NATIONAL chairperson of the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association, Robert Draper, unveiled an ambitious strategic plan for the Association and the Irish Draught horse at the first meeting of the newly elected Board of Directors held on May 3rd.

The IDHBA is the largest representative organisation of Irish Draught breeders with some 422 members recorded nationwide in 2022 with affiliate groups in the UK, Canada, North America, Australia and New Zealand. There has been unanimous support for the new innovative plan.

Robert Draper told The Irish Field: “We have got moving on our strategic plan with certain realistic targets for this year. We have put a better structure in place which will allow greater communication with our members and also get their feedback on what we should be doing. Sub-committees with one board member of each - be it ridden Draughts, or breeding, whatever their skillset is - is quite a change to what we had before and a different approach to bed in. We also have a couple of big milestones this year including growing our membership base and changes to our upcoming Breed Show which is our national event. We have also made our Yearbook available online.

“The Branches we have are very diverse, different models work in different Branches. Some use the Riding Club model, others are more breeding orientated and pull their membership from there. We need to open up and not rely on the same wonderful group of volunteers, we need to foster the next set of stalwarts looking to the future.

“The IDHBA has more Branch shows now than we ever had and it is good to have people thinking positively and progressively again,” said Draper.

The IDHBA strategic plan is based off six pillars, including:

  • 1. Strengthen and expand representation and relationships
  • 2. Improve IDHBA and the Irish Draught horse profile and communications
  • 3. Expanding the IDHBA National Breed Show
  • 4. Developing and promoting responsible breeding
  • 5. Developing and promoting the ridden Irish Draught
  • 6. Increased focus on funding and sponsorship.

    • As a 100% voluntary and self-funding organisation, the plan creates structures that are conducive to volunteerism and will make it easier for members to engage and contribute. The plan also includes a value proposition for the IDHBA members and will detail what the association is doing and can improve for their members, said an IDHBA press release.