History of the Irish Drum Horse

History of the Irish Drum Horse

The Drum Horses used by Queen Elizabeth II during the 1980s and 1990s as her Ceremonial Drum Horses (that were not purebred Shire Horses from England or purebred Clydesdale Horses from Scotland) were either purebred Irish Cobs from Ireland or Irish Cob Part Breds (Irish Cob x Irish Irish Draught Horse) from Ireland.

It is Queen Elizabeth II's unique, coloured (piebald or skewbald) and feathered Irish Drum Horse that the world fell in love with in the 1990s.

Recognising the Irish Drum Horse

The Irish Cob

Because Queen Elizabeth II's unique, coloured (piebald or skewbald) and feathered Irish Drum Horse was in England, and because it was not known during the 1990s that there was already a breed standard written in Ireland (in the country of origin of the breed) for the breed (the Irish Cob Breed Standard), many registries were established worldwide from 1990s seeking to rewrite the Irish Cob Breed Standard as a Drum Horse Breed Standard. However, this has caused confusion and division in the Drum Horse world.

Irish Cob (Large)
Classic Irish Drum Horse

The image above shows a purebred 16.3hh or over Irish Cob (Large) during the 1980s or early 1990s working in London, England, as one of Queen Elizabeth II's Classic (Large) Ceremonial Drum Horses.

Irish Cob (Large)
Irish Workhorse

The image above shows a purebred 16.3hh or over Irish Cob (Large) during the 1980s working in Dublin, Ireland as an Irish Workhorse.

Irish Cob Part Bred

Although one of Queen Elizabeth II's unique, coloured (piebald or skewbald) and feathered Classic Irish Drum Horse was the Irish Cob, the other was an Irish Cob Part Bred—Irish Cob x Irish Draught Horse (a sublime combination of two purebred breeds from Ireland).

Irish Cob Part Bred (Large)
Classic Irish Drum Horse

The image above shows an Irish Cob Part Bred (Irish Cob x Irish Draught Horse) during the 1980s or early 1990s working in London, England, as one of Queen Elizabeth II's Classic (Large) Drum Horses (Ceremonial). Although the Irish Cob and Irish Draught Horse are the two purebred Irish breeds that can be seen in this Classic Irish Drum Horse, another leggy breed or type may be in its pedigree.

A Gypsy Cob is not a Drum Horse

Although the Irish Cob (the original Traditional Cob from Ireland), which was created in Ireland by Irish Travellers (historically referred to as Tinkers), has also been called the Gypsy Cob in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) since the 1990s, the true Gypsy Cob was developed in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) by Romani people (historically referred to as Gypsies).

It is because Irish Cobs from Ireland, which were imported into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, were sold with the name Gypsy Cobs to countries outside Ireland and Great Britain during the 1990s, that the Irish Cob is not shown on Drum Horse pedigrees issued by any of the world's Drum Horse registries. However, whereas the true Gypsy Cob from Great Britain is too small, heavily feathered and stocky to be a Drum Horse (and can therefore only be shown as a percentage on a Drum Horse pedigree), the Irish Cob from Ireland is the original 1990s Queen Elizabeth II's Ceremonial Drum Horse, as well as the Irish Cob Part Bred (Irish Cob x Irish Draught Horse).