Brian Hennessy

A 10-day visit to Ireland by a group of individuals involved in the Korean sport horse industry has been hailed a huge success, with export links and possible student exchange programmes just some of the possibilities discussed.

The potential export market for Ireland is huge. South Korea, with a population of almost 50 million, is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, ranked 13th globally with a GDP of $1.849 trillion.

Professor Kim, head of Equine Science at Seoul University, was among the group, and he explained how the trip to Ireland came about.

“Every year we have our own equine conference in Korea and last year, we invited Horse Sport Ireland. This is where I met HSI director of international marketing Elaine Hatton for the first time. She invited me to come to Ireland and that is how this relationship has begun.”

Professor Kim detailed why Korea is dependent on importing horses to meet growing demand. “The traditional Korean horse is called the Jeju and its origins can be traced back to Mongolia. The Jeju is a small horse no bigger than 13hh, limiting its use as a leisure or sport animal. We have been importing horses for many years. Up to now, we have imported a lot of our sport horses from Germany. I have one Irish Sport Horse myself which was imported from Germany and not Ireland.

“Along with almost 200 professional riders, we have 20,000 people who are actively engaged in horse riding as a hobby or leisure. This figure is increasing rapidly with over 2,000 people extra per year now taking up horse riding,” he said.

“Our visit to the Army Equitation School for me was amazing. I was fascinated with the whole structure and the organisation. I hope to speak with our government officials to see if we could have an army equitation school of our own in Korea. I am planning to return to Ireland myself later this year and undergo the level 1 coaching programme and I would like to see many Korean students come to Ireland also to benefit from the Irish system.”

The finals days of the Korean visit saw the group travel to Clonshire EC in Co Limerick, where Professor Kim was impressed with the training techniques on offer. “It was excellent. The instructors were very good at explaining everything to us and the Irish training model and horse management is something we can learn from in Korea.”

While this initial visit was seen as a fact finding mission, trade between Ireland and Korea looks to have already begun, with one member of the Korean group stating that he wanted to source Irish ponies almost immediately. The individual is in the process of developing an equestrian centre on his South Korean farm of over 50 hectares and this initial first order would appear to be just the tip of the iceberg.

“I see huge possibilities for trade between Ireland and Korea that will be of benefit to both nations,” Professor Kim concluded.