southern coastlands of Cork, west of and included in its Register Clydesdales that the Harbour, had been well provided with were located in the Carnew-Arklow area, thoroughbred stallions of quality under the Kildare, Laois, Offaly, north Kilkenny, horse breeding schemes of the Royal Dublin three in Meath and three in Westmeath, as Society in the 1890S. So had the area adjacent well as one in south Roscommon. -'° to the city, as well as eastern and northern Connemara, with its rocky topography parts of the county. There was, however, a and extensive peat bogs, and to a lesser extent 2, Vicereqal Commission on Irish Raihvays, x9o6, map. ~Hlbid, p x64. ::B O'Sullivan in B Vesey Fitzgerald (ed) The book of the horse, 1946, '91bid, p 174. pp 669-78. a°Ibid, p t73. ~JLewis, op cit, p i18. 44 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW large area inland and to the west of Bandon in North Kerry, like lowland Limerick, had which there were no sires registered under also been a region of thoroughbred influence the Society's scheme nor located there by the under the Royal Dublin Society's schemes, Congested Districts Board. -'4 Thus, whilst and it is noticeable that few Irish Draughts many half-breds were produced in coastal, were registered in that area in 1917-19. Of eastern and northern areas of the county, course, there was a major contrast between little official effort was made to ensure their the farming types of the limestone lowlands production in the Bandon-Macroom region. and on the shale escarpment and boggy It is not surprising, therefore, that Irish plateau. Whereas the lowlands, especially in Draught rather than lighter half-bred, Limerick, were mainly areas ofpastoralism, hunter-type, horses, existed in the Bandon- the uplands were zones of mixed farming, Macroom region, especially since the region where farmers tried to be self-sufficient and was isolated from Clydesdale (and, to a lesser grow their own vegetables and save their extent, Shire) influence. own turf from the blanket bogs. Multi- The limestone lowlands of Co Limerick, purpose horses, such as the Irish Draught, south and south-west of the city, were were therefore essential in this region. important areas of thoroughbred and half- The midlands of Ireland are a more diverse bred production in the late nineteenth aim area than is usually recognized. Whereas early twentieth centuries. In the first year of immediately south of Athlone there are the Royal Dublin Society's horse breeding extensive raised bogs and a desolate land- schemes, the 1888 stud season, 172 half-bred scape, further south around Birr and in north mares belonging to tenant farmers vied for Tipperary there are fertile fhrmlands. By the 5o nominations to the Society stallion comparison, much of tile north midlands is posted to the county. 2s By 1896 16 thor- ice-moulded depositional terrain. By tile oughbred stallions registered by the Society 189os the area around Lorrha and Borriso- stood in the county. ='~ Some belonged to kane in north Tipperary had developed a major landlords, including the Earl of specialization in quality half-bred produc- Dunraven, others to professional stallion- tion. In I89~, for example, three thorough- men. None of the stallions was located in the bred stallions registered by the Royal Dublin carboniferous shales plateau and escarpment Society stood in that restricted area,'-v and in country in the west and south-west of the 1921 two and three half-bred county. The same locational pattern re- sires registered by the Department of Agri- mained until the end of the Society's culture travelled in that region. -'~ Further schemes, in I9O3. When the Department of north, towards Athlone, there appears to Agriculture's Inspectors sought mares of have been little specialization in production, Irish Draught type in the Limerick-north although the area had been invaded from the Kerry region in the second decade of the east by the Clydesdale and other feathery twentieth century it was not surprising that type horses, often of coarse appearance. The they found them among the smaller and less Inspectors therefore found few Irish fertile farms of the shale region of west Draught type mares in the area, although the Limerick, rather than on the limestone situation changed further north in Ros- lowlands, where breeders specialized in the common. production of racehorses, carriage horses Youatt 2~ drew attention to the quality of and hunters. Roscommon-bred horses as long ago as

