Traditionally, a horse or pony evolves over time, eventually becoming a type, governed by its suitability for use for a specific task and influenced by its environs and its geographical limitations.
Early History of the Breed
Iron Age Ireland was dominated by the spread of the Celts from about 750B.C. to 50B.C. The culture was one of many individual groups or communities with constant raiding and battles being fought. There are descriptions of warriors driving into battle in chariots…
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Breed Evolution
During the 17th and 18th centuries, ownership of land in Kerry changed hands as the power struggles between English settlers and the Irish fluctuated back and forth. Much of the population became tenants on smallholdings, which ranged in size from 1 acre up to 30 acres. Often the larger holdings were on marginal land. Only the wealthier…
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Present Breed History
Up to the 1960s Kerry Bog Ponies had been used for taking milk to the creameries, bringing turf in from the bog and harvesting seaweed. Increased mechanisation and changes in farming practice meant that the ponies were no longer needed in their traditional role. In the 1990s John Mulvihill from Glenbeigh, Co Kerry became aware that these ponies…
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