Main Studbook

1. All horses, both male and female, of documented Irish Draught parentage are eligible to be classified in the Irish Draught Horse Studbook Main Section.
2. All horses entered in the Studbook are called Irish Draught (ID) and are issued with an Irish Draught Horse Green Passport as a lifetime document of identification. The Society logo is printed on the front cover of each Passport.
3. The Studbook recognises all horses in the existing Irish Draught Horse Studbook. All horses that are currently classified as RID enter into Class One. All other horses in the existing Irish Draught Horse Studbook enter into the Class whose criteria they meet.
4. All Irish Draught horses from international Studbooks enter this Studbook in the Class whose criteria they meet.
5. All stallions with full Irish Draught pedigree that were classified as Approved in the Sport Horse Register prior to 1996 enter into Class Two.
6. All stallions with full Irish Draught pedigree that are classified as S1 enter into Class Two.
7. All stallions with full Irish Draught pedigree that are classified as S2 enter into Class Four.
8. All horses will have their individual merits taken into account at Inspection.
9. All horses entered in the Studbook are permitted to breed.
10.   All horses are eligible to be represented for Inspection.
11.   All horses must be DNA parentage tested and microchipped prior to the issue of a Passport.

Irish Draught Horse Studbook Classification

Only the matings of Class One and Class Two horses are eligible to be classified as Class One or Class Two in the Studbook.

The Studbook will be divided into Four Classes, as follows:

Class One
Females must be a minimum of two years old and males must be a minimum of three years old. Both must meet all of the following criteria.

• Both parents must be in either Class One or Class Two of the Studbook.
• They must pass a Visual Inspection.
• They must pass a Veterinary Inspection.

Class Two
Females must be a minimum of two years old and males must be a minimum of three years old. Both must meet all of the following criteria.

• Both parents must have been presented for Inspection.
• Both parents must have passed a Veterinary Inspection.
• They must pass a Veterinary Inspection.

Class Three
All foals, when parentage tested and microchipped, are entered into this Class, except the progeny of Class Four. They stay in this Class until they are presented for Inspection, females at a minimum of two years and males at a minimum of three years, subject to the following criteria.

• Both parents have been presented for Visual Inspection.
• Both parents have passed a Veterinary Inspection.

Class Four
The following horses are in this Class.

1. Horses that have been presented for Visual Inspection and Veterinary Inspection and have not passed the veterinary. The progeny of these horses remain in this Class.
2. Horses that are the progeny of a parent in Class Three that has never been presented for classification. These horses may be presented for classification following the entry of both parents from Class Three into Class One or Class Two.

Supplementary Section

Appendix to the Studbook
The role and objective of the Appendix to the Studbook is to allow horses that meet the Irish Draught Horse Breed Standard, but lack documented pedigree, to enter into the Irish Draught Horse Studbook in a controlled manner.

Any documented pedigree other than Thoroughbred and Connemara is ineligible to enter the Supplementary Section.

Mares with a Sport Horse Passport that are deemed to be of Irish Draught type are eligible to be presented for Visual Inspection. On Inspection, females that are deemed to adhere to traditional phenotypes associated with the Irish Draught breed will be eligible to enter as Foundation Mares. Prior to entry as a Foundation Mare, all eligible mares will be required to undergo DNA testing to verify breed association and gene frequency. Weatherbys laboratory can screen for the presence of undesirable genes such as the Cremello. 

On entry as Foundation Mares, they will retain their Sport Horse Registration and their UELN will be entered on a Register of Foundation Mares.

When a Foundation Mare is bred to a stallion entered in Class One or Class Two of the Irish Draught Horse Studbook Main Section, the female progeny will be eligible for Inspection to enter into the Irish Draught Horse Studbook Supplementary Section as a Supplementary Mare.

When a Supplementary Mare is bred to a stallion entered into Class One or Class Two of the Irish Draught Horse Studbook Main Section, the progeny are eligible to be classified in the Irish Draught Horse Studbook in the Class whose criteria they meet.