Connemara Pony Show at 100: ‘This is like the Olympics of the Connemaras’

The centenary celebration of the Connemara Pony Show was a cosmopolitan affair, with thousands of people speaking an array of different languages descending on its grounds in Clifden by midday on Wednesday.

“There is a fierce amount of French visiting today, as well as other internationals,” said Michael Kinneavy, from Cornamona, who was welcoming guests at the entrance gate.

The breed itself has international roots, allegedly. A popular legend suggests that the Connemara pony’s ancestors swam ashore from one of the wrecked Spanish Armada ships in 1588 and then bred with the local ponies.

Ann Marie Conroy, vice-president of the Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society, said local breeder Patrick Devane had on Tuesday been showcasing some of this year’s ponies to international visitors on Trá Chaladh Fínis in Carna, a short distance from where one of the armada ships was destroyed.

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Crowds flock to Clifden for Connemara Pony Show

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“Each year we bring out international visitors out to see the ponies in their natural environment,” said Ms Conroy, who explained that the show “is the biggest festival celebrating the Connemara pony in the world”.

The Connemara-based society, she went on, is a “mother society” that now has “17 daughter societies”, with the latest addition in the Czech Republic. As the “mother society”, it sets the standards and guidelines for the Irish studbook and the “daughter societies” follow those protocols.

“The Connemara pony is very versatile because of the habitat it was born into and over the generations has adapted to the rugged environment with strong bones and hooves,” Ms Conroy said. “It is very sure-footed, agile and very popular for all the disciplines in the equine world from being used for leisure or athletic pursuits.”

There was a busy schedule of in-hand events on Wednesday. This is when the horses are assessed without their saddles, allowing for some spirited displays in the sun-soaked arena.

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Each of the four days of the festival are busy ones for Áine Geoghegan of Avonbrae Connemara Ponies & Horses in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow.

“This is like the Olympics of the Connemaras,” she said. “I’ve been coming here since I was 10 years old and now my son, Fionn Redmond, who is eight, is competing here this year in the lead rein class on Thursday.”

Ten members of Ms Geoghegan’s family arrived in Clifden on Sunday last, with their participating ponies stabling with friends out the road.

“We have stallions and mares and we produce everything for under saddle such as flat-ridden as well as working hunter classes,” she said. “Our five-year-old stallion, Glencarrig Bracken, is competing in the ladies’ side-saddle and being ridden by Jessica Murphy on Thursday. He has also qualified for the high performance final on Friday so we are in a very upbeat mood.”

The show is not just about horses. There is a bazaar of stalls creating a gallery along the edge of the grounds, with the local Irish Countrywomen’s Association busy with their own competitions. Judges were assessing eggs, jams, cakes and arts and crafts.

The showgrounds are centrally located, meaning the celebration of the much-missed summery weather spilt out into the town.

For Clifden native Eily Vaughan, memories of making up to 300 plates of chicken and ham salads at her family’s restaurant in the 1970s and ‘80s come alive again as she walks past the stalls on Market Street.

“Of course, the food fare is a lot more exotic these days. It’s so great to enjoy the buzz of a festival that has such deep roots in our town and in Connemara,” she said.

The celebrations run until Friday, when the Connemara Pony Sales take place at the local mart – and online.