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Midlands Connemara Pony Breeders host successful International Conference.
By: Susan Finnerty
“Let’s Talk Pony” was one of those inspirational conferences when everyone in attendance, from Connemara and sport horse breeders to showring exhibitors came away from the Tullamore event with a banquet of food for thought.
The international event was the brainchild of Seamus Hynds, founder member  and John Moran, current chairman of the progressive Midland Connemara Breeders,while the afternoon session was chaired by Katie Miller, daughter of the late Sarah, who was another driving force in the Midlands group.
Jeremy Stanley, chairman of the Master Farriers Association, began proceedings with an appropriately-titled “Starting on the right foot” talk, accompanied by ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of horses helped by corrective shoeing as 95% of horses have some form of foot imbalance.
 Wendy Conlon’s ‘The Feeding Regime From Birth To Bridle” covered nutrition required for mares, from pre-covering days, through to foaling and the resultant young stock. The Teagasc equine specialist advisor urged the audience to resist letting the ‘mammy instincts’ take over by over-feeding Connemaras and to learn to score the body condition of their animals.
Stefania Bucca, the highly experienced equine reproductive veterinary surgeon specialist based at Somerton Equine Hospital, provided a unique insight into breeding problem mares and the merits of AI. In a witty presentation, she pointed out that mares need a period of short daylight in the autumn to shut down their reproductive cycle - something which isn’t always possible for mares worked in floodlit arenas and stabled in well-lit barns throughout those months.
She also felt that AI customers should receive unlimited amount of straws for their chosen stallion.
Professor Barry Leek was an able deputy for Tuula Pyoria, stranded in her native Finland due to the volcanic ash travel disruption. He provided another fascinating talk, this time on coat colour inheritance in Connemaras, and urged that young stock should be registered by the colour of their foal coat, even if the foal was already turning grey, in order to identify colour traits.
He also outlined the difference between the true dun and the more ’common’ buckskin and how to avoid breeding a blue-eyed cream.
Swedish guest speaker, Nina Gustafson from the Lofty Connemara Pony Stud, told the background and success stories of the popular Connemara imports there, from the 1960s onwards. Sweden now has a population of 3000 Connemara ponies, which produce 120 pure-bred foals each year while the majority of the top ten jumping ponies there are Connemaras including the exported Some Man For One Man.
Mary McCann is synonymous with Ashfield Bobby Sparrow, who paved the way for the Connemara pony’s deserved popularity as a show jumper.  In Mary’s opinion, “the days of breeding show jumpers in Ireland are gone. Gone. And the French have almost caught up breeding eventers” and she advised Connemara mare owners to consider covering them with TB or light sporthorse sires to breed a commercial all-rounder.
Having judged the Connemara performance hunter class at Dublin last year, the Hartwell Stud owner urged any prospective entrants to concentrate the flatwork element of this competition and to also bring their ponies to Pony Club and other outings to gain experience before tackling the Dublin qualifiers.
Her namesake, David McCann, spoke on judging Connemaras “the best ponies in the world” at inspections and show classes from a vet’s perspective. The Kells veterinary surgeon had strong views on the introduction of linear scoring for such inspections. “Linear scoring is not a panacea to save our horse industry, it has certain merits for record keeping,” he noted while he also highlighted the outstanding achievements of the European team champions, Ballyowen Maybell Molly and Sillogue Darkie.
The inaugural event was a great success which was due in no small part to the organisational skills of P.R.O Ruth Rogers and the Midlands committee. The speakers also shone during some interesting questions and lively banter from the floor and there is definitely scope for this conference to become an annual event to appeal to all breeders.
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