THE Kerry Bog Pony Co-operative Society Limited held a training and education seminar, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, at the picturesque surroundings of the Red Fox Inn, in Glenbeigh, Co Kerry, by kind permission of John Mulvihill and family on Saturday, September 19th.

The day started with a talk on the Kerry Bog Pony breed standard and the inspection criteria. The guest speaker was Ms Denise Colebrooke, who is a breed inspector for the Kerry Bog Pony studbook and an international judge with the Irish Pony Society for Mountain and Moorland and heritage pony breeds.

Ms Colebrooke talked through the conformation strengths and weaknesses of three different ponies, while explaining the marking sheets and what the inspectors are looking for when inspecting Kerry Bog ponies to the breed standard.

There was also a practical demonstration given on how to stand, walk and trot a pony at an inspection. It was an interactive event, with the audience asking questions and receiving answers and guidance.

In the afternoon, there was training focused on the use of Kerry Bog ponies for carriage driving in harness and preparing the ponies for competition. This informative demonstration and talk was given by Aniko Foldszin, who has significant experience at competing and training ponies in pairs to pull a carriage and compete obstacle courses.

The audience were taken through the process of putting the harness on two ponies, attaching them to the carriage and then giving a display of driving the pair of Kerry Bog ponies. It was an interactive process with good audience engagement.

CPBS educational videos

The Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society, thanks to funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) through the Equine Technical Support Scheme, has added new videos to the CPBS Education section on their website, expanding the range of educational content already available to pony breeders, owners and enthusiasts.

Topics include linear profiling in practice, parasite control and worming management, exporting Connemara ponies and the ownership transfer process, understanding the CPBS inspection process, equine chiropractic work, performance in Connemara ponies and more.