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Launch of Connemara Performance Pony Association

April 30, 2007 - International show-jumper David Broome travelled to Oughterard on 30th April to launch the newly formed Connemara Performance Pony Association (CPPA). David is long associated with Irish bred competition horses and ponies and indeed his first pony was a Connemara pony called Coffee with whom he fondly remembers attending at his first show at a young age!

Pictured at the launch of the Connemara Performance Pony Association which took place in the Corrib Hotel Oughterard on Monday evening 30th April are the committee with special guest for the evening David Broom.

L-R: Frank Creaven, Treasurer, James Wray, Committee, Marina Wray, P.R.O., David Broome, Geraldine Gallagher, Secretary, Peter Fitzsimons, Vice Chairperson, Martin Sweeney, Committee, & Nicholas Byrne, Chairman

At the Launch David Broome had this to say: "Connemara Ponies have a well deserved reputation for their temperament and all round ability. My first pony was a dark bay Connemara mare called Coffee and although I fell off her at my first show, when I was aged 6 and Coffee the same, I remounted and finished the show-jumping course. She was the most honest pony and a wonderful stepping stone in my show-jumping career. I am delighted to have been invited to the launch of The Connemara Performance Pony Association and wish them every success for the future."

Connemara performance pony enthusiasts travelled from all over Ireland including the North and from England to participate in the launch of this new organization. The Association is the result of the coming together of like-minded people with the vision to promote the Connemara Pony under saddle and through a wide range of equine competitions and spheres. The Connemara pony in Ireland has competed successfully in Ridden Showing Classes, Working Hunter Classes, Show-jumping, Dressage, Eventing, and Long Distance Riding. The Association is of an international dimension and boasts involvement of people from England, Northern Ireland and the Republic all pooling together their knowledge and passion to promote the Connemara pony as a versatile and athletic native performance pony.

The Association will continue to build on the success of the original idea of those who instigated the Gowla Itsís Kool Championships which first ran in 2002 in Mountbellow and then moved to their current home in Oughterard in 2003. These championships developed into the International Connemara Performance Pony Championships in 2006 and are now in their 6th year and will be the main focus of the new Association during 2007. The championships include two Connemara working hunter finals, two ridden Connemara finals and two working hunter Derbys. Classes have traditionally been split between under 16 riders and riders over 16 years.

Nicholas Byrne, Chair of the Connemara Performance Pony Association speaking at the launch said that, "Our vision has been made possible through the great support received from Oughterard Show Society, the People of Oughterard and sponsors from day one Gowla Feeds, local sponsor Mike Power, and other individual sponsors from Oughterard and elsewhere‚ and on board for the first time this year we are pleased to announce the generous sponsorship from the Irish Horse Board. To these people we are deeply indebted."

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