No points for David in Oslo

By Michael Slavin

Although he got well into the prizes in the preliminaries, Army's Lt David O'Brien was once again jinxed in the World Cup and came away with no points from his two-show Scandinavian tour.

With his best hope Boherdeal Clover not yet back to top form after the knock he took in the Helsinki warm-up arena, O'Brien was forced into a switch to the less experienced Cruising mare Killossery Kruisette.

He made it through Friday's qualifying speed round in a good 9th place behind the red hot Robert Smith on the stallion Marius Claudius. But the mare ran into trouble in the more demanding World Cup on Sunday; they were eliminated in the first round of that and did not get a shot at the points. Making it a good double for them, Robert Smith took the cup as well.

Earlier on David gave Robert a good run for his money in the Accumulator. With the speedy Lismore Clover he scored the maximum of 44 points but was just two seconds slower on the clock to take second place behind Smith, who was on Eric Holstein's former ride Kalousha.

O'Brien did bring Boherdeal Clover back into action in two minor classes and jumped clear both times at a leisurely pace.

Jessica Kurten, who got well into the prizes at Hanover last weekend takes up the Irish World Cup baton in Verona next week. She would like to make it back to Italy for the Milan final next April. She last qualified at Gothenburg in 2001 at the height of the FMD crisis.

Meantime Marion Hughes continues to get good results with her young team. At the Caen show in France last weekend she came third with O'Jessie in the Championship and was in the money as well in Sunday's Grand Prix with Heritage Fortunus.

World Breeders Assembly for Dublin

For the first time in its ten years history the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses will hold its general assembly in Ireland.

It is set to take place at the Hotel Davenport over two days on 5 and 6 December. The programme will include a one-day seminar on Friday at which Paddy Cunningham of Trinity College will be one of the speakers.

Saturday will be taken up with the general assembly at which some 60 delegates will be representing over 50 stud books from around the world.

In addition to the official events there will also he a night at the dogs in Harolds Cross; a visit to the Army Equitation School at McKee Barracks on Saturday afternoon followed by a reception hosted by Failte Ireland in the Alexander Hotel. After the completion of the General Assembly on Friday there will also be a presentation by the Irish Horse Board on the Irish Horse Industry.

Sponsorship shock for UK showjumping

In the wake of deep disappointment at failing to qualify for the Olympics, British show jumping has just received another shock through the departure from the sport of some of its most valued sponsors. Some of its important young horse and novice events will suffer as a result.

Great Leighs will no longer give its backing to the Newcomers class. Virback has pulled out of the Discovery Series and Easibed has said that it will no longer sponsor the winter novice jumping.

A representative of Virbac is quoted as saying "For the money we were putting in we were not getting an awful lot back" and therein lies a warning for all organisers within the sport.

The showing fraternity has also been hit with the withdrawal of long time backer of Osborne Refrigerators from the Cob and Hack classes at the 2004 Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham.

In contrast with the eighties and nineties when just about all of Britain's top riders like the Whitakers, were jumping in the colours of company sponsors there are few sponsor named horses on the circuit there at the moment.