Connemara Pony Festival

The annual Connemara Pony Festival will run in Clifden from Monday 16^th August to Sunday 22^nd August. The week will be packed full of pony events with the highlight of the week taking place on Thursday with the world famous Connemara Pony Show now in it’s 87^th year. Visitors from all over Ireland will travel to Clifden to witness this spectacular festival. The Connemara Pony is Ireland’s only native pony breed and has travelled all around the world. Connemara Ponies can now be found all over Europe, America, Australia and even South Africa.

Monday 16^th August will see the festival commence with an educational seminar in the National Park in Letterfrack at 3pm. The National Park is home to the Connemara Pony Breeders Society’s herd of Connemara Ponies and visitors will be able to view the herd. Tuesday will have an International theme, with the International AGM and International conference taking place in the Station House Hotel at 1pm. The magnificent Abbeyglen Castle Hotel will host the International reception on Tuesday evening where the overseas breeders will get the opportunity to meet with the Irish breeders.

On Wednesday the annual loose jumping competition will take place at the Showgrounds at 2pm. Thirty two 3 year old ponies will compete at this national competition to gain the title of Champion Loose Jumping Connemara Pony. The ponies for this event have qualified at a number of centres around the country.

Thursday is the highlight of the festival. Ponies from all over Ireland will travel to Clifden to compete at this internationally renowned show. 2010 sees a record number of entries. From 8.30am onwards the showgrounds will be packed with spectators viewing this elegant animal. Main sponsors this year are Horse Sport Ireland, The Oil Company and Galway Irish Crystal. There will be 24 in-hand classes and 10 ridden classes. Classes will commence at 8.30am. For the first time the stallion class will be split in two with one class for 4,5 and 6 year olds and another class for stallions aged seven years and over. The Bobby and Bridie Memorial Cup will be presented to the winner of the 4, 5 and 6 year old stallion class. A special prize sponsored by Diamond’s Equestrian, Renvyle, Co. Galway will be presented to the champion pony handler of the show, who will receive the William J. Diamond Memorial Trophy. The official opening of the show will be performed by Minister Brendan Smith. To cater for non-pony enthusiasts there will be plenty of other attractions on offer including Irish Dancing, Domestic Arts, and a Dog Show. A traditional market place will take place on the streets of Clifden. The ever popular Show down will be held on Thursday night in the Station House Hotel.

During 2010 extensive work has been carried out on Ring one in the Showgrounds, ensuring it is now one of the best show rings in the country. Some of this work was kindly funded by Forum Connemara. A huge thanks must go to the Show Committee under the chairmanship of Henry O’Toole for initiating and overseeing this work.

The Connemara Pony is recognised worldwide for it’s unique performance ability. Ponies will have an opportunity to demonstrate this on Friday at the Connemara Performance Show. Following on the success of the Puissance competition last year it is now firmly fixed as an annual event at the Performance show. In addition there will also be working hunter classes, a musical ride organised by Judy Cazabon and a parade of all the champions of the show from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Connemara Pony sales will take place in Clifden Mart on Saturday and Sunday commencing at 11 am each day. There will be a large selection of top quality registered Connemara ponies on offer for those of you interested in buying a pony. To view the catalogue visit www.connemara ponysales.com .

For more details on any of the above events please visit our website www.cpbs.ie , find us on Facebook or contact the CPBS Office on 095 21863.

Dog Show

The annual Dog show will be held at the Connemara Pony Show on Thursday 19^th August. Classes will commence at 2pm with entries being taken from 12 noon to 1.45pm. There will be 12 classes in total including a championship. The Champion Dog will receive the Diana Geddes Perpetual trophy and the first three places in each class will receive Rosettes and Brandy Complete Dog Food kindly sponsored by Mackle Pet Foods. Entry fee is €5. To view the list of classes and decide which is most suitable for your pooch please click here.

No Darkie for Bishop Burton

Bloods taken from Sillogue Darkie last weekend in Cork, by FEI vet, Con Kennedy, showed up a minor anaemia. Surprisingly, the HSI committee decided to withdraw the pony from the Irish team jumping in Bishop Burton, 28^th July – 1^st Aug, leaving a stunned and bitterly disappointed Briscoe and Duffy family, not to mention the huge number of “Darkie Supporters”. Such a deselection is unusual, and so devastating, especially for Michael (in his last year competing on ponies ), who has partnered the pony to many great wins here and abroad, and has qualified him for the RDS for the eighth time.

Midland Show Results

To view the Midlands Show results please click here.

FEI Approval for Connemara Pony Passports

The Connemara Pony Society has finally got approval from the FEI. Now Connemara ponies jumping abroad will have their breeding recorded. Will anyone who has, or is planning to jump their pony abroad please send their passport to the Society Office to have it modified. It will then be sent to HSI for a Recognition card and posted back to the owner.