The Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society has insisted that the annual show will not be lost to Clifden — and has hit back at claims that it could lose control of managing all matters relating to the breed.

It has also claimed that some of its directors have been targeted in “a continuous campaign of misinformation”.

Concern had been expressed by some breeders, at meetings in Clifden and Claregalway recently, that a new appraisal system for determining if a pony is of the requisite size to be registered as a Connemara Pony might be taken out of the hands of the Society.

Speakers said that the new system would be monitored by Horse Sports Ireland and they feared this could result in the Connemara Pony Breeders Society (CPBS), established in 1923, losing its autonomy in relation to management of the breed.

At the meeting in Clifden, more than 100 people signed a petition calling for an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) of the Society to be called. The meeting heard that a move would be made to remove senior officers from their positions.

However, the CPBS has strongly rejected what it described as “inaccurate manufactured misleading information” arising from the breeders’ meetings as reported in The Connacht Tribune last week.

In a statement, the Society said that these ‘inaccuracies’ had caused significant distress to staff employed in its Clifden office, as well as to its members, trustees and directors on the CPBS council — and had undermined confidence in the organisation

It insisted that the CPBS was not selling its headquarters in Clifden and was committed to the premises.

Meanwhile, the stud book — the record of all Connemara registered ponies, with their background and breeding — was “remaining firmly within the control of the CPBS as licensed by DAFM [Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine]”.

“The Society is also committed to the continuation of the Pony Show, hence the agreement with the new show committee who have the full backing of the CPBS as agreed by the membership at the AGM in January.”

Pony inspections were being run by the CPBS, with the first round of inspections taking place on April 8 and 9 in Ballinasloe.

The statement, signed by the Society’s President, Daragh Ó Tuarisg, added that the CPBS was an affiliate member of Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) and would remain so — “HSI is not taking over the inspections or the CPBS”, he insisted.

Mr Ó Tuarisg said that HSI was conducting an independent survey, carried out by IFAC [an Irish farm management and advisory firm] on all studbook inspections for different horse breeds, along with the Connemara ponies

“The Council is committed to good governance of the Society and to that end is setting up an Audit, Risk and Finance committee. The CPBS will soon be canvassing the membership for suitably qualified people to volunteer to join the committee.

“It is hoped that a full internal review will take place into the finances of the Society and to ensure best practices going forward

“All members of the Council of the CPBS are volunteers who work very hard to ensure the good governance and longevity of the Society, some individual Directors have been targeted by a continuous campaign of misinformation,” added Mr Ó Tuarisg.

Pictured: The Connemara Pony Show in Clifden has long been a huge attraction. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.