The Irish Draught horse is the national horse breed of Ireland which developed primarily for farm use. Today, they are especially popular for crossing with Thoroughbreds and warmbloods, producing the popular Irish Sport Horses (also called Irish Draught Sport Horses) which excel at the highest levels of eventing and show jumping. History References to the Irish Draught date back as far as the 18th century. It is believed that the breed was developed when the then-common Irish Hobby was successively bred with 12th century Anglo-Norman war horses, Iberian breeds from the 16th century Spanish Armada shipwrecks, Clydesdale and Thoroughbred stallions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and local Connemara ponies. Crossbreeding with Clydesdales, which were used in some areas for heavier haulage, resulted in a taller animal, but at the cost of stamina and conformation; these qualities were negated by the introduction of Thoroughbred blood. The Irish Draught was bred to be an all-round working horse, suitable for draft work, under harness and under saddle. There was also a need for Irish Draughts to be economical to keep, and this was achieved by grazing throughout the summer and supplementing their feed with chopped foraged gorse, boiled turnip and leftover cattle feed. Irish Draught Horse pedigrees had been recorded since at least the start of the 20th century, when the government introduced registration for stallions and mares in 1907 and 1911 respectively, subject to inspections of the animals, and offering subsidies towards this. The stud book was opened by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1917, establishing a foundation stock of 375 mares and 44 stallions. The original stud book records, however, were lost in the fire of the Four Courts in 1922. Their use in the Great War in the allied military led to large losses, and the mechanization of the 20th century saw a decline in their traditional use as farm and carriage horses. Large numbers were sent to the slaughterhouse and abroad for use in breeding. Preservation In 1976, the Irish Draught Horse Society was founded to preserve the breed, with an external branch in Great Britain emerging in 1979. A horse board, Bord na gCapall, was also founded in 1976 (later resurrected as the Irish Horse Board in 1993), in order to promote the breeding and use of horses other than Thoroughbreds in the country. In 2008, control of the Irish Horse Register, which contains the