And at the end of the rainbow there were… 🌈

Irish Draughts! 🐎 

We love a good theme, and what better breed to celebrate March than Ireland’s very own national horse!

The Irish Draught (pronounced “draft”) is the national horse breed of Ireland and was originally bred primarily for farm use. Today, the breed is known for its athleticism and fortitude and is often crossed with Thoroughbreds and warmbloods to produce the Irish Sport Horse, also known as the Irish Draught Sport Horse, which excels in activities like eventing, dressage, showjumping, fox hunting, and leisure riding.

Other notable traits of the Irish Draught include a profound strength (a lingering offshoot of their farm days, no doubt), as well as sound temperament and gentle nature that suggests that, for all of their size and strength, these horses are really just big softies at heart.

Source: Irish Draught Horse: Breed Profile

Official Crosses Live In Game

Irish Draughts offer ways to get into other current breeds and ongoing campaigns - highlighting those efforts here! 

Irish Sport Horses are a cross between Irish Draughts and Thoroughbreds. Currently, they are the only “official’ cross approved in game. Irish Sport Horses are a cross between the Irish Draught and Thoroughbred. Combined, these breeds create a horse that excels in many disciplines. Irish Sport horses are sought after due to their temperaments and performance abilities.

ISH pictured inspired by **Diamond Sparkle, a 17 year old Irish Sport Horse Mare owned by Tella.

Campaigns

Ashgabat Warmblood: 100% Completed | Awaiting First Sketches**

The Ashgabat Warmblood is a breed produced by crossing the Akhal-Teke and Irish Draught. It was brought to life upon wanting to create a sturdy, yet agile, mount that would excel especially in three-day eventing. The Ashgabat has an incredible structure to it, boasting a medium to large boned build along with decent height (averaging roughly 16 hands.) This breed has the hind power to overcome obstacles with ease, as well as the endurance and speed in their blood to take long distances. They are incredibly intelligent, easy to work with, and a fairly easy keeper. They are truly an all-rounder for whatever your barn preferences are and would be a fantastic addition to your stables!

Emerald Draughts: 5% Completed | Generation 1 in progress | 90/100 coins needed

The Emerald Draft - 12.5% Percheron, Irish Draught, Andalusian, Mustang and 50% Friesian. The Emerald Draft is characterized by a roman nose, sweet and gentle face / head, sturdier yet agile body, heavier boned legs, and a thick mane and tail with feathering on the legs. These horses are MOST often between 15-16 hands (152.5-162.5 cm). They are a breed made for true companionship, a modern day warhorse, ready to face anything with the right person. They are brave, smart, and eager, strong, agile, and steady footed. Often dependable and gentle. From appearance to personality they are quite regal. While they can do just about anything they often excel in things like pole bending, eventing, vaulting, dressage, pulling, and trail.

Celtic Painted Draft Association: 0.5% | Generation 1 in progress | 99/100 coins needed

The Celtic Painted Draft is a cross of the Clydesdale, Appaloosa, and Irish Draught. Horses are 50% Irish Draught, 25% Clydesdale, and 25% Appaloosa.

P.S. Have an active campaign using the Irish Draught? DM me and I will highlight it here!

• You may only use foundation horses.
• The horses must be bought between the 1st and the 3rd of March.
• You may have up to 1 mare and 1 stallion entered.
• The horses must be registered via the linked Google form.
• All horses must be registered in the Irish Draught Club AND the players will be prompted to provide breed value stats in the Google form.
• UPDATE: You may start showing your horses once purchased (IE on March 1st, 2nd, 3rd) for the month. Please make sure they are registered via the form by March 3rd!
• Horses will be judged by staff for the best dressed. Judging includes tack and companion coordination and creativity.
• Competition ends March 30th with totals calculated and winners announced on the 31st!

• Tip: it’s recommended to freeze your horses after the 30th, as horses with shows or careers after the 30th will be disqualified from the Highest Level, Highest PS, and Discipline categories.

   

Please Register Your Irish Draughts HERE.

💞 Prizes For Both Mare & Stallion Categories 💞

• All prizes also come with a complimentary trophy that you can add to your page for fun and to show off your accomplishments!

Highest PS

1st: Lucky Green Harness OR 2 Festive Green and Festive Orange Saddle Pads (Discipline of your choice) & choice of 25,000 bits or trio of tonics (Spicy Green, Spicy Orange, or Spicy White Tonics)

2nd: Magnifying Glass and 15,000 bits

3rd: Groundhog Companion and 7,500 bits

Highest Level

1st: Lucky Green Harness OR 2 Festive Green and Festive Orange Saddle Pads (Discipline of your choice) & choice of 25,000 bits or trio of tonics (Spicy Green, Spicy Orange, or Spicy White Tonics)

2nd: Magnifying Glass and 15,000 bits

3rd: Groundhog Companion and 7,500 bits

Lowest BV

1st: 50,000 bits

2nd: 15,000 bits

3rd: 7,500 bits

Highest BV (NEW! )

1st: 50,000 bits

2nd: 15,000 bits

3rd: 7,500 bits

Best Dressed

1st: German Harness

2nd: Choice of spicy tonic (green, orange, or white)

3rd: Cloudy fog overlay or 7,500 bits

Discipline - NEW

Show your Irish Draught’s in either DRIVING or WESTERN PLEASURE shows ONLY. No halter shows, no careers. Anything other than discipline shows will be marked as disqualified.

Winners will be determined by points amount - so if two horses are leveled at 50, then the amount of points will be the tie breaker.

The horse CAN qualify for highest leveled category, however again, if there are any shows outside of disciplines, the horse will be disqualified for this category.

Unsure how to assess which path your horse would perform best in? Check out our wiki page here! You can also comment on this post and fellow players can help out!

1st: Lucky Green Harness OR 2 Festive Green and Festive Orange Saddle Pads (Discipline of your choice) & 25,000 bits

2nd: Magnifying Glass and 15,000 bits

3rd: Groundhog Companion and 7,500 bits

Featuring Stove Top Cooking, owned by forgottenland

On the left, Mars owned by sepulchral, a graded Irish Draught. On the right, Fragrant Herb, owned by forgottenland

Featuring Thistle Texture, a graded Irish Draught owned by sepulchral.

🍀 Contest Ideas 🍀

Thank you everyone for submitting contest ideas! I have them written down in an ongoing document and will see what we can do to start implementing some of these over the next few months. For now, enjoy the NEW categories of highest breed value and discipline showing!

🪙 Unable to afford foundation horses for BOTM? 🪙

We know that it can be hard when you are first starting out on HoFa to get a steady stream of income, and foundation horses can be expensive! If you are a new player (<6 months) and have not participated in a BOTM event before but would like to, please send me a DM and I will send a pair of foundation Irish Draughts for you.

🐎 Current ID Breeders 🐎

Do you breed Irish Draughts, or did I miss an active campaign using Irish Draughts? DM me and we can spotlight you and/or that campaign in this post!

February Breed of the Month Winners are posted  here.

Questions? Drop them below! You can also DM me directly OR reach out via Discord (Cali).