What is an Irish Cob?

The Irish Cob comes to us from Ireland, and the Gypsy Cob from England, but they are one and the same breed, with two countries of origin.

The French Irish Cob Association describes this wonderful horse as follows:

"The Irish Cob is appreciated for its great versatility, its excellent hardiness and its immense serenity. Attractive, intelligent, easy and quite atypical in its “look”, it is the family horse par excellence. It also enjoys great success with professionals teaching equestrian disciplines.

Its intermediate size (from 1.30m to 1.60m) makes it a very good mount for children, adolescents and adults. Its good will and physical strength allow us to use it in shows, harnessing, vaulting, TREC, teaching and hiking.

GENERAL APPEARANCE – The Irish Cob is compact and powerful , with ample muscle and bone development, but with the ability to carry himself as a good all-round animal. Some Irish Cobs are stockier than others. The Irish Cob is well balanced and proportioned, standing upright and imposing in appearance.

In fact, at the time, any horse that was a little strong (very Draft) and two-tone was not at all appreciated by landowners.
Only plain dresses were fashionable at this time among wealthy people.
Also, it is with this base of very colorful and somewhat stocky horses that the Irish Cob has been formed over the decades."

The origins of the Irish Cob breed, again according to the FIC Association:

"The IRISH COB breed comes from Irish strains (Irish Draft, Irish Hunter, Connemara, Kerry Bog Pony and Show Cob).
These crosses were made by the IRISH TRAVELERS. The Travelers were the Irish peasants expelled from the farms during the Great Famine in 1847 who, in order to survive, recovered the horses discarded from the farms.

The Irish Cob was therefore selected by Irish travelers to pull caravans and to be a family horse living on the roads in a nomadic manner. Its character therefore lends itself perfectly to these situations, it is calm, serene, docile and willing.

It is also called the Horse-Dog because it is so close to man!

As someone who loves draft horses, colored horses, traveling and caravans, I couldn't help but fall completely in love with these unusual and extraordinary horses !

To better understand who these wonderful horses are and where they come from, I invite you to watch this report: Click here