| Irish Sport Horse | |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Status: | FAO (2007):not at risk |
| Colour: | any |
| Group1: | Irish Sport Horse Studbook |
| Std1: | https://www.horsesportireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HSI-Breeding-Programme-for-the-ISH-Studbook_Jul24.pdf |
The Irish Sport Horse (ISH), or Irish Hunter, is an Irish horse breed used mostly for eventing and show-jumping. Historically the ISH was bred by crossing Irish Draught and Thoroughbred stock, and the breed was formalised in the 1920s.
The Irish Sport Horse should have the proportions and functionality of a performance horse at international levels, move straight and balanced with good carriage, and jump well. It has good, a short back and strong loins, muscular hindquarters, a sloping shoulder, deep chest, and a long neck. The ISH has a good temperament which is willing, sensible, and steadfast. Horses may be of any color, and the standard describes stallions as being generally taller than and mares .
According to the registration rules of the Irish Draught Horse Society of Canada,
The main two components of the Irish Sport Horse are the Irish Draught (RID) and Thoroughbred breeds. Historically, Irish hunters were classified by weight typically based on the percentage of Thoroughbred blood—heavyweight hunters were either 100% Irish Draught or 1/4 Thoroughbred cross, mediumweight were half Thoroughbred, and lightweight were 3/4 Thoroughbred.
The Irish Sport Horse received a small (5%) infusion of warmblood blood in the 1990s from crosses with Hanoverian, Selle Français and Trakehner horses. In recent years, European warmbloods have been used to cross with RID to make Irish Sport Horses because the warmbloods mature faster than Thoroughbreds. According to Emily Donoho, "while [adding warmbloods] increases genetic diversity and gets more Irish horses in the showjumping ring, some competitors and breeders are concerned that the traditional TB-ID lines are being lost". A report from a study of Irish Draught genetics recognized the importance of ID genes in producing high quality contemporary sport horses, however it pointed out the difficulties because of the small population size of the endangered Irish Draught, and the problems of dilution on second and third generations without additional infusion of ID blood.
Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) maintains the Irish Sport Horse Studbook by authority of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. HSI also maintains a category for Traditional Irish Horse (TIH) which is a designation for horses with only Irish Sport Horse, Irish Draught, Thoroughbred, and Connemara Pony in their pedigrees.
The Australian society, established in 1989, requires an Irish Sport Horse to have at least 25% Irish Draught and no other breeds except Thoroughbred, they require an inspection to enter the studbook, and use the standards of the Irish studbook. The North American society, established in 1993, requires 1/4 RID (verified through DNA) and an inspection. They do have an uninspected classification which allows as little as 1/8 RID.
The Irish Sport Horse is a successful competition riding horse, used primarily in eventing where its qualities of speed, jumping strength, scope and courage are best used. It also does well in show-jumping and dressage. The Irish Sport Horse Studbook is highly placed in the annual rankings of eventing competitions by the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses, placing first amongst the other breeds in every year from 1994 to 2018, except for two years. According to Donoho, the ISH "dominates eventing" including at such top level competitions at Badminton, Burghley, the Olympics, and world championships.