~41bid, pp IOOff. mlbid, p 128. 2Slbid, p 2,6. :qbid, pp 168-9. ~Ibid, p Ira. :'~W Youatt, Thehorse, x83t, p 61. IRISH HORSE BREEDING 4-5 1831. He also made the relevant comment market for hunters in the region may have that: 'There are very few horses in the influenced farmers to keep such mares. agricultural districts of Ireland exclusively The widespread distribution of Irish devoted to draught. The minute division of Draughts in south-eastern Ireland was also the farms renders it impossible for them to be due to the demand for multi-purpose horses kept. The occupier even of a good Irish farm and to the strong market for hunters in that wants a horse that shall carry him to market, sporting region. The areas of broken and draw his small car, and perform every topography, such as the Ahenny basin, north kind of drudgery -- a horse of all work; of Carrick-on-Suir, and the uplands east of therefore the thoroughbred draught horse Mullinavat, were areas of limited tillage and • . . is rarely found. '3° steep slopes. Horses that could trot to market Like central and eastern Galway and under a cart, to such centres as Carrick, New Mayo, Roscommon formed part of a mixed Ross and Mullinavat, and that could also do farming area in the early twentieth century, other farm work, were prized. As a result in which up to 15 per cent of farmland was Irish Draughts were favoured in these areas. under arable cultivation,3' necessitating Unlike the uplands around Ahenny and draught horses• Nevertheless, few farms Mullinavat, central Kilkenny and the Bar- were large enough to provide sufficient row and Nore valleys were mainly areas of acreage of arable to justify keeping heavy half-bred production, although Irish draught horses, and Irish Draughts were Draughts, which usually had some thor- adequate to till the essentially light soils and oughbred blood in them, were also impor- suitable for more active roles. tant. During the 1890s the greatest concen- The concentration of Irish Draughts in tration of travelling thoroughbred stallions west Meath and around Mullingar is simi- registered under the Royal Dublin Society's larly explicable. While eastern and central schemes was in this part of Ireland. 3-" The Meath was largely a grassland area, devoted more dissected areas of Kilkenny, west of the to cattle fattening, the west of the county city, lay outside the main half-bred zone, and contained many small farms and patches of as Figure I shows, many Irish Draughts, tillage, where a multi-purpose horse was which were suited to the needs of the needed. For over a century thoroughbred farmer-miners of the Slieve Ardagh Hills, sires had stood in the region, and it is likely existed in that area. that their influence was reflected in at least County Clare has been noted for horse some of the Irish Draught type horses in the production since at least the seventeenth area. Both Meath and Westmeath were century, 33 and many thoroughbred sires noted hunting countries, and the Secretary of stood for service in the south of the county the Westmeath Foxhounds reported to under the Royal Dublin Society's horse Bail)"s Hunting Director), that, for his coun- breeding schemes of the I88os and 1890s. try, 'A short, compact horse is the best'. In The average farm size in that area is only 1895, when lO thoroughbred stallions were about forty acres 34 so that few farms were registered by the Royal Dublin Society in large enough to warrant keeping heavy Westmeath, they were all between 15.3 and horses, yet most needed a horse of all work. 16.o5 hands high, similar to the heights of The Irish Draught, with its modicum of most Irish Draughts. Irish Draught mares thoroughbred blood, met that need. are admirable for hunter production when By 1978, as Figure 2 shows, the distribu- put to thoroughbred sires, and the strong tion of Irish Draught mares had changed

J:Lewis, op cit, p 17. 3°W Youatt, Thehorse, 1847, p xo5. 3~C A Lewis, Hunting its Ireland, 1975, p 4I. 3'T W Freeman, Ireland, 1965, p 394. J4Freeman, op cit, p 386. 46 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW Registered Irish Draught Mares that visited a Stallion 1978 \

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Numberof Mares per unit area over 40 30 - 39 20 - 29 ¢~'~ e~'~ Castletownshend ~ ] 10 - 19

1-9 ?. Kitomelres 60 ~ I Actual Numberof Mares oJ Miles 40= Unit Area = 400 square miles J~ ~ ~)Jperunit- area

