Early yesterday, the CPBS officially announced the following:
The Connemara Pony Society has finally got approval from the FEI. Now Connemara ponies jumping abroad will have their breeding recorded. Will anyone who has, or is planning to jump their pony abroad please send their passport to the Society Office to have it modified? It will then be sent to HSI for a Recognition card and posted back to the owner.
So what did this mean exactly? How would it affect breeders?
What exactly got approved – the CPBS or the CPBS passports?
The CPBS Passports are what were approved by the FEI. All approved FEI passports need to be uniform, and the CPBS model did not have enough sections for medications or gradings and winnings, travel etc.
Why is approval only coming now? Was approval not sought before, and if so, why was it not given?
Any approval at all has a great deal to do with the hard work of Ann Reade. The first instance that came to light of a CPBS passport not being sufficient for the FEI was in January of 2009. The owner of a pony who was hoping to travel abroad discovered that, when they went for their FEI measurement, they were given a separate book where the breeding was not recorded. The intervening period was really just a case of Ann trying to get the issue ironed out, albeit with some difficulty. In getting approved the CPBS also had to send a letter to the FEI stating that it ran its own studbook.
The CPBS wants owners to send in their passports if they believe their pony will be performing abroad, so that they might modify them. In what way will they be modified?
It is really only adding the (already given) details of the pony, breeder, owner, etc. to pages with the number of sections requested by the FEI.
What’s a Recognition Card, and why are they necessary?
The recognition card is literally that: a card put into the passport stating that the passport is recognised by the FEI.
How long will the process take between sending in a passport and getting it back from HSI?
This is a tricky one, as it can only be answered by the experience of actually carrying out the task. You are talking about three postings (you – CPBS, CPBS – HSI, HSI – you), and the practicalities of office work, so one might look at a time period of around ten days(?). We can only wait and see.
What does this mean for the Connemara Pony on the world stage in terms of PR?
This is fantastic news. Although it only applies to that small percentage of the herd that is performing abroad, we have all seen ponies from the Europeans and other Championships that look like Connemaras but have no breeding recorded. Now that the CPBS passport has been accepted, the pony’s Connemara breeding is there for everyone to see. This can only be a good thing for the future of the breed and the brand on the world market.
Heading into the weekend, I was too late to find out from the CPBS office if they intend to levy a fee for modifying the existing passports. As soon as we know, I’ll post it up here.
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I would like to congratulate Ann Reade on the long and arduous task in achieving FEI status for the Connemara pony. Ann has been one of the most dedicated entusiasts of the performance Connemara Pony who sits on the CPBS council. Her hard work in this respect should be applauded by all.
Well done Ann. This is fantastic news for everyone with Connemara ponies. Hopefully we will not lose great examples of the breed by those who dont get the passport modified.
Will future passports contain the new paperwork?