Connemara ponies are set to break new ground internationally and leave their footprint on the fields of South Korea.
Nineteen ponies left Clifden on Wednesday morning on the first leg of their long journey to the Far East in an initiative pioneered by the Connemara Pony Sales company based in Clifden.
The nineteen ponies that left Clifden – ten of them bought in Connemara – are part of a 30 strong contingent of the breed that will lay the foundations for the fostering of the Connemara breed in South Korea. The remaining eleven ponies were collected from Mullingar.
Five representatives from a company involved in the equine industry in South Korea came to Ireland in recent weeks and viewed upwards of sixty mares in the five to eight year old category.
Pádraig Heanue, manager of the Clifden Mart and Connemara Pony Sales, says it was a highly focused initiative.
“Our contacts with the South Korean group have been ongoing since last November and there were a wide range of issues that had to be dealt with before the trucks finally rolled out of Clifden with the ponies on board,” he said.
The Korean group wanted all mares to be in-foal, and blood testing regimes, scanning and a battery of examinations had to be carried out at the Equine Centre.
The Korean group had two vets with them and the thirty ponies from the native Connemara breed were carefully selected.
Pádraig Heanue explains that the first objective of the Korean group will be to begin the breeding programme.
“They are set to immediately double their numbers when the 29 mares foal this year. From there on the stallion that has gone out will be used in the breeding programme,” he said.
Mr Heanue says that the Korean sales could not come at a better time.
“It was more difficult to get sale for mares as there is a new emphasis on trained and broken-in ponies. So this initiative opened up a new avenue for us”.
The South Korean company focused on the Connemara pony because of its temperament. While their project is in the early stages, they see many possibilities in the Connemara pony for breeding and showing purposes – and for eventing and competitions.
While details of prices paid are not being disclosed it is understood that the Connemara pony initiative has cost the Korean group substantial money.
Even the logistics of getting the ponies transported halfway across the world are highly challenging.
They will travel by road and by sea ferry to Germany and from there a special plane has been chartered to transport all 30 ponies to South Korea.
After their long journey they will be put out on farmland. And in the Far East they will begin their mission of establishing a permanent foothold for the native breed from the mountains of Connemara on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean.
The post Connemara ponies head off to South Korea appeared first on Connacht Tribune - Galway City Tribune.