BREEDING

Susan Finnerty

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Chairman Hugh Leonard called on sport horse breeders to unite at the annual general meeting of the Traditional Irish Horse Association, held in Athlone last Sunday.

Noting that six “jamboree meetings” had been held to resolve problems in the horse sector, since an inaugural forum held in 1760 by the Royal Dublin Society, he believed that factions within organisations had led to degrees of self-destruction.

Leonard suggested that the greatest tribute to pay the late Michael Osbourne was to enable his concept – Horse Sport Ireland – to act as a united umbrella body for the riding horse industry. “The alternative is another 250 years of bickering and mismanagement,” he cautioned.

The Meath horseman also noted how this revitalised association had grown from a handful of traditional breeding fans sitting around a kitchen table two years ago to just under 500 substantiated members. He predicted that the recent successful stallion auction, organised by Kevin Noone, would boost their modest end-of-year balance of €655, with TIHA membership fees being the main income source.

Thought-provoking input from the floor included the opinions of producers Martin Walsh, Tom Jones and Jenni Lamminen, who appealed for respect between warmblood and traditional breeders.

“We respect what warmblood supporters are trying to do with top continental sires. Warmblood supporters have to recognise that the traditional Irish horse is still flying the flag on the world stage. There is no other nation in the world that would disown Flexible or call him a freak, just because he is a traditional Irish-bred horse at the very top of the sport. We should build mutual respect between the two groups.”

Kilkenny breeder Seamus Davis also echoed the Lowhill Horses team’s concern that traditional bloodlines were being lost, particularly in the south-east. Highlighting the lonely gap between breeding and selling the desired traditional-bred at the ridden stage, he said: “A lot of our breeders are breeders only, not producers. So they can be forced to sell at a loss [as foals] but traditional-breds will make money in three to four years’ time.”

On the marketing front, Chris Ryan commented on how businesses earmarked 30% of their budget for marketing. “Not even 10% of HSI and the Irish Horse Board’s budget goes on marketing and promotion,” he said, before suggesting a small levy on registrations and sales, similar to the thoroughbred industry, for sport horse marketing.

He also acknowledged the input of IFA horse chairman James Murphy. “He is passionate about the traditional-bred and the co-operation between the IFA and TIHA is mutually beneficial.”

The inaugural Hunter Show & Go event, hosted at Ryan’s Scarteen base, was praised by Horse Board member David McCann.

“It was a huge success and the whole hunting community is talking about the quality of horses that came out of that sale,” he said, before suggesting that the local district veterinary office should be the first port of call in suspected welfare cases. Another practical suggestion from the Kells veterinary surgeon was to develop the concept of discussion groups.

“The TIHA is already a real model for a discussion group,” he added.

In the past decade of covering meetings for The Irish Horse – and witnessing everything from walkouts to self-serving agendas – last Sunday’s AGM would have to rank as one of the most positive and productive. And against a backdrop of inflated salaries and charity top-ups, seeing what the TIHA has achieved on a shoestring budget in two years can provide hope for the sport horse industry.