FIGURE 2 The distribution of Registered Irish Draught mares that visited a stallion under the official horse breeding schemes in 1978. (Source: breeding records of An Bord na gCapall.) IRISH HORSE BREEDING 47 remarkably from that of I917-I 9. The Bandon, under the Royal Dublin Society's greatest densities were in that coastal zone in schemes. It is likely that some of their Cork in which half-bred production had descendants have subsequently been regi- been important earlier in the century. The stered as Irish Draughts. As the market for Castletownshend area, in particular, now working horses decreases, so it is likely that possessed the greatest number of Irish fewer Irish Draughts will be bred in the Draught mares in Ireland. The second region in spite of the value of mares for brood greatest concentration was around Ballinas- purposes. loe in Co Galway and in a zone that extended The great increase in Registered Irish south to Thurles and Limerick and south Draughts in east Galway, Clare, and adjacent westwards to include virtually the whole of areas, may reflect an inefficient initial Clare. The third concentration lay around examination system, an actual change in the Ballina in Co Mayo and in south Sligo. There local type of&aught horses, or the possibi- were also important concentrations south of lity that different criteria are now used to Monaghan and in the coastal zone between decide which animals to register. The annual Dublin and Arklow. horse fair at Ballinasloe each October The concentration in south central Cork provides a ready market, and attracts buyers probably reflects the continued but rapidly from the whole of Ireland and from further declining use of Irish Draughts for agricultu- afield. The predominance of small farms, ral purposes; the strong hunting traditions of restricted farm incomes and productivity the area; the holiday caravan trade; the (which has retarded the introduction of availability of suitable sires; and the founda- mechanization),38 the elderly age of many tion work of the Royal Dublin Society's farmers 3'J and the undoubted prestige value schemes of the nineteenth century. There are of horse ownership, have all combined to more packs of hounds followed on horse- ensure that this remains a major breeding back in Co Cork (twenty-one) 3s than in any area. other area of Ireland, which ensures an The fertile lowlands around Ballina and interest in the breeding of hunters. There is Killala have been a noted horse breeding area also a market for horses for the horse-drawn for at least two centuries. At present a holiday caravan trade in the coastal areas, number of families specialize in producing especially between Kinsale and Skibbereen. young horses for sale as hunters and In 1979 six Irish Draught sires stood at stud in showjumpers and some of the local veteri- west Cork, as well as three half-breds and at nary surgeons are renowned local horsemen. least twenty-three thoroughbreds, giving There is thus an interest in horses in the breeders plenty of choice of sires within short region, plus a market for young horses. distances of the breeder's home. 36 Finally, There are also at least five registered sires although farms in the region are among the standing in the area, unlike the area im- most mechanized in the Republic, 37 some are mediately further south, in which there was managed by men to whom horsemanship is only one registered stallion in I979. Many still a way of life and by elderly men who are farmers are also elderly, although this is also not prepared to acquire the skills needed to the case in much of the remainder of Mayo. handle tractors. The number of mares that visited a stallion in During the late nineteenth century many the Ballina area therefore probably reflects quality thoroughbred stallions were located local cultural factors as much as any others. in the coastal area of this part of Cork, and at Nevertheless, the better quality of land in the

"Lewis, op cit, p 77. JSlbid, p 74. 3e'Rt;¢ister of appnwed stallions, An Bont na gCapall, 1979. J'~J Scully, 'The development of western Ireland', lr Geogr, 6, 1969, ~TD A Gillmor, Agricuhure in the Republic oflreland, 1977, p 73. pp 1-13. il,

48 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW region as compared to the bog-lands of Erris The concentration of mares south of to the west or the drumlin lands to the south, Monaghan largely reflects the poor agricul- is important. So is the partly resultant history ture of that difficult drumlin area of small of colonization, in which Ballina and Killala farms and, all too often, elderly farmers. were both foci for plantations in the past- Horses are still used on a few farms for work for landlord families such as the Knox- purposes, but they are being replaced by Gores, who owned 22,000 acres in Mayo in mechanization. By comparison, the relative- the I87os, spread an appreciation of quality ly high number of Irish Draughts between horse production in the area. 4° Dublin and Arklow largely reflects afflu- The decline of importance of the Ahenny ence. They are mostly kept by people who and Mullinavat areas is probably a reflection earn the major part of their living outside of the increase in mechanization in those farming, or who are well-established far- areas, combined with the realization that mers. The number of Irish Draughts, like half-breds, which are better suited to hunt- that of other 'pleasure horses', will probably ing and showjumping, generally command increase in this area in the future. higher prices than Irish Draughts. Many farmers are prepared to combine business and pleasure and produce showjumpers, quality hunters and point-to-pointers, all of which are more refined horses than the Irish Draughts. Bord na gCapall (the Irish Horse VI Board) has established horse sales at Gow- The height of Registered h'ish Dral¢fht mares ran, north of the area but adjacent to it, and The smallest mares to be registered as Irish the sales attract international buyers. The Draughts in I917-I9 were I5 hands high. local breeders are therefore well aware of the The largest were I6.2. In I978 the smallest higher prices that half-breds command, and registered mare to visit a stallion was stated as breed accordingly. Similar reasons, by and I4.o hands, the next smallest as I4.2 large, explain the decline in the numbers of (although listed as I5.o in the manuscript Irish Draughts in the Mullingar-Meath area. h'ish Draught Horse Book). The largest mares Agriculture in Northern Ireland is far were I7.o hands. Yet, whilst individual more mechanized than in most of the heights varied considerably in both time remainder of heland, as is shown by the periods, the average height of registered number of tractors per farmed area. 4' The mares increased from I5.3 to I6.O hands. necessity for work horses has therefore been In I917-I9 the tallest mares, based on greatly reduced, and although a number of average heights for squares containing eight farmers still breed Clydesdales mainly for or more mares, were in south-east Ireland, show and other competitive purposes, few around Mallow-Kanturk and immediately still bother with Irish Draughts. In I917-I9 a south of Belfast. They averaged 15.35 to I6.O surprising number of Irish Draughts was hands. The tallest individual mares existed in registered in the Lurgan area. Mechanization the vicinity of New Ross and in the lowlands has now ousted such animals and the only of Wexford to the east. Towards the west and appreciable concentration of Irish Draught north-west, and in the Meath-Westmeath breeding mares in I978 was in the broken belt, heights declined so that the smallest country south of Lifford and partly in the mares, on average, were located in the Republic. vicinity of Castlebar in Co Mayo, where they were only I5.2 hands. Trend surface

4oj Bateman, ThegreatlandownersqfGreatBritain and Ireland, 1883,p 88. analyses, using DUTSA programmes, con- 4'Atlas of Ireland, 198o, p 59. firms that there was a definite gradient of IRISH HORSE BREEDING 49 heights in I917-I9 from highest in the VII Wexford area to lowest in Mayo. 42 Conclusion By I978 the overall height of Registered The distribution of Registered Irish Draught Irish Draught mares had increased to almost mares has changed radically from a concen- I6.o hands, and there was surprising uni- tration in Roscommon and south of a line formity of average heights throughout from Limerick to Kilkenny in I917-I9, to almost the whole of Ireland in which south central Cork, the area between Gal- densities of eight or more mares per 4oo- way, Ballinasloe, Limerick and Thurles square-mile unit occurred. Trend surface (including the whole of Clare), and that analyses no longer showed any appreciable around Ballina, in I978. Mares, on average, gradient in heights across the country. This have increased in height by one inch and no suggests that there is little environmental discernible trend in heights exists across the control of the size of mares. The variation in country as it did in the earlier period. Instead heights in I917-I9 probably reflected nutri- of breeding Irish Draughts to suit local tional conditions and the breeding policies of working conditions, which resulted in farmers in Ireland as they produced animals adjustment o fheights to local environmental for work in local circumstances. Now that conditions in the I917-I9 period, by I978 the role of the Irish Draught is changing, mares appeared to be increasingly bred to breeders appear to be adjusting the size of suit national and international market condi- mares to meet new market conditions. tions. They are used as foundation stock for Instead of reflecting biogeographic controls, the production of hacking, hunting, and the I978 mare population apparently re- competitive horses, especially showjum- flected controlled breeding and probably pers. In I917 Irish Draughts were still improved management and nutrition aimed utilitarian working animals; by I978 they at existing market conditions. were being adjusted to meet the demands of 4'C A Lewis 'Height characteristics of Irish Draught mares'. Irish the leisure-horse market. Drm(¢ht Horse Yearbook t98o, pp 16-z2.