SIFTING THROUGH the 2021 championship results for traditional Irish breeding angles produces slim pickings. Hardly surprising though as the number of traditional-breds has dropped steadily and often the only sighting of a Traditional Irish Horse [TIH] suffix now appears in the second and third generations of pedigrees.

To recap traditional-breds achievements during the most recent Olympic Games and European championships, two – Carling King (Clover Hill. Breeder: Dr. Pat Geraghty) and Mr Springfield (Western Problem. Robert Gallagher) – placed joint-fourth at the Olympic Games in Athens, making them the highest-placed Irish Sport Horses at the Olympics this millennium.