SOCIETIES

The Gypsy Vanner and Cob Society was incorporated with the objects of the Society being to establish and promote the breed of Gypsy Vanner Horses in Australia and to create a breed standard within Australia. The principal activities of the society are to collect DNA, verify, preserve and publish the pedigrees of these horses in a Stud Book.

The Society’s Breed Standards and Registry Guidelines can be read in PDF format above (under the Society Logo) copies of such are also available from the Society Secretary. For entry into the Stud Book proper, please contact the Society Secretary for an Application Form.

The Society registers Gypsy Vanners Ponies, Gypsy Vanners and British Drum Horses. Registered horses are DNA typed and issued with an identity passport. The Society also has a registry for Non-Breeding Animals who are issued with "Non-breeding" papers. The Non-Breeding Animal Register is for animals that are not to be used for breeding, such animal must be by either a registered Gypsy Vanner/British Drum Sire or a registered dam to be eligible for registration.

The Gypsy Vanner is a new breed evolved from the selective breeding of a variety of cold blooded horses. At present there are very few UK imported horses with parentage that is Society Stud Book DNA recorded/verified. There are a minority who refer to these UK imported horses as "purebred" which creates public confusion as these horses can only be acknowledged as pure when recorded/published in a breed specific Stud Book. One cannot import a horse and then claim it to be "pure" due to importation alone – where is the Stud Book documented pedigree going back several generations, there is none. The Gypsy Vanner & Cob Society allows breeding up to create a full registered horse as is the practice of other Society’s Stud Books, registering rare breeds. We feel the low numbers of Gypsy Vanner horses in Australia at present warrants a breeding up program. Whether this practice will be necessary in future years will be addressed as the numbers & gene pool here become more substantial.

A purist may find "breeding up" difficult to understand but history has shown that such Society regulated programs are successful for a breed, especially where the genetic gene pool is not huge. To explain more fully, an example of such program can be seen when looking at the Shire Horse breed, where in the late 1970's the numbers were very low & even today the gene pool is not huge: history has shown that a Champion Shire Horse whether it be at the Peterborough Show or at the Sydney Royal has evolved from the breeding up from a quality Shire stallion to a quality Clydesdale mare - B Grade registered mares have in previous years won Champion exhibit at Peterborough and at Sydney Royal among other Shows, over Shire Horses with Full Registration. These show winners are registered Shires Horses - there is a Grade A Register & the Grade B Register, they are judged in the same Class as the “purebreds” as they fully meet the criteria of the Breed Standards. Cotebrook Loch Maree won Champion at Peterborough in England, she is from a Shire stallion out of a Clydesdale mare, her win recognizing her as the best Shire mare in England – a magnificent horse, the breed needs such quality genetics. The Grading Register horses are not referred to as "partbred" by the Society as at the end of the day they are registered Shires. Hence outlining that horses as part of a Society controlled breeding up program can & do successfully fulfil the criteria to be considered the 'best of the best'.

With breeding to particular quality mares the direction of the Gypsy Vanner and the larger British Drum horse, is in the right direction. The Gypsy Vanner & Cob Society horses gaining full registration are referred to as "Fully Registered" and the Grade A Register & Grade B Register mares are shown here in the same led Classes as the Full Registered Horses and rightly so, as they are registered Gypsy Vanners or British Drum horses, as is the norm with other noted Society Stud Books. Please contact the Society if you have any queries - the Secretary is happy to help with your enquiries regarding registered horses, information on transfer of ownership, registry fees etc.