The Irish Cob Horse is a breed available in the Horse Reality game that can be obtained from the Foundation.
| Irish Cob Horse | |
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| General Information | |
| Alternative names | Gypsy Vanner*, Tinker |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Horse Reality | |
| Colours | Black, Chestnut, Bay, Seal Brown, Flaxen, Cream, Pearl, Silver, Dun |
| Whites | White Markings, Tobiano, Sabino-1, Roan |
| Not yet in-game | Pangaré, Sooty, Grey, Appaloosa, PATN1, PATN2, W20, Snowdrop, SW1 |
| Height | 135 - 170 cm |
| Registry | Irish Cob Society |
| Alternative name | IC |
| Origin | Foundation |
| Status | In-game (2018) |
| Artists | |
| Lineart | D. Grochowska (2020) |
| Greyscale | D. Grochowska (2020) |
| Colours & patterns | D. Grochowska, H. Vasseur, A. van Rooijen (2020) |
¶ Conformation
The Irish Cob Horse is a light-draft breed of a rather small, compact size. They have small, sweet heads set on strong, arched necks. They should have deep and broad chests, well-sloped shoulders, short and wide backs, as well as round croups. Their hair must be thick and luxurious while feathers must cover hooves.[1]
¶ Colour Genetics
Due to the breed's mixed origin, a lot of colours have manifested themselves in the Irish Cob before it was truly accepted as a breed. The most popular colour is black, but shades of bay and chestnut (including flaxen) also appear. Grey is rare as it hides the praised spotting patterns but is also valued by some as the dapples can make for a striking contrast with tobiano. Dilutions are rare and considered valuable but starting to become more common. They include cream, silver, more rarely dun and even pearl.
The Irish Cob is well known for its wide range of patterns. Tobiano appears most often, but there are also records of sabino-1 and roan. Many horses appear to carry some form of splash or sabino (sometimes referred to as 'blagdon'), but the true source of it remains unknown. W20 has been found in a few horses, where it likely attributes to the horse's pattern. Leopard complex appears in the breed, though there's still some discussion about the pureness of the horses with these patterns.
¶ Alleles
All alleles available for the breed can be found below highlighted in green. For better clarity, we bolded alleles that impact coat colours (eg. grey G vs non-grey g).
| Base Colours & Modifiers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Extension | Agouti | Grey |
| E, e | A, At, a | g |
| Dilutions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cream-Pearl | Dun | Champagne | Silver | Mushroom |
| CR, prl, n | D, nd2 | ch | Z, z | n |
| White Patterns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frame | Appaloosa | PATN1 | MITF | SW2 | KIT |
| n | lp | patn1 | n | sw2 | TO, RN, SB1, n |
Please note that the table includes a hidden agouti allele (At). Besides testable genes, there are also untestable ones present: flaxen, and white markings (head markings, socks, etc.).
¶ Artwork Updates
The Irish Cob Horse is on Horse Reality since 2015 when it was released under the name “Gypsy Horse”. Ever since the current Horse Reality version has been online, the Irish Cob Horse received/will receive the following updates:
- In December 2020, the breed was reintroduced with new artwork and the name was changed to "Irish Cob Horse"[2]
- The missing genes and alleles will be added to the game through new Foundation horses[3]
¶ About the Name Change
Alongside the artwork update, a name change followed. The name “Gypsy Horse” has created much controversy among players. The word ”Gypsy” is a racial slur commonly used to describe the Romani people. It has been used throughout centuries of oppression and continues to be associated with ethnic tensions in today’s world. Due to the origin of such words, they can have a negative impact on a community even when used innocently, for example, in a name of a horse. The term is therefore forbidden within all Horse Reality platforms and used here for educational purposes only.[4]
¶ Artwork Legacy
If you're curious about what the Irish Cob Horse looked like before the artwork update or just want to reminiscence good, old times - search no more.
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This beautiful art was created by very talented artists. Horse Reality is forever grateful for them being a part of its history.
| Artists | |
|---|---|
| Lineart | A. Brost (2014) |
| Greyscale | A. Brost (2014) |
| Colours & patterns | T. van den Berg (2014) |
¶ Breed in Real Life
The history of the Irish Cob has largely been lost to time. The breed was created by the Roma in Great Britain. They chose strong horses to pull their carts, gently natured horses to be among their children, colourful horses because those were once undesired and cheap, and good trotters to perform in their trotting races. All these qualities resulted in a versatile horse that is easily identified by its colour, conformation and magnificent feathers. Though at one point they were frowned upon, these horses are now quite popular all around the world.[5]
¶ References
- Australasian Gypsy Horse Society Inc., Breed Standard: https://www.gypsyhorsesociety.com.au/facility; Access: November 2022
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/45/community-update-christmas-surprise-remake-of-the-irish-cob-gypsy-horse
- https://deloryan.notion.site/Horse-Breeds-Artwork-Genetics-6d0a84be35284b12806976bbb8cc886c
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/87/community-update-rule-enforcement-update-forgiving-discord-offences-npc-writing-contest-exmoor-pony-making-of-user-survey
- Irish Rare Breeds Society, Irish Cob: https://inrbs.ie/irish-cob/; Access: November 2022