Irish Draught Horse Studbook Stallion Inspections
Inspections for stallions in the Irish Draught studbook are also held annually in spring.
Stallions must be a minimum of 4 years to be presented for inspection at the ID 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 Draught Horse Studbook.
More information on the Irish Draught Mare Inspections
Stallions that are presented for Irish Draught inspection undergo a clinical veterinary examination before
being assessed by a panel of 4 Irish Draught Horse inspectors. The veterinary examination can be done
prior to the inspection day provided it is administered through HSI. Otherwise it will be carried out on
the day of inspection. The pedigrees of the stallions are assessed and the classification of the sire and
dam, as well as genetic diversity measures will be taken into consideration. Handlers must present
stallions to the inspectors in the indoor arena for their conformation assessment using linear scoring.
The stallion will be required to stand for a visual inspection on a hard surface. The handler will move the
stallion in walk and then in trot in a triangle. The stallion is then required to perform a free gait,
athleticism and jumping assessment. Stallions over 4 years or older can choose to do this element under
saddle and will have their stallion’s athleticism assessed by jumping the stallion over a course of fences at
1.00m level under saddle.
Irish Draught Horse stallions are assessed using linear profiling and overall scores for ‘Conformation’,
‘Type’ and ‘Movement’ are awarded for each stallion. Irish Draught stallions that meet the veterinary
requirements and the inspection requirements at inspection (minimum scores out of 100: 70 in
conformation, 65 in type, 70 in movement and 65 in athleticism) will be classified as ‘Class 1’ in the Irish
Draught Horse Studbook.
Irish Draught stallions that meet the veterinary requirements but do not meet the inspection requirements
will be classified as ‘Class 2’ in the Irish Draught Studbook.
Irish Draught Stallions that do not meet the veterinary requirements will be classified as ‘Class 3’ in the Irish
Draught Horse Studbook
Benefits of presenting your Irish Draught Stallion for Inspection:
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Opportunity to increase the value of your stallion and his off spring by achieving ‘CLASS 1’
status.
Only the off spring of ‘CLASS 1’ and ‘CLASS 2’ sires and dams are eligible for Irish Draught
Studbook inspections
Details of ‘CLASS 1’ 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.