Irish Sport Horse Studbook Stallion Inspections
Inspections for stallions in the ISH studbook are held annually in spring.
Stallions must be a minimum of 4 years to be inspected for ISH Stallion inspections. Linear profiling is
used to assess conformation, movement and athleticism. This is a descriptive method of assessing a
horse and describes where a horse lies between the biological extremes for any given trait. Stallions that
are classified as ‘Approved’ have meet all of the performance/inspection and veterinary requirements
for the Irish Sport Horse Studbook.
Stallions that are presented for ISH inspection undergo a clinical veterinary examination on the day of
inspection before being assessed by a panel of four Irish Sport Horse inspectors. There are 2 stages in a
stallion inspection.
Stage 1 –This involves a veterinary examination which can be done on the day of inspection or before
the inspection provided it is administered through HSI. The pedigree of the stallions are assessed and
pedigree. On the day of inspection stallions are required to stand for an assessment of their
conformation before they are shown in hand by their handler in walk and trot. The movement of the
stallion is then assessed loose in the arena. Stallion owners can opt to have their stallion’s athleticism
assessed by means of a loose jumping demonstration.
Stage 2 of the stallion inspection process (ridden gait and athleticism assessment) involves an
assessment of the stallion being ridden and jumped under saddle by both the stallion’s own rider and a
test rider appointed by HSI. Stallions will be ridden over a course of approximately 6 to 8 fences
including one double. The maximum fence height for 5-year-old stallions will be 1.20m. Fence height
will be raised for older stallions and will be age appropriate. A specially prescribed course is provided
for 4 year old stallions undergoing stage 2 assessment.
Stallion owners have the option to carry out Stage 2 (ridden gait and athleticism assessment) of the
stallion inspection process as part of the February 2014 inspections. Alternatively, stallion owners can
opt to present their stallion for Stage 2 inspection the following year if they passed Stage 1. Following
the Stage 1 inspection Irish Sport Horse stallions will be classified as ‘Not Approved 1 (NA1)’ if they pass
the veterinary inspection or ‘Not Approved 2 (NA2)’ if they do not meet
the required standards of the veterinary examination.
Benefits of presenting your ISH Stallion for Inspection:
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Opportunity to increase the value of your stallion and his offspring by achieving ‘APPROVED’
status
Details of ‘APPROVED’ stallions are published in the HSI Stallion Book
All stallion owners that present their stallion for inspection get a linear profile for their stallion
which is a description of the stallion’s strengths and weaknesses. This information is very
valuable when making breeding decisions.