Bone

I will briefly reiterate my points from my previous blog. The system of inspection used is a minor consideration. However, the inspectors need to be in agreement about the ‘’type” that they are inspecting for the system to be successful. The continental warmblood organizations are successful for the simple reason that their ‘vision’ of the horse they are selecting for is uniform regardless of inspector. What you are seeing currently in the Irish Draught breed is the result of the inspectors selecting and passing horses based on their own individual idea of what the ‘Irish Draught type’ is. Until breeders tackle the elephant in the room and come to an agreement about type the breed will continue to flounder.

I am also concerned about bone after reading what the task force recommended. “The task force indicated that nine inches of bone should be a goal for IDs.” This statement is inexplicable to my understanding of bone and its function. To say that nine inches of bone is the goal for IDs is to say that 4 x 4s are the goal for columns in all buildings – from a shed to a skyscraper. 9 inches of bone in a 15.2 hh horse is more than adequate. On larger 16.2 hh or so 9 inches of bone is inadequate.

In a series of articles by Dr. Deb Bennett in Equus magazine, she discussed conformation in detail using photographs, illustrations, table and graphs. The article on proportion, was in the January 2010 issue which is where the gist of the following information was obtained.
Dr. Deb Bennett used an example of a 10 hand pony and a 20 hand heavy draught horse. You will note that the 20 hand draft horse is 2 times the height of the 10 hand pony. Duh you say. The pony weighs in the range of 320 to 350 lbs. Does the 20 hand horse double the weight making him 640 to 700 lbs? Certainly not. The 20 hand horse weighs between 2600 and 2800 lbs. for an eightfold increase in weight.

Dr. Bennett recommends B-T (bone-tendon circumference) measurements of 8 inches per 1000 lbs in a riding horse. This figure is also in line with what the old Quarter horse folks told me many years ago. The 20 hand horse would have 12 inches of bone at the average 1700 lb horse of 6 inches of bone per 1000 lbs. At the recommended B-T measurement o 8 inches of bone per 1000 lbs. in a riding horse, the 20 hand/2000 lb horse would need 16 inches of bone. This B-T figure is impossible to attain.

In studies where actual measurements of horses were taken and graphed, suffice it to say two things. Large horse = large limbs and feet , & bigger horse = less substance. The survey included data about whether the horse was lame or not. The lameness tended to “lie toward the high end of the weight range and toward lower substance. This data suggested that “regardless of a horse’s breed or weight, if his B-T circumference falls below six inches per 1000 pounds, he has an increased chance of experiencing unsoundness.”

Dr. Bennett briefly touched on bone density. She said that density means mass per unit volume. It doesn’t indicate anything about quality of bone. “Abnormally high bone density is a condition called pachyostosis; osteoporosis is its opposite.” In horses of the riding type weight of 900 to 1300 pounds, the normal bone density is about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, with a range from 15 to 22 considered the norm. The findings from the data collected indicated three things.
-Bone density is related to weight not breed.
-The smaller the horse, the greater the chance that bone density will be normal.
-The larger the horse, the lower the bone density is likely to be.

To summarize, Dr Bennett recommends that you select riding horses between 900 and 1300 pounds with B-T measurement equaling about 8 inches of bone per 1000 pounds but no less than 6 inches per 1000 pounds.

Rooney's cross country and Stadium jumping

Rooney is such an impressive lad. I am very proud of him. Carol would have been thrilled to pieces with his presence and his progress.

Declan's cross country round

This is Declan's cross country round from this past weekend. He won 2nd place in his 1st ever horse trial. I have discovered that I made his name too long...... Poor Declan

Final Otter Creek update

Ralph Hill walked the course with Sarah and then boosted her up on the Rooney. While they were walking the course Christina was holding Rooney trying to keep him awake. ;) He's pretty laid back unless he's working. Rooney pulled one rail down by a hair so ended up fourth. Ralph proclaimed him an excellent jumper and everyone's happy. :D Hope to have photos soon (maybe video even!)

Otter Creek update

Here's the update from the field:
"Rooney did great, awesome, fantabulous. He gota few time faults but was truly spectacular. Ralph Hill was there and coached Sarah in the warmup. After the scores came out she told him she was disappointed in the time faults and he threw his hands in the air and said "WHO CARES??? YOUR HORSE WAS AWSOME!"

Declan was also a star. He was very looky the whole time around and Jenn had to encourage him to gallop on, but that's normal for a beginner. Went clean with no time faults. He was 7th after show jumping yesterday and finished 2nd for the competition. GO DECLAN!

Rooney's group starts show jumping about 9:30 in the morning. Don'tknow the order yet."

Hip hip hurray!!!!!

Some Pearls go to Otter Creek Fall Horse Trials

Placings after dressage:

Padi's Copper Flash "Rooney" 1st place with score of 31.80 in Training Championship

Padi's Shuttlewood Danny Boy "Declan" 4th place with score of 33.30 in Open Beginner Novice

Thoughts on the 'Irish situation'

Many months ago a friend requested that I read some material on the current status of inspections, the Irish Draught, the methods being used etc. and share my thoughts. My friend probably thinks that I blew the request off but in actuality I’ve been contemplating things on and off for quite some time. As an Irish Draught breeder and admirer I feel that it is not only my right but my duty to add my thoughts. It isn’t about politics. It is about the survival of the breed and those that breed them.

Inspections provide an opportunity for breeders to learn an expert’s opinion of a certain horse through the use of scoring a certain selection of traits that should be breed specific. I’ve said for more years than I care to admit that in the end inspections are just numbers on a sheet of paper and the opinion of the horse for the period of time of the inspection. I don’t think they serve any purpose whatsoever unless the results are published. The scoring of the horse for each trait can then be used by the owners of any horse that may want to breed to that inspected horse. For example, if a certain mare scores low in hind end, hind leg then the mare owner could look for a stallion that scored strongly in that area. The publication and access to this information is what makes inspections effective. Without publication and access the information is worthless. My first action would be to publish the scores of all stallions inspected and have access to mare’s scores available upon request. I would publicize the accessibility and purpose of publishing the data. The current practice of publishing negative comments (such as: “He has a long back, flat croup, shallow girth and is slightly toed out. He is close in behind in walk and trot but shows good extension although he was slightly incorrect in trot.”) is unnecessary, bad for the promotion of Irish horses in general and the Irish Draught in particular. Let the scores do the talking. There is no incentive for anyone to associate with an organization that works against the members’ best interests.

If you are breeding warmbloods and want to develop an inspection process you might gather information from other warmblood organizations or create your own system. If you are working with a specific breed than any scoring system you use needs to somehow reflect the unique characteristics of your breed. Type is the most important score on the entire inspection sheet. The warmblood organizations have been successful because they have defined the type and purpose of the horse that they are breeding and then utilizing inspectors that envision the same ‘type’ during the inspections.

I read with dismay that ‘type’ is not formally defined and is left to the individual inspector. I found this exceedingly distressing because ‘type’ is the proverbial elephant in the room. It is paramount that an agreement about the purpose and type for the Irish Draught horse is settled.
One need not look far to exemplify the problems associated with a lack of a united vision. Tors Gentleman Farmer’s status of approved, failed, failed again and then approved again plus two wins at the RDS stallion class illustrates the significance of inspectors using the same vision of the end product. In a seminar about the Irish Draught, the audience was told to look at the horse from a distance and ask “Does it look like an Irish Draught?” first. Experienced Irish Draught people might think it is an easy question to answer. To those unfamiliar with the breed and without a consistent result coming out of inspections to use as examples it is a question that is impossible to answer. What makes King of Diamonds, Clover Hill and Pride of Shaunlara such influential bloodlines in the breed? How can three such diverse horses typify one breed? If I didn’t know better I would never guess that they were all considered one breed.

I know what I think an ideal Irish Draught looks like and which mare & stallions are most likely to produce that ‘type’. I also know that there are as many visions of what an Irish Draught is as there are breeders. The Irish draught breed will stagnate and disappear without a vision of one ID ‘type’.

Next topic: Bone

A grand-Pearl

Pearl's of Faith gave birth to a bay colt by Hangon Johnny a few months ago. I received some photos I thought I would pass on. Is this colt more proof that Mountain Pearl is a broodmare sire? Enjoy :)



Pearl's of Faith gave birth to a bay colt by Hangon Johnny a few months ago. I received some photos I thought I would pass on. Is this colt more proof that Mountain Pearl is a broodmare sire? Enjoy :)