THE Irish Horse Board made full use of its new marketing and promotional marquee at Simmonscourt at last week’s Dublin Horse Show. The IHB team enjoyed a busy week at their first Dublin Horse Show since the industry body was revitalised by being awarded the industry marketing tender by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

On Wednesday and Thursday of show week, a continuous stream of Connemara and Irish Draught representatives visited to use the facilities to discuss horses and broker some new purchases. On Thursday the Irish Horse Board hosted a reception for the overseas Irish Draught horse community and over 100 delegates attended the networking event. Many of these were the representatives of the Irish Draught daughter studbooks in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.

“The Irish Horse Board in facilitating this reception for Irish Draught breeders worldwide, gave a wonderful opportunity for the worldwide representatives and potential customers to network, it’s a once in the year opportunity for all these groups to come together and communicate in person. The facilities and friendly atmosphere of the event made it all the more special for everyone and the feedback on the initiative has been excellent,” said IDHBA chairman Robert Draper.

Breeder Gloria Nolan, winner of the Connemara Performance Hunter, said: “Thanks to the Irish Horse Board, I have received numerous queries regarding my Connemara ponies and am confident that it will result in additional sales over the coming week, and I plan to utilise full all the services that the IHB are providing to grow my international sales network in the years ahead.”

Networking

“On Friday a very special delegation from Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Global Equine Industry Visit’ to Ireland, joined us for another networking event prior to attending the Aga Khan. There was a lot of new commerce with indigenous Irish businesses created throughout the week and the Irish Horse Board was very happy to be able to facilitate this networking opportunity to further grow the reach of this group while at Dublin Horse Show,” said Alison Corbally, Director General of the Irish Horse Board.

Rachael Sleath from Enterprise Ireland described the event as a “fabulous afternoon and great opportunity for the group to network with the Irish Horse Board, breeders and Irish equine enterprises. The prime location and positive atmosphere worked as a great end to the trip.”

Gareth Connolly added: “With the hook being the Dublin Horse Show, it was wonderful to be able to host the Enterprise Ireland Clients at the Irish Horse Board stand, while showcasing all that so exceptional in Irish equestrianism, it gave the clients a personal in depth opportunity to learn more about our industry and businesses.”

Corbally continued: “There has been exception export trade of horses and ponies during the week and the Irish Horse Board was able to facilitate the networking opportunities for a number of these customers. The interest in the United States has been particularly strong, with a number of clients which we met at the Kentucky Horse Trials attending to purchase their next competition and leisure horses. It’s a very positive for Irish breeders that are producing the products to the exacting standards required for the Dublin Horse Show, that there are a host of potential customers for these horses and ponies. Many congratulations to the RDS team, their committees, executive teams and voluntaries for once again producing an outstanding showcase event for the Irish Horse Industry – it was fantastic.”