FORMER Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton spoke passionately about bringing the sport horse industry in Ireland to new highs and protecting the assets we already have during last Thursday’s Equine Summit at the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

The CEO of Vulcan Consulting stressed the need for improving our infrastructure and making the country more attractive to riders during the summer months.

“Almost all of our good riders are abroad because if you want to compete and ride at the top level, you have to compete against the best riders in the world. That has become more and more an acute problem in Ireland in recent years,” Creighton said.

“But I really think we need to think about how we can make the Dublin Horse Show a focal point for a number of weeks during the summer. We need to look at attracting more riders and we need more prize money.

“We have Cavan, Mullingar, Millstreet – these are top-class facilities but they are underutilised. We used to have a World Cup show in Millstreet, a big event with the best riders.

“There needs to be a review as to how to make it attractive to develop horses and compete at the top level here in Ireland, like WEF (Winter Equestrian Festival) in Florida for example.”

AMBITIOUS

Creighton added: “Anyone who wants to bring on your horses, you need to compete them every week, they need mileage and experience and you cannot really do that in Ireland. It is a great challenge here and I don’t think it’s realistic all year round, but we could make it more attractive for the summer months.”

She urged the industry to creative new initiatives. “We have to be more ambitious about it – Dublin is a fantastic five-star show, but why don’t we have a Global Champions Tour in Dublin, or somewhere around the country? Why don’t we have the World Equestrian Games here?” she asked.

International show jumper and panellist Cameron Hanley agreed that the infrastructure needs to improve. Arriving at the event from the international show in Cavan, Hanley said: “The infrastructure in Ireland could be much better. You are not going to attract high level riders back but you need to keep the ones we have by having nice shows.

“I hadn’t been to Cavan in years, it’s as good as anywhere, but we need more of those show centres,” Hanley added.

Following up on a point raised in the earlier plenary discussion, Creighton weighed in on the debate about looking after owners and giving them a ‘nice experience’.

“You need to work on the basics, the experience for owners,” she said. “Show jumping isn’t really a spectator’s sport anymore. Getting crowds to come and watch is a real challenge. You must have the facilities for spectators and, crucially, for owners.”

Referring to a point Dr Noel Cawley made about not having a space to park your car near the ring after paying into the show where you may have five horses jumping, Creighton said the sport horse industry are way behind the thoroughbred sector in that regard.

“You can have a National Hunt horse running in Roscommon and there is an owners and trainers room, you have your parking, the basics! We are not at the races in equestrian sport in that regard.”

BREXIT

Brexit was high on the agenda throughout the day at the Equine Summit and no doubt poses a lot of uncertainty for small equine businesses, breeders and producers.

“We don’t know how these negotiations are ultimately going to end up. Everyone needs to be prepared for the worst case scenario,” Creighton told close to 200 sport horse enthusiasts.

“Worst case there will be a lot of limbo and uncertainty and if you are exporting horses to the UK, you are already going to have felt that.

“Building a plan around that is very hard for small businesses and most equine businesses in this country are small. A small breeder, producer or equestrian centre trying to negotiate with Brussels is not likely to gain traction. If the industry comes together in a very coherent way, that’s the best way to approach it.”

The consultancy expert added that Ireland are not prepared for the logistics of a ‘no deal’ scenario, with potential health checks and custom checks at our ports.

“The issue on our side and on the UK side is they will need to recruit a lot of additional people and train them. Brexit negotiations are concluding next October, the negotiating period is very very tight,” she said.

Hanley said that although he is not feeling the effects of Brexit on his business in Germany just yet, the travel arrangements will be the biggest concern. International riders travelling to the Dublin Horse Show through England would potentially have two custom checks to cross.

“It might be like travelling to Switzerland or Norway. You could maybe an hour or two at the port, you have to get in the que with everyone else,” Hanley commented.

Creighton overriding message was to shout louder for the industry: “Develop a champion. Equestrian sport is afraid of shouting about the industry. There is a positive story here but it is rarely told. People say it’s an elite sport, it is about ordinary people and that needs to be stressed to the government.”