What information is available to me on IHR Online?

A four generation pedigree and progeny report can be displayed on-screen with a facility to have either report emailed to the user as a PDF document. In cases where horses have competed under Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), Showjumping Ireland (SJI), Eventing Ireland (EI), or Association of Irish Riding Clubs (AIRC) rules, there will be a link directly to that horse’s results in the relevant database. Genetic diversity percentages are shown on IHR Online for Irish Draught stallions and mares in Ireland, Australia and Canada.

What is genetic diversity?

Genetic diversity refers to the variety of individual genes within a breed. Measurement of genetic diversity is becoming widely used in the conservation of rare breeds. The aim of measuring genetic diversity is to identify rare bloodlines so that they can be preserved, giving the Irish Draught breed the broadest possible base while also preserving its unique and traditional characteristics.

How is genetic diversity in Irish Draughts calculated?

Genetic diversity of Irish Draught horses in Ireland is calculated by:

• Calculating the relationship between a particular horse and every individual Irish Draught mare in the Irish Studbook.
• Averaging all these figures to give a single percentage figure (called the ‘mean kinship’) for the particular horse.

The mean kinship for a particular horse measures the degree to which that horse is related to Irish Draught mares in Ireland. The lower the mean kinship is between a horse and the mares in Ireland, the rarer its bloodline.

How can I view the following?

• Pedigree- Search for a horse, choose the relevant horse and click the Pedigree tab at the top of the screen
• Progeny- Search for a horse, choose the relevant horse and click the Progeny tab at the top of the screen
• Performance – Where performance is available for an animal one or more of the following logos will be visible; FEI, BE, SJI, EI or AIRC. Click the logo of the performance you wish to view. This will direct you to the performance results page for that horse with the specific sporting organisation.

Note: Some horses may be registered with more than one Equestrian sporting organisation.

What can’t I find my horse on IHR Online?

Your horse may not be able for find the horse that you are looking for due to one of the following reasons:

• The Irish Horse Register only contains horses registered in the Irish Horse Register (IHR)
• The animal may be unnamed in the IHR or have been renamed
• The animal may have been born into a studbook other than the Irish Sport Horse or Irish Draught horse studbook and has not yet been endorsed.
• Alternatively, your animal may not be registered with a passport issuing body. In this case, you may be breaking the law. Note: It is now the law that every foal must be registered within one year of the date of birth.
• A horse is Unnamed in IHR Online but is named in competition Names shown on IHR Online are those recorded in the Irish Horse Register. If an animal has not been named in the Irish Horse Register it will appear as ‘unnamed’. The exception to this is where an animal has been subsequently registered with the FEI and Horse Sport Ireland is aware of a particular horse’s international competition name.