LOOKING back on the news pages of the Irish Horse World throughout 2021, it was a bit of a groundhog year really with constant references – as there were in the previous 12 months – to Brexit, especially transport woes, customs and VAT, plus Covid-19 and the latter’s accompanying restrictions be they tightening or easing.

This year however, we hadn’t even seen February out when news came of the Equine Herpes Virus outbreak at the show jumping tour in CES Valencia, Spain which led to the FEI cancelling international events in 11 countries on the European mainland from March 1st to April 11th.

Strict biosecurity rules were introduced here to keep the disease out of the country.

All horses and athletes returning from the Continent were subjected to 14-day quarantine protocols while entries for the returning horses were blocked by Showjumping Ireland, Eventing Ireland and Dressage Ireland.

Lost horses

Among those riders who lost horses to the disease was Sweden-based Tipperary native Thomas Ryan who spoke to Judith Faherty about the traumatic time he and his team had spent in Valencia.

Shortly afterwards, if we hadn’t enough jabs to think about, we moved into the realm of equine vaccine rollout.

The fact that EHV would have a devastating effect on the equine population throughout the country in all aspects of horse sport and breeding was borne out when Horse Sport Ireland’s high performance team vet Marcus Swail told the Irish Horse World: “We have to be very thankful to Coolmore Stud and Fethard Equine Hospital for organising large quantities of the EHV vaccine which was provided at cost to people.”