This site is devoted to pure bred Irish Draught Horses, and whilst we acknowledge the very real contribution the Irish Draught has made to the breeding of Irish Draught Sporthorses, we wish to concentrate on the much ignored attributes of the pure bred Irish Draught as a good all round riding horse in it’s own right.

Many folk know that originally Irish Draught horses were produced by crossing TB’s with farm horses to produce a medium weight horse, strong enough to pull the plough on the farm all week, fast enough to go hunting on Saturday, and smart enough to pull the cart to take the family to church on Sunday = The Iriish Draught horse was born.

Nowadays though, very many horsey people are totally unaware of what a true Irish Draught horse is. Some even use the term Irish Draught to refer to their part bred sporthorses because that is the non TB part of the breeding! Some will call anything heavy with feathers of unknown breeding an Irish Draught, because that is what they think an Irish Draught is! Some will not consider an Irish Draught in their search for a riding horse because they believe them to be heavy, slow and cumbersome – something akin to a carthorse. All are wrong!

An Irish Draught is the perfect leisure horse. Of medium weight and build, an Irish Draught is a very handsome sort of horse – the sort one would admire out on the hunting field. The Irish Draught Horse will willingly turn his hoof to any discipline or sport, be it dressage, showjumping or cross country, and do it with a calm yet eager nature, ideal for all sorts and abilities of riders.

It’s possible to get an Irish Draught of just over 15hh (most top show cobs are Irish Draughts!) to over 17hh. They are easily “up to weight”, but unlike many breeds of horses, increased size does not equal increased fear in their rider, for the Irish Draught has the ideal temperament for the most nervous/novice rider, as they are kind, gentle and tolerant, and quite unflappable, never looking to take advantage, and rarely taking flight.

A pure bred Irish Draught is now the preferred choice for most of the Mounted Police Forces in the UK. And many former owners of Warmbloods have found that the difficulties in keeping them sound outweighs all the other advantages, and have returned to Irish Draughts, who although they may take a little more effort to get that extra “lift and sparkle” in their strides, are very rarely unsound, sick or sorry.

For many riders, the biggest problem they have is the sheer cost of keeping a horse. The move from a pony to a horse often brings with it an increase in bills disprioportionate to the increase in animal size. However, with an Irish Draught this need not be the case, for of all the “full sized” horses, the Irish Draught is the one who keeps condition on the least amount of hard feed, and who is the most able to tolerate a wintering out with just a good rug and maybe a field shelter. (We have 8 who have done just that, so we know!).

Of all the horses we have ever owned, our Irish Draughts are and have been the most trustworthy. Even the mares don’t get mareish, and if they do, it will only be slightly, and with each other, never us! We walk confidently around them in the field and stable, we can walk up behind them, because an Irish Draughts hind legs are for standing, moving and jumping – not kicking!

Some people will say that Irish Draughts are slow or stupid. Yes, it may take a little longer to teach them things, but once they have been taught it, they never forget it, and they certainly don’t try to find ways around it, as some of the so called more intelligent breeds might do. (We don’t call that intelligence, we call that attitude as in attitude problem!). But we do have Irish Draughts that are clever enough to take themselves in to their stables to bed at night unaccompanied! Irish Draughts who wait until the TB’s have tired themselves out running around in an attempt to play chase, and THEN playing that game to win it! In our experience, Irish Draughts are not slow or stupid, but careful and considered in all that they do. Never sharp, just well rounded!

At Regalia Irish Draughts, you will find some of the best Irish Draughts around. All our mares are graded and registered which means they have been inspected and passed by the Breed Society’s Inspectors (3 of them!) as of a high enough standard to breed from. (Important in a national herd that now numbers less than 500, and is on the official rare breeds list!). Our foundation mare is a Hornby Premium Mare, in effect the highest grading a mare can get.

As the Irish Draught is a rare breed, it is important to try and keep the gene pool as wide as possible, but to do so in such a way that the quality of the Irish Draught breed is not allowed to deteriorate. So we have acquired the frozen semen for 3 top class Irish Draught Stallions, every one of which is an exceptional example of his type, and is also a rare outcross bloodline.

All our Irish Draught colts are sold at weaning, or gelded and kept to be sold as newly backed horses. We don’t just turn our youngsters away – we continue to handle them, get them introduced and used to vets and farriers etc, so that by the time they go to their new homes, they are well mannered chaps already! We usually have a small selection of youngstock “boys” for sale, and our Irish Draughts would be of interest to both the Irish Draught enthusiast /breeder or Leisure Rider alike.

Buying a horse is a huge commitment, but if any horse makes that commitment less of a burden and worry, and more like the joy of having a companion and friend who will give as much love and service as he gets, then the Irish Draught is just such a horse – a horse in a lifetime.