THE eventing community suffered a blow this week with the announcement that the SemaLease Camphire International Horse Trials & Country Fair 2022, due to take place from July 28th-31st, has now been cancelled.

The decision was announced with “enormous regret’’ by the organisers and was taken after the financial risks involved were deemed too great to run the event this year.

“A significant percentage of Camphire’s competitors are internationals and currently there are high costs for these competitors to bring their horses to Ireland since Brexit. These costs, combined with the current high fuel costs and continuing uncertainties around Covid, mean there is a real risk of the event being financially unviable in 2022. As a result we have taken the difficult decision not to run the event this year,” stated a press release on Thursday.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly,” said Event Director, Paul Brady, “Camphire sets itself hugely high standards. It is a hugely important event for the Irish equestrian community and for the local economy as well as for the many international competitors and Olympians who travel so far to take part. But we simply don’t have the financial reserves to sustain a possible reduction in numbers, or in quality.

“Our preference therefore is to put all our effort into finding ways of recreating the Camphire we wish to have, and running a successful event in 2023. We sincerely hope some of the issues around charges on horses coming into Ireland for a week to compete will have been addressed by then.”

The dates for the 2023 SemaLease Camphire International Horse Trials & Country Fair will be the Bank Holiday weekend, July 27th – 30th, 2023.

“We had desperately hoped that we would be able to pull off the event this year because we know how much everyone was looking forward to it,” said Paul Brady, “and I am so grateful to all those that have offered support and encouragement.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our competitors, owners, volunteers, sponsors, traders, suppliers and supporters for your unwavering commitment to Camphire during these difficult times.

“We are particularly grateful to all our sponsors, particularly our title sponsor SemaLease, who have been so understanding and supportive throughout this period. We look forward to welcoming you all back to this great event in 2023,” he added.