asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is aware that mares got by thoroughbred sires are being registered as Irish draughts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Registration of Mares.
81.
Some mares sired by thoroughbreds are entered in the Register of Irish Draught Mares. The ancestry of the animal is not regarded as of major importance. Selection is based mainly on soundness and conformation assessed by inspection.
Would the Minister not agree that the Irish draught mare was typically an animal who was not got by a thoroughbred horse? If the Minister is now going to register mares got by thoroughbred horses as draught mares he will eventually attenuate the breed of draught horses altogether so that there will be no foundation stock to breed the typical Irish hunter.
This question is very difficult to deal with by means of question and answer at Question Time because I have heard experts in this field wrangling for hours about it. The Deputy will appreciate that the expression "Irish draught" refers rather to a type than an actual breed of horse. I do not think people will assert seriously that an Irish draught horse is a breed of horse. It is rather a type of horse from which sporting horses can be bred. It is from these that the stock is drawn and registered.
Would the Minister not agree with me that the type of Irish draught was never got by a thoroughbred sire, that this is the very opposite to the traditional way in which this breed or type has been produced in this country? If the Minister introduces a policy whereby mares got by thoroughbred horses will be registered as Irish draughts, eventually the type of Irish draught we have known for so long will disappear. If you keep breeding with a thoroughbred sire you will eventually breed out and you will breed in to a totally thoroughbred stock.
A great many factors come into this. The most important one of all is the drying up of the number of draught horses of any type that are available in the country. Secondly, when you are aiming at the selection of a type of horse, which was never actually bred according to blood lines, it is not possible to be definite as to the type of ancestry you require in this horse. You are looking for certain physical qualities of soundness, conformation and stamina, qualities which are recognised as being peculiar to the Irish draught horse.