Kerry Bog Pony - Characteristics

Characteristics

Kerry Bog Ponies generally stand 10 to 12 hands (40 to 48 inches, 102 to 122 cm) high. The Irish breed standard calls for mares to stand 10–11 hands and stallions and geldings to stand 11–12 hands. Their low weight-to-height ratio enables them to walk on wet ground. Their hind feet tend to track outside their front feet, allowing better progress on soft ground. They exhibit a relatively upright pastern and steep hoof angle compared to other breeds, possibly another characteristic that aids their movement in peat bogs. Kerry Bog Ponies are easy keepers, and when feral they lived on low-nutrient heather, sphagnum moss and possibly kelp from the shoreline. Overall, they are muscular and strong and their heads have concave profiles, small ears and large eyes. Their winter coat is long and dense, serving as protection from harsh weather. All solid coat colors are found, including dilute colors such as palomino, and white markings are common. Pinto-colored animals are not accepted by the Irish registry. The breed is known by enthusiasts for strength, intelligence and athleticism, and generally used for driving, as companion animals and for therapeutic riding programs.

Kerry Bog Ponies are known in Ireland as "hobbies", possibly derived from the Gaelic practice of obaireacht, or the calling out of "Hup, Hup" to attract a pony back to the farmyard. It is considered one of the mountain and moorland pony breeds from the British Isles. A 2006 study using mitochondrial DNA found that the Kerry Bog Pony is not closely related to the other two native Irish breeds, the Irish Draught and the Connemara pony. It has a rare haplogroup more closely related to other small horse breeds found in western Europe, including the Shetland pony and Icelandic horse. A 2012 study found relationships between the Kerry Bog Pony and the Dartmoor Pony and Exmoor Pony breeds, and a lack of common ancestry with the Welsh Pony, as well as reinforcing the lack of relationship to the Connemara. The study also suggested that the Kerry Bog Pony population had some amount of crossbreeding with other mountain and moorland breeds as part of the initial attempts to increase the population in the 1990s. The Kerry Bog Pony may have been one of several breeds that contributed to the development of the Gypsy Vanner horse (also known as the Irish Cob).