Connemara ponies are native to the West Coast of Ireland, where they have roamed the rocky hills for centuries. Because they worked the farms and were often the only means of travel, they had to be hardy and strong as well as gentle and manageable. The Connemara Pony Breeders Society was founded in Ireland in 1923. The first ponies were inspected and entered in Volume 1 of the Stud Book, published in 1926. From Ireland, the ponies spread to England and Europe and were imported to North America in the 1950s. There are now societies in seventeen countries world-wide, which, along with the CPBS, form the International Committee of Connemara Pony Societies. The ICCPS governs such things as registration rules, stud books, and breeding regulations.
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