Brian Hennessy

SLIGO show jumper Richard Howley expressed shock and disappointment that FEI officials decided to disqualify him from all competitions at last week’s Liverpool Horse Show and told how he has not given up hope of having the decision overturned.

Howley was left devastated when he became the second Irish rider in a matter of weeks to be disqualified following a win at a British show, following on from the high profile disqualification of Wexford’s Bertram Allen after winning the prestigious Olympia Grand Prix.

Howley had scored a win with Clane K in the 1.45m class last Saturday, finishing ahead of Britain’s Kerry Brennan and Pippa Allen. However 24 hours later, he was stripped of his victory.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Howley said: “At no stage did I think I had done anything wrong. I did not know I had left the restricted area. There were no signs, no officials or stewards and I didn’t open any barriers, gates or anything like that. The horse had a touch of colic leading up to Liverpool and my veterinary surgeon told me to get him out of the stable as much as possible. The last class had just finished and I took him out of his stable.

“The stables were in the car park and when I turned to go into the warm-up, I saw the water bowsers were still there, so I turned the opposite way, walked up about 20 metres and when I saw the watering had finished, I turned back, walked him around the warm-up a couple of times and went straight back to the stable, it all took about 10 minutes.

“The following morning at 11am I was handed a yellow card and was told I was disqualified from the show for leaving the restricted area. When I tried to explain what happened, they did not want to know, they had their mind made up. I asked what rule I was being disqualified under and they could not tell me, they said to look it up online. It was all a bit confusing.”

A statement issued by the show later said that Howley was disqualified under FEI rule 159.5.5.

However The Irish Field understands that on the day, officials had an option to use the less severe rule 159 5.6. (Suspension of an Athlete - for a period of 24 hours following the moment when the Athlete’s Horse is found to have left the restricted area without permission). This would have meant Howley’s winning result from Saturday could still stand, but he would have missed the remainder of the show.

Howley finished by saying: “The organisers of the show did a great job but this decision by the FEI officials was just ridiculous, particularly when I was just trying to look after my horse.”