THE past weekend’s successes in show jumping, dressage and eventing prove yet again that we, as a nation, punch far above our weight in equestrian sports.

But it begs the question why are Irish horse producers not making a better living from all their hard work?

There was a time when Irish-produced and/or Irish-bred horses were notching up results in big classes worldwide on a regular basis but over time this has changed and we are, at present, not able to compete in this area.

I think over time Ireland will regain our place in the production of top show jumpers but in the meantime, all our horse producers need to make a living.

And to make a living, you not necessarily need to have a superstar in the yard. Remember, superstars are the exception, not the rule.

I am a firm believer in the philosophy that while racehorses are bred, show jumpers are produced, and that how we produce and mould our show jumper will play a major role in the finished product.

Let’s look at the American market for show jumpers and, specifically, the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, Florida.

The show has 12 arenas where up to 1,800 horses compete per day and it runs for five days per week for 12 weeks.

In three of these arenas, horses jump 1.30m or higher but in the remaining nine arenas, the horses compete from 80cms up to 1.20m. Ponies are not really a factor here as the younger children all ride horses, whether it be in the hunter, equitation children’s jumper or amateur horse competitions.

That means that 75% of the horses jumping at this huge 12-week WEF show are jumping at a lower level, 1.20m or lower.

So, as a country, why don’t we produce horses for this market?

To satisfy this market we need a nice horse, at least seven years old, that looks well jumping a course of between 80cms and 1.20m. Any horse that excels above 1.20m is a bonus and, if we start to produce our horses better (slower and more patiently) for this market, the ratio of upper grade horses should increase.

We are a talented nation of horse producers but we are always in a hurry!

There are a number of reasons for this. Simple economics is a major one. The first thought of any breeder who sends his horse to a producer is the cost of livery bills, so the rush is on to achieve something quickly.

Too often, if the horse jumps 1.10m well for a week or two, he will be tried at 1.20m the following week. And if he goes well at 1.20m, he’ll be pushed to go a little quicker the following week. Basically, we try to push our horses to jump in as high a grade as we can as quickly as we can.

For me, this is a total false economy as we soon end up with a product that is unsellable. By the end of it, the horse rides poorly and his days of a having a snaffle mouth are long gone.

To sell to the American market, you need a ‘Ronseal’ horse – an animal that does exactly what it says on the tin. If an American amateur rider gets on a horse and it doesn’t ride nicely and do its changes, it won’t matter how well it can jump because the rider won’t stay on it for more than five minutes. These are amateur riders looking for pleasure horses. If it’s not a pleasure to ride, they won’t buy it.

The rider – and their trainers – know exactly what they want when buying and when they want a horse for the next level up, they will buy that horse.

I spend a lot of time at Wellington and the percentage of Irish-produced horses competing at this show is very low.

Irish people have an affinity for working with horses and our horses, in the main, are even-tempered and willing. So why don’t we re-evaluate how we produce them and get our fair share of this market?

There are huge opportunities to sell here, based solely on the number of horses competing at this one show.

But there is also the opportunity to generate serious financial reward for taking the time to produce a horse slowly and carefully.

If someone goes the long road by buying a nice four-year-old and producing it well and slowly for the US market, they should more than double their investment by the time it reaches seven. Taking a shortcut and rushing the horse will not pay.

So how can Irish producers tap into the American amateur market?

The official structure in Ireland would need to be geared towards slow, patient production.

We have many Irish riders based in the USA, all of whom have many good amateur and young riders. They cannot find enough horses of the type they are looking for in Ireland at the moment.

These US-based Irish riders are very successful and have already proved their patriotism by embracing the young rider placement programme over the last three years.

SUSTAINABLE PLAN

I feel that we should liaise with these riders and with them, develop a workable and sustainable plan to increase our sales internationally. This requires basic market research because no matter what business you are in, market research is essential.

The American buyer is primarily only interested in a horse that is well produced to the level of its capability as production costs in the US are quite expensive compared to Ireland.

There are a number of yards in Ireland that produce horses really well for every market, including America, but there are not enough of those yards.

I would like to see ‘Ireland Inc’ gain a much higher percentage of the international market for show jumping horses and I think we should look at initiatives that would reward patient, professional producers of younger horses.

The current structures in Ireland ask a lot of our young horses. While we have made some changes in our Irish Sport Horse Studbook young horse classes in that we have separated the six and seven-year-old sections and we do not ask six-year-olds to go against the clock in the earlier part of the series, we still have a long way to go with the rest of our structure.

The restructuring needs to ensure that whatever level a particular horse is at, he has been produced in such a way as to be appealing to the international market.

In a nutshell we, as a country, need to encourage and build structures towards slow, patient production and this will guarantee the best return for the product.

As a professional rider, every time you sit on a horse, you should be aiming to educate the horse long term, not just for the show on Sunday.

Both breeders and owners should see horse production as a long-term investment business.

If you are not prepared to pay for a professional producer and allow them to do a good job, then maybe you should consider either selling the horse unbroken or going into partnership with the producer.

We perhaps need to convince our foreign-based Irish riders to help us gain a share of this market. The knock-on effect would be sustainable employment for our people in the sport horse industry where proper pay conditions and an acceptable standard of living could be achieved.

Michael Blake runs the Showjumping Ireland/Connolly’s Red Mills Young Rider Placement Programme.