The Irish Draught Horse (Allen breed series)

The Irish Draught horse was officially recognised as a breed in 1917 when the demands of war established the usefulness of this light farm orae to the cavalry. Its popularity waned after World War II, and only since the late 1960s has its use as producer of top-class hunters and jumpers become more widely recognised. This book records for the first time the full history of the breed. original research in Ireland has provided the author with fascinating material, including valuable pedigree information thought to have been lost. Interviews with men who have bred Draughts for decades record for posterity the essentials of the breed in the first days of formal registration and earlier. The information is analysed and presented here in charts and rare photographs, and the first formal attempt is made tomprovide a scientific explanation for the enormous impact of horses of Irish Draught parentage on the world of modern international competition.