Connemara-Pony

Connemara ponies are Irish ponies. Your home, the Connemara countryside, lies at the extreme western tip of Ireland. It is moist, barren and sparsely populated even by people today. But for many centuries little horses live there semi- wild in the peaty swamps and scree slopes. These ponies have always been appreciated for their frugality, health and reliability.

Background information on the evaluation and breeding horses can be found at: exterior, interior and horse breeding.

Exterior

Connemara ponies are usually between 138 cm and 153 cm Height size. The most common coat colors in Connemara are mold or gray mold and Fallows. But there are also bay, black, Roans (not lightening mold), foxes, Palominos before. Foxes are considered as atypical. Blue Eyed Creams are not desirable.

The Connemara is strongly built and well proportioned. It has a medium dry head with medium sized ears and big eyes, and long sloping shoulders, a well- shaped withers and back with a good saddle, and clear legs, dry joints and tough hooves, cannon bone circumference 18-21 cm.

It has a good step, Diplomatic pure, lively and energetic trot and a ground covering gallop.

Interior

Connemara ponies are very agile and reliable riding ponies. They are very versatile: they are particularly well suited for jumping and cross-country riding, are also used as training and therapy horses or carriage horse.

Breeding history

Due to the intersection with various horse breeds ( Berber, Arab, Welsh Ponies, English Thoroughbred, but also cold blood breeds), the Connemara ponies are no longer unique in appearance. Today there are three types of Connemara ponies:

• The Eastern - type (eastern type): these ponies are petite and like the Arabs in appearance.
• The Irish Draught type: larger and more powerful at the same time type.
• Clifden type: Clifden ponies do not have the typical pony features and remember the old yellow pony with the previously frequent Falbenfarbe.

The most famous horse with Connemara blood up to the present time may have been Stroller, an Irish Hunter Pony. Although his ancestry is not exactly busy, but he led probably 50 % Connemara blood. With only 145 cm stick, he won in 1968 at the Olympic Games in Mexico with his rider Marion Mould the silver medal in the individual competition. Two years later he had a even more dramatic performance: Stroller won the most severe competition of the world, the German Jumping Derby with zero error points. The little jumping wonder died in 1986 at the age of 36 years.