Connemara pony registrations drop by half

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The number of foals born to Connemara ponies has dropped as much as 50 per cent in recent years.
However, the drop is seen as benefitting the Connemara pony business which has been hit by falling prices since the economy went into decline.
Connemara pony week is underway in Clifden with the best of the breed on display over the next three days.
500 ponies have been booked in for the sales on Saturday and Sunday – with buyers expected from Holland, Sweden, France, Britain and Ireland.
It is highly unlikely that the prices will reach anything like they were ten and twelve years ago – except for the very best animals.
The Connemara pony became something of a status symbol when the Tiger economy was booming – prices rocketed and the number of ponies shot up.
Failing economy’s and a glut of ponies meant that prices slumped in later year, with no sale for some ponies.
Only thirteen hundred Connemara breed foals were blood typed this year – that’s in comparison to 2,800 a decade ago.