Irish Sport Horse Studbook Mare Inspections
Inspections for mares in the ISH studbook are held in spring and autumn each year. In recent years
there have been 2 inspection venues for the spring inspections and up to 8 regional venues for the
autumn mare inspections.
Mares must be a minimum of 3 years to be inspected for ISH mare inspections. Mares that meet the
requirements are awarded ‘SELECT’ status in the ISH Studbook and are eligible for Star Ratings based on
their own, their progeny or their damline performance in showjumping, eventing or dressage.
Mares that are presented for ISH inspection undergo a clinical veterinary examination on the day of
inspection before being assessed by a panel of two Irish Sport Horse inspectors. The pedigrees of the
mares are assessed and pedigree bonus points are awarded to mares with performance pedigrees based
on specified criteria. On the day of inspection mares 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
mare is then assessed loose in the arena. Mare owners can opt to have their mare’s athleticism assessed
by means of a loose jumping demonstration.
Irish Sport Horse mares are assessed using linear profiling and overall scores for ‘Conformation’ and
‘Movement’ are awarded for each mare. Mares that meet the veterinary requirements and achieve a
minimum score of 70 (out of 100) in ‘Conformation’ and 65 in ‘Movement’ are awarded ‘SELECT’ status
and are eligible for star ratings. ‘SELECT’ mares that are loose jumped at inspection are awarded a 1 Star
merit in showjumping should they achieve a minimum score of 80 or above (out of 100) for
‘Athleticism’.
Benefits of presenting your ISH Mare for Inspection:
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Opportunity to increase the value of your mare and her progeny by achieving ‘SELECT’ status
and Star Ratings
Details of ‘SELECT’ mares are published in the HSI Breeders Magazine
All mare owners that present their mare for inspection get a linear profile for their mare which is
a description of the mare’s strengths and weaknesses. This information is very valuable when
making decisions in relation to which stallion is most suitable to cover your mare.