The Original Traditional Cob Breeders

The Irish Cob was developed in Ireland by Irish Travellers as their perfect caravan/wagon horse and the Gypsy Cob was developed in England (the UK) by Romani people (Romany Gypsies) who used the Irish Cob as the foundation breed to develop the Gypsy Cob as their perfect caravan/wagon horse. Although it is true that the Traditional Cob (Irish Cob and Gypsy Cob) was originally bred by Irish Travellers and Romai people in the Ireland and Britain (the UK), the narrative established in England that the ‘Traditional Cob’ or ‘Gypsy Cob’ was originally bred by Irish Travellers and Romai people in the Ireland and Britain (the UK) is not acurate and caused confusion and dispute over what an Irish Cob is. The narrative needs to be corrected to recognise Irish Travellers in Ireland for developing the unique Traditional Cob of Ireland (Irish Cob) and to recognise the unique Traditional Cob of the UK (Gypsy Cob) developed in England by Romani people.

Many Traditional Cob owners in the UK know that the foundation breed for the Gypsy Cob is the Irish Cob. However, because of strong marketing in the UK of the name Gypsy Cob for all Traditional Cobs, most owners in the UK understandably want to continue to use the name Gypsy Cob as the trading name for Irish Cobs as well as for Gypsy Cobs. However, although using the name Gypsy Cob as the trading name for Irish Cobs as well as for Gypsy Cobs may be good in the UK it is not right, not only because it fails to recognise Irish Travellers as the original breeders of the Irish Cob (the original Traditional Cob) and gives all credit to Romai people for being the original breeders of all Traditional Cobs (Irish Cobs and Gypsy Cobs), but also because it fails to recognise Ireland and the country of origin of the breed (of the original Traditional Cob/Irish Cob).

It should also be pointed out that in the 1990s, there was a rush by countries outside Ireland and the UK (including the USA and the Netherlands) to open registries for a breed they believed to have been an unrecognised breed. The narrative that the Traditional Cob was originally developed by Gypsies in Britain (the UK) was created in September 1996 by the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society in the USA. In 1999, a Tinker studbook was officially founded in the Netherlands because the breed society in the Netherlands believed they were the first to name the breed developed in Ireland by Irish Travellers (Tinker is a historical name for Irish Travellers). However, the Irish Cob Studbook was officially recognised in Ireland in June 1996.

TCR is making the following statement:

“Because the Irish Cob and Gypsy Cob are the same breed (Traditional Cob), TCR could not accuse any registry of being wrong for registering Irish Cobs and Gypsy Cobs as the same breed. It was not until the last 10 years or so that the Gypsy Cob has been strongly promoted by the Romani people in England as their own unique Traditional Cob breed type, so it is only since then that it has become necessary to have a registry that can register Irish Cobs and Gypsy Cobs as two different Traditional Cob breed types."

IRISH TRAVELLERS

Although Irish Travellers are sometimes referred to as Gypsies, Irish Travellers are not related to Romani people (Romany Gypsies). So, although the Irish Cob and Gypsy Cob are both referred to as the Gypsy Cob in the UK, the Irish Cob was developed by Irish Travellers in Ireland and the Gypsy Cob was developed by Romani people (Romany Gypsies) in England (the UK). It is therefore important for Irish Travellers and Romani people (Romani Gypsies) that they are individually recognised and given credit for having developed the Irish Cob and Gypsy Cob as two distinctive and unique Traditional Cob breed